Nigerian Journalist to Get Nieman Prize

Olatunji Dare, editorial board chair of a Nigerian newspaper, will be awarded the 1995 Louis L. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism by Harvard's Nieman Foundation later this month.

Dare, who wrote for the Guardian, a newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria, was cited for his courage in the face of a military crackdown on press freedoms.

The paper was shut down in August 1994 after printing a critical account of internal strife within the military regime of Nigerian Gen. Sani Abacha.

Dare "refuses to restart the paper with the conditions the government laid down," said Bill Kovach, curator of the Nieman Foundation.

Kemal Kurspahic, chair of the 1994-95 Lyons Award Committee and a Nieman Fellow last year, said that "we believe his struggle for the freedom of the press provides inspiration for journalists everywhere, since we know there are areas of the world where it takes courage and integrity to speak openly."

The award honors Lyons, the former curator of the Nieman Foundation. It will be presented as part of a seminar on "Democracy, Free Press and Nigeria at Harvard's Busch Hall on October 26.

Kurspahic, who is now Washington editor of the Sarajevo newspaper Oslobodjenje, will present the award.

Kovach and Kurspahic said Dare is currently in Nigeria, although his activities since Guardian closed are unclear. He is expected to attend the award ceremony, they said.

"At the end of the process, Dr. Dare was our unanimous choice," Kurspahic added.

The award is given annually by the Nieman Fellows, a group of 24 journalists--12 from the United states and 12 from abroad--selected by the Nieman Foundation.

According to a news release, last year's class of Nieman Fellows chose Dare for his "courage, professionalism and his defiance of the military regime."

Kovach said the fellows themselves decide the award because "we didn't want to build up a bureaucracy with a vested interest in what was considered conscience and integrity in journalism."

The Nieman Fellowship, a mid-career study program, allows fellows chosen by the Nieman Foundation to take courses at Harvard for a year.