LAGOS, Nigeria — Daily Times of Nigeria, the country’s oldest surviving newspaper, has unveiled 90 nominees for its centenary heroes awards as part of a year-long celebration marking 100 years of continuous publication, with a N10 million prize for the Outstanding Journalist of the Year category.
The newspaper, founded on June 1, 1926, by Richard Barrow and Ernest Ikoli as a four-page daily in colonial Lagos, has witnessed and chronicled every major turning point in Nigeria’s history, from the 1966 coups and the Civil War to the return to democracy in 1999. At its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, Daily Times boasted the largest circulation in West Africa.
The Times Heroes Awards Council announced the nominees on Thursday at a press conference held at the MUSON Centre in Onikan, Lagos, with the awards ceremony scheduled for September 3, 2026. The categories include DTN@100 Man of the Century, Woman of the Century, Africa Rising Award, Global Icon, Climate Responsibility, Social Impact, Community Development, Bank of the Year, and Outstanding Governors and Ministers, among 35 others.
Chairman of the Times Heroes Awards Council, Bolaji Okusaga, said the awards were designed to celebrate Nigerians and institutions whose contributions have shaped the nation’s history over the past 100 years. Executive Secretary Bonaventure Melah emphasised that the entire process was being handled with utmost transparency to make the awards the most credible in Nigeria’s history.
Among the high-profile nominees are President John Mahama of Ghana, the President of Zambia, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Zenith Bank CEO, and Senator Ali Ndume.
The DTN@100 Outstanding Journalist of the Year category carries a N10 million cash prize, and the winner will be selected by journalists themselves through voting on the dedicated website www.timesheroesawards.com, with the cheque presented at the awards ceremony.
Daily Times publisher Fidelis Anosike, who acquired the newspaper through Folio Communications Plc, has described the centenary as a fusion of legacy and innovation. Anosike noted that the Daily Times archive is the only composite archive in Nigeria and contains documentation of why Nigeria was created.
The centenary celebration, which runs from October 2025 to June 2026, features exhibitions, archival showcases, a national lecture series on media and democracy, and a grand gala in Lagos to honour media pioneers and cultural icons. A 700-page book detailing important events in Nigerian history has also been unveiled.
As part of its transformation agenda, Folio Communications Plc has launched DTN @2.0, a digital-first initiative set for full rollout on June 25, 2026, featuring a restructured newsroom, data-led content creation, and multimedia storytelling. The company is also establishing the Folio Media and Creative Academy to train 50,000 Nigerian journalists in digital media and innovation.
“We are not just celebrating the past. We are creating a platform for the next 100 years of Nigerian storytelling,” Anosike concluded.
