Abuja — The Advisory Board of the Daily Trust African of the Year award has concluded the screening of candidates, who were shortlisted from a pool of nominees, for the 2009 edition of the pan-African award.

The screening, which took place last weekend in Nairobi, Kenya, was presided over by Chairman of the nine-member Advisory Board, Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, a former Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU, now African Union) and past Prime Minister of Tanzania.

On the list of candidates screened were personalities of diverse professional background including public servants, bankers, journalists, scientist, human rights activists and philanthropist, drawn from across African and among Africans in diaspora.

The eventual winner will be named at the award ceremony scheduled to take place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, on Thursday, January 20, 2010.

A major decision taken by the Advisory Board was the abolition of runners-up category thereby making the African of the Year personality the focus of continental and global attention.

The maiden edition of the award for year 2008 had Dr. Denis Mukwege, a Congolese surgeon, as African of the Year with a cash prize of US$20,000.

Dr. Christiana Thorpe, Chairperson of Sierra Leone Electoral Commission, and Mr. Salif Keita, a musician and albino rights activist, were named as runners-up with cash prizes of US$15,000 each.

The total prize sum of US$50,000 was donated and presented by UBA Plc, a Nigerian bank with pan-African vision and branch network, at a colourful ceremony which was graced by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

Another innovation aimed at adding value to the African of the Year award is the planned publication of an all-gross magazine named KILIMANJARO which is scheduled for presentation at the award night in Abuja.

The annual magazine will feature in-depth profile of the awardees as well as other topical pan-African issues that will promote peace, unity and development on the continent.

The "Daily Trust African of the Year" award was initiated last year by Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust, Weekly Trust, Sunday Trust and Hausa vernacular Aminiya.

It was aimed at recognizing and celebrating, otherwise unsung, Africans who are making positive contributions to the continent in their area of endeavor.

To qualify for the award, the candidate must have undertaken an action which impacts on the lives of other people and elicits a pan-African attention during the award year.

Candidates are nominated online at award.dailytrust.com while the Advisory Board screens the nominees to select the personality that qualifies for DAILY TRUST African of the Year award based on remarkable contribution to humanity.

Aside Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, who is Chairman, other members of the Advisory Board are Professor Abdoulaye Bathily, a Senegalese political scientist and parliamentarian, Mr. Kabiru A. Yusuf, Chairman and Chief Executive of Media Trust Limited, and Ms L. Muthoni Wanyeki, Executive Secretary of Kenyan Human Rights Commission.

Also on the Advisory Board are Professor Okello Oculi, a Ugandan and Political Scientist, Professor (Mrs) Tandeka Nkiwane, a South African University don, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, and Professor Kwame Kari-Kari, a communication specialist from Ghana.