APCOM opens nominations for grassroots impact awards

The Association of Practitioners of Community Media in Nigeria has launched the APCOM Grassroots Impact Awards 2026, a national initiative to identify, recognise, document and amplify individuals, institutions and communities making exceptional contributions across Nigeria’s grassroots.

The APCOM President disclosed this in a statement made available to The PUNCH on Tuesday.

Built around the philosophy that recognition should follow impact rather than prominence, the initiative will spotlight measurable contributions across grassroots governance, community development, public service, education, healthcare, enterprise, innovation and community journalism.

APCOM President, Abayomi Adejumo, said community media practitioners were uniquely positioned to identify such stories.

“Nigeria’s story is not written only in Abuja or our state capitals. It is written every day in our local governments, wards and communities. Community media is not merely close to these stories; we are close to the evidence,” Adejumo said.

The association said it would depart from the conventional awards-night model by taking recognition to where the impact happened, with selected honourees receiving their awards in their offices, institutions or communities, where APCOM will also document the stories behind their achievements.

The stories, according to Adejumo, would subsequently be published in the APCOM Grassroots Impact Compendium 2026, creating a permanent national record of outstanding grassroots contributions.

APCOM stated that nominations would be assessed against defined criteria and that selection and recognition would remain independent of any commercial participation in the initiative.

“Excellence will be the threshold. Impact will be the evidence,” the statement added.

It added that nominations are now open, with submissions expected to include the nominee’s name, location, area of impact and a brief statement of verifiable achievements.