Shola Soyele (Moderator)
Shola is Channels television’s Judiciary Correspondent and host of Law Weekly, a programme which takes an in-depth look at legal activities across Nigeria with a special focus on how the law affects both the socio and economic fabric of the country.
The lawyer and journalist is also a member of the Nigerian institute of Management (NIM), an alumni of the School of Media & Communication of the Pan Atlantic University, and a former Assistant General Secretary of the “lawyers in the media” group of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), who has covered and reported legal events all around the country & internationally.
A multiple award winning correspondent, Shola was named the TV Presenter of the Year in the 2014 Exquisite Ladies of the Year (Eloy) Awards. In 2016, she was a recipient of the ‘Outstanding 40 Under-40 awards’ of the Nigerian Legal Awards reserved for young legal practitioners whose works are shaping the future of the legal profession. Shola has also received awards from the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and the Nigerian Bar Association for her contribution to the growth of the law and the legal profession.
In 2019, she bagged two awards, one from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and the other as the Law Media Personality of the year in the ESQ Nigerian Legal Awards. In 2021, Shola was again a recipient of the Law Media Personality of the year as well as the Outstanding Impact and Integrity Award of the Gani Fawehinmi Awards.
Besides her professional work, Shola does humanitarian work and was the 2012 Business Forum Director of Junior Chamber International, JCI Lagos Royale, a group of young people dedicated to creating positive change in their communities. After her tenure as JCI Lagos Royale’s business director, she received the award of ‘Royale of the Year’ for her outstanding service to the organisation.
She is a Fellow of the Report Women Leadership Programme of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and with the support of the Programme and Free Press Unlimited, Shola started a leadership and mentorship programme with female law students drawn from different levels of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (Unilag).
She is also a member of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT and through her Legal Program, Law Weekly, she has drawn attention to issues of forced child marriages, gender based violence, discrimination against women amongst others. A champion of women & human rights, Shola is a much sought after speaker and moderator at legal events. In 2020, she anchored the only conversation that brought all three Presidential Candidates of the Nigerian Bar Association together on the very topical issue of “the welfare of lawyers in Nigeria”.
At a moderating session on “media coverage of virtual court proceedings: prospects and challenges, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) described her as the “doyen of legal journalism”.
On and off air, she continues to stimulate, and moderate important conversations, holding the legal sector and participants in that sector accountable.