Author: Aishat Ibrahim

Amina Mohammed Receives 2017 FP’s Diplomat Of The Year Award

Foreign Policy (FP) magazine has conferred the “2017 Diplomat of the Year” award on deputy United Nations Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed.

The diplomat of the year gong is a yearly event by the Foreign Policy magazine that reviews the accomplishments of leading officials and diplomats worldwide and seeks to identify those who have made the greatest contribution to international relations.

Mrs. Amina Mohammed, also the former Environment Minister of Nigeria takes over this award which was won by Google in 2016 and in 2015 by former United States Secretary of State, John Kerry.

In her acceptance message, the 56-year-old said she was receiving the accolade on behalf of the U.N. “that I proudly serve.” Adding, “I believe diplomacy is a tool that should bring us together to close the gap between what is and what should be in a world of peace, development and human rights.” She spoke about the challenges the U.N. faces in its global operations but stressed that there was the need to do all it takes to put the world on a good footing for future generations, adding that it was important for every one to become a diplomat in their own small way.

In her words:

“Today, as a woman of colour, a Muslim, an African, a mother of 6, a grandmother and as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, I owe it to the world to dig deep and to do my part in support of António Guterres to achieve our goals for a more peaceful world of dignity and hope, managing international relations, building trust, and leveraging diplomacy in the most unconventional ways and always speaking truth to power for those whose voices cannot reach these corridors of power.

Finally, I accept this honour for those women diplomats gone before me as I stand on their shoulders to carry on their unfinished work in our world of pain, desperation and yet we don’t have the luxury of failure.”

Before her appointment, the Nigeria and UK trained development expert, Amina Mohammed, was acclaimed in Nigeria as one of President Buhari’s most vibrant and best-performing appointees – since she took office in 2015. She served as UN Under Secretary-General and Special Adviser to immediate past Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Post-2015 Development Planning. She was instrumental in bringing about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

As Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Mrs. Amina Mohammed has largely been in the forefront of global diplomacy much more than most of her predecessors at the global body headquartered in New York. Her appointment according to the Antonio Guterres, the U.N. Secretary-General was in line with restructuring the organization to reflect gender parity. She continues to play an outward role especially in the area of the U.N. development agenda.

The ‘‘citizen diplomat of the year’’ went to Becca Heller, she is co-founder and director of the group International Refugee Assistance project (IRAP). Wendy Sherman, a former U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs was named the ‘‘national security diplomat of the year.’’

Odinaka Anudu Is Nominated To Investigate In Guateng [2017]

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, has nominated Odinaka Anudu as one of the five Africans to participate in a fully-funded investigation in Guateng.

Odinaka Anudu, a BusinessDay journalist won the Industrialisation and Development category and will be guided by John Bailey, an international and senior journalist for eNCA, a 24-hour television news broadcaster focusing on South African and African stories.

Continue reading Odinaka Anudu Is Nominated To Investigate In Guateng [2017]

Team Nicademia Wins 2017 USPF Changemaker Challenge

Team Nicademia has won the 2017 Changemaker Challenge, organised by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF). As overall winner, Team Nicademia receives a cash prize of 1 million Naira with an acceptance into incubation programme superintended in the 2017 Changemaker Challenge.

Nicademia is an online distribution platform for African-inspired animations and cartoons that seek to promote African culture, traditions and values to the world.

The USPF Changemaker Challenge 2017, an arm of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is a nationwide competition open to innovators, software developers, User Experience (UX) designers, students and other ICT enthusiasts from all over Nigeria.

The Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta Represented by Head of Strategy and Corporate Performance Monitoring, USPF, Mr. Kelechi Nwankwo said the aims and objectives of the Challenge were to empower the Nigerian youths by challenging their tenacity to create technology-driven solutions for the needs of their Communities and the nation at large adding that the development of ICT was the reason for the creation of USPF.

He, however, assured that NCC would continue to use USPF as a platform in the promotion and application of innovation processes in ICT, to help empower the youth saying that one of the commission’s eight-point agenda is the promotion of ICT innovations and investment opportunities.

In his words:

“We believe that there is no better way to propagate this than to proactively involve the new generation of tech-innovators and entrepreneurs. Given the right platform and support, they can analyse and address everyday problems and find solutions to them. The innovation is already in them. This is in sync with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) policy objectives on telecommunications/ICT; to encourage rapid ICT penetration among all socioeconomic levels and increase broadband penetration.

“The ERGP policy is to promote and encourage local production of ICT hard and software, to reduce import dependence and generate foreign exchange by exporting to the regional and continental markets. Indeed, the ERGP acknowledges that ICT and digital technology have the potential to ramp up, transform labour productivity and create new economic sectors. It is our belief that the solutions and services that emerge from this changemaker challenge 2017 will demonstrate that fact.”

The Secretary of USPF, Mr. Ayuba Shuaibu, said 226 applications from the six geo-political zones of the country were received for the contest. He said innovation was at the centre of the current ICT and knowledge revolution and opportunities. According to him, USPF organises the competition with the conviction that the critical mass of the emerging information society resides in innovation and software know-how.

In his words:

“The USPF organised this special challenge to spur national technology innovation development and deliver appropriate solutions-dependable instrument, tools and meaningful responses to global challenges presented by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The maiden edition took place in 2015 and we are pleased to let you know that the three winning solutions are still in the market and expanding.”

Team Jiggle came second while Team Kano Magenta made third position. Team Jiggle and Team Kano Magenta received ₦750,000 and ₦500,000 respectively and both will also undergo incubation programme.

L&L Foods Wins $15,000 NES Startup Prize [2017]

L&L Foods, a peanut maker, have been named winner of the first ever Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) Group pitch contest.

The non-tech startup peanut producer emerged winner over seven other startups to emerge winner of the maiden contest and secure $15,000 in funding.

Accounteer, a cloud accounting tech startup was the first runner-up and winner of $10,000 prize. Mypaddy.ng a platform that helps students find campus accommodation got the third position and a $5,000 prize.

There were a total of 263 startups that applied to take part in the competition via Ventures for Africa platform. The number was later narrowed down to eight start-ups.

Six of the eight were tech solution providers such as African-Based E-library Academix, Accounteer, Ed-tech firms Insight Africa and Edusko; Mypaddy.ng and Fintech Startup Piggybank.ng. The two non-tech startups were L&L Foods and Condiments Producer Ojoro Kitchen.

Kitovu Wins World Bank’s Youth Development Initiative 2017

Nigeria’s Kitovu has won the 2017 World Bank’s “Ideas for Action” initiative.

Kitovu, is an innovative platform and system that matches fertilizer type and quantity, improved quality seeds and other inputs to the right soil. The proposal envisions a web and mobile-based decentralised fertilizer and seedling warehousing system that matches the right inputs to different farm locations owned by small-holder farmers in distant locations to lower the cost of cultivation while ensuring increased yields.

The initiative is a youth competition on financing for development programme which is yearly organised by the World Bank Group, in collaboration with the Zicklin Centre for Business Ethics Research.

The Bank’s Senior Vice President, Mr Mahmoud Mohieldin, announced that Nigeria’s winning proposal, “Kitovu”, came tops from among 743 proposals from 118 countries, while Uganda’s proposal of “Gifted Hands” and India’s proposal of “Agratam” were adjudged first and second runner ups in this year’s competition. Mohieldin disclosed that the winners were selected through a vigorous three-stage selection process, evaluating the creativity, significance, feasibility and clarity of the proposals.

In his words:

“The competition encourages young people from around the world to develop and share their ideas for innovative approaches, through the smart use of technology as well as financing solutions, to solve development challenges. It attracts engagement from young people across the globe, with about 38 percent of submissions from Sub-Saharan Africa; 15 percent from Latin America and the Caribbean; 13 percent from South Asia; 12 percent from East Asia and the Pacific. Also, 12 percent came from North America; eight percent from Europe and two percent from the Middle East and North Africa.”

The World Bank’s Director of Strategy and Operations, Africa Region, Ms. Mamta Murthi noted that the youth remained the major stakeholders in the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She said:

“We focus on youth for this competition because three billion people, amounting to 43 per cent of the world’s population, are under the age of 25. The world’s youth will implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, contribute their unique solutions and shape their future and ours.”

Nigeria’s winning proposal, Kitovu, is an innovative platform and system that matches fertilizer type and quantity, improved quality seeds and other inputs to the right soil. The proposal envisions a web and mobile-based decentralised fertilizer and seedling warehousing system that matches the right inputs to different farm locations owned by small-holder farmers in distant locations to lower the cost of cultivation while ensuring increased yields.

Mr. Nwachinemere Emeka-Obewe, who initiated the winning proposal, explained that the platform sought to create market access for smallholder farmers in distant locations by using a mix of web, mobile and SMS platforms to link farmers to processors.

The platforms would also link producers with buyers, transporters and other ecosystem stakeholders, to tackle post-harvest losses and enable producers traceability while increasing farmers’ income.

 

Winners of 2017 Nigeria Customer Service Awards

Winners have emerged in the 2017 Nigeria Customer Service Awards (NCSA).

Nigeria Customer Service Awards (NCSA) now in its fifth edition, is a strategic move to applaud companies who have been dogged in proffering excellent service in their various sectors to Nigerians. This is being done by extensive research (mystery shopping). The touch point includes – company service or product process, staff attitude, ambiance, turn around time, product and services knowledge. The research covers five regions and the report was presented to the winners to see where they perform better and where they also need to work on.

Continue reading Winners of 2017 Nigeria Customer Service Awards

Samuel Monye Wins Quramo Writers’ Prize 2017

Samuel Monye, a short stories’ writer, novelist, spoken words poet and a graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, has emerged senior category winner of Quramo Writers’ Prize 2017, with his work, Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread, and has won the sum of ₦1 million cash gift.

Samuel Monye’s work is a topical issue that borders on the migrants’ perilous journey through the Sahara Desert to Libya.

Executive Publisher, Quramo Publishing, Mrs. Gbemi Shasore, said that writing is not only for professionals and that Quramo is out to help the young writers discover and sell their talents. To encourage them therefore, the publishing company focuses on their writing and reading abilities, adding, however, that through the contest, they will be able to find hidden talents.

According to Shasore, the company invited independent judges who were not affiliated to it in any way. She noted that the criteria for judging the contestants’ works were based on originality of the stories, language and presentation, stressing that no nation can be successful without improving literacy, and that Quramo intends to take the writer’s award nationwide.

Chief judge of the contest, Mrs. Aduke Gomez, said that hundreds of entries were handed over to the judges anonymously and their works were all judged without favouritism, as the judges unanimously agreed on both winners based on the quality of their writings.

Arshiya, an Indian national who enjoys reading and creative writing, and has lived in [Nigeria] for two years, emerged winner of junior category of Quramo Writers’ Prize 2017 with her story, The Forgotten. Ashyer got ₦500,000 gift.