PositiveNaija, Author at PositiveNaija

Access Bank & Herbert Wigwe Win 2018 Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards

Access Bank Plc and its Group Managing Director/CEO, Herbert Wigwe receive honours at the 2018 Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards in Germany.

Access Bank received the Karlsruhe award for “Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement” in recognition of the bank’s impressive success in holistically embedding sustainability across all aspects of operations.

This was the third consecutive win for the bank.

Access Bank Group Managing Director/CEO, Herbert Wigwe, was also honoured for his remarkable leadership and commitment to sustainable development with the “Sustainable Leader of the Year for Africa” award.

The award was presented in recognition of Wigwe’s exceptional leadership in driving business transformation through incorporating social, environmental and economic values in the bank’s operations.

According to Herbert Wigwe:

“We are honoured to receive this level of recognition.

At Access Bank, sustainability is a part of our DNA and we promise to continue to be the face of social, economic and environmental developments that facilitates an inclusive and vibrant economy, business transformations and increase our shareholders value for tomorrow.”

In attendance at the awards ceremony were CEOs of leading global financial institutions, senior executives, top German government officials, policy makers, regulators and key sustainability stakeholders.

This award also highlighted the bank’s considerable impact in applying global best practices, pioneering and setting standards to foster sustainable development in Africa—Access Bank began its sustainability journey in 2008 and has led various initiatives in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Winners Of 2018 Clean Energy Innovation Challenge

Aspire, Hydrolite, Hydrotriciton and ZeroElectric have emerged winners of the 2018 Clean Energy Innovation Challenge – selected at the Co Creation Hub HQ in Yaba, Lagos after a rigorous selection process, challenging boot camp and engaging pitch competition.

The Clean Energy Innovation Challenge, with the aim of unearthing and supporting renewable energy innovators in Nigeria, awarded startup capital of $10,000 each to the four early stage energy companies.

Continue reading Winners Of 2018 Clean Energy Innovation Challenge

PositiveNaija Monthly Newsletter July 2018

PDF download: PositiveNaija Newsletter July 2018

Notably, we have sought out to deduce the geographic locations (within Nigeria or abroad), which the positive/success news/updates recorded are being achieved. In other words, our aim is to be able to tell objectively, how conducive/enduring the environments are to what Nigeria/Nigerians are achieving. To do this, we determined the locations on the basis of where exactly the achievement, progress, success, etc. was done or achieved as well as will be done or achieved and not based on where an award/recognition was or is presented.

It is important to mention that most achievements by Nigeria/Nigerians achieved abroad should not be relegated as being ‘superior’ or achieved out of a ‘privileged comfortable environment’ as most of these achievements are usually first in recognition of what has been done or attained within Nigeria and as such requiring an international/global export.

Recommendations from the PositiveNaija Monthly Newsletter July 2018:

Urgent efforts are needed in the areas of security and rule of law; social values (truth, love and justice); and energy and power.
Nigerians should be more observant towards the progress, development and excellence made in/by the country and fellow citizens.
The right conditions (hinged on truth) for the vivid manifestations of these achievements and subsequent potentials are needed.
Existing implementation frameworks should be critically reviewed with an indigenous approach.
Strategic planning and an effective monitoring system with a focus on sustainability.
Better coordination among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

We hope that you find these assessments useful, inspiring and educative. We will also be glad to hear from you. Thank you!

3 Nigerians Win Gold At The 2018 World Adolescent Robotic Competition

Three Nigerian students have won gold for proper documentation of processes on engineering note at the 2018 World Adolescent Robotic Competition in China.

The students – Tawakalitu Giwa, Oluwaseun Omotayo and Ayomide Adetunji – also won the “Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli’ Award for Courageous Achievement at the event organised by the China Association of Science and Technology.

The five-day event competition’s challenge was on Water Problem and the proper documentation of processes on engineering note was one of the 10 award categories in the competition.

The students – two females and a male from Lagos State schools – were part of the Team Nigeria to the FIRST Global Robotic Olympics (GRO) in Washington DC in 2017. They were selected for the China competition based on their performances at the FIRST GRO.

The team was sponsored by Aramex and Doculand Nig.

According to the National Coordinator of the competition, Remi Willoughby:

“Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli Award for Courageous Achievement is awarded to the team that exhibits a `can-do’ attitude throughout the challenge even under difficult circumstances, or when things do not go as planned.

It is bestowed on the team that can best demonstrate resilience and perseverance in the face of great difficulty.

This award looks at how teams embody professionalism, face challenges they encounter and how they overcome them.”

Willoughby also stated that three other student who represented Nigeria at the 2018 Pan African Robotic Competition in Senegal emerged second in robotics performance.

The Managing Director of Aramex and Doculand Nig., Faisal Jarmakani, had at a press conference in Lagos announced that five other students would represent Nigeria at the next edition of the annual FIRST GRO scheduled for Mexico from August 13 to August 19.

He listed the students as Anjolaoluwa Olowo, Iroagachinachi Udodirim, Samuel Mbah, Tochukwu Anyigbo and Daberechi Onyeacholem.

In the words of Faisal Jarmakani on the 2018 World Adolescent Robotic Competition:

“The 2018 challenge in Mexico will be on “Energy Impact”. Competitors will be expected to solve problems related to energy with the use of robotics.

Without any doubts, we will soon join other countries of the world where science and technology have become the backbone of economic development.”

Winners Of 2018 Africa Digital Awards (ADA)

Winners have emerged at the 2018 Africa Digital Awards (ADA), organized by the ICTWatch Network , which held in Lagos.

Digital Encode won two awards: Most Outstanding and the Most Innovative Cybersecurity Company of the Year 2018.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) was awarded the ‘Most Outstanding Government Agency of the Year’.

NIGCOMSAT Limited and Abimbola Alale (MD/CEO of NIGCOMSAT) respectively received; Most Outstanding Government Agency and ICT Woman of the Year.

Medallion Communications won two awards. The two awards are ‘Information Communications Technology Enterprenuer of the Year 2018’, which goes to the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Ikechukwu Nnamani and the ‘Information Communications Technology ClearingHouse of the Year 2018’, which goes to Medallion Communications Limited.

Receiving the awards on behalf of Medallion Communications Limited at the event that was done concurrently with the 2018 Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum at the Oriental Hotel, Mr. Nnamani said he is excited to be recognised for the efforts Medallion has made to contribute to the growth of the Nigerian telecom industry.

The awards, which he said are dedicated to the staff of Medallion for their resilience and innovative prowess in growing the company to where it is, will spur him and other staff to do more, saying to whom much is given, much is expected.

According to Tayo Adewusi, the award Coordinator, the awards is an outcome of a meticulous assessment by an Independent Screening Committee (ISC) of ADA, where the awardees were nominated.

Medallion Communications maintains over 83 service providers connected to its Lagos infrastructure including Mobile Service Providers, LTE Operators, Fixed Line Operators, Metro Fiber Service Providers, Long Distance service providers, VAS Providers, ISPs, OTT Operators, and major critical national infrastructure like the Nigerian Internet Exchange as well as the Nigerian Internet Registration Agency (Nira) – the managers of the .ng domain name for Nigeria.

The Africa Digital Awards (ADA), is an annual event since 2010. The award, which is part of Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum was coined out to appreciate industry’s stakeholders who have leveraged the potent power of Information and Communications Technology to scale in their various businesses.

Obeahon Ohiwerei & Keystone Bank Win 2018 European Global Banking & Finance Awards

Keystone Bank Limited and Obeahon Ohiwerei have been awarded the Africa’s Most Innovative Bank of the Year, 2018 and Banking CEO in Africa 2018 respectively at the European Global Banking & Finance Awards in London.

Organized by the European Global, UK, the European Global Banking & Finance Awards reflect the innovation, achievement, strategy, progressive and inspirational changes taking place within the Global Financial community.

The awards were created to recognize companies of all sizes which are prominent in particular areas of expertise and excellence within the financial sector in areas such as Europe, Latin America, Africa, MENA, Asia and Central Eastern Europe.

According to the organizers:

“The aim of the award is to highlight industry wide excellence within the global banking community.

Recipients of the European Magazine’s Banking and Finance Awards are scrupulously selected based on thorough interviews specially designed according to subscribers’ feedback.

Companies are nominated according to their performance, product offerings, innovative business solutions, work environment / values, and marketing strategies.

In this year’s edition, Keystone Bank and its CEO [Obeahon Ohiwerei] stood tall in the African continent. Therefore, we are recognizing the institution and the bank CEO for the innovative Mobile Banking App and other services introduced by the bank in recent times, targeted towards meeting customer needs.”

The judging panel of the award considered excellent leadership skills, enhanced organizational image and innovation. Since becoming Managing Director of the lender, Obeahon Ohiwerei has spearheaded a number of growth initiatives which has placed the bank on upward trajectory.

Receiving the awards, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Keystone Bank Limited, Mr. Obeahon Ohiwerei said:

“We are honoured to win the ‘Africa’s Most Innovative Bank’ award and to be recognized as the ‘Best Banking CEO’ in Africa.

These awards mark another milestone for Keystone Bank and is a testament of the diligent execution of the bank’s strategic initiatives on customer service.

Keystone Bank bank will continue to leverage its local knowledge, global exposure as well as presence to drive positive change in Africa, working actively with the government, local businesses, regulators and other stakeholders in deepening financial services.

We remain committed to maximizing shareholders’ value and delivering superior and sustainable return, guided by our founding values of Professionalism, Passion, Integrity, Team Spirit, Innovation, Service Excellence, Effective Corporate Governance and Entrepreneurship.”

Yushau Abdulhameed Shuaib & Nigerian Prisons Service Win 2018 Golden World Awards (GWA)

Yushau Abdulhameed Shuaib and Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) have won 2018 Golden World Awards (GWA) in the respective categories of Publications and Crisis Management.

The Golden World Awards (GWA) instituted by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), honoured Yushau Abdulhameed Shuaib for his work on “Boko Haram Media War” with Image Merchants Promotion being the PR Agency.

The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) was honoured for a media campaign on Prison Decongestion and the plight of Awaiting Trial Inmates (ATI) with Image Merchants Promotion being the PR Agency.

The award ceremony takes place in Barcelona, Spain in October 2018.

The NPS’ campaign which was executed by award-winning Image Merchants Promotion Limited, publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential respectively, created massive public awareness for mass-mobilization and positive response from the concerned stakeholders who deployed legal and constitutional procedures to address the challenges of the alarming statistics of ATI.

The NPS is the first security agency in Africa to have won the award on Crisis Management.

The Prison service has previously won awards for Superior Achievement in Branding and Engagement (SABRE) hosted by the African Public Relations Association (APRA) in Botswana. It received Public Education Award and Certificate of Excellence on Public Sector.

The prison decongestion campaign was listed among the finalists after the first round of online adjudicating for the 2018 IPRA GWA nominees before the judges converged on Belgium to select the final winners.

The campaign was approved by the Controller General of Prison, Ahmed Ja’afaru. With support from the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), some of the campaign strategies included Facility Tours of Prisons, Media Relations, Training of Prisons Public Relations Officers and Stakeholders Engagements. The outcomes included the enhanced capacity of PR Officers with fair media coverage, editorial mentions and robust Stakeholders’ Participation. Between January to December 2017, the campaigns were successful as the statistics of the ATI dropped to 66% by the end (December) 2017. Factors responsible for the awaiting trial inmates in Nigeria include but not limited to high remand in custody, lack of speedy trials, overuse of imprisonment rather than fine on lesser offences by the courts, abuse of arrest powers and bail conditions by the police.

The annual IPRA Golden World Awards (GWA) initiative, established in 1990, recognizes excellence in public relations practice worldwide in a variety of categories. Recipients of the award take pride in the recognition granted their entries as meeting international standards of excellence in public relations. An overall IPRA Grand Prix for Excellence is presented each year to the entry judged as representing the highest standards that year.