Author: PositiveNaija

Winners Of 10th Microsoft Office Specialist Competition On Computer Fundamentals & Adobe Certification

Winners have emerged at the 10th Annual Microsoft Office Specialist Competition on Computer Fundamentals and Adobe Certification.

More than 500 students from 42 schools in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory participated in the competition that held May 26.

In Adobe certified Associate 2018, Nemieboka Alfred, 14, emerged winner of an all-expenses paid trip to the MOS World Championship in Orlando Florida as well as a cash prize of ₦50,000, while Tare Ebelo, 15, was first runner up, winning a cash prize of ₦30,000. Rufai Hanifa was the second runner up with a ₦20,000 prize money.

In the 2018 Computing Fundamentals (GS4 National category) Chidiebere Jefery, who came tops went home with a brand new laptop computer as prize, while Lott Tomvie, who was first runner-up also received a laptop computer prize.

In the MOS national competition (Power point 2013), Usman Abdullah, 16, came tops, winning an all-expenses paid trip to the MOS World Championship in Orlando Florida, in addition of a cash prize of ₦50,000, while Cue Eze Zeluilo, 17, was first runner-up with a prize money of ₦30,000. The third prize of ₦20,000 cash went to Azaiki Sinikem.

In Power Point 2013, Eze Zaluchukwuoku won an all-expenses paid trip to the MOS World Championship in Orlando Florida as well as a cash prize of ₦50,000. He was also the runner up in the Word 2013 category won by Samantha Isichei.

Both Isichei and Zaluchukwuoku won an all-expenses paid trip to the MOS World Championship in Orlando Florida as well as cash prizes of ₦50,000 each.

Aduvie International School (Jahi, Abuja) with four of the school representatives were among seven students selected to represent Nigeria at the 2018 World championship in Orlando Florida in October.

Aduvie International School also emerged winners of both the Best School Category and the Best ICT Teacher Category in this year’s competition.

Consequently, one of its ICT teachers, Timothy Osaigbovo, would accompany the team to the world championship.

The ICT teacher, Mr. Osaigbovo said on the victory at the 10th Microsoft Office Specialist Competition:

“I am proud to equip them with the necessary skills that they can use to be successful in the future.

My students were part of Team Nigeria to the 2015 and 2016 Microsoft Office World Championship held in Dallas, Texas and Orlando, Florida. I was also privileged to serve as a chaperone at both events.”

Winners Of 2018 HR People Magazine Awards

Winners have emerged at the 2018 HR People Magazine Awards held in Lagos to recognize HR champions, share knowledge and best practices towards supporting the growth of HR in Africa.

Winners Of 2018 HR People Magazine Awards

Best Training, Learning and Development 2017
StanbicIBTC Bank
Employer of Choice (Over 1000 Employees) 2017
StanbicIBTC Bank
Employer of Choice (Under 1000 Employees) 2018
Andela
HR Champion 2017
Yinka Sanni CEO Stanbic IBTC Holdings
HR Manager 2017 Winner
Ezinne Chidi Anosike- Senior Human Capital Business Partner StanbicIBTC Bank
Best Work Life Harmony 2017
Unilever
Talent Management 2017
Procter and Gamble Nigeria
Employee Engagement 2017
StanbicIBTC Bank
HR Leader 2017
Pai Gamde- Chief Human Resource Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange
Best HR Recruitment Strategy 2017
Andela

The HR People Magazine is a foremost magazine dedicated to human resources and people development profession in Nigeria and Africa at large. The HR People Magazine Awards is one of their initiatives and celebrates excellence in the HR profession as well as top people, initiatives and strategies that have excelled in various organizations.

Winners Of GPTW Best Companies To Work For 2018 Africa Awards

Winners have emerged at the 5th edition of the Best Companies to Work For 2018 Africa Awards organised by the Great Place to Work Institute (GPTW) held in Lagos. The event focuses on recognizing exemplary African organizations.

GPTW Institute is a global research firm that assesses companies, based on a trust index survey (employees’ opinion about the workplace) and culture audit (management policies and practices), with the overall objective to promote excellence in the work place. The GPTW Institute operates in 50 countries, including Nigeria.

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Recipients Of 2018 Nelson Mandela African Leadership Awards

West Africa Health Examinations Board (WAHEB) Registrar/CEO, Dr. Gladys Nchelem Ihunda, has received the 13th edition of the Nelson Mandela African Leadership Award on Administration and Humanitarian Services Per-Excellence. The event held at Central Medical Laboratory Hall, Yaba, Lagos.

African Youth Parliament (AYP) Speaker, Hon. Bamikole Oladele Babs, leading the conferment of the award, said AYP’s quest seeking outstanding humanitarianism, found all the qualities required to win the international award in Dr. Ihunda.

He said:

“We seek to find ourselves role models, outstanding and mentors in life as we found in Dr. (Mrs.) Gladys Nchelem Ihunda, an erudite peace builder, experienced woman of invaluable intellectual prowess, a proven public and  private sector leader par-excellence.”

According to Hon. Bamikole Oladele Babs, Dr. Ihunda ranked among 12 African leaders, who earlier received the international award. They included, former President of Ghana, Mr. John Agyekum Kuffor, Founder, Afe Babalola  University,  Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Aare Afe Babalola, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former World Court Judge Bola Ajibola and CEO, Peace Connect  Multinational  Companies, Freetown, Sierra-Leone, Professor Clement K. Dzidonu, etc.

Divine Oduduru Wins National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Title [2018]

Divine Oduduru has won his first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title in the men’s 200 meters final with a time of 20.28s at Hayward Field, Eugene.

Despite running from lane 8, Oduduru secured the win for his school Texas Tech, winning by a one-hundredth of a second. Florida State’s Andre Ewer was 2nd in 20.29s, while Kendal Williams finished 3rd in 20.32s

The NCAA organises national championship among tertiary institutions in the United States of America (USA).

Divine Oduduru joins other Nigerian athletes to win the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title, which includes Blessing Okagbare and Oluwatobiloba Amusan.

In the words of Divine Oduduru:

“Today when I found out I was in lane 8, I was like I have to do something because 2014 I was here for the World Juniors and I ran from lane 8 also and I qualified. So I said okay, if I could do that at the World Juniors, I could do that here too.

So that was part of my encouragement, and I encouraged myself, and I beat myself up and said okay it’s time to go. I just had to do what I have been doing at practice and I got the result.

I told God, ‘if you make me win this race, I’m going to dance a dance that shows that I’m grateful to you’.”

Divine Oduduru is the first Texas Tech athlete ever to win a 200 meters National Title.

Nigeria Wins EMEA Finance Awards [2018]

Nigeria wins awards in three categories for its securities issuance activities in the domestic and international capital markets at the EMEA Finance Awards [2018].

The EMEA Finance awards were for the best sovereign bond in Africa – $3 billion dual-tranche (10 and 30-year) Eurobonds issued in November 2017.

It also won awards for most innovative bond – $300 million diaspora bond issued in June 2017 and best naira bond – ₦100 billion seven-year inaugural Sukuk issued in September 2017.

Continue reading Nigeria Wins EMEA Finance Awards [2018]

Data Science Nigeria (DSN) Opens Nigeria’s First Artificial Intelligence Hub

Data Science Nigeria (DSN) opens Nigeria’s first-ever Artificial Intelligence Hub in the University of Lagos towards repositioning Nigeria as Africa’s leader in Analytics, Research and Data-Driven solutions.

The opening of the Hub brought together the academia, industry players, experts and the technology community, with the  focus of fostering a strong synergy, that will drive innovation to address socio-economic challenges in the nation.

In his opening remarks the Founder of Data Science Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Adekanmbi described the Artificial Intelligence Hub as a strategic intervention, that will  boost research, innovation and information technology across the country.

Mr. Adekanmbi said the hub has a clear focus on local innovations mindset to solve local social/business problems with top  priority on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Strategies to be deployed in the hub according to Adekanmbi, include; Mentoring and Masterclass sessions facilitated by  global Artificial Intelligence experts and Bootcamps.

The Artificial Intelligence Hub will also serve as a key avenue for developing the Artificial Intelligence cycle in the country, focus on deep learning and encourage talent discovery in the innovation & data analytics space.

In his brief address the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Professor O.T. Ogundipe lauded Data Science Nigeria for the AI Hub, assuring the Founder Mr. Adekanmbi and his team of the total support from the management.

Professor Ogundipe informed stakeholders that the Data Science Nigeria AI Hub initiative aligns with the University’s core focus on innovation, incubation and entrepreneurship.

The Director, Global Development Strategy, Data and Analytics of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Dr Uyi Stewart described the hub as a novel initiative for Nigeria’s advancement.

Dr. Stewart a Nigerian with 10 patents registered in the United States challenged stakeholders to explore the immense opportunities in the fourth industrial revolution, which is driven by cloud computing, digitization and artificial intelligence.

The Acting Director of the Centre for Information Technology, University of Lagos Dr. Victor Odumuyiwa believes the hub will address the gaps between the academic community and the industry.

The opening event also featured a special hackathon session on Artificial Intelligence and financial inclusion in Nigeria, facilitated by Dr. Uyi Stewart.

Data Science Nigeria is the vision of Bayo Adekanmbi, Chief Transformation Officer, MTN, a  hands-on data scientist and a doctoral researcher who uses data science algorithms to understand low-income customers. DSN has organised free bootcamps, industry summits, online free courses and provide internship/direct job placements for the Nigerian data science community.

Data Science Nigeria, a non-profit foundation, is driven by its vision to accelerate Nigeria’s development through a solution-oriented application of machine learning to solve social/business problems and galvanize data science knowledge revolution, which can position Nigeria to become the outsourcing hub for international Data Science/Advanced Analytics/Big Data projects, with opportunity to access at least 1% share of the global big data and analytics market, valued at $150 billion in 2017 ($203 billion in 2020).