Author: PositiveNaija

Winners Of 1st Aiteo Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Awards

Winners have emerged at the 1st Aiteo Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) awards held in Lagos.

In attendance were FIFA President, Gianni Infantino and his CAF counterpart Ahmad Ahmad, Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and Francis Peters, the Deputy Managing Director, Aiteo Group.

Others were ex-internationals, Samson Siasia, Christian Chukwu, Wilson Oruma, Femi Opabunmi, Mutiu Adepoju, Segun Odegbami, Daniel Amokachi, Mutiu Adepoju, Uche Okechukwu, Garba Lawal, Austin Okocha, Austine Eguaveon, among others.

Continue reading Winners Of 1st Aiteo Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Awards

Bashir Dodo Develops New Technique For Identifying And Diagnosing Damage To The Human Retina

Bashir Dodo, a student at the Brunel University, London, has developed a new technique for identifying and diagnosing damage to the human retina.

The technique described by the Press Office of the university is an algorithm for Optical Coherence Tomography equipment, which could automatically segment images of the retina into seven distinct layers.

Bashir Dodo, currently a doctoral student at the institution’s Department of Computer Science, demonstrated the new algorithm at the BIOIMAGING 2018 Conference recently held in Portugal and was rewarded with the ‘Best Student Paper’ Award at the event.

Dodo’s work seemed to have been inspired by the psychological concept of similarity, used the ideas of continuity and discontinuity to develop the algorithm.

The university expressed the hope that apart from improving the accuracy and speed of diagnosis, the technique would help to save the sight of patients by identifying damage earlier.

According to Bashir Dodo:

“Layer segmentation is one of the early processes of OCT retina image analysis, and already plays an important role in clinics.

For example, the thickness profile of the Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer – which can be calculated directly from the segment layer – is used in the diagnosis of glaucoma, which is one of the most common causes of sight loss worldwide.

Automatically segmenting the layers could provide critical information for abnormality detection by comparing them to the average population, and monitoring the progress of disease against previous scans.”

While doctors are able to identify the layers manually from OCT images, Dodo’s new technique would automatically segment images of the retina, thereby allowing specialists to spot abnormalities quicker and better track the progress of medication.

Iliya Pam & Deborah Pam Win 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon

Iliya Pam and Deborah Pam have emerged first place winners in the Nigerian male and female category respectively at the 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon.

With increase of ₦2 million in the 2018 edition, Iliya Pam and Deborah Pam were rewarded with ₦3 million each.

In the words of Deborah Pam:

“I was not expecting this result because I prepared well ahead at least to improve on my personal best which is few minutes better than what I have today.

When I started full marathon, I ran 3:15 and in Ibadan I ran 2:30 and later 2:49 which is a slight improvement. For the race today, I was hoping to perform better which I did until about 21 Km when I started to feel pains in my leg, then I knew I had injury.

The injury actually slowed down my pace and gradually some of the Ethiopians ran past me, I only struggled to beat the last tape.’’

The Nigerian Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung also gave ₦500,000 each to Iliya Pam and Deborah Pam while he gave ₦100,000 each two sisters Damilola and Bimpe Oluwaseyi, who both completed the 10 km race.

Kenyan athletes dominated the male category as Kiprotich Kiroi, Ronny Kiboss and Peter Benjamin emerged in first, second and third place winners, taking home $50,000, $40,000 and $30,000 respectively.

Ethiopian athletes Ayelu Hordofa, Tigist Girma and Guta Herpha also swept the female category, emerging first, second and third respectively.

A total of 165,000 athletes selected from across the continent battled for prizes at the 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon. Over 40,000 participants took part in the 10 kilometre family race, as an impressive number of 125,000 athletes, including notable international marathoners, also contested for the $50,000 prize money in the 42 km-long race. The marathon kicked off at the National Stadium, Surulere, while the 10 km race started at the Lekki Roundabout, Ikoyi-Lekki Link Bridge.

Speaking before the event, the Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Dr. Herbert Wigwe, emphasized the bank’s immense pride as a title sponsor of the Lagos Marathon, stating:

“Our approach to advancing Nigeria’s blossoming drive for health and fitness, through the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, also reflects our capacity to create value for stakeholders. We have made it our responsibility to encourage the general public in the adoption of lifestyles that promote good health and well-being,”

Winners Of Third Observers Nigeria 2018 Dividend Payment Awards

The Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, has emerged the best company in the maiden edition of Dividend Payment Awards organised by Third Observers Nigeria Limited in Lagos.

The company was given the Gold Award for the regular payment of dividends to its shareholders spanning 36 years.

In the Silver Award category, the winning companies are Total Nigeria Plc, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Berger Paints Nigeria Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

The four companies were awarded silver for their consistency in paying dividends to their shareholders in the last 20 years.

The Bronze Award was won by Access Bank Plc, Learn Africa Plc, AG Leventis Nigeria Plc and May & Baker Nigeria Plc, having paid their shareholders for a minimum of 10 years.

Mr. Sunday Nwosu, the Vice Chairman, Third Observer Nigeria Ltd., said the purpose of the award was to encourage more companies to pay their shareholders and improve investments in the stock market.

According to Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos and the Chairman of the event:

“We need to have more investors to invest in the capital market, we can no longer depend on crude oil money again.

I believe with more companies listed in the stock market, we can turn around the fortune of our country and minimise our dependence on crude oil.

I do appreciate what is happening in the capital market presently and it is an opportunity for investors to invest in it.

I am using this opportunity to commend the Third Observers Nigeria for rewarding companies that are paying their shareholders dividends, this will encourage more companies to join the league.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dividend Payment Awards for Nigeria’s Listed Companies is endorsed by the Nigerian Capital Market (NCM) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Nigeria Emerge Overall Champion Of The 5th African Wrestling Championship

Nigeria emerged the overall champion of the five-day 5th African Wrestling Championship at the Alfred Diete Spiff Sports Complex in Port Harcourt.

The five-day competition witnessed wrestlers from African countries contesting for trophies in the Greco-Roman and Free Style models.

Continue reading Nigeria Emerge Overall Champion Of The 5th African Wrestling Championship

NASENI Wins Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance and Change 2018 Best Agency In Nigeria

Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance and Change in their recent study and evaluation rated the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) as the best agency in Nigeria.

NASENI emerged with the honor under the leadership of Professor (Engr.) Mohammed Sani Haruna as the best performing agency both in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and in the country.

Continue reading NASENI Wins Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance and Change 2018 Best Agency In Nigeria

Thor Explorations Limited Wins 2018 Investment Battlefield Award

Thor Explorations Limited (also known as Segilola), a gold mining company operating in Osun State, Nigeria has emerged winner of the 2018 Investment Battlefield award for their gold exploration project in Osun State.

Thor Explorations Limited was selected as the most promising of the 22 junior mining companies that participated in the battlefield, after beating Algold Resources, a Mauritanian gold explorer company.

The CEO of Thor Explorations Limited, Segun Lawson, accepted the Investment Battlefield award after pitching the project to a panel of judges made up of leading analysts and investors, in Cape Town, South Africa.

The award came just as Nigeria was named among the top ten mining designations for 2019.

The company, which has considerable interest in some West African countries is also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Thor’s flagship asset is its 100 percent owned Segilola Gold Project in Osun State.

Thor has been developing the Segilola Gold Project since it acquired it 15 months ago and aims to break ground this year by commencing construction.

The Segilola Gold Project was presented by Thor to a number of investor panels at the 2018 Mining Indaba in the extremely competitive Investor Battlefield Competition, which ran over the course of three days. Thor and Segilola emerged victorious over all participants with Segilola being declared the “Best Emerging Mining Project in Africa”.

In the words of Segun Lawson:

“The economic robustness of the project, the progressive Mining Code of Nigeria and the regulatory framework of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development as well as the potential to increase its size through further exploration were the key critical factors considered by the panel.”

General Manager, Global Business Report, Alice Pascoletti, said Nigeria’s inclusion among the top mining destinations for 2019, was premised on factors such as legal and regulatory framework, ease of doing business, risk profile as well as experiences of operators in the country.

Thor’s CEO, Segun Lawson, 39, a geologist who was educated in the United Kingdom, had a brief stint in investment banking before venturing into mining, when he founded the company some eight years ago.

Thor Explorations currently employs 52 people in three West African countries, but Lawson said this would rise to about 250 once production starts at the Segilola Gold project, which is its flagship.