Nigeria Emerge 2015 Afrobasket Champions

Nigeria beat Angola 74-65 in the final of the 2015 AfroBasket competition in Rades, Tunisia to claim their first-ever continental championship.

In being crowned African champions of the 2015 AfroBasket competition, the Nigerians also qualified for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Meanwhile, second-place Angola joined third and fourth-place Tunisia and Senegal in booking their places for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs).

Angola went into the final looking to win a 12th African title and led early on, before Nigeria’s rotation made the difference as they turned the score around in the second quarter and once they took the lead, they held on to it, going up by as many as 19 points.

Chamberlain Oguchi hit a trifecta of three-pointers on his way to a game-high 19 points for Nigeria, with Olaseni Lawal finished with a dozen. Carlos Morais led the Angolans with 15 points while Yanick Moreira added 13. Click here for the full game report.

Oguchi was rewarded for his impressive tournament and huge individual performance in the Final by receiving the Most Valuable Player award, presented by Tissot.

The 29-year-old headlined the All-Star Five, which also included his Nigeria team-mate Al-Farouq Aminu, Morais of Angola, Tunisia’s Makram Ben Romdhane and Gorgui Dieng of Senegal.

In the words of Chamberlain Oguchi:

“It’s the best moment of my life, to be able to come here after missing the last AfroBasket, to be able to come here and do this with my brothers, it feels amazing.

I’m happy to be able to share this moment with them and for me personally, it’s just really great.”

Tunisia bounced back from their Semi-Final defeat to Angola on Saturday to beat Senegal 82-73 in Sunday’s Third-Place Game. Michael Roll made 4 of his 8 three-point attempts to lead all scorers with 25 points as the tournament hosts – despite playing without their star Salah Mejri – led for most of the contest and gave their fans something to cheer about. Click here for the full game report.

In the Classification Games, Egypt edged out Algeria 69-63 to finish fifth, Mali came in seventh after defeating Gabon 94-82, Cameroon cruised past Cape Verde 88-66 for ninth place, Mozambique topped Cote d’Ivoire 70-63 for 11th place, Morocco saw off Central African Republic (CAF) 86-74 for 13th place and Uganda defeated Zimbabwe 72-64 for 15th place. Chamberlain Oguchi (198-G/F-86, college: Illinois St., agency: Octagon Europe).

ABU Students Create Eco-Marathon Cars [2015]

Students of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria at the weekend unveiled two cars that were constructed as an environment friendly specially for this year’s ‘Shell Eco Marathon Competition’.

ACP Olabisi Alofe Kolawole Appointed First Female Public Relations Officer Of The Nigerian Police

Acting ACP Olabisi Alofe Kolawole has been appointed by the Inspector General of Police, IGP Solomon E. Arase, fdc, NPM as the first female public relations officer of the Nigerian Police.

This appointment is geared towards harnessing the enormous potentials among Nigerian female Police officers.

Ag. ACP Olabisi Alofe Kolawole who holds a first degree in law, from Ogun State University and a Masters degree in Police Leadership and management from University of Leicester, United Kingdom replaces CP Emmanuel Ojukwu who is now the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Command.

The new FPRO has served in various capacities both at national and international level. She was the Force Gender Adviser before her recent posting.

NDPR Wins Global Award Over Reduction Of Gas Flare [2015]

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has commended Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Limited (NDPR), an indigenous petroleum company for the significant reduction of gas flaring in its facility.

The company won the 2015 Global Gas Flare Reduction Excellence Award by the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership.

Continue reading NDPR Wins Global Award Over Reduction Of Gas Flare [2015]

The Brookings’ 2015 Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) Report

The Brookings’ 2015 Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) report, which evaluates access to and usage of affordable financial services across 21 countries, has rated efforts by Nigeria to drive financial inclusion high. According to the report by the Center for Technology Innovation, with a total of 72 percent points.

Nigeria achieved a number nine ranking for the country’s overall financial inclusion efforts. The report analysed the financial inclusion landscape in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, and Zambia. Countries received scores and rankings based on 33 indicators spanning four dimensions: country commitment, mobile capacity, regulatory environment, and adoption.