7 Nigerians Emerge CAF Standing Committee Members [2017]

Seven (7) Nigerians have emerged standing committee members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The members shall pilot the affairs of the continental governing body for the next two years.

  • NFF 1st VP Seyi Akinwunmi is member of the Committee on Youth Competitions;
  • Shehu Dikko is member of the Committee on Inter-Clubs Competitions and Club Licensing System;
  • Ibrahim Musa Gusau is member of Organizing Committee for CHAN;
  • Senator Obinna Ogba is in the Committee for Futsal and Beach Soccer;
  • Yusuf Ahmed ‘Fresh’ is member of the CAF Technical and Development Committee;
  • Dr. Peter Singabele is in the CAF Medical Committee and;
  • Chisom Mbonu is member of the Organizing Committee for Women’s Football.  

Akinwumi Adesina Receives Purdue University’s Order of the Griffin

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has received the Purdue University’s Order of the Griffin award.

The Order of the Griffin is given to individuals whose commitment and service to the university go well beyond the call of duty, and whose strength and vision have greatly benefitted the institution and the world.

The award was given to Dr. Akinwumi Adesina by the President of Purdue University, Mitchell Daniels, during a Presidential Lecture Series held at the university on October 23, 2017. Adesina, who was the special guest at the Lecture Series, earned his Master’s and doctoral degrees in Agricultural Economics from Purdue.

According to Mitchell Daniels:

“We have a lot of recognitions here at Purdue and lots of ways to honour people who do extraordinary things. The single highest of these, which has been given fewer than 50 times in history, is called the Griffin Award, and those of us who huddled on this subject took no time at all to decide that if anyone ever merited the Griffin Award from Purdue University, it’s you, Dr. Adesina. Here it is, and thank you.”

Answering questions at the Presidential Lecture Series, the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate and President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina emphasized the need to enshrine e-governance in Africa. He described e-governance as essential for citizen participation and transparency.

In his words:

“It is important to build very strong institutions, and also important to have strong economic management to make sure that the countries can have robust growth.  Without growth you can’t distribute anything.

I think that it is a very important area that we need to deal with. At the end of the day, when you have insecurity, it is the women and children who suffer the most. Africa has a rising refugee population as a result of insecurity in many of our countries.

We also have a lot of problems from malnutrition because of a lack of food. To have development or to have, let me say, a green revolution that we’re talking about, we have to sow the seeds on ridges of peace.”

Winners of 2017 BusinessDay Banking Awards

Winners have emerged in the 2017 BusinessDay Banking Awards held in Lagos.

The management of BusinessDay newspapers, led by the Publisher, Mr. Frank Aigbogun, said agencies, regulators, microfinance banks, deposit money banks, investment and merchant banks that were recipients this year were rewarded because they made excellence and dedication to quality delivery the core of their operations in 2016 financial year.

The 2017 BusinessDay Award Committee, which was made up of eminent industry analysts as well as the team from BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU), meticulously examined the audited annual reports and investors’ presentations of banks to come up with the nominees and winners.

Continue reading Winners of 2017 BusinessDay Banking Awards

Winners of the 4th Awa Ibrahim Junior Golf Open Championships

Winners have emerged in the 4th Awa Ibrahim Junior Golf Open Championships at the Ikeja Golf Club.

 The annual three-day competition, aimed at discovering young golfers aged 15 and below, was used to mark golf enthusiast, Alhaji Awa Ibrahim’s birthday on Oct. 19 [2017].

George Inalegwu of St. David Mark Golf Academy and Country Club, Akpegede, Benue, won the grand prize in the U-16 male category. Friday Peters emerged second place winner.

For the U-10 to U-13 category, Emmanuel Aleji from St. David Mark Golf Academy is the champion, while Okoko Godman from the same academy emerged second.

In the U-9 category, Weng Davou of St. David Mark Golf Academy took the first prize, while from the same academy, Godwin Okoko emerged the first runner-up.

In the Girls U-16, Georgia Oboh from Ikoyi Golf Club emerged the overall winner. Also, in the U-13 to U-16 category, Naisha Nandal from Ikoyi Golf Club came out tops, while in U-9 and below, Faith Bawa took the first prize.

The male U-16 champion, George Inalegwu, said the win was a reward from his hard work while preparing for the competition, adding that it had been his dream to be a champion in golf.

In his words:

“I always want to play golf and I don’t get tired of it at all. We have a good academy where we are trained to become champions.

I missed last year’s competition because I was in school and my school calendar of event did not permit me, but this year, I made a promise to do all it takes to win.

This is my sixth year playing golf and I thank God I am able to make something out of it.

I also want to thank the organisers of Awa Ibrahim Junior Golf Championships for giving us this platform to showcase our talents.”

Also, according to the best girl for the tournament, U.K. based Georgia Oboh said:

“From my experience, the sport is still growing in Nigeria, and I don’t expect someone playing for just three years to be at my level.

I have been playing golf about 10 years ago now, about all my life playing golf. The main thing is to ensure that more children are encouraged to play golf.”

The sponsor of the championships, Dr. Awa Ibrahim, urged the young golfers to take their studies seriously as it was the only way to the full realisation of their life pursuits.

According to Dr. Awa Ibrahim:

“I will not like the case whereby you will drop out of school playing golf and that is the reason the cash price is attached to your scholarships.

I want to see you fulfil your potential by coming out tops in your studies, so we have also increased the cash price to ₦200,000.

Those that are not captured in the scholarship scheme are third place winners but now they are also to receive ₦50,000 in scholarships which will be paid directly to their school accounts. Other winners in the first day but unable to win in the overall medals table will also have ₦50,000 in scholarships now.’’

How Great Is Nigeria! By Jonathan Mairiga

How Great Is Nigeria! By Jonathan Mairiga

All over the world, Nigeria as a country has caught the attention of nations and there seem to be a secret investigative panel set up to uncover the mystery behind her greatness. Nigerians are setting the pace and are becoming the standard by which others measure themselves. This is very factual. Nigeria in itself is one of the endowments of Africa. Certainly, no one can abdicate the position in which God Almighty has placed (Albert & Danjibo, 2012).

Nigeria my country is the largest single unit in Africa.  It is a West African country that borders the Chad republic and Niger on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the south, Benin republic on the west, and Cameroon on the east. With a population of over 174 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s most populated country, the largest black nation, as well as the 7th most populated in the entire world. This means for every seven Africans, one is a Nigerian and one out of every five persons of African origin is a Nigerian. It is not a number thing. Put it correctly; Nigeria is simply blessed and great.   You will never feel alone in a country with this kind of distinct population. Nigerians are all around the globe inscribing their names on the map of every continent (Isawa, 2000)

Continue reading How Great Is Nigeria! By Jonathan Mairiga

Dr. Joe Abah Appointed DAI Nigeria Country Director [2017]

Dr. Joe Abah has been appointed as the Country Director for Nigeria by Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) Global.

Originally trained as a barrister in Nigeria, Dr. Joe Abah gained extensive experience in the governance sector, working on public sector reform programs for the U.K. Prime Minister’s Office. He has spent more than 10 years managing governance programs in Nigeria for the U.K. Department for International Development, including on the DAI-led State Partnership for Accountability Responsiveness and Capability project.

From 2013 to 2017, Joe took a post with the Government of Nigeria as Head of the Bureau for Public Sector Reform. He has now returned to DAI to serve as Country Director for Nigeria, where he provides technical and strategic inputs to DAI’s existing portfolio of projects, in addition to supporting business development initiatives.

  • Ph.D., Maastricht University, The Netherlands
  • M.A., business law, London Guildhall University, United Kingdom
  • Bachelor of Laws, law, University of Calabar, Nigeria

DAI, led the over seven year State Partnership for Accountability Responsiveness and Capability (SPARC) project. The project focused on supporting responsive policy formulation and encourage performance-focused public service in Nigeria by helping state governments to improve revenue collection, reduce budgetary waste, and implement strategies for locally led planning.

The project was succeeded in 2016 by Accountable, Responsive, and Capable Government (ARC) program, which is billed to elapse in 2020.

In implementing ARC, DAI says it will take a collective action approach to reducing corruption and strengthening public accountability by working with stakeholders both inside and outside of government.

DAI’s mission is to make a lasting difference in the world by helping people improve their lives. DAI envision a world in which communities and societies become more prosperous, fairer and better governed, safer, healthier, and environmentally more sustainable.

NATCA Endorse Air Peace As Best Domestic Airline of the Year 2016/2017

The Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (NATCA) have endorsed Air Peace as the Best Domestic Airline of the Year 2016/2017.

The airline had recently emerged the winner of Interswitch’s ‘Payment Innovation Driver, Aviation’ award 2017.

Presenting the Best Domestic Airline of the Year award to Air Peace at the opening session of the 46th Annual General Meeting/Conference of NACTA in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the group stated:

“[Air Peace] is consistently transforming to being the largest domestic airline in Nigeria within the very short period of time it came on board. While other notable airlines and businesses are closing down under the harsh economic conditions, Air Peace keeps emerging and giving hope to other investors that Nigeria is still an investment destination. While others are reducing their workforce, Air Peace keeps opening new destinations and providing more connectivity and employment to Nigerians.”

Receiving the award, Air Peace gave credit to its staff for toiling to sustain the high quality of its flight operations. The airline, which was represented by its Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah, commended NATCA for prioritising merit and guarding the integrity of its awards.

Air Peace described the award from NATCA as special, coming from a critical segment of aviation workers with the capacity to easily appraise the strengths and weaknesses of airlines in the country.

The carrier, which recently acquired two B777, six ERJ145 and a couple of B737 aircraft to bring its fleet size to about 24, assured that its expansion to the West Coast of Africa and international destinations, including Dubai, London, Guangzhou-China, Atlanta, Mumbai and Johannesburg, would ensure Nigeria did not continue to lose out in the open skies regime in the global aviation industry.