Akwa United have emerged as champions of the maiden AITEO Cup after claiming a 3-2 penalty win over Niger Tornadoes at Agege Stadium, Lagos.
The AITEO Cup was formerly the Federation Cup, which Akwa United won in 2015.
It was goalless all through the 90 minutes and the game went straight to penalty kicks.
With their win, Akwa United receives ₦25 million and would also be representing Nigeria in the CAF Confederation Cup.
How Great Is Nigeria! By Igbokwe Kingsley Chukwudi
The influence which a nation exerts, the respect which it enjoys, and the prestige accorded to it on the world scene, depend on two important factors: the size of its wealth and the calibre of its leadership.
— Obafemi Awolowo
The Federal Republic of Nigeria is in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and has a total area of 923, 768 square kilometres. It shares land border with the Republic of Benin in the west, Niger and Chad in the north, and Cameroon in the east. Nigeria has 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. The country gained its independence from Britain in 1960 and the independence culminated in a full status republic in 1963. It is multi-cultural and ethnic diversified with some 250 ethnic groups and over 520 spoken languages. However, the nation has been plagued with some challenges that seem to undermine its existence and unity like Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group aligned with al-Qaeda, which built up its presence in the Northern region of the country with harsh implementation of Islamic law and has caused estimated deaths of 100,000 persons and two million displaced persons; militancy in the Southern part of the country that has wreaked havoc in the oil industry in pipeline vandalism and untold kidnaps which prompted the government to set up an Amnesty Programme in 2009 by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the creation of Niger Delta Development Commission in 2000 by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo; the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu agitating for the independence of Biafra from Nigeria, etc. Despite these challenges, Nigeria has been able to maintain democracy for 18 years and since her independence, the nation with its diversity in culture, language, tradition etc. has proved among comity of nations to be indeed great. Therefore, in the words of Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, “The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you’ve been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.” Hereunder are some of the points that show how great Nigeria is:
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L&L Foods, a peanut maker, have been named winner of the first ever Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) Group pitch contest.
The non-tech startup peanut producer emerged winner over seven other startups to emerge winner of the maiden contest and secure $15,000 in funding.
Accounteer, a cloud accounting tech startup was the first runner-up and winner of $10,000 prize. Mypaddy.ng a platform that helps students find campus accommodation got the third position and a $5,000 prize.
There were a total of 263 startups that applied to take part in the competition via Ventures for Africa platform. The number was later narrowed down to eight start-ups.
Order Paper, has emerged winner at the inaugural edition of Chemonics technology for development contest (Tech4Dev) in the “new ideas” category of the competition.
Order Paper’s ConsTrack, a mobile application, designed to engender citizens’ participation and accountability for constituency projects across Nigeria, triumphed over 37 other entries in the “new ideas” category.
Oke Epia, Executive Director of Order Paper, described the award as a testimony to the hard work and commitment their company had put in, to effectively monitor legislative activities using technology.
In his words:
“Our organisation immensely appreciates the confidence and support from USAID in implementing ConsTrack which will significantly impact the policy environment around the execution of constituency projects by legislators in Nigeria.”
Chemonics, a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) implementing partner, said the judging criteria bordered on “innovativeness of idea, replicability or scalability, and viability” of the technology under consideration.
In his acceptance speech, the leader of the team and the Chief of Party in Nigeria, Charles Abani said:
“Order Paper’s work on ConsTrack will ensure that citizens’ voices are amplified as they engage their legislative representatives in budget tracking and constituency monitoring.
This is what the SACE project is all about; empowering citizens to hold government accountable.”
Team Triarchy from Nigeria has emerged the overall winner of the 2017 Unilever Ideatrophy Challenge.
Team Triarchy had the trio of Temitope Smith, an undergraduate of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso; Uzomba Ikechukwu, from the University of Ibadan and Egbo Chidera, from University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
The Unilever Ideatrophy Challenge now in its 6th edition is in line with Unilever’s quest to groom young talents in Nigeria and Ghana with a focus on undergraduates from both countries.
Other teams that won at the competition were: Ghana’s Team Kool T as the first runner-up, Team Classic (Nigeria) as second runner-up and Team Supernova (Ghana) as third runner-up. Team Midas (Nigeria) also won the “Most Compelling Idea Award”.
According to Uzomba Ikechukwu (Team Triarchy):
“The Ideatrophy competition has been a life-changing experience. We have learnt so much about working as a team to developing viable strategies for brand positioning and growth. Winning the competition is a dream come true for us and we will put in more efforts to win at the Africa region and global leg of the competition.”
The Managing Director, Unilever Nigeria-Ghana, Yaw Nsarkoh, reiterated Unilever’s commitment to touching lives every day through its products and social missions. He appreciated the efforts of all the participants and advised them to be persistent in the drive to achieve their goals. He also encouraged them to develop their knowledge and skills to meet up with global standards.
In the words of Mr. Nsarkoh:
“Being awake to what really matters, which is the theme for this year’s edition, is about understanding the power in you to make choices that will determine your future. There are constraints in life that compel us to make choices but every choice we make will always come with consequences. What is most important however is that whatever we do, we do to the best of our ability.”
The Ideatrophy competition was designed to develop young talents, mostly undergraduates across universities in Nigeria and Ghana along the lines of personal, leadership and entrepreneurial competencies. The boot camp for the competition opened in Lagos on October 2nd, 2017 where contestants were exposed to Unilever activities in sales, marketing, finance and supply chain. The participants were assigned to mentors who are seasoned business professionals, to guide them in the development of their business plans in preparation for their presentations whilst also engaging in other recreational activities.
Veteran Nollywood actor, Kenneth Okonkwo has been awarded member, Order of Nigerian Youth mentors by the National Youth Council of Nigeria for his contributions to the concluded peace walk in Abuja.
Chikezie Emmanuel Uzuegbunam has been named one of 100 Brightest Young Minds in Africa 2017 by Brightest Young Minds (BYM).
Chikezie Emmanuel Uzuegbunam, a second-year doctoral student at the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town. After a rigorous selection process, Mr. Chikezie was selected based on his past academic and social innovation works and resume.
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