Sunday Oliseh’s Fortuna Sittard Record Historic Win [2017]

Sunday Oliseh continues to set and break records with his Dutch club, Fortuna Sittard as the team triumphed with its biggest away win since it was founded almost 50 years ago.

The win was recorded against Telstar away from home 6-0.

According to the former Super Eagles Coach:

“Join me in praising God for his blessings and Mercies… Experienced my most emphatic professional away win as coach 0-6 vs. erstwhile unbeaten Telstar @FortunaSittard yesterday. Though my players, coaching staff and fans gave their all, God’s handprints were everywhere to see on this record-breaking victory. This is Fortuna Sittard’s highest scoring away victory in its history.”

A few weeks back, Sunday Oliseh became the first coach ever, in the history of Fortuna Sittard to win 6 consecutive home games.

The former Nigeria captain has now extended that to eight consecutive wins.

With this latest 6-0 win recorded on Friday, Fortuna Sittard have moved up to second place with 16 points from seven games, one point adrift of leaders Jong Ajax who beat FC Oss 3-0 away from home.

Fortuna Sittard will face NEC at home in their next game on the 6th of October.

School for the Gifted Wins 7th Korea-Nigeria Quiz

The School for the Gifted, Gwagwalada in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has emerged winner of the 7th Korea-Nigeria quiz for secondary schools.

The competition was organised by the Korean Cultural Centre (KCC) in Nigeria and the FCT Secondary Education Board.

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Transcorp Hilton Abuja Wins Double Seven Stars Hospitality Awards 2017

Transcorp Hilton Abuja has received the Signum Virtutis (Seal of Excellence) in the Hotels and Resorts Category of the 2017 Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards. It is the second of such award, having received similar award in 2016.

The Award Gala ceremony took place at the most exclusive private members country club in Greece, the Ecali Club, on Saturday, September 23, 2017 at the 5th anniversary of the award body.

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Nigeria Elected Vice President of UNWTO General Assembly [2017]

Nigeria has been elected Vice President of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly [2017].

Nigeria, represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was elected by acclamation to represent Africa, alongside Cape Verde, at the 22nd General Assembly of the UN body, which opened in Chengdu, China. China was elected President of the Assembly.

Nigeria’s election followed the country’s unopposed nomination by the UNWTO Commission on Africa (CAF), which met a day earlier.

In receiving the honour, the Minister said:

”To be called upon to serve as a Vice President of the General Assembly of the UNWTO is a very big honour to Nigeria.

It has proven one thing, that in the last two years, we have succeeded in pushing tourism and the Creative Industry as a whole from the back burner to the front burner. From a side issue to the main issue. This has also been noticed by the global community and I feel highly gratified by it.”

Nigeria, which will serve on the United Nations World Tourism Organization General Assembly until 2019, will host the 61st edition of the UNWTO CAF Meeting in Abuja 4th-6th June 2018.

Nigeria Wins 2017 Refugees World Cup Title

Nigeria has won the fourth Refugees World Cup for the second time in São Paulo, Brazil defeating Morocco 9-4.

The annual knock-out tournament, in which 16 teams took part, kicked off in the Brazilian city on 16 September and was played on three days over a nine-day period at three locations.

Brazil has opened its doors to refugees from all countries, and football has become the universal language that brings them together.

The competition, organized by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), in partnership with the non-governmental organizations África do Coração, Cáritas São Paulo and SESC-SP, brought together some 250 players recruited from among Brazil’s refugee community. They played in their home countries’ national colours.

Brazil hosts more than 9,500 refugees from 82 countries. The Refugees World Cup is designed to help them integrate into their new country.

According to Syria’s coach, Abdulbaset Jarour:

“The Cup is all about integration. It’s about uniting people, no matter their race or religion. We want to show Brazilians we are good people.”

According to Maria Beatriz Nogueira, head of the UNHCR office in São Paulo:

“Brazil is known as football country. But we want to show that there are a lot of other football countries too. This is a gesture to Brazil from the refugees they’ve welcomed to show that they want to integrate and that they really do speak the same language.”

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina Becomes Grand Officer in the Order of Merit of the Republic of Niger [2017]

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has been elevated to the rank of Grand Officer in the Order of Merit of the Republic of Niger on behalf of the President of the Republic, Issoufou Mahamadou, during a gala dinner hosted by Nigerien Prime Minister Brigi Rafini at the Gaweye Hotel in Niger’s capital, Niamey.

The award was bestowed on Dr. Akinwumi Adesina during a two-day official visit to the Sahelian country. The award was in recognition of Adesina’s visible and tireless commitment to the rapid economic development of the African continent through the implementation of the Bank’s priorities as set out in the High 5s: Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of life of the people of Africa.

In the words of Dr. Akinwumi:

“I am both surprised and very touched by the honor you have given me. I ask you to convey to his Excellency the President of the Republic my deepest thanks.

The African Development Bank will continue to finance many other projects in Niger, particularly in agriculture and energy.”

Since December 17, 1970, the African Development Bank has been actively involved with Niger in a variety of projects, with a total funding amounting to US $1.4 billion as of August 31, 2017, (nearly 840 billion CFA francs) largely for rural development.

The Bank’s active portfolio in Niger comprises 15 projects totaling US $510 million, distributed as follows: 44% in rural development, 20% in transport, 14% in multi-sectoral projects, 12% in water and sanitation, and 10% in the social sector.

Speech by Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank at the Gala Dinner during the State Visit to Niger, September 26, 2017

Covenant University Receives Global Health Bioinformatics Research Training Award [2017]

Covenant University emerge one of the awardees of the new Global Health Bioinformatics Research Training Program granted by Fogarty and the NIH Common Fund.

A component of the most recent round of NIH funding to support the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Initiative, the awards will provide five years of support totaling up to $5 million for interdisciplinary training for bioinformatics scientists at a network of research sites across Africa. The training will help develop skills to lead integrative teams to solve significant global health problems in Africa that are important to Africans.

The H3Africa Initiative – a partnership between the Alliance for Accelerating Science in Africa (AESA) with support from Wellcome Trust, the African Society of Human Genetics, and the NIH – fosters genomic and epidemiological research in African scientific institutions. The Initiative provides opportunities for African scientists to lead research on genetic and environmental contributors to local health and disease issues. By training advanced bioinformatics and data science researchers on the continent, the Initiative will leverage genomics and other cutting-edge approaches.

Global Health Bioinformatics Research Training Awards