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Team Triarchy Wins 2017 Unilever Ideatrophy Challenge

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.

The grand finale held in Lagos was attended by over 400 undergraduates from different Universities across the country. In addition to the competition, the visiting undergraduates were taken through series of employability workshops on how to prepare for interviews, writing of CVs and networking for career development.

Kitovu Wins World Bank’s Youth Development Initiative 2017

Nigeria’s Kitovu has won the 2017 World Bank’s “Ideas for Action” initiative.

Kitovu, is an innovative platform and system that matches fertilizer type and quantity, improved quality seeds and other inputs to the right soil. The proposal envisions a web and mobile-based decentralised fertilizer and seedling warehousing system that matches the right inputs to different farm locations owned by small-holder farmers in distant locations to lower the cost of cultivation while ensuring increased yields.

The initiative is a youth competition on financing for development programme which is yearly organised by the World Bank Group, in collaboration with the Zicklin Centre for Business Ethics Research.

The Bank’s Senior Vice President, Mr Mahmoud Mohieldin, announced that Nigeria’s winning proposal, “Kitovu”, came tops from among 743 proposals from 118 countries, while Uganda’s proposal of “Gifted Hands” and India’s proposal of “Agratam” were adjudged first and second runner ups in this year’s competition. Mohieldin disclosed that the winners were selected through a vigorous three-stage selection process, evaluating the creativity, significance, feasibility and clarity of the proposals.

In his words:

“The competition encourages young people from around the world to develop and share their ideas for innovative approaches, through the smart use of technology as well as financing solutions, to solve development challenges. It attracts engagement from young people across the globe, with about 38 percent of submissions from Sub-Saharan Africa; 15 percent from Latin America and the Caribbean; 13 percent from South Asia; 12 percent from East Asia and the Pacific. Also, 12 percent came from North America; eight percent from Europe and two percent from the Middle East and North Africa.”

The World Bank’s Director of Strategy and Operations, Africa Region, Ms. Mamta Murthi noted that the youth remained the major stakeholders in the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She said:

“We focus on youth for this competition because three billion people, amounting to 43 per cent of the world’s population, are under the age of 25. The world’s youth will implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, contribute their unique solutions and shape their future and ours.”

Nigeria’s winning proposal, Kitovu, is an innovative platform and system that matches fertilizer type and quantity, improved quality seeds and other inputs to the right soil. The proposal envisions a web and mobile-based decentralised fertilizer and seedling warehousing system that matches the right inputs to different farm locations owned by small-holder farmers in distant locations to lower the cost of cultivation while ensuring increased yields.

Mr. Nwachinemere Emeka-Obewe, who initiated the winning proposal, explained that the platform sought to create market access for smallholder farmers in distant locations by using a mix of web, mobile and SMS platforms to link farmers to processors.

The platforms would also link producers with buyers, transporters and other ecosystem stakeholders, to tackle post-harvest losses and enable producers traceability while increasing farmers’ income.

Winners of 2017 Nigeria Customer Service Awards

Winners have emerged in the 2017 Nigeria Customer Service Awards (NCSA).

Nigeria Customer Service Awards (NCSA) now in its fifth edition, is a strategic move to applaud companies who have been dogged in proffering excellent service in their various sectors to Nigerians. This is being done by extensive research (mystery shopping). The touch point includes – company service or product process, staff attitude, ambiance, turn around time, product and services knowledge. The research covers five regions and the report was presented to the winners to see where they perform better and where they also need to work on.

Continue reading Winners of 2017 Nigeria Customer Service Awards

Njideka Akunyili-Crosby Awarded 2017 MacArthur Fellowship

Njideka Akunyili-Crosby, a painter and daughter of the late Nigerian minister, Dora Akunyili, has been awarded the prestigious 2017 MacArthur Fellowship.

Ms. Akunyili-Crosby was described by the Foundation as:

“A figurative painter whose large-scale works express the hybridity characteristic of transnational experience through choices of subject matter, materials, and techniques.”

The Fellowship, which is also referred to as the Genius Grant, awards $625,000 to artists, writers, teachers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and people from all works of life, that have shown exceptional creativity.

The grant is doled out in quarterly installments, made over a period of five years. Amongst past recipients is writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who received the grant in 2008.

The 24 recipients of the 2017 MacArthur Fellowship are:

Njideka Akunyili Crowsby – Painter
Sunil Amrith – Historian
Greg Asbed – Human Rights Strategist
Annie Baker – Playwright
Regina Barzilay – Computer Scientist
Dawoud Bey – Photographer and Educator
Emmanuel Candes – Mathematician and Statistician
Jason De Leon -Anthropologist
Rhiannon Giddens – Singer, Instrumentalist & Songwriter
Nikole Hannah-Jones – Journalist
Cristina Jimenez Moreta – Social Justice Organizer
Taylor Mac – Theater Artist
Ramir Nashashibi – Community Leader
Viet Thanh Nguyen – Fiction Writer & Culture Critic
Kate Orff – Landscape Architect
Trevor Paglen – Artist and Geographer
Betsy Levy Paluck – Psychologist
Derek Paterson – Historian
Damon Rich – Designer & Urban Planner
Stefan Savage – Computer Scientist
Yuval Sharon – Opera Director & Producer
Tyshawn Sorey – Composer & Musician
Gabriel Victora – Immunologist
Jesmyn Ward – Fiction Writer

Samuel Monye Wins Quramo Writers’ Prize 2017

Samuel Monye, a short stories’ writer, novelist, spoken words poet and a graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, has emerged senior category winner of Quramo Writers’ Prize 2017, with his work, Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread, and has won the sum of ₦1 million cash gift.

Samuel Monye’s work is a topical issue that borders on the migrants’ perilous journey through the Sahara Desert to Libya.

Executive Publisher, Quramo Publishing, Mrs. Gbemi Shasore, said that writing is not only for professionals and that Quramo is out to help the young writers discover and sell their talents. To encourage them therefore, the publishing company focuses on their writing and reading abilities, adding, however, that through the contest, they will be able to find hidden talents.

According to Shasore, the company invited independent judges who were not affiliated to it in any way. She noted that the criteria for judging the contestants’ works were based on originality of the stories, language and presentation, stressing that no nation can be successful without improving literacy, and that Quramo intends to take the writer’s award nationwide.

Chief judge of the contest, Mrs. Aduke Gomez, said that hundreds of entries were handed over to the judges anonymously and their works were all judged without favouritism, as the judges unanimously agreed on both winners based on the quality of their writings.

Arshiya, an Indian national who enjoys reading and creative writing, and has lived in [Nigeria] for two years, emerged winner of junior category of Quramo Writers’ Prize 2017 with her story, The Forgotten. Ashyer got ₦500,000 gift.