Odunayo Adekuoroye Triumphs At 2017 World Wrestling Championships

Odunayo Adekuoroye, has won a silver medal at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships in Paris, France, making it the first time Nigeria is on the medals table.

Odunayo Adekuoroye is now the first woman from Nigeria to march into the gold medal final at Senior World Wrestling Championships.

She narrowly lost to Haruna Okuno of Japan 4-5 in the final of the 55 kg women’s freestyle.

The Nigerian wrestler started her campaign in the Championship by defeating Mathilde Helene 13-9 in the qualification round to move to the Round of 16.

She then proved to be too much for Lenka Martinakova as she defeated the Czech Republic wrestler 10-0.

In her quarter-final match, the three-time African champion out-powered Mongolia’s Davaachimeg Erkhembayar 8-4 before going ahead to defeat U-23 European Champion, Irina Kurachkina of Belarus 10-0 in the semi-final.

Oshi Agabi Unveils Koniku Kore [2017]

Oshi Agabi has unveiled a computer based modem-sized device – dubbed Koniku Kore capable of recognising the smell of explosives and could be used to replace traditional airport security.

The prototype of the device unveiled at the TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania is an amalgam of living neurons and silicon, with olfactory capabilities — basically sensors that can detect and recognise smells.

According to Mr. Oshi Agabi:

“You can give the neurons instructions about what to do – in our case we tell it to provide a receptor that can detect explosives.”

He envisages a future where such devices can be discreetly used at various points in airports, eliminating the need for queues to get through airport security.

As well as being used for bomb detection, the device could be used to detect illness by sensing markers of a disease in the air molecules that a patient gives off.

Koniku Kore he believes has partially solved one of the biggest challenges of harnessing biological systems – keeping the neurons alive.

While computers are better than humans at complex mathematical equations, there are many cognitive functions where the brain is much better: training a computer to recognise smells would require colossal amounts of computational power and energy, for example.

Mr. Oshi Agabi is attempting to reverse-engineer biology, which already accomplishes this function with a fraction of the power it would take a silicon-based processor.

According to him: “Biology is technology. Bio is tech. Our deep learning networks are all copying the brain.”

He launched his start-up Koniku over a year ago, has raised $1 million (£800,000) in funding and claims it is already making profits of $10 million in deals with the security industry.

Advances in neuroscience, bioengineering and computer science means that much more is known about how the human brain works than ever before.

This is fuelling the development of neuro-technology – devices that aim to mould the brain into computers.

Much of the current work is aimed at improving brain function, particularly for those with brain-related injuries or diseases.

D’Tigress Emerge 2017 FIBA Afrobasket Champions

The Nigeria Senior Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress, have been crowned African champions following their 65-48 win over Senegal in the final of the 2017 FIBA Afrobasket Championships.

Trailing by six points from the first quarter, the Nigerians fought back to win the second quarter 21-10 points.

D’Tigress remained sturdy as they extended their lead by winning the third quarter 15-7 points and the fourth quarter 17-13 points.

Point guard, Osaretin Ekhator, emerged top performer for Nigeria with 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Following the victory of the Coach Sam Vincent-tutored team, Nigeria also qualified for the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Spain next year.

D’Tigress, last won the biennial championship in 2003.

Margaret Binga Is First Female Nigeria Taekwondo Federation President [2017]

Margaret Binga has been sworn in as the President, Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF).

Margaret Binga is the second ever Female President of a Sports Federation and the first ever Female President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation.

The Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung on Wednesday also inaugurated the board of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation with a charge to revive its federation’s grassroots development initiative.

Binga is Nigeria’s only two-time African Taekwondo Champion and a World Taekwondo Federation Class 2 International Referee.

Nationally, she was undefeated for 18 years and won 45 National Gold Medals in that period.

Kwara Falcons Emerge Champions In Kwese Premier Basketball League [2017]

Kwara Falcons has emerged and crowned champions of the 2017 Kwese Premier basketball league; final victory was recorded against Rivers Hoopers in a game that ended 68-57 points.

Hoopers came second at the end of the 6-day championship while Hoops&Read who defeated Customs 85-66 finished 3rd.

Customs were fourth, Oluyole Warriors and Police Baton were fifth and sixth respectively. Only top four teams qualified for the final 8 which is to take place in Kano in September [2017].

Kano Pillars Emerge Champions In Savanna Conference Six Play-offs [2017]

Kano Pillars have emerged champions in the Kwese Premier League Savannah Conference Six play-offs by winning all their five matches and ending the championship with 100 percent record.

The tournament, which held inside the Indoor Hall of the Murtala Square, Kaduna, between August 14 and 19 had six teams from the Savannah Conference including Kano Pillars, Gombe Bulls, Plateau Peaks, Niger Potters, Bauchi Net and Kada Stars. Bauchi Net and Kada Stars replaced Mark Mentors and Defenders, both of Abuja, which failed to turn up for the competition.

To emerge champions of the conference, Pillars beat hard fighting Gombe Bulls 104 to 97 points in their first game, defeated Kada Stars 91 to 58 points, stopped Bauchi Net 85 to 44 points, beat Niger Potters 103 to 71 points and routed Plateau Peaks 80 to 64 points to maintain an unbeaten run.

Coach of the Kano-based team, Sani Ahmed, described his team’s performance as in line with his club’s desire to retain the trophy at the Final Eight in Kano. In his words:

“Winning the Savanna Conference Six shows the level of consistency in the club. It also tells of the amount of hard work put in by the players to winning tournaments. The team is not 100 percent perfect yet. We are still a high scoring side averaging 80 points per game, but we are still going to do more so as to defend and win the Final Eight at home in Kano. Our tradition is to win any tournament we find ourselves in. So, we aim to retain the Final Eight. We have noticed some weaknesses and lapses in the course of our games and will work on them before the Final Eight. I noticed the boys sometimes get complacent; but we need to be consistent and more perfect in taking shots.”

The coach also disclosed that the Conference play-offs was part of preparations for his team’s participation in an invitational tournament slated in Malaysia in the first week of September.

 “Immediately after the play-offs and Final Eight we shall be honouring a fully sponsored trip to Malaysia for an invitational tournament involving teams from Japan, China, Malaysia and other Asian countries. Good enough, we will be prepared because this championship serves as good preparations for the tournament,” he said.

Other teams that qualified from the Savannah Conference Six are Niger Potters, Gombe Bulls and Plateau Peaks. The Final Eight in Kano will see four teams each from the Atlantic and Savannah Conferences battle for the ultimate prize to climax the Kwese Premier League Season.

Brand Finance Names Nigeria’s Most Valuable Companies [2017]

Brand Finance has named Nigeria’s most valuable companies.

Dangote Group emerged as Nigeria’s most valuable brand with a brand value of US$491 million.

Nigerian Breweries came in as Nigeria’s strongest brand with a brand strength rating of AA+ and a brand value of US$78million.

The ICT sector saw its brand value grow by 63%. Tranzact emerged as the fastest growing brand, up 65% to US$17 million. Glo mobile is the most valuable telecommunications brand, value that US$427 million, up 62% from last year.

The Banking sector made up 48% of the Brand Finance list this year with the sector’s overall brand value growing at six percent year on year. First Bank of Nigeria has consecutively been the most valuable banking brand, valued at US$301 million.

The Oil and Gas brands, which comprise 20% of the overall brand value, experienced a decline in sector brand value this year. Oando was an exception; its brand value did not see a change this year. Despite the waning brand value of the sector as a whole, Seplat’s brand value enjoyed a 10% increase to US$90 million, confirming it as the most valuable Oil and Gas brand. The decline in the sector’s brand value is attributable to the decline in oil output and prices, which has increased discount rates.

According to Babatunde Odumeru, Managing Director, Brand Finance Nigeria,

“The fact that both the strongest and most valuable brands came from the manufacturing sector is re-assuring. This somewhat dispels the notion of how undiversified our economy really is. This is something to build upon. The government’s effort towards diversifying the economy should be complimented with a drive to develop corporate Nigeria’s capability of building strong and global brands. This is absolutely crucial in successfully implementing the policy of wealth creation we seem to have embarked on.”

Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand and branded business valuation consultancy, with offices in over 25 countries, providing clarity to marketers, brand owners and investors by quantifying the financial value of brands.