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SWAG Honours Suleiman Habuba with Special Award [2017]

Former CAF Communications Director, Suleiman Habuba, has been honoured by the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) with a special award in recognition of his contribution towards the development of African football, especially the sporting media.

Suleiman Habuba is fondly remembered by the Ghanaian media for his leading roles which includes heading the Communication Directorate of the continent’s soccer governing body, CAF, between 2003 and 2012, overseeing major transformations in the media front and helping to organize six successive editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, organization of the Africa Cup of Nations hosted by the West African country in 2008, which ranks amongst the most successful in the history of the biennial flagship African football tournament amongst others.

Habuba however, was consulting initially in Sports Business and is now heavily involved in Energy and Finance, runs an international consultancy firm, operating in Africa and Gulf Countries, he also consults for global sporting organisations and advises on how to leverage economic opportunities from qualified countries perspective to host countries, around key football events such as Africa Cup of Nations and FIFA World Cups 2018 and 2022 editions.

Olarewaju Kayode Emerge Top Scorer & Best Player in Austrian Bundesliga [2016/2017]

Super Eagles forward Olarewaju Kayode has been voted the best player in the Austrian Bundesliga taking after his breathtaking performances for Austria Wien this season (2016/2017).

The 24-year-old additionally finished as top scorer in the Austrian league with 17 goals and making it a total of 24 goals in all competitions this season, scoring 5 goals in the Europa League and 2 in the Austrian Cup to wrap up a fine season, which earned him Super Eagles call-up.

CNN African Voices Honours Funke Akindele-Bello

Nigerian actress, movie producer and script writer, Funke Akindele-Bello aka Jenifa is being celebrated in the CNN African Voices, sponsored by Nigeria’s foremost telecommunications operator, Globacom.

Funke Akindele-Bello is best known for her portrayal of Jenifa – in the prominent Nigerian TV comedy show – ‘Jenifa Diary’.

Now working on a new TV drama, which examines the music industry in Nigeria, called ‘Industreet’, Akindele has also founded ‘Jenifa’s Foundation.’ Explaining the programme’s work, she said,

“We reach out to young people, we empower them. We help them acquire skills, we help them discover their special gift, their talent in acting and music and dance.”

Click here to watch video here

First Bank Is Re-elected Into PCI SSC Board of Directors [2017]

First Bank of Nigeria Limited has been re-elected into the Board of Advisors of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) for the third consecutive time, a reaffirmation of its leadership position in corporate governance and risk management.

The PCI SSC is an open, global forum for the development of payment card security standards which works with organisations around the world to protect businesses and consumers against data theft by continuously developing new payment security standards, cyber security training courses, and certification programmes.

Head of Information Security Operations at First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Lara Nwokedi, has been representing FirstBank on the Board of PCI SSC in the fight against payment fraud and data breaches globally. Nwokedi, a payment card industry professional, security lead auditor and implementer, has many years experience in information security and has led several initiatives in the bank.

First Bank has been the only African bank elected to the PCI SSC Board a feat which no African bank has achieved since its inception. The Bank’s re-election into the Board underpins its commitment to the protection of customer assets and information.

Abocoders Win 2016/2017 Miss.Africa Seed Funding

Abocoders Nigeria has emerged the 2016/2017 winner of the $5,000 Miss.Africa Seed Funding for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Programs.

Abocoders is a startup that provides secure and sustainable livelihoods for young women in Northern Nigeria through ICT training, focusing on software development as a means of empowerment. The initiative of Aspilos Foundation is headed by Simi Olusola.

Abocoders will use the $5,000 grand prize to reach more lives and open more opportunities. The Bahir Dar University STEM Incubation Center, Ethiopia and Ubongo Game Lab, Zambia each won $1,000 in the second round of the $7,000 fund that received more than 200 applications from 24 countries across Africa.

Miss.Africa is an initiative of the DotConnectAfrica (DCA), a charitable organization that promotes the advancement of IT education to the African society.

Its pan-African campaign STEM for Girls avails grants to launch or expand the initiatives of women and girls to increase digital opportunities in IT training, jobs and leadership roles on the continent.

Nigeria had the most Miss.Africa Seed Fund applications at 33%; Kenya was second with 11%; and third Ghana with 9%. Tanzania and Cameroon followed with 5%; and South Africa, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe tallied at 4% each.

The third round of the Miss.Africa Seed Fund 2018 will be announced in July 2017.

Ugo Ijeoma Ndianiefo Wins 2017 National Youth Oratory Contest

Ugo Ijeoma Ndianiefo, of the over 1,000 Nigerian youths drawn from 20 tertiary institutions across the country has emerged winner of the 2017 National Youth Oratory Contest with a star prizes of 1 million Naira and one week leadership training in South Africa.

The topic of the competition being: “Nigeria as entrepreneurial hub of Africa” which the orators argued for and against. Ugo Ijeoma Ndianiefo emerged first with 83.3 points, followed by Nwenyi Ogechi, Placid Martins, Eze nwakuba and Anidebe Collins.

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