Elnathan John Announced As A Judge For The 2019 Man Booker International Prize

Elnathan John has been announced as one of the judges for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize as submissions for the 2019 prize open.

Chaired by Bettany Hughes, award-winning historian, author and broadcaster, the panel consists of: writer, translator and president of English PEN Maureen Freely; philosopher Professor Angie Hobbs FRSA; novelist and satirist Elnathan John; and essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra.

Elnathan John is a novelist, lawyer and satirist, whose fiction was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2013 and 2015. His debut novel, Born on a Tuesday, a coming-of-age novel about Islam, politics and culture set in northern Nigeria, won a Betty Trask award (2017) and was shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature, the Republic of Consciousness Prize and the 2017 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction. John writes a weekly satire column for Daily Trust newspapers and is one of Nigeria’s most well-known contemporary satirists. A recipient of the 2018 Miles Morland Writing Scholarship, he is currently working on his next project which explores the history of a mountaineer revolt in the 1800s, in what is now north eastern Nigeria. He lives and works in Berlin.

2019 will be the fourth year of the evolved Man Booker International Prize, which was originally launched in 2005. The 2019 judging panel will be looking for the best work of translated fiction, selected from entries published in the UK and Ireland between 1 May 2018 and 30 April 2019.

According to Bettany Hughes, Chair of the judges for 2019:

“As a species we are motivated not by systems but by stories. I see this in play from the very beginning of human society. Today it matters what stories we imagine, share, listen to.

I’m truly delighted to have the chance to celebrate the most inspirational work from across the world – it will be an honour to read each and every one of the books submitted.”

Fiammetta Rocco, Administrator of the Man Booker International Prize, also stated:

“The judges of the 2019 Man Booker International Prize are readers, writers, broadcasters, academics and translators. They are united by their global outlook, their curiosity about what fiction can accomplish and their passion for literature in translation.”

The “Man Booker Dozen” of 12 or 13 books will be announced in March 2019 and the shortlist of six books in April 2019. The winner will be announced in May 2019.

The prize is sponsored by Man Group, an active investment management firm that also sponsors the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Both prizes strive to recognise and reward the finest in contemporary literature.

The 2018 prize was won by the Polish author, Olga Tokarczuk, and her translator, Jennifer Croft, for Flights, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. The £50,000 prize was split equally between author and translator. Flights sold over 10,000 copies in the week following the winner announcement.

First Bank of Nigeria & Farmcrowdy Win Global African Business Awards (GABA) 2018

First Bank of Nigeria and Farmcrowdy have emerged winners at the inaugural Global African Business Awards (GABA) 2018 announced at the Radisson Blu, in Addis Abba, Ethiopia.

The Global African Business Awards (GABA) celebrates the excellence in entrepreneurship and business leaders from the continent of Africa.

First Bank of Nigeria won the best bank of the Year (2018) award in Africa.

Other nominees for category award were: National bank of Egypt; Firstrand – Headquarters in Johannesburg; Standard bank group – South African Bank; ABSA – Subsidiary of Barclays bank; Nedbank Group – South African bank; Attijariwafa bank – Morrocan Bank; Banque Exterieur d’Algerie (BEA) – Algerian bank; Banque Masr – Egyptian bank; National bank of Ethiopia; Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

Farmcrowdy, Nigeria’s first and leading digital agriculture platform won the Digital Business of the Year (2018) award in Africa.

Other nominees for the category award were: We farm; Giraffe; Konga; Interswitch; Top scan; Dealday; Dressmeoutlet; Zando; Delvv.io; Jumia; and Mall for Africa.

According to Onyeka Akumah, founder and CEO of Farmcrowdy:

“We are honoured to have our hard work aimed at impacting on the lives of rural farmers recognised. We are delighted about the great opportunities ahead of us as we continually strive to remain at the forefront of technological innovation in Agriculture across Nigeria and eventually the continent of Africa.”

CEO/ Chairman, Jordan Makia Kensington commented:

“The continent of Africa has been the leaders in entrepreneurship for a quite a while. However, the selected images being broadcast on international media and the publicity surrounding the governance of certain countries have always been programmed in such a manner to undermine the systematic growth in business, creativity and entrepreneurship taking place in the continent.

Most of the successful creative entrepreneurs in the world come from Africa and this trend is set to grow as the world begins to discover the new Africa.”

Over 1 million Africans voted via www.globalafricanbusinessawards.com/voting.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Appointed To The Board Of Twitter [2018]

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been appointed into the board of Twitter Inc. alongside Robert Zoellick (previously president of the World Bank) as new independent directors.

According to the Executive Chairman of the social media company, Omid Kordestani, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala would be an incredible asset for the company as it strives toward transparency in its global operations.

In the words of Omid Kordestani:

“Ngozi and Bob are distinguished leaders with unparalleled global perspective and policy expertise.

We are confident they will be incredible assets to Twitter as we continue to focus on driving transparency and making Twitter a safer, healthier place for everyone who uses our service.”

In her response, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala stated:

“Twitter is a powerful platform that continues to be used as a strong connector for the global community, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the team.

As we strive to build a better world for tomorrow, Twitter can amplify messages and drive critical conversations around today’s most important issues.

I look forward to partnering with Twitter’s talented directors and leadership team as we work to leverage the power of Twitter for good.”

In a follow up tweet on her official handle, @NOIweala with over 863,000 followers, the Nigerian former minister of finance expressed words of appreciation to the company for the appointment stating:

“Excited to work with @Jack and an incredible team on the Board of Twitter, a global platform that is such a strong connector of people and ideas.”

Twitter, an online news and social networking service has three women on a board of 10 (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is replacing Marjorie Scardino, the former chief executive of Pearson). Her appointment to the Board of Twitter also means there are now two black women directors, the other being Debra Lee, recently the chief executive of BET Networks.

The company itself has acknowledged it needs to improve diversity in its ranks and has ambitions to increase the percentage of female employees in the company to 43% by 2019 from 38% at the end of 2017. It has also committed to increase the percentage of black and Latino employees to 5%; both groups each represented 3.4% of Twitter’s staff at the end of 2017.

The company, which had 336 million monthly active users globally in the first quarter, is popular in Africa, particularly for discussions around politics.

Winners Of Fifth Korean Speech Competition

Six school pupils have emerged winners in speech writing at the fifth Korean Speech Competition in Abuja, winning cash sums of ₦20,000 and ₦30,000 to support their education.

The pupils – Operipo Esther, Soo Uke, Akande Toluwanimi, Maduka Providence, Aderogba Oluwaseyi and Afiniki Bossan – were awarded the prizes for displaying their communication skills in the Korean language.

The Korean Speech competition was organised by the Korean Cultural Centre of Nigeria and was aimed at encouraging bilateral educational relationships between Nigeria and Korea.

According to the director of the Korean centre, Han Sungrae:

“The competition is to assist language students to improve their communication skills in Korean language.

The pupils write about the Korean culture and compare it to the Nigerian culture. When the first prize winner emerges, we recommend them for visiting programmes. The judges will pick the recommended winner to visit Korea for certain duration, usually about a week.

We encourage people to learn more about Korea and its culture and language. The participants have improved greatly.

The intermediate groups started out as beginners, so this has made them very familiar with the programme and language.”

Winners Of Africa Tour Event [2018]

Winners have emerged in the 2018 Africa Tour Event used as a test run for upcoming Africa Senior Athletics Championships. The Africa Tour Event was hosted at the newly built Stephen Keshi stadium in Asaba, Delta State.

Divine Oduduru won the 100 meters with a time of 10.44 seconds while the duo of Ogho-Oghene Egwero (10.46) and Enoch Adegoke (10.52) emerged second and third respectively.

After her heroics at the Commonwealth Games, Joy Udo Gabriel continued her fine run; winning the women’s 100 meters event ahead of Matthew Ubong and Blessing Ogundinmu.

In the men’s 400 meters, Isa Salihu was the top man with a time of 46.70 seconds while the duo of Orukpe Erayoikan and Achimaya Daniel finished second and third respectively.

In women’s one lap race, Patience Okon was the top athlete wining with a time of 51.49 seconds.

Yussuf Alli, the Technical Director for CAA Asaba 2018 stated:

“I can rate the Africa tour test event at 80%, we will correct the few mistakes we saw but all said and done we are ready to host Africa in August.”

The 21st African senior Athletics Championships will be taking place August 1-5 at the Stephen Keshi stadium.

CAA Asaba 2018, LOC chairman Solomon Ogba said he was proud to be part of history while also thanking all that worked tirelessly to make the Stephen Keshi Stadium a reality.