PositiveNaija, Author at PositiveNaija

Air Peace Wins NIPR “National Carrier of Repute” & “Nigerian Crew Member of Repute” Awards [2018]

Air Peace and six of its crew members have been honoured with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) “National Carrier of Repute” and “Nigerian Crew Member of Repute” awards respectively for delivering flight services with exceptional efficiency.

 President of NIPR, Dr. Rotimi Oladele presented the awards to the airline and its crew members during the annual conference of the Institute in Umuahia, Abia State.  Air Peace, he enthused, had brought honour to Nigeria in the aviation industry and proved that the nation had the capacity to fix its challenges.

Oladele affirmed that the carrier’s on-time performance, customer service, safety and fleet maintenance reputations were unparalleled.  The NIPR boss commended Air Peace’s crew chosen for the “Nigerian Crew Member of Repute” award – Capt. Adesola Arasi, First Officer Violet Enahoro, Ademola Olowolade, Ann Otiede, Yemisi Beckley and Paul Ijeh – for distinguishing themselves in their engagements with members of the flying public.

He justified the choice of Air Peace and its crew for the awards, saying they were practically assessed by NIPR teams without their knowledge.

He said a total of 20 airlines were covertly assessed by the Institute’s teams on board 29 flights and at the carriers’ offices. Air Peace and its crew, he said, emerged winners after securing a total of 67 percent of the votes.

Responding on behalf of Air Peace, its Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah assured that the carrier was driven by a passion to project the name of Nigeria globally through exceptional flight services.

From seven aircraft and five routes at launch in 2014, he said Air Peace had increased its fleet to 24 aircraft and taken its flight operations to 12 domestic and four regional destinations.  Iwarah said the airline was set to broaden its regional route network with the addition of Monrovia (Liberia), Lome (Togo) and Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) in the next few weeks.  He assured that the airline, which recently set a record as the first Nigerian carrier to acquire a Boeing 777 aircraft for its long-haul operations, would soon prove the mettle of the country on the global aviation scenes with the launch of its Houston, London, Guangzhou-China, Dubai, Sharjah, Mumbai and Johannesburg services.

Mr. Chris Iwarah commended NIPR for rewarding merit, assuring that the awards would spur Air Peace and its crew to further raise the bar of service in the nation’s aviation industry.

Winners Of Lagos State Secondary Schools Hockey Championship [2018]

Eletu Odibo Senior High School, Bariga and Okemagba Senior High School, Epe have emerged winners of the second edition of Lagos State Secondary Schools Hockey Championship, which ended at the Campus Mini Stadium on Lagos Island.

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Oluwatofunmi Oteju Awarded Augsburg University’s 2018 Emerging Leader Of The Year Award

16-year-old Oluwatofunmi Oteju has been awarded the Emerging Leader of the Year award for 2018 by Augsburg University, United States of America.

The Emerging Leader of the Year award recognizes students who participated in the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) during 2017 fall semester and a platform used by the University to celebrate students who demonstrated active involvement in student activities, student governance, and student life at Augsburg during the academic year.

Continue reading Oluwatofunmi Oteju Awarded Augsburg University’s 2018 Emerging Leader Of The Year Award

ColdHubs Wins 2018 NEF Africa Energy Ideas Competition

ColdHubs Nigeria has emerged as the overall winner of the 2018 Africa Energy Ideas Competition at the Nigerian Energy Forum (NEF) with its Solar Cold Room innovation.

Nigeria Future Energy Group (NiFEG) received the 2nd place award.

Nugenesis Energy emerged third and was awarded a cash prize of ₦200,000.

15 finalists emerged out of the 72 entries received. Nigeria had nine (9) entries out of the 15 finalists.

Continue reading ColdHubs Wins 2018 NEF Africa Energy Ideas Competition

Winners Of The GOtv Boxing Night 14 [2018]

Winners have emerged in the GOtv Boxing Night 14.

22-year-old Rilwan Babatunde (aka Baby Face), has won the West African Boxing Union (WABU) welterweight title at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.

Rilwan Babatunde defeated Djossou Agoy Basile from the Republic of Benin at the Gotv Boxing Night 14 in a fiercely contested bout via a fifth-round knockout.

The feat saw the young boxer winning the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Trophy for the best boxer as well as a cash prize of ₦1 million.

On the feat, Rilwan Babatunde stated:

“I can’t be happier, I have given myself a birthday gift ahead of my 24th birthday but all I can say is that Basile put up a good fight but I was stronger and I was able to end the fight between the third and fourth round.

I have been working hard to get a title outside the shores of Nigeria and I can tell you that this is just the beginning of greater things to happen in Nigerian boxing because I will make history.”

Waidi “Skoro” Usman won the African Boxing Union (ABU) featherweight title by knocking out Michael “Shaka” Nyawade of Kenya in the 11th round.

Rilwan “Real One” Oladosun defeated Kehinde “Ijoba” Badmus to win the national lightweight title.

A national challenge bout in the category also saw the ABU champion, Oto “Joe Boy” Joseph defeat a hard-fighting Prince “Lion” Nwoye.

In the cruiserweight category, Abiodun “Finito” Afini knocked out Razak “Hyena” Ramon.

Sulaimon “Olags” Adeosun saw off Majesty “Majesty 1” Maduka in their light heavyweight challenge duel, while Chukwuebuka “Wise King” Ezewudo defeated Semiu “Jagaban” Olapade.

Winners Of The Asian Banker – West Africa Awards 2018

Winners have emerged in the Asian Banker – West Africa Awards 2018.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) and its two affiliate countries – Nigeria and Ghana – have emerged winners in three strategic categories of The Asian Banker – West Africa Awards 2018.

The annual awards saw ETI winning the Best Financial Inclusion Initiative Application or Programme with its innovative Xpress Account, while Ecobank Nigeria carted home the Best Transaction Bank in Nigeria, West Africa award. Ecobank Ghana also won in the Best Transaction Bank in Ghana, West Africa category.

ALAT by Wema Bank, won the Best Digital Bank in Africa; the Best Wealth Management Bank in Nigeria went to Standard Chartered Bank while the Best Mobile Payment Service and The Digital Wallet of the Year went to Guaranty Trust Bank, among others.

According to the Chairman, The Asian Banker, Emmanuel Daniel at the Asian Banker – West Africa Awards 2018 ceremony in Lagos:

“These awards are the most rigorous, prestigious and transparent awards programme for financial technology, retail banking and transaction banking in West Africa today. We recognize the deepening and increasing maturity and sophistication of the industry in this region.

Ecobank’s aggressive digital push produced a first innovative mobile payments solution, the Masterpass QR with MasterCard to push financial inclusion in Nigeria through its new, smart, card-less, contactless and cashless payment solution. This bank also launched an integrated electronic banking platform that has on-boarded four million customers within a short space of time”.

In his comment, Charles Kie, Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria thanked the Asian Banker Award Team for painstakingly creating an opportunity to celebrate hard work by members of the banking community.

Represented by Korede Demola-Adeniyi, Group Head, Personal Banking, the Ecobank Managing Director stated:

“We are using digital technology to combat many of the financial inclusion barriers faced by those on the continent.

I use this opportunity to dedicate this awards to all hard working staff of the Ecobank Group, who have tirelessly worked to see the success of the bank. And also to all Africans who believe in us and have continued to encourage our efforts by adopting our products”.

“Things Fall Apart” Makes Encyclopedia Britannica’s 12 Greatest Books Ever Written List [2018]

Things Fall Apart, the first novel written by late Nigerian literary icon, Chinua Achebe, has made the list of 12 “Greatest Books Ever Written” compiled by Encyclopedia Britannica.

According to the compilation written by John Pecoraro, the book, which now exists in 57 translations across the world, is one of the greatest ever written novels on the website of Encyclopedia Britannica in recent times.

Things Fall Apart, often considered Achebe’s best, is the most widely read book in modern African literature.

Other novels that made the list include; “Anna Karenina,” by Leo Tolstoy, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, “The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “One Hundred Years of Solitu” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Others are “A Passage to India,” by E.M. Forster, “Invisible Man,” by Ralph Ellison, “Don Quixote,” by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison, “Mrs. Dalloway,” by Virginia Woolf, “Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Bronte and “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker.

The honour comes months after the 60th anniversary of the publication of the novel and the release of a new edition of the classic novel with cover artwork by Nigerian artist, Victor Ekpuk.

Things Fall Apart is regarded as an important novel and one of the greatest classics of our time. The story chronicles the pre-colonial life in Nigeria and the arrival of the Europeans during the late nineteenth century.

The novel interrogates the clash of cultures, traditional values and belief systems.