Sunday Ajah Wins 16th Heineken Aba Amateur Golf Open Championship

Sunday Ajah, has emerged the overall winner and champion of the 16th Heineken Aba Amateur Golf Open Championship at Aba Sports Club Golf Section with a gross score of 155.

Sunday Ajah, the South Africa 2014 MTN World Amateur Golf Championship participant beat Ude Sunday to the second position and Emmanuel Onumajuru, a four-time winner of the tournament, to a distant third position.

About 150 male and female amateur golfers from all parts of the country participated in the six categories of the tournament sponsored by Nigeria Breweries Plc. (NB Plc).

Happy that he won the Heineken Aba Amateur Golf Open Championship, Ajah said:

“This is my first victory since I started participating in it five years ago. This is one of the tournaments that I had dreamt of winning. I want to play professional golf, I was in South Africa for the MTN World Amateur Championship in 2014 and I still want to go higher than that.”

He expressed his appreciation to his sponsors, Emeka Ekwebelem and Mrs. Ngodi Nkwoji, who is the lady captain of the Golf Section of Aba Sports Club.

NB Plc’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Johan Doyer said the tournament continued to offer his company an opportunity to further demonstrate commitment towards sports development and active healthy living in Aba, Abia State and the nation in general.

In his words:

“I am delighted that the tournament has once again brought together golf enthusiasts from different locations beyond the state to display their skills in what would be three days of great entertainment and bonding.”

Giving kudos to NB Plc for its sustained good disposition towards the club, Aba Sports Club’s President, Mr. Geoffrey Uzoagbara described the brewer as “our best benefactor.”

3 Female Journalists Of WSCIJ 2017 Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship Programme Honoured

The Wole Soyinka Centre For Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) honour female journalists who were part of its 2017 Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship Programme.

Olufunke Fayemi of Voice of Nigeria, VON, emerged overall winner and was awarded a cash prize of ₦200,000.

Juliana Francis, a crime reporter with New Telegraph newspapers emerged the runner-up and was awarded a cash prize of ₦150,000.

Bunmi Yekinni, a reporter with Radio 1, emerged second runner-up in the programme. She was awarded a cash prize of ₦100,000.

All of the three outstanding fellows were given a laptop computer each.

The award and appreciation programme, which saw the best three fellows receive special prizes, held at the Central Business District, CBD, GRA, Ikeja.

The Leadership Fellowship, supported by the Free Press Unlimited, was designed to empower female journalists with the skills, finesse, support and tools to take bold steps that help position them for the highest leadership roles in their various media houses.

According to the organisation, the initiative, which is a part of the WSCIJ Report Women programme, is helping to mobilise a network of female journalists that are oriented for leadership as well as create a train-the-trainer team who better appreciate the importance of mainstreaming gender in news.

The pilot exposure of the fellows of the WSCIJ Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship Programme included a three-day training, three-month mentorship, a fair-share as well as leadership and story fellowship projects for 15 fellows spanning over six months.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Mrs. Motunrayo Alaka, the programme director at the centre, explained:

“The media itself has its own challenges and one of those things is the gender issues.

In management position, it is a 9-1 ratio in many media houses; many media houses don’t have women in their management (cadre). So how does the media set agenda for gender balance when it does not live gender balance?

The programme is meant to help the media become what it wants the society to become. The media must be able to walk the path that they are preaching and we want to help the media set the agenda. There is an imbalance in leadership.

This is not a women-take-over initiative; not a move from patriarchy to matriarchy but to address the imbalance in leadership in the media… (but) to address how the media write stories – political and social – to reflect society and shape the narrative.”

In her remarks, veteran broadcaster, Bimbo Oloyede, advised the fellows of the WSCIJ Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship Programme to remain outstanding journalists and role models to young females in their respective capacities.

Similarly, the resource persons who took the fellows through the three-month programme –– Lekan Otufodunrin, Online Editor at The Nation Newspapers; Nneka Okekearu of Pan-Atlantic University; and Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi –– also admonished the participants to maximize the opportunity offered them by the centre through the training.

$300 Million Dangote Cement Plant Commissioned In Congo

A new 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) Dangote Cement Plant built at a cost of $300 million has been commissioned in Mfila, in the Republic of the Congo.

The new cement plant has the potential for about 1,000 direct employment and thousands of several other indirect jobs.

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Yusuf Hassan & Faith Toun-Agbai Win 2017 Lafarge National Literacy Competition

Master Yusuf Hassan and Miss Faith Toun-Agbai have won the keenly contested first prize of the 2017 Lafarge National Literacy Competition, which was held in Lagos State.

Yusuf Hassan is a pupil at Eso Nerie Primary School in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State while Faith Toun-Agbai attends Eguare Primary School in Irrua, Esan Central Local Government Area of Edo State.

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has congratulated the pupils saying that their triumph in the competition would inspire other students across the state to aspire to great heights in their educational pursuit.

He further said that the feat showcases the boundless spirit of healthy competition among pupils in the state and reaffirms his administration’s commitment to discovering more talent in the state through the various educational initiatives.

According to the Governor:

“The performances of the pupils underscore the effort of the state government to deliver quality education. Even with outings such as this, we are not resting on our oars in the state. There are ongoing reforms at the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to ensure that more pupils in Edo State continue to come tops in competitions such as this.”

At the regional level of the same competition, the pupils were feted by Governor Obaseki and got cash prizes when they emerged overall winners.

Salihu Dasuki Is Youngest Senior Lecturer At Sheffield Hallam University

Salihu Dasuki has become the youngest senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom.

The 29-year-old Dasuki gratefully announced his resumption to work as a senior lecturer of Information Systems with the following words:

“By Allah’s grace, not only am I the youngest, I resume teaching as a senior lecturer of computing at Sheffield Hallam University, UK”

Salihu Dasuki has brilliant academic records in foreign universities. He graduated with a first class degree in Information Technology from Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU), North Cyprus at 21. He went further to have his Master’s degree at Brunel University, UK and bagged his PhD in the same university in 2012.

At 24, he was reportedly the youngest PhD holder in the Northern Nigeria, and became an assistant professor of Information Systems at American University of Nigeria, Yola.

Silas Adekunle Builds World’s First Gaming Robots

Silas Adekunle, the founder and CEO of Reach Robotics, has developed the world’s first gaming robots called MekaMonsters, a multi-functional connected battle bots with augmented reality capabilities.

Adekunle was born and grew up in Nigeria before moving to the UK with his family when he was 11. He graduated from the University of the West of England, Bristol, with a first class degree in Robotics. He stated that he got the idea to build the robots while studying there, teaching maths and science in local schools on the university’s partnership scheme.

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Samuella Sam-Orlu Wins 2017 UBA Foundation National Essay Competition

15-year-old Samuella Sam-Orlu of British Nigerian Academy, Abuja, has emerged the overall winner of the 2017 UBA Foundation National Essay Competition.

Samuella Sam-Orlu wins an educational grant of ₦1,000,000.00 to study in any African university of her choice, as well as a laptop.

Samuella clinched the first position at the grand finale, which was held in Lagos, ahead of 11 other finalists selected from over 1,000 entries received by the UBA Foundation from students of senior secondary schools across Nigeria.

Samuella Sam-Orlu who was escorted by her guardian, Mrs. Jacqueline Uzoadibe said that winning the competition would propel her to do more in attaining her dreams of becoming a Medical Director.

The second prize was bagged by Deborah Chinwendu Innocent aged 15 of Enal International Schools Abuja, who won ₦750,000 educational grant and a laptop while the third prize went to Yahofon Ettah Essien of Nigerian Christian Institute Akwa Ibom State, coveting a ₦500,000 educational grant and a laptop. The other 9 finalists were given laptops. All 12 finalists also went home with certificates.

In his remark, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka said:

“Seeing past winners tell their stories on the impact the grants have made on their education and particularly how the financial burden was lifted off their parents, gives us joy that our foundation is unique and stands out from others in touching lives.”

He informed the gathering made up of parents, students and media that the essay competition had produced over 100 winners, since its inception in 2011 in Nigeria, with winners studying varied courses in universities in Nigeria and within the African continent.

Mr. Kennedy Uzoka further stated on the 2017 UBA Foundation National Essay Competition:

“I must also state here that we want to make sure that the grants are given to those who really need it. That is why we restrict the grant to schools within Africa alone. If by chance the parents of any winner sends his or her ward to an elite school outside Africa, we would not go ahead with that support, because what we are really after are those who need the grant as we contribute to the development of Africa.”