Professor Attahiru Jega has been awarded the 2015 Charles Manatt democracy award by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in Washington.
He was also given the Integrity Award by the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation in New York.
Continue reading Attahiru Jega Receives 2015 Charles Manatt Democracy Award
President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has been honored with the 2015 Clinton Global Citizen Award for leadership in private sector. Dangote Cement also won the Business of the Year Award at the African Business Awards ceremony.
Aliko Dangote is the founder, president, and CEO of Dangote Group. Founded over 30 years ago, the group’s interests include the production and distribution of cement, sugar, flour, and oil, as well as real estate development. Dangote set up the Dangote Foundation in 1993 to drive his corporate social responsibility initiatives, endowing it with $1.35 billion in 2014.
In 2015, Dangote donated $1 million to Nepal to provide relief to the victims of Nepal’s earthquakes and $153 million to boost Nigeria’s fight against Ebola in 2014. He has been named Forbes Africa Person of the Year (2014), Forbes Most Powerful Man in Africa (2013), and listed on TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World (2014). He is a member of the World Economic Forum, the Honorary International Investor Council, and the McKinsey Advisory Council.
In 2013, Dangote was appointed to the steering committee of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative. In addition, he collaborates with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fight polio.
The 2015 Clinton Global Citizen Award for leadership in private sector is in recognition of Dangote’s unparalleled contributions to the development of the human society in Africa and the world over.
The CGI said it recognised the Dangote’s exemplary and selfless dedication to a better life by positively impacting the lives of people globally through numerous philanthropic initiatives implemented through the Dangote Foundation.
Bill Clinton, who presented the Clinton Global Citizen award to the daughter of the business magnate, Halima, who represented him, said Aliko had raised the bar of philanthropy by an African, which is worthy of emulation.
In the words of Halima:
“This award is coming at a time we are expanding both business and philanthropic footprints globally and we are optimistic about creating value that transcends borders, while improving the quality of lives of people globally.
I must say that we are humbled by this recognition and we are encouraged to double our efforts as we work towards promoting Africa’s economic renaissance.
A Nigerian Software Engineering student, Bobai Ephraim Kato, has built a functional Artificial Intelligence robot as his final year project at the International College of Business and Technology (ICBT), Sri Lanka.
Bobai Ephraim Kato, a 24-year old personally built the robot and developed the algorithm that enabled it solved the famous Rubik cube puzzle in a manner of minutes. But it was not an easy journey to success because he had to deal with an unimpressed supervisor and a lot of failures in the course of the project.
According to him:
“My first 5 tests were a failure. The robot always shot a scanning error, and this was a week to my final submission. All I could do was pray. I didn’t know what to do again. I was confused and restless. I kept grinding and it finally started working. At that stage, the robot wasn’t intelligent enough and I had to train it to solve many puzzles to get more skills to save in the database.
It was very hard for me because I can’t even solve the Rubik cube myself. The robot is smarter than me in that aspect.
My focus now is on Forensic computing, Cyber Security and Digital Investigation. This is the path I will love to follow for my career and education. I’m happy to return back to Nigeria as a Cyber Security and Digital forensic Tech. If anything, that’s what Nigeria needs more. We need people who are savvy and sincere in Digital Investigation, Cyber Security and Forensic computing. The world today is bent on technology, the corruption in the world today is bent on it too.
I don’t get how a country will say they can’t locate the terrorist living in the country, and I don’t get how a country will say they don’t know the sponsors on this terrorist group. They make calls, they send emails, they use the internet for many reasons, they upload videos etc. Just one amongst this list is enough to get whoever is responsible. We only need savvy and honest people to do this.”
October 1 clinched the following awards: