Winners of Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Award [2017]

The Nigerian Breweries Plc has rewarded some distinguished journalists at the 9th Edition of the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Award entitled: Agriculture, Local Sourcing and Industrial Development.

The award, which is the 9th in the series, is aimed at promoting professionalism and objective reportage of events in the country. It is also meant to reward journalists who abide by the ethics of the journalism profession in their professional practice.

According to the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Johan Doyar:
“It is our hope and expectations that the media will draw attention to the sections of the economy to agriculture; it is important to acknowledge the role of the media in national development. Nigeria is a land of talents and we believe in it passionately.”
Winners of the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Award [2017]
  • The Nigerian Breweries Reporter of the Year cash prize of ₦2 Million, was given to Isioma Madike of The New Telegraph. Madike’s work, “Shonga Farms: The dream of Zimbabwean Whites’’, an investigative piece, earned him the award.
  • The 1st runner up, Mr. Arukaino Umukoro, of the Punch Newspapers went home with ₦1 million.
  • The 2nd runner up for the Nigerian Breweries reporter of the year, Mr. Caleb Ojewale of The Business Day was given ₦750,000.
  • In the Photo journalist category, the overall winner, Olatunji Obasa also of the the Punch Newspapers got ₦1 Million.
  • The 1st runner up, Jubril Sulaimon, of The New Telegraph got ₦750,000.
  • The 2nd runner up, Toluwani Eniola 0f the The Punch Newspapers, got ₦500,000.
  • The winner of the Nigerian Breweries Golden Pen Report of the Year, Mojeed Alabi, of The New Telegraph, received ₦1 million.

All the winners of the 2017 Nigeria Golden Pen Award in all categories got an iPad and a Plaque, each.

Winners Of Ecuador-Nigeria Writing Contest [2017]

Winners have emerged from the Ecuador-Nigeria Young Writers Short Story contest organised by Abuja Writers’ Forum (AWF) and the Ecuadorian government.

The First Ambassador of Ecuador to Nigeria, Leopold Verdosoto had announced the sponsorship of the Short Story Contest for young writers from Ecuador and Nigeria, at the June 24 Guest Writer Session. There was an appreciable response from all over the country.

The judges which include Professor Zaynab Alkali, Friday Ejilogo and George Bala were given blind copies of all the entries. After careful deliberation, the following entries were adjudged the top five:

1st Prize

Tunde Ososanya, a graduate of Mass Communication from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos. Ososanya clinched first prize with his story ‘Wellington Street’. He is 27 years, and was a participant of the 2015 ANA/Yusuf Ali Creative Writing Workshop in Abuja. In 2016, he published an eBook version of his debut book – a collection of short stories – titled: Later Tonight.

2nd Prize

Jude Valentine Badaki, who holds a BA in English, Professional Diploma in Education (PDE ), and MA in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Badaki clinched second prize with his story ‘Canvas of Colours’. He has published in a number of anthologies, journals and literary websites.

3rd Prize

Nzube Harry Nlebedim, a student of English at the University of Lagos. Nlebedim clinched third prize with his story ‘The Tale of Alvine Chike’. He is a writer, teacher and occasional poet, he has written several short stories and two novellas.

4th Prize

Blessing Akinsehinwa, a legal practitioner, certified arbitrator, blogger and a freelance creative writer. Akinsehinwa clinched fourth prize with his story ‘On The Shores of Death’. He runs a blog kremlinkidd.wordpress.com on which some of his works can be found. He is also a member of professional bodies such as the Nigerian Bar Association, Young ICCA and the Abuja Literary Society.

5th Prize

Jojo Altine ElHassan,  a Masters degree holder in Environment and Sustainable Development from the University College London and a Bachelors in Surveying from the University of Wolverhampton. ElHassan clinched fifth prize with his story ‘Killing Me Softly’.

The winners of the Ecuador-Nigeria writing contest [are] published in a bilingual publication (English and Spanish).

Access Bank Lagos City Marathon Receives IAAF Bronze Label Award [2017]

Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has been awarded the IAAF Bronze Label by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF).

A statement signed by the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon Head of Communications and Media Olukayode Thomas disclosed that among the thousands of races worldwide, only 88 are labeled by IAAF, Access Bank Lagos City Marathon is one of the new additions to the elite club. With this feat, Access Bank Lagos City Marathon has now joined global elite races like New York, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo, Dubai, London, Roma, Paris, Berlin, and others.

According to the Project Consultant Olopade:

“We are a global brand today because of Governor Ambode’s vision and foresight, without him there won’t be anything called Access Bank Lagos City Marathon. It is his support that ensured that we got a personality like Norris Williamson, a grade A IAAF/AIMS measurer, who measured the route of Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics Games to measure and certify our route, which ensured that we are a label race before our third edition.’’

Olopade also thanked Access Bank the race sponsor and other sponsors and supporters like 7Up, Bet naija, Eko Hotels, Eko Atlantics, GAC Motors and the staff of the Marathon Office for making this achievement possible.

IAAF label races are races that are designate as leading road races around the world. It was first introduced for the 2008 race. The conditions for the award of IAAF label are stringent they include but not limited to an international elite field, the race course closed to vehicular traffic, route measured to the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) standard, use of electronic timing to generate the results, a specified number of doping tests, equal prize money for the participants and others.

Femi Kuti Is Awarded Legend Meets Legend Award [2017]

Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti, popularly known as Femi Kuti, has been  conferred the Legend Meets Legend award for his courage, consistency and authenticity by Legend Extra Stout.

On receiving the award, Femi Kuti stated:

“It’s always a great thing to win awards like this as they are just not for the music but for the choices I have made to make me the man I am today.
I believe everyone is capable of being a legend and I challenge us all to, in every step of our lives, make the right decision. You never know who you are inspiring to be better.”

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Stanley Eribo Retains 2017 ABU Welterweight Title

Stanley Eribo (also known as “Edo Boy”) has retained his African Boxing Union, ABU welterweight title by defeating Tanzania’s Ramadhani Shauri via a unanimous decision at GOtv Boxing Night 12.

Stanley Eribo also won ₦2.5 million attached to the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Prize for the best boxer of the night.

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Nigeria Triumphs at ITU Telecom Awards 2017

Nigeria has won the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World Government Award for being the government with the most innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) included in its national pavilion at the ITU Telecom Awards 2017.

Nigerian fintech startup, Medsaf also won the Greatest Social Impact award of the Global SMEs Awards at the ITU Telecom Awards 2017 held in Busan, South Korea.

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