Babban Gona Wins 2017 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship

In recognition of its work to increase the profitability of thousands of smallholder farmers in Northern Nigeria over the last 6 years, Babban Gona (“Great Farm” in the Hausa language) emerged as the first for-profit enterprise to win the 2017 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship.

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2017 Commonwealth Class Story Writing Competition

Four Nigerian teachers are among top 10 winners of the 2017 Commonwealth Class Story Writing Competition for stories that address the theme “Belonging”.

Kaduna-based teacher Ngozi Razak-Soyebi’s story, There’s Always a First Time, depicting the struggles of an abandoned street child, came overall second among 130 entries across Commonwealth member states.

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2017 Margarette Golding Award for Bina Foundation Founder

The Margarette Golding Award (MGA) of the International Inner Wheel Clubs – which affirms the highest form of selfless service and personal sacrifice to humanity, has been bestowed on Lady Pharmacist Ifeoma Atuegwu, the initiator and founder of the not for profit organisation Bina Foundation.

The Bina Foundation focuses on people with special needs.

This Award has been available since 2001 and over 200 people have now received the MGA throughout the World. Nigeria has about 5 recipients to date.

2016 ONE Africa Award

Connected Development (CODE) has emerged winner of the 9th annual $100,000 ONE Africa Award 2016.

The ONE Africa Award is granted to civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations and other groups based in Africa, that have demonstrated commitment and success in advocacy to promote the attainment of one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

CODE is a Nigerian based  advocacy organisation with a mission to empower marginalized communities by improving access to information  needed to better local public services. CODE have won the 2016 award as they have  proven that they can effectively wield their expertise to empower local communities to claim funds that have been appropriated to them. Through these activities, CODE has contributed to reducing poverty in target communities by boosting citizen participation in governance. CODE have also been successful in achieving wins in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

Voguepay Wins Cashless Africa Awards 2017

Voguepay, a Nigerian secure online payments gateway company has been named the “Best Fintech Startup” at the 6th edition of the Cashless Africa Awards 2017 for its contributions to online payment in Nigeria and Africa in general.

The Awards honour organizations that have made significant contributions to the digital financial services sector and are poised to make considerable market impact in the future.

The Awards are dedicated to acknowledging creativity, commitment and excellence in the digital financial services across Africa.

VoguePay’s vision to make online, cross-currency payments and transactions safer, cheaper and more accessible for businesses, traders and consumers in Africa and internationally.

2017 BPSR Best Public Sector Award

The Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has rated the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as the best public sector organisation in the country with a score above 90% to clinch the Platinum level award.

This is the outcome of a sequence of validation assessments in all essential areas of responsibility resulting in an overall quality of work that was found to be superior, exceptional and unique of all Federal public sector organisations in Nigeria.

Ifetayo Ali-Landing Wins 2017 Sphinx Competition

Ifetayo Ali-Landing, a 14-year-old cellist, recently won first place in the junior division at the prestigious Annual Sphinx Competition with her performance of Lalo’s Concerto in D Minor.

Her win includes a cash prize of $10,000, performances with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, participation with the Sphinx Soloist Program Partners, solo appearances with major orchestras, and a radio interview on “From the Top,” a nationally-broadcast music program.

The national Sphinx Competition provides young Black and Latino classical string instrument musicians the opportunity to compete under the guidance of an internationally-renowned panel of judges and perform with established professional musicians.

Ifetayo Ali-Landing is the Junior Division 1st Place Laureate of the 2017 Annual Sphinx Competition and performed as soloist with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall in Detroit.  She is also the Junior Division 2nd Place Laureate of the 2016 Sphinx Competition. She was selected as one of the winners of the 2016 DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers competition and performed as soloist with the Festival’s Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, she has placed or received honorable mentions for the Society of American Musicians (SAM) competition, Depaul Concerto Festival for Young Musicians competition, and the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius competition.