Barely ten months ago, the academic life of Ezenwa Joseph, a fifteen-year-old student of Ambol Comprehensive High School, Akesan-Igando, Lagos, received a huge boost. Why? He had been announced the winner of the 2013 UBA National Essay Competition, beating almost 2,000 contestants, across the country, in the process. The win was worth N1.million invested into Ezenwa’s education. “It is a very commendable program,” Tunde Adewola, a university student, told THISDAY, while speaking on the UBA National Essay Competition which was first launched in 2011.
Updated 5 Years ago

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday in Abuja said it would soon release a list of another set of persons indicted for committing electoral offences in the 2011 general election. The Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof. Bem Angwe, said this while receiving a delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by a former Ghanaian President, Mr. John Kuffor.
Updated 5 Years ago

A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Umar Ardo, has appealed to the Court of Appeal in Abuja to allow him join a suit challenging the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to seek re-election. Ardo, who did not participate in the suit at the Abuja High Court where the case was struck out on March 1, 2013, is seeking to join the suit at the Court of Appeal as an appellant. But counsel to the president, Ade Okeaya-Inneh (SAN), has opposed Ardo’s application to join.
Updated 5 Years ago

President Goodluck Jonathan will on Thursday at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national secretariat pick his re-election nomination form. Already, it has emerged that governors on the platform of the party, Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) and other well-wishers have paid the sum of N98.66 million for Jonathan’s nomination and Expression of Interest forms.
Updated 5 Years ago

Loose lips sink ships. A variation of that phrase on a World War II poster cautioned U.S. military personnel to avoid accidentally sharing information with the enemy. The advice is just as relevant today, especially when journalists are interviewing businesspeople for stories on a sensitive topic.
Updated 5 Years ago

When asked how to build a great company based on one idea, I say the following: Do one thing extremely well. Refine the process. Do it again. If your business is focused on a great idea, you’d better be sure that everything about your brand reinforces the core benefits of that idea.
Updated 5 Years ago

Sales and investor meetings come with the territory of being an entrepreneur. Some people love the adrenaline rush that comes with it, while others dread it entirely. I can’t talk about meetings without thinking back to my first investor pitch. As my partners and I got ready to walk into the room, we were surprised to learn that we were not presenting to one venture capitalist, as we had thought, but rather to quite an intimidating boardroom of 10 venture capitalists with deep pockets. As young entrepreneurs, we were nervous already. But given the last-minute change, our nerves certainly got to us. So I thought back to something I had done my entire life to calm myself down what I call a "fire breath."
Updated 5 Years ago

The former executive chairman of Hosken Consolidated (HCI), Marcel Golding, threatened the credibility of South Africa’s e.tv channel by claiming there was political interference at the free-to-air channel, John Copelyn, the CEO of HCI, said on Wednesday. Before resigning earlier this week, Golding claimed that he was suspended because he rebutted government’s attempts to influence news coverage at e.tv.
Updated 5 Years ago

Woolworths has opened its ninth store in Namibia at The Grove in Windhoek. The store, which is 2 400 square metres, offers a range of clothing and general merchandise including beauty. In addition, the store is currently the largest food market to date in Namibia at 480 square meters. “Woolworths has had great success in Namibia and we are very excited about our new store at The Grove”, said Paula Disberry, Woolworths Group Director, Retail Operations. “Having traded in Namibia for a number of years, the customers are now familiar and loyal to the Woolworths brand. We are delighted to be able to meet our customers’ expectations by opening a new store and we are optimistic about our future in Namibia.”
Updated 5 Years ago

Notable South African banking group, FirstRand Limited, has declared plans to open a branch in Guernsey, shifting focus the international stage as it targets Europe’s top financial clusters. The bank intends to expand in Guernsey as an offshore financial subsidiary in order to issue stock and other securities in international markets, raising capital for both domestic and foreign business activities of the parent corporation.
Updated 5 Years ago