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  • Why The Nation man Ololade won, by CNN

    Why The Nation man Ololade won, by CNN

    The Nation’s serial award-winning Assistant Editor Olatunji Ololade emerged at the weekend winner of the Health and Medical Category of the CNN African Journalist of the Year.  Ololade received the award from the Managing Director of MSD South Africa, Kaja Natland in Arusha, Tanzania.

    He won the award for his story titled: “This marriage will kill me – Tragedy of Nigeria’s child brides”.  The judges praised Ololade for his excellent writing and attention to details.

    This is what the judges said about his winning entry: “This category provides the challenge of making oftencomplicated and technical issues understandable and readable. Our two excellent finalists illustrate both the range of entries and how well many of those rose to the challenge. Our winner produced a moving account of Nigeria’s child brides and a close look at the devastating medical and personal implications of forcing young teenagers to marry much older men. It is a major story on a widespread problem, written with a deep sense of humanity, and an excellent attention to detail. The medical issues are set out with clarity and the result leaves one with a tangible sense of the horrors of this practice and the long-term trauma. It is a moving and informative exemplar of the value of well-crafted health reporting. It was well-illustrated and effectively presented.”

  • Why we are sponsoring ‘Facetime’ on CNN, by Dangote

    Dangote Industries Limited has said its sponsorship of ‘Facetime’ on the Cable News Network (CNN) offers it a unique window into African business.

    The programme, which made its debut on September 19, would feature Dangote’s expansion drive across the continent.

    ‘Facetime’ is a high-profile segment within CNN Marketplace Africa, where each week a major player from the continent’s business community is interviewed. CNN Marketplace Africa is the destination for access to movers and shakers at the forefront of African business.

    The show goes beyond bringing viewers the new business solutions and industry trends redefining African business. On-air content is complemented by distinctive online editorial at a CNN Marketplace Africa micro site, where popular and innovative content is shared across social channels.

    While announcing the deal, Vice President, Regional Ad Sales, EMEA, CNN International, Antonio Canto, said: “We are delighted that Dangote Industries Limited is working with CNN to promote its brand internationally in a TV sponsorship across all CNN International global feeds. The ‘Facetime’ segment in CNN Marketplace Africa is an important programming strand to be associated with because the content reflects the dynamic nature of African business. Dangote’s expansion, underpinned by this bespoke advertising campaign with CNN, is a brand-builder for African business as a whole,” he added.

    Explaining the group’s decision to sponsor the programme, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, said his company was supporting the programme to clear the misconception about Africa. Besides, the lack of information on Africa was holding back foreign investment, he added.

    “Africa also offers one of the highest rates of return on investment in the world, a fact that discerning foreign investors have since acknowledged. Indeed, Africa has turned the corner and is catching up with the rest of the world in the race for development. Dangote Industries Limited is delighted to sponsor the ‘Facetime’ segment in CNN’s Marketplace Africa because it tells compelling success stories about Africa. Such content can, ultimately, position Africa as an attractive investment destination and foster development that lift communities and nations into prosperity. This is Africa’s time,” he said.

    According to him, some investors still have stereotypical images of Africa etched on their minds. A new Africa is emerging from the ashes of her dark past, and is fast rising and is gaining accelerated speed, in all indices of human development. Many appear to have taken little notice of this silent revolution that is sweeping across Africa like a tornado. There is growing optimism everywhere about Africa, on a scale never before imagined.

    “For instance, Rwanda, which was only two decades ago, devastated by war, is one of the success stories of this African renaissance. Rwanda is fast becoming Africa’s investors’ delight, and currently ranks 45th in the World Bank’s ease of doing business. Similarly, the economy of Ethiopia, once a global metaphor for famine, has been growing at a double-digit for the past five years. This growth has attracted Ethiopians abroad, who are coming home with expertise and capital to develop their country currently ranked the 10th largest livestock producer in the world.

    Dangote said there is growth in the middle class, with increased purchasing power, across Africa. This has provided an incentive for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) firms, which are scrambling to invest in Africa. The increase in population growth of Africa (estimated at one billion), abundance of natural resources, and clement weather, also make Africa a viable proposition for investors.

    “The Chinese, who have been smart to move in early enough, are reaping the fruits, especially in the construction industry, in which they possess considerable expertise. They are building factories, roads and railway lines across Africa. In the last eight years alone, foreign direct investment (FDI) has helped create 1.6 million new jobs in Africa. Capital investments are projected to reach $150 billion in 2015.

    Determined not to be outdone by the Chinese, Western companies are now taking more interest in Africa. General Electric (GE), the world’s largest infrastructure company, recently declared its intention to invest in Africa.

    African companies are not sitting back idly as they are behind a growing percentage of FDI, which has been going to sectors such as manufacturing and services, in recent years. South African big retail shops, such as Shoprite, Massmart and Spar, and telecoms company, MTN Group; Etisalat of the Middle East; and Airtel of India, have all gained a foothold in Nigeria, which has witnessed an unprecedented growth in number of subscriber base from 500,000 fixed lines in 2001 to 98.4 million as at October 2011.

    “This growth is the fastest anywhere in the world! African markets must re-position themselves to key into this economic revolution.

    In 2010, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) of the United States named 40 African Companies that have the potential to rival Fortune 500 Companies based on their size, geographical spread and turnover. Dangote Group is one of them. Dangote Cement Plc is also the only Nigerian Company on Forbes Global 2000 Companies.

    In the last few years, we have invested close to $4 billion in various projects across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We are setting up new cement plants in eight African countries, namely: Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Benin Republic. We are also developing import terminals in the following African countries: Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin Republic, Togo and Guinea (Conakry).

    “All these projects, which are largely driven by huge deficit in local supply of cement in the countries listed, are at different stages of progress, and will be completed between 2012 and 2014. Our ultimate goal is to rank among the top eight cement producers in the world by 2014. Our aspiration to be the leading cement producer in Africa is a logical step after we have achieved domestic dominance and have become self-sufficient in cement production as a nation. In Nigeria, Dangote cement accounts for more than 60 per cent of market share. We will start exporting cement to neighbouring countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote D Ívoire, as from this year.’’

     

     

  • Travel journalist Awofeso gets tourism award

    Award-winning travel journalist and author, Pelu Awofeso, has been named the “Best Tourism Promoter” at this year’s MBE Improver Awards. It was held in Manchester,  England .

    According to the organisers, the event was hosted “to acknowledge, celebrate and confer excellence on individuals who devoted their all in promoting human welfare and advancing reforms in their specific fields”.

    Other categories at the awards include outstanding leadership awards, volunteer recognition awards, best human rights activist, best community leader, best journalist and best entertainer.

    Nominations were announced for 16 different categories in June and winners emerged based on voting by the public on the organiser’s website.

    “I am extremely honoured by this award, coming as it is when the international community prepares to mark the World Tourism Day on September 27. I want you to know that this award will only spur me on to continue to do what I have been doing in the past 15 years—promoting domestic tourism in every way possible, online and offline,” an elated Awofeso said.

    Awofeso is a former winner of the CNN/ Multichoice Africa Journalist Awards in the tourism category and his career in journalism has spanned 12 years. He is the author of three travel books on Nigeria and he currently edits waka-about, a tourism- and arts-focused periodical.

    “It’s been a long, tough and almost tiring journey, but I will be the first to confess that my life has been thoroughly enriched by my adventures around Nigeria—from Argungu to Asaba—and the everyday Nigerians I have met on my way,” adds Awofeso, who has visited 30 states.

    “If there is anything I would like to say at this point, it will be to all Nigerians to take your own journeys; a great deal of memorable experiences await,” he added.

  • Ebola Virus …Win some, lose some

    Ebola Virus …Win some, lose some

    A Liberian doctor was confirmed dead despite being treated with experimental drug ZMapp. Before the Liberian’s death, a Spanish woman treated with the same drug also died. But, two Americans who received the same treatment are alive and Ebola-free. This development has raised the poser on whether or not ZMapp has anything to do with the recovery of the Americans, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU

    One of three African doctors infected with Ebola and treated with the experimental drug ZMapp in Liberia is dead. Liberia’s Information Minister Lewis Brown confirmed yesterday that Dr. Abraham Borbor lost the battle against Ebola.

    Last week, Liberia said ZMapp appeared to be helping three Liberian health care workers who were given the experimental drug. They had shown “very positive signs of recovery,” the Liberian Ministry of Health said. Medical professionals treating the workers called their progress “remarkable.”

    Borbor’s case, according to Brown, worsened yesterday. He was the Deputy Chief Medical Director at the John F. Kenedy Medical Centre, Monrovia.

    Before the Liberian’s death, a Spanish priest who was also treated with ZMapp died. The Ebola drug was flown to Spain to give to the priest named Miguel Pajares, who had contracted the virus in Liberia.

    Borbor’s death coincides with the beginning of treatment on a Briton who contracted the disease in Sierra Leone. Doctors at a hospital in north-west London are treating William Pooley, a 29-year-old volunteer nurse.

    Pooley was flown to RAF Northolt in a specially equipped military aircraft on Sunday and taken under police escort to Hampstead’s Royal Free Hospital.

    He volunteered to go to West Africa to care for victims of the Ebola outbreak which has killed almost 1,500 people.

    It is the first confirmed case of a Briton contracting the virus during the current outbreak.

    Pooley, believed to be from Woodbridge in Suffolk, was flown out of Sierra Leone’s main airport in Lungi, in a RAF C-17 transport aircraft.

    If Pooley survives, he will be the third to have survived the deadly disease after receiving doses of ZMapp.

    The first two are two American missionaries, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol. They were infected with the deadly Ebola virus and flown separately from Liberia to Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital – becoming the first human patients with Ebola to ever come to the United States.

    Writebol was released from the hospital last Tuesday. Brantly walked out of the same hospital with no signs of the virus in his system the next day.Their recoveries seem to offer hope for those fighting the largest Ebola outbreak in known history. More than 2,400 people have been infected by the virus, according to the World Health Organisation, and it’s killed more than half.

    They were given ZMapp, which is not an approved treatment for Ebola. There is no approved treatment yet.

    For Ebola patients to leave isolation, two blood tests had to come back negative for the Ebola virus. Their bodily fluids, such as blood, sweat and feces, should no longer be infectious before they are let out of isolation.

    According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), some doctors believe the virus can remain in vaginal fluid and semen for up to several months.

    A report by CNN said this of ZMapp: “The drug was developed by the biotech firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which is based in San Diego. The company was founded in 2003 “to develop novel pharmaceuticals for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, focusing on unmet needs in global health and biodefense,” according to its website.

    “Mapp Biopharmaceutical has been working with the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, an arm of the military responsible for countering weapons of mass destruction, to develop an Ebola treatment for several years.”

    On how the drug works, the report says: “Antibodies are proteins used by the immune system to mark and destroy foreign, or harmful, cells. A monoclonal antibody is similar, except it’s engineered in a lab so it will attach to specific parts of a dangerous cell, according to the Mayo Clinic, mimicking your immune system’s natural response. Monoclonal antibodies are used to treat many different types of conditions.”

    The drug is produced with proteins made from tobacco plants. ZMapp manufacturer Kentucky BioProcessing in Owensboro provided limited quantities of this kind of the drug to Emory, according to company spokesman David Howard.

    With the recovery of two patients who were given the drug and the death of another two after receiving the treatment, many have wondered why it worked in some and failed in others. The CNN report says there is no proof that the Americans survived because of ZMapp.

    “The drug had shown promise in primates, but even in those experiments, just eight monkeys received the treatment. In any case, the human immune system can react differently than primates’, which is why drugs are required to undergo human clinical trials before being approved by government agencies for widespread use. These cases will be studied further to determine how the drug worked with their immune systems,” the report says.

    Ebola is a rare disease, almost completely confined to poor countries – so funding for drug development has come largely from government agencies.

    In March, the NIH awarded a five-year, $28 million grant to establish collaboration between researchers from 15 institutions working to fight Ebola. Last Wednesday, Wellcome Trust and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development announced that money for Ebola research will be made available from a $10.8 million initiative.

    So far, scientists say the efficacy of ZMapp can only be confirmed after further studies.

  • The Nation man Ololade makes CNN Awards shortlist

    The Nation man Ololade makes CNN Awards shortlist

    The Nation serial award-winner Olatunji Ololade has been announced among the 28 finalists of the CNN African Journalist of the Year.

    The organisers’ statement at the weekend also showed that two reporters from Premium Times – Ben Ezeamalu and Emmanuel Ogala – made the shortlist.

    Other Nigerians, who will join other finalists from 10 countries, are: The Punch man Bayo Olupohunda and Business Day’s Obinna Emelike.

    Ololade and others will enjoy an all-expense paid finalists’ programme where prizes will be handed out to category and overall winners in Dar es Salam, Tanzania.

    Winners will be announced at an award event and gala night on October 18.

    The gala, to be hosted by CNN International anchor and correspondent, Isha Sesay, will be preceded by an all-expense paid four-day programme of workshops, media fora and networking.

    A statement announcing the finalists quoted the Executive Vice-President and Managing Director of CNN International, Tony Maddox, as praising “the quality and excellence of work” in the competition.

    The other finalists from outside Nigeria are: Daniel Biaou Adje, ORTB, Benin; Safia Berkouk, El Watan, Algeria; Vinayak Bhardwaj and Tabelo Timse, M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, Mail and Guardian, South Africa; Romão Brandão, Jornal OPAÍS, Angola; Sean Christie, Freelance for Landbouweekblad and The Mail and Guardian, South Africa; Bob Koigi, Farmbizafrica.com, Kenya and Joseph Mathenge, Freelance for The Saturday Nation, Kenya, among others.

     

  • CNN journalist Gina London for Lagos summit

    CNN journalist Gina London for Lagos summit

    Vmmy Award-winning veteran CNN correspondent and communication strategist Gina London has arrived in Lagos to facilitate a series of strategic communication trainings.

    From media houses to financial institutions, Gina will facilitate bespoke training sessions for organisations with high-level communication needs from June 15 to July 18.

    Gina’s experience spans CNN, CNN Radio, CNN International, CONUS Washington and 250

    CNN affiliate stations in the United States (U.S.) and internationally. As a trainer, consultant and communication strategist, her client portfolio includes: Hill & Knowlton, Deloitte, Wachovia Bank, M&T Mountain Bank, First Mariner Ban, Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, Chase Manhattan, First Savings and Federal of Baltimore, The World Bank, JCPenney Corporation, Walmart Stores Inc., Stanley Black & Decker and The Bradley Group.

    She has transformed communication teams over the years, making their methods and messages more effective.

    Her first stop will be at the “Find Your Edge” Strategic Communication Conference from today to Friday at The Wheatbaker in Ikoyi, Lagos, by 9am. The three-day conference is to enlighten senior management professionals in media, politics and corporate industries on emerging opportunities in today’s media cluttered world. Gina will focus on how to leverage on global media to sustain relevance and a global approach to communicating with stakeholders, the media and the world.

    For more information on this conference, visit www.findyouredge.com.ng. Companies can benefit from in-house training sessions tailored by Gina to suit their needs.

    “Our expectations of Gina are very high,” says Ayoola Jolayemi, Managing Director of SwiftThink Limited, the company spearheading the project. “Gina’s vast experience with CNN and training and consulting for many companies worldwide will support the efforts of Nigerian companies in reputation management, crisis management, media relations and more. We are looking forward to a rewarding learning experience with her.”

    For more information on Gina London’s schedule in Nigeria, send an email to info@findyouredge.com.ng.

     

  • Anger rises as Boko Haram threatens to sell school girls

    Anger rises as Boko Haram threatens to sell school girls

    Protests in Lagos, Abeokuta, Calabar

     

    The global outrage over the abduction of the Chibok girls is growing, with protests yesterday in Lagos, Calabar and Abeokuta.

    The girls were snatched away from their hostels on April 15 by the fundamentalist sect Boko Haram, which threatened yesterday to sell them.

    The leader of the militant group, Abubakar Shekau, in a video made available to the media, said: “I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah.”

    Shekau added that the abduction had caused outrage “because we are holding people [as] slaves”.

    “There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women,” he continued, according to a CNN translation from the local Hausa language.

    Boko Haram is a terrorist group receiving training from al Qaeda affiliates, according to United States (U.S.) officials. Its name means “Western education is sin.” In his nearly hourlong, rambling video, Shekau repeatedly called for Western education to end.

    “Girls, you should go and get married,” he said.

    Barely a few hours after Boko Haram admitted custody of the 276 (police figure) abducted school girls, security agencies and chiefs met yesterday to analyse the video clip purportedly released by Shekau.

    Troops were ordered to go ahead with their search for the girls.

    Also, troops have been mobilised to Sambisa Forest and identifiable border towns in Chad and Cameroon where the girls may have been kept by Boko Haram.

    A top security source, last night, said: “Security agencies got the video clip very early in the day and all military chiefs have been analysing it.

    “While we have some technical reservations with the video clip, the security agencies and their leaders resolved that the search and rescue operations for the girls by the troops should continue.

    “The immediate conclusion of the military and security agencies was that the video might have been released by the sect to drive fear into Nigerians and divert attention in order to relocate the girls into safe passage.

    “Although we suspect the video message as an element of propaganda, we will not ignore it in any manner.”

    The source said the video clip would not stop the operations for the rescue of the girls.

    Said the source: “As I am talking to you, troops have been ordered to continue with the search and rescue operations for the abducted girls.

    “Also, troops have been deployed in Sambisa Forest and strategic border towns with Chad and Cameroon.

    “The troops have been asked to block all likely passage channels through which the girls could be relocated elsewhere.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “All security agencies in neighbouring countries are already collaborating with us to locate the whereabouts of these girls.

    “Foreign intelligence agencies are also surveying movements in and out of some suspected terrorist enclaves in some countries.

    “I think we are closer to a global search for the girls because many countries are sharing intelligence information with Nigeria.”

    In Lagos thousands of women marched on  Governor Babatunde Fashola’s office  to call for the girls’ release.

    In the protest, organised by Women for Peace and Justice in Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, were various civil society coalition groups, accompanied by their male counterparts, including rights activists-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN).

    They were dressed in red. The protest began at about 9am at Allen Roundabout, Awolowo.

    The protesters were armed with placards some of which read: “Bring back our girls”; “Our future leaders are missing, bring them back”; “Chad, Cameroon and Niger, stop enabling criminals”; “We want our girls back alive”; “Save innocent girls”; “Enough is Enough”; “234 girls, Haba!”; and “FGN, free the Chibok Girls”; among others.

    There was a traffic gridlock on Obafemi Awolowo Way as the protesters marched on, singing and demanding the girls’ release.

    Speaking on behalf of the protesters, former Attorney General of Lagos State Justice Wonu Folami (rtd) said the protesters were at the State House to express their grievances over the abduction of the girls.

    She said: “Our children have been brutally murdered. Over 200 girls are kidnapped; this is very sad, that nothing is being done about it. It is sad that the government does not even know the number of girls that are missing.

    “We want security to be redoubled immediately. We want them back alive and without them, there can be no tomorrow. Fashola should double his effort to provide security in Lagos State as there are insinuations that they might strike here.”

    Falana said: “We demand on the part of the government immediate rescue operation of these girls so that that they can join their parents. We urge the Lagos State government to help convey this message to the Federal Government. Until these girls are released, we cannot give the government any pass mark. We want the government to re-double its efforts so that these girls can be returned to their parents. We call on the government to deploy all military forces in Nigeria to collaborate with the international organisations and countries that have gone through this before to ensure the freedom of these abducted girls.

    Falana condemned the arrest of some protesters in Abuja.

    Receiving the protesters, Deputy Governor Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire said the state government would work with the Federal Government to ensure the girls’ release, adding that it is disheartening to hear that 234 girls were kidnapped.

    “We are pained, as mothers, for this to be happening to our girls. We will do our best to ensure that they are released. All of us should pray and fast for the release of these children because we believe God can do it.

    “From tomorrow, Lagosians can observe three days fasting and prayer for the release of these girls. We need divine intervention. Let us lend our voices to God to release these children,” she said.

    Speaking for the protesters, Aisha Oyebode, wife of frontline lawyer-businessman Gbenga Oyebode, said the essence of the protest was that the women wanted the girls returned unharmed.

    She said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that they were rescued and brought back home immediately.

    “The longer it takes to rescue our girls, the greater the dangers they are exposed to. The lack of action is unacceptable, the growing insecurity is worrisome and we as Nigerians demand an immediate and complete end to the politicisation of insecurity in this country,” Mrs Oyebode, daughter of the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed, said.

    In Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s wife, Bola, and Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s wife, Olufunso, joined hundreds of women to march over the girls’ abduction.

    The protest, which began around 8am at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto,took the women through IBB Boulevard and terminated at the Ogun State House of Assembly complex, the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, where Mrs Amosun presented their protest letter to Speaker Suraj Adekunbi for delivery to the National Assembly.

    They also marched on Amosun’s office, demanding action from the Federal Government as well as  unconditional and safe release of the girls.

    Mrs Amosun, who spoke on behalf of the women,  presented a letter to the governor for delivery to President Jonathan, pleading with him to help set the innocent girls free.

    Also participating in the protest march are the Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief Alaba Lawson, members of the  International Federation of Women Lawyers, trader, artisans, among others.

    The women, who deplored the abduction of the girls and likely pains they could be passing through, displayed  placards bearing various inscriptions: “Kidnapped school girls must be found”; “Our girls are not sex machine”; “Bring back our girls”, “Haba! this is barbaric in the 21st century”, and “Let all our women rise to save our girls”.

    At the Ogun Assembly complex, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Elizabeth Sonubi, who addressed the lawmakers, called on the states and National Assembly members to take action towards freeing the girls.

    Mrs. Sonubi also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to help release the girls.

    Thousands of secondary schools girls in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, protested yesterday to demand unconditional release of the abducted Chibok girls.

    The girls, dressed in black, from various secondary schools, marched through major streets in Calabar, with placards that read: “Bring back our little sisters”, “Our girls are future mothers, free our daughters”, “Dialogue is the best option, not kidnapping of girls”, “Why use women as tools for negotiation”; “We need a safe and secure Nigeria, not abduction of girls” and “Free our girls, stop bombing and let’s talk”; among others.

    They were joined in the protest by members of the National Association of Cross River Students (NACRISS), Civil Society and Non-Governmental organisations in the state.

    Some of the pupils said they were concerned about the plight of the abducted girls whose fate remains unknown.

    They urged the Federal Government to ensure the release of the girls urgently.

    “The victims and their parents should be saved the trauma they are passing through. These innocent girls should not be made sacrificial lambs.

    “Today, it is students of Chibok Secondary School, tomorrow some other persons may be affected,” one of the Mary said.

    The co-ordinator, Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (a civil society organisation), Comrade James Ibor who also participated in the protest march, said the safety of lives and property should be given priority by the government.

    Comrade Ibor said: “The government must not abdicate its responsibility of guaranteeing the security of lives and property.”

    Comrade Nse Paulinus, National Coordinator of Democratic Action League, praised the pupils for embarking on the protest.

    “These are the friends of the girls in captivity. The government should listen to their cry and ensure the kidnapped girls are released safely,” he said.

    The Deputy Coordinator of Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI), a Calabar non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mrs. Ndodoye Basey-Obongha also called for the unconditional release of the abducted girls.

    “We join our voices with the parents of the affected girls and all other well-meaning Nigerians to urge the Boko Haram sect to immediately release the abducted girls in the interest of humanity,” she said.

  • CNN’s Richard Quest wins UNWTO 2013 Award

    UNWTO has awarded CNN’s Richard Quest the 2013 UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement, in recognition of his work as a business journalist reporting on the tourism industry.

    The Award recognizes Mr. Quest’s reporting across the globe on CNN, which has showcased the challenges and successes of the tourism industry – raising it into the mainstream of the international agenda.

    UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai said: “Richard’s reporting has always recognized the tourism sector’s critical role in the global business agenda. His work has consistently explored, in great depth, the major themes and issues that resonate across the sector. His long-standing commitment to reporting on tourism as part of his broader business remit has helped shed light on the full range of socio-economic activity that powers the sector.”

    Richard Quest is the presenter of CNN’s flagship daily business programme ‘Quest Means Business’ and the monthly ‘CNN Business Traveller’, regularly covering business affairs from around the world.

    The UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented during the UNWTO Awards Ceremony, held last Wednesday during the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) in Madrid, Spain.

  • Fan condemn Omotola’s new single

    Fan condemn Omotola’s new single

    A hail of criticisms has continued to trail Nollywood star actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde’s singing ability, following the release of her new single, Barren Land, off her second album titled: Me, Myself and Eyes.

    This came on the heels of her recent interview with CNN, where she was played up as a multi-talented actress, singer and philanthropist.

    Though this is not the first time her songs have been be subjected to criticisms, the mother of four, unlike actress Genevieve Nnaji, has been unperturbed.

    Interestingly, arguments on the social media have, however, shifted from a critical review of Omotola’s song, as fans of both actresses are now comparing their talents and celebrity status.

    Genevieve appears to have given up singing, after her first album, One Logologo Line, turned out a commercial failure. In the views of her fans, the star actress had taken a right decision.

    While commenting on Omotola’s latest single, a fan who faulted it for excessive auto tune and bad vocal, said, “I’m a huge fan of Omotola, but the song would have been better as instrumental (no vocals). Does she not have people around her to tell her she cannot sing and that she needs to stick to acting? Love you, Omosexy.”

    Another fan was quoted to have said that “All I can hear is auto tune! After all these years of vocal lessons… Stick to acting alone, love.”

    In the same vein, another fan said, “I love Omotola, but singing is not for everyone… If she was my mom, I would tell her NO! You can tell she can’t sing. So much auto tune; it is offbeat. And she is singing with her nose. I am crying of laughter as I am typing this. The song has a good message. Omowumi should have sung this, featuring MI. Even Genevieve’s I go kick you make you cry song was better than this (laughs).”

    However, some believe that the fault is not totally that of the actress, but the producer’s.

    “She (Omotola) should have gotten Cobhams to do the song for her. He is a terrific producer, especially for inspirational music or TY Bello’s Mosa ( Mosadoluwa Adegboye is the award-winning producer of TY Bello’s solo debut, Greenland). I don’t even live in Lagos and I know all these things,” said a fan.

    In the view of another fan, though the beat used for Omotola’s song was fantastic, he wished that the song was sold to someone else to do justice to it. “And to think this is the song being used by Amnesty International. So, this is the song that was inspired by activism? I can’t even talk anymore…This auto tune tie ti je ki ori mi daru die (Yoruba for ‘the auto tune is driving me crazy’). Let me go and eat and regain my sanity biko,” he said.

     

  • US Police probe motive of Colorado high school shooter

    POLICE on Saturday were looking into the motive of a student who opened fire at a Colorado High School, severely wounding a teenager before apparently killing himself, as the U.S. state sought to understand the latest in a series of shootings.

    Karl Pierson, 18, entered Arapahoe High School in a Denver suburb around midday on Friday brandishing a shot gun and asked fellow students about the location of a teacher. He then shot a 15-year-old girl who was nearby, a county official said.

    He was later found inside a classroom with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. The teacher, who quickly fled the school, was unharmed.

    Fellow students said Pierson was a smart and likeable member of the school’s track team and debate club.

    Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said detectives were investigating “revenge” as a possible motive, but did not elaborate, though investigators believed the youth acted alone.

    Police said they knew of no prior discipline problems.

    The shooting in the Denver suburb of Centennial took place just eight miles from the scene of one of the deadliest school massacres in U.S. history, Columbine High School, where two students gunned down 13 classmates and staff before killing themselves in 1999.

    There was no indication the incident was related to the anniversary on Saturday of last year’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in which a gunman massacred 20 children and six adults before killing himself, Robinson said.

    “I believe the shooter knew that deputy sheriffs were immediately about to engage him, and I believe that shooter took his life because he knew that he had been found,” the sheriff told a news conference on Friday.

    He said a firebomb-like device was detonated inside the school by the suspect, but a second such incendiary device did not go off and was rendered harmless by authorities.

    Nearby businesses were evacuated as dozens of police arrived at the scene with guns drawn. They never fired their weapons as they pursued the gunman and evacuated the school.

    Reports and images from the school show frenzy and fear among the students. Some could be seen being funneled out with their hands raised onto a track field where they were being patted down by police.

    Holly Schaefer, an 18-year-old senior, said she saw blood on the hallway floor as students were being escorted out of the building.

    Whitney Riley, 15, told CNN she and several other students and teachers hid in a utility room after hearing gunfire and did not come out until police arrived.

    “We were shaking. We were crying. We were freaking out. I had a girl biting my arm,” she said. “We stayed quiet and we heard a whole bunch of sounds. We heard people yelling. We heard walkie-talkies.”

    Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who pushed through tougher firearms legislation this year following the Newtown shooting and last year’s attack in a Colorado movie theater that killed 12 people, called the shooting an “all-too-familiar sequence, where you have gunshots and parents racing to the school and unspeakable horror in a place of learning.”

    Authorities said they planned to conduct searches of the suspected gunman’s vehicle, which was left parked at the school, and two homes owned by his parents.

    The local ABC News affiliate in Denver reported the suspected gunman was upset after being kicked off the debate squad.

    Arapahoe senior Frank Woronoff told CNN the gunman had recently been “demoted” on the debate team and the teacher he was said to be targeting was its faculty adviser and the school’s librarian.