THE Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja is the venue of today’s World Water Day celebration by Global Citizen, an international advocacy organisation, and Procter & Gamble (P&G).
Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu will deliver a keynote address at the event, which would also feature a panel discussion moderated by journalist Chika Oduah and a performance by soul singer, Falana.
They will join P&G Associate Director Global Government Relations – Africa Temitope Iluyemi, Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council National Coordinator for Nigeria, Priscilla Achakpa, and other activists and decision-makers to advocate for clean water and sanitation in Nigeria with the aim of promoting good health and ending extreme poverty by 2030.
A statement by Global Citizen noted that since 2016 Nigeria had made commitments to improve access to clean water and sanitation and end open defecation in Nigeria – which are all efforts towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
It reads: “At the 2016 Global Citizen Festival in New York, Nigeria’s then-Environment Minister Amina Mohammed committed to achieving open defecation status in Nigeria by 2025 or sooner. In 2017, Minister Adamu committed to getting 5.5 million people out of open defecation by the end of 2018. At the 2018 Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100, the Cross River State Government committed $15 million over the next five years during water and sanitation, specifically ending open defecation in Cross River. Ahead of the World Water Day event, Global Citizens are asking additional Nigerian Governors to step up, and commit the funds needed to make clean water and sanitation a reality for all in Nigeria.”
Tag: hosts
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Global Citizen hosts Water Day in Abuja
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MTN Foundation hosts masterclass for music scholars
MTN Foundation MUSON scholars has been hosted to a masterclass with top Conductor/countertenor Daniel Taylor put together by the Foundation.
The event held at the Agip Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, with Canadian music experts, Daniel Taylor and Ellen Mcateer who are part of the entoourage.
Taylor is the Head of Early Music and Professor of Voice at the University of Toronto, while Mcateer is a Canadian Soprano and two-time recipient of the prestigious Richard Bradshaw Graduate Fellowship in Opera, along with numerous career-defining awards.
Both tutors took the beneficiaries of the MTN Foundation MUSON scholarship programme through a series of singing techniques and patterns of voice modulations during stage performances. They also touched on the importance of exuding confidence while singing before an audience.
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MoorHouse hosts Oderinde, Gbadebo
The collection of paintings and drawings featuring at a joint exhibition at Weave & Co Gallery, MoorHouse Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, by Olayinka Oderinde and Oluwaseyi Gbadebo, is a rare combination.
From the theme to the content, colour scheme and presentation, the artworks are a departure from the works exhibited by artists of late.
The works, which are devoid of loud colours and images, are simply peaceful to the eyes and spiritually- inclined. Yet, there are semi-abstract human figures enhanced by lines and cycles.
For the two artists, who are graduates of Fine and Applied Art of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, the reason for the shift is deliberate. According to Gbadebo, his style is a reflection of a new season in his career.
“There is more behind the veil. I want people to look beyond now. It is a function of meditation and linking up with divine. I see myself as a court artist and the works are dedicated with strong messages,” he said at the preview session.
Gbadebo, who had his first solo Synonyms at Quintessence, Ikoyi, Lagos in 2015, sees art as an experience of the divine, a realm to explore in bringing forth beauty and timeless wisdom. His works are mysterious as they are engaging and they speak of realities behind the veil.
The essence of his works lies in conveying experiences of his interactions with the divine. By using lines, tones and forms, he carefully portrays his experiences with ink on paper and often employs digital tools to achieve varieties of post effects version of his works.
What inspired Gbadebo into this new direction? He said it is a passion for Christian mysticism and Scriptures which is a major influence on his works. Still his creative process is often aided by lofty sounds from hallowed minstrels.
“I am a court artist to YHVH; all I do is to document what is revealed tome behind the veil. If it must be revealed to another, I do without hesitating otherwise I seal it up,” he stated. Among his works on display are Eternal entrance, (ink on paper), Sky man, Forge of sons, Fall of Scythe, Harvest: Cycles and Codes, Sweet influences, Sun flower and Split.
Oderinde’s art focuses on man on his search for awareness, especially through the lens of spirituality, purpose and identity. He has found voice through the evocative medium of drawing and storytelling as he is purely inspired through divine revelation. His 15 works on show are in two major series of portal and black tempest series.
He made use of three media – water colour, charcoal and ink – to avoid adding to the disharmony and chaos in the society. They include Omoye, Ojukosun, ojuri, olaore, Aimokan (Innocence), Black tempest series, Ojulari, (Naivete), Iberu, Knucklehead, Itewogba (Acceptance), Okanjua, Ojogbon, Irapaaaada, Alekun, Secret traveller and Mystic journey.
Oderinde said: “I have come face to face with the secret at the core of life yet words have almost reached their limit. I draw a world of line. Form and colour using invincible ink. My instrument is no more than a spec ofconsciousness like a pencil point moving across a blank sheet of paper yeteverything pours out of that single point, could anything be more mysterious, and at the same time miraculous?.”
The joint exhibition, which is curated by Moses Ohiomokhare, will run for two weeks.
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Verve life 2.0 hosts workouts
In bid to improve the fitness level of Nigerians, Pan-African payment card company Verve International, last Saturday, June 16, engaged fitness loving citizens with a body and transformational workout and healthy living sessions.
The event, the second edition of its kind, held at the Landmark Events Centre, Oniru, Lagos and gave guests an opportunity to network and break a sweat at the same time.
This year’s edition themed “Zero Excuses” was aimed at encouraging both fitness enthusiasts and individuals who are not so keen on exercising that they have no excuse not to work out, be healthy, stay fit and generally endeavour to lead healthier lives.
The event was attended by corporate executives, celebrities, and individuals from all walks of life. Nobody was left out at the event as even the pregnant women had a session of where they were engaged in exercises to ease delivery at childbirth. The children also had a variety of games to play as well as exercises that will improve their intellectual development.
All attendees were treated to a delightful morning with fitness challenges and masterclasses on boxing, strength and conditioning, dance, yoga, zumba, martial arts and nutrition.
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Ghana tourism body hosts Nigerian delegates
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) will host delegates for this year’s Accra Weizo Fair holding on June 22 and 23 at La Palm Royale Beach Hotel.
This was revealed by the head of the GTA, Mr. Akwesi Agyeman, and Mr. Ikechi Uko of Akwaaba African Travel Market at the Office of the GTA.
The authority will host the delegates to a 3 – day familiarization tour of Ghana from 19 to 21 June, 2018. Delegates for the fair will be coming from Nigeria and seven other nations in East, West and Southern Africa.
The delegates will take a tour of the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions of Ghana. The tour programme drawn for them is in tandem with the GTA’s domestic tourism campaign of eat, feel, see and wear Ghana. Experiences during the tour will include quad biking, boat cruises, kayaking, bon fire, tropical rain forest trail, night life, others.
In the greater Accra region, the delegates will tour the Shai Hills Resource Reserve on 19th June, 2018. The reserve has a varied package of wildlife, archaeological sites, caves and granite hills. They will experience activities such as nature walk (hiking), gaming, bird watching, exploration of caves, etc.
In the Volta Region, the delegation will visit the Amedzofe Eco-Tourism Community and Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. They will have a dinner at Chances Hotel and enjoy nightlife. Delegates will arrive in the Eastern Region on June, 20 to take a tour of the Akosombo Dam Site, after which they will have lunch at Royal Senchi Resort. They will then enjoy a boat cruise on the Volta Lake.
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NITRA hosts chiefs
Chief Executive Officers of Nigeria’s leading data centre service providers- MainOne, Medallion Communications, and Rack Centre will be guests at the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA)’s February 2018 edition of the monthly interactive session with ICT industry helmsmen tagged: ‘Breakfast Meeting With The CEO.’
The CEOs, Ms Funke Opeke (MainOne), Mr. Ike Nnamani (Medallion) and Mr. Tunde Coker (Rack Centre) have all indicated interest to be present at the meeting, which will have over 50 journalists from various media organisations in attendance.
As the world increasingly exploits information technology for innovative services and competitive advantage, the data centre is playing a rapidly expanding role in job creation and preservation as well as the overall economic recovery.
Nigeria has witnessed significant investments in data centres being established in the country. And it has often been argued that the availability of world class data centres in Nigeria is critical infrastructure required for the implementation of the country’s broadband initiatives.
Hence, the need for the industry journalist to convene players in this segment of the nation’s ICT sub sector of the economy on the theme: “Data Centre Operation In Nigeria: Impacts, Benefits And Challenges In a Knowledge Economy.”
The event, slated for Friday, February 16, at the R-Café Hotel on Isaac John Street, Ikeja GRA, will feature MainOne, as a leading connectivity solutions company, operator of MDX-i Lekki Data Centre.
MainOne apart from being the premier Tier III certified Data Centre in West Africa; it is the most connected Data Centre facility in the region, with access to fibre connectivity from all the major ISPs and telecommunications operators in the region.
Also, Medallion Communications CEO will be on the panel to share his experiences as a product of structured collaboration between technocrats with versatile exposures and competences in the telecommunications industry.
NITRA will also host Rack Centre CEO as a major player in a state-of-the-art, Tier III Certified data centre carrier, offering neutral colocation services.
The meeting offers the CEOs an opportunity to showcase some of their company’s achievements, the impacts, benefits and challenges of such business in the country’s national economy before the largest gathering of ICT journalists.
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Ogun hosts Tech Summit
More than 1000 individuals, organisations and future disruptors are expected to gather in Abeokuta, Ogun State, for The TechSummitOgun 2018.
With the theme “Disruptive Innovation; Where Are We?” the summit will hold at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Thursday, January 18, 2018.
Hosted by Vervetree Global, an emerging incubator, the summit will convey leading stakeholders within the digital innovation ecosystem to explore solutions to drive digital innovation and growth from the early-stage nascent phase of technology innovation.
Speakers at the summit would range from diverse background and industries including, but not limited to – telecommunication companies, start-up technology companies, members of the academic community, policy makers, entrepreneurs, young people and several others with experiences required to drive productive conversations and actions for the future of tech-enabled innovation.
They will speak across technical sessions and sub-topics, including innovation and Start-ups, Education, Innovation and Financing and Innovation and Digital Media.
The summit will be characterized by keynote addresses, plenary sessions and breakout sessions.
Some of the topics to be treated at plenary include: Promoting Ogun as a Technological and innovation hub in Nigeria; Start-up, education and the digital age: leveraging social and traditional media for growth; Pitching the media, what works?; Turning student into founders: How to run an effective start-up; Investing and seed funding: challenges facing the financing of start-ups in Nigeria; Growing a sustainable technology start-up; Innovating start-ups: targeting the core of the market; and addressing the shortage of tech talent and innovativeness within higher institutions in Ogun.
Outcomes and key metrics proposed for evaluating the success of the summit include ensuring the largest multi-stakeholder platform to discuss technology innovation in Ogun State, show commitments for partnerships and likely investment in digital opportunities, commitment to infrastructural development and policy by the relevant stakeholders, and launch of the ‘Tech Challenge Ogun’ and other collaboration towards the future of digital transformation and innovation in Ogun State.
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Forum hosts Akubuiro, Ekunno
Henry Akubuiro and Mike Ekunno will be guests at the September 30 edition of the Guest Writer Session, a monthly initiative of the Abuja Writers’ Forum(AWF), which holds at the Aso Hall of Nanet Suites, Ekiti House, Abuja.
Akubuiro is a journalist, novelist, juvenilia author and poet. He graduated from the Department of English and Literary Studies, Imo State University, Owerri. His journalism career began as an undergraduate in the university, where he became the pioneer editors of The Elite (the creative writing magazine of English and Literary Students Association) and The Imo Star (the newspaper of the Student Union Government).
In 1998, Akubuiro won the BBC World Service Young Reporters’ Competition and the National Essay Competition organised by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports. In 2005, he won the ANA Literary Journalist of the Year; while his unpublished juvenilia, Little Wizard of Okokomaiko, won the 2009 ANA/Lantern Prize for Fiction.
Akubuiro is the Arts Editor of The Sun, and runs one of the most successful and longest running literary supplements in the media, The Sun Literary Review.
He will read from his novel, Prodigals in Paradise, shortlisted for the 2016 ANA Prose Prize. Set in Lagos, the story follows the trajectory of a fresh, ambitious Nigerian graduate, Nicodemus, as he travels to Lagos for greener pastures.
To his dismay, he discovers that the city is not a bed of roses as he to struggles to eke a living. His uncle, Job, whom he is putting up with, suddenly metamorphoses into a false prophet, having converted the decrepitude building they are squatting called Paradise into a church, and he is saddled with breaking the endgame leading to the death of a British miracle seeker. Paradise, thus, becomes a curious social and spiritual paradox.
According to Prof Tanure Ojaide of the University of North Carolina Charlotte, “Prodigals in Paradise jumps out of the page to grab the reader’s attention. From the characters named Nicodemus, Job, Ahmed Elijah, and Keziah, through religious charlatans, whore, molue driver, coffin maker and the indelible episodes of impostor beggar, pilfering in the church, a man of GOD on the rampage or the selling of quadruplets by a bemused couple, Akubuiro, with beautiful, descriptive, poetic language, intense suspense and humour, paints the reality of subaltern life with its pain, laughter, and duplicities in a Lagos slum. This is a spellbinding narrative.”
Ekunno started out in real estate consultancy after his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nigeria. He has since made a switch to media, creative writing and copy editing.
Since his career change, Ekunno has worked in radio and television – the one as Special Assistant to the DG/CEO of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and, in the other, as pioneer Co-Presenter of FCT Progress Report on NTA network service. He has been a columnist at The Guardian on Sunday, Nigeria’s flagship weekly. Ekunno also served as Senior Speechwriter and Technical Assistant to Nigeria’s last Information and Communications Minister.
His creating writing output is represented in over two-dozen journals, including: Drunk Monkeys, Bridge Eight, The First Line, The Hamilton Stone Review, The Transnational, The Artist Unleashed, Gambling the Aisle, The African Roar Anthology 2013, Warscapes, bioStories, BRICKrhetoric, Dark Matter Journal, Thrice Fiction Magazine, Cigale Literary Magazine, Middle Gray Magazine, Miracle e-zine, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Ascent Aspirations Magazine, Dugwe, The Muse, Bullet Pen and Storymoja, the last two coming with wins in continent-wide contests.
He has won Zuma Film Festival national essay competition and Abuja Writers Forum fiction prizes apart from continental awards. Ekunno was head of Media/Corporate Affairs at Nigeria’s film regulatory body and freelances as a literary critic, book editor and ghost biographer.
He will read from one of his published pieces and give a talk on writing creative non-fiction articles, publishing in journals and building a writer’s portfolio.
The Guest Writer Session, which also features live music and a raffle-draw for books, runs from 4pm to 7pm and is open to the public.
The Abuja Writer’s Forum also runs a weekly Critique Session and a regular Creative Writing Workshop series.
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Foundation hosts carnival for humanity
The annual Adire Street Culture Carnival will hold from December 25 to 27, in Lagos.
According to the national co-ordinator of the carnival, Princess Oluwabukola Adubi Fasuyi, the event will hold at the National Arts Theatre, the Lagos home of arts and culture.
She said Nigeria occupied a pride of place in fashion and textile industry in Africa.
“As a country globally recognised for her rich culture and diverse tradition, Nigeria boasts of an incredible array of fashion choices and fabrics. Notable amongst these fabrics is the adire, which has found favour amongst people all over the continent of Africa and Europe, America, Canada and Asia.
“The fashion industry has also continued to grow by the day, with more and more people coming into adire production, and bringing in various innovations. As a way of promoting this very thriving fashion and garment industry, which by the way will also be doubling as promotion for Nigeria’s culture and tradition, Lady of Africa Foundation, has embarked on a mission to take the highly appreciated fabric to an entirely different level through exhibitions and carnivals,” she added.
Princess Fasuyi commended the role played by the National Council for Arts and Culture and the Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture, both government agencies that have been giving the Lady of Africa Foundation tremendous support since inception.
She added that invitation was open to all to experience the beauty and richness of the African culture, which would be on display on these special days, including traditional cuisine, emu fun fun (African palm wine), eran igbe among other delicacies.
“The foundation will also in the coming year, be taking the promotion to South Africa, Europe and America, to satisfy the craving of lovers of the adire fabric in those parts of the world. The Lady of Africa Foundation hopes to empower up to 50million Nigerian women and youth through its various activities. Already, lots of people in the country – privileged and the less-privileged have been empowered through direct and indirect job opportunities creation by the foundation through its various promotion and marketing of the fabric,” she said.