Category: News & Events

Posted on

Abia’s best secondary school, TEDA, enriches offerings and curriculum ahead of a new session

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Award-winning TEDA School at Eke-Owerri, Obingwa in Abia State has introduced more practical courses and equipment to boost the curriculum for students as it prepares for the 2022/2023 academic session.

“In addition to our well-equipped Cultural and Creative Arts Studio (CCA), TEDA has introduced music classes powered by Kharismates Music Academy, Nigeria, where students are taught how to sing and play different musical instruments such as violin, cello, saxophone, keyboard, guitar and more”, said Dr Godson Dinneya, founder and proprietor.

TEDA has also introduced and equipped an Information and Communication Technology workshop to add to the six workshops it has for technical subjects. It now offers Phone and Computer Maintenance (PCM) classes “designed to empower the students in ICT-based entrepreneurship and self-reliance after secondary school.”

Five well-equipped workshops offer practical experience in automotive technology, woodwork, metalwork, electrical and electronics, and more.

TEDA also offers Early Science Education for its junior school students. It offers JSS1-3 students “the opportunity to discover their true potential early” by exposing them to Basic Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Economics and Further Mathematics. Dinneya asserts that “this is in line with international standard and to groom them to rule their world at an early age.”[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=”5″ images=”2159,2158,2156,2155,2157,2161,2160,2153,2154,2152″ img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text]The Total Education Development Academy (TEDA) emerged Best School in Junior Science in the International Olympiad Competition in 2019/2020. Its students placed first, third, fourth, fifth and seventh out of the best ten.

TEDA also won overall first and third position in junior sciences and Best Girl in Junior Sciences (Queen of the Junior Sciences).

The Abia State Ministry of Education named TEDA the best government-approved Junior Secondary School for 2020/2021 and the second position among Government-approved Senior Secondary Schools in the state.

Significantly, TEDA was the best overall school in the Senior School Certificate examination by WAEC in 2020 for producing the best aggregate result.

Over 800 students are enrolled with full boarding at TEDA. It has since the pandemic and the economic crunch welcomed many students from overseas whose parents send them to Nigeria for acculturation without fear of losing standards.

TEDA School is one of Abia State and South East’s leading secondary schools. Its founder lamented the absence of an enabling environment for first-rate performance in public schools in the country.

Dr Godson Dinneya, an economist and educationist, noted that the environmental issues concern the state of facilities and remuneration for instructors. Dinneya’s Total Education Development Academy (TEDA) contributes to solving the problem by ensuring an enabling environment conducive to all players in the system and offering scholarships to four categories of students.

TEDA offers fee rebates for academic brilliance, staff children, children of Christian ministers regardless of denomination, widows’ children and the third sibling in a row.

Dinneya said 12 per cent of the school’s population are in one form of scholarship or the other. Those on Academic Excellence pay only 50% of the fees same as staff children. A pastor’s child qualifies for 25 per cent rebate, a third sibling gets a 20 per cent rebate while children of widows also get 20 per cent rebates on the fees.

=ENDS=

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Posted on

SON grants MANCAP certification to Micronutrient Laboratories

Quality standards regulator, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), has granted the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) certification to Cognito® Instant Micronutrient Powder (Cognito® MNP) produced by Micronutrient Laboratories Limited (MLL).

SON MANCAP certification follows a thorough factory inspection and the laboratory analysis of product samples that prove conformity “to the requirements of NIS 1059:2019 and other relevant standards”.
Tersoo I Orngudwen, Director of Product Certification Department, signed for SON Director General the notice conveying the approval to Dr Kenny Acholonu, the Chief Innovation Officer of Micronutrient Laboratories Limited.
Cognito® MNP is a well-formulated single-serve blend of 15 essential micronutrients (10 vitamins and five minerals). It is a free-flowing powder that is conveniently packed in 1gram affordable sachets to improve the nutritional content of most staple foods.
Users add Cognito® MNP to semi-solid foods and porridges at the point of eating and at a temperature conducive to feeding the child. A sachet of Cognito® MNP is sufficient to provide 100% recommended nutrient intake (RNI) for infants and young children within the age range of six months to 59 months.

Research has shown that most complementary staples for children six months to 59 months (6months to 5 years) have little nutritional value and do not provide adequate micronutrients to meet their daily recommended intake.
Users add Cognito® MNP to complementary food for children after the first six months of exclusive breastfeeding. The addition of vitamins and minerals to enrich the nutrient content of food is one of the intervention strategies adopted by the Federal government to tackle malnutrition.
UNICEF states that Nigeria has the second-highest burden of stunted children globally, with a national prevalence rate of 32 per cent of children under five. An estimated two million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), but the country reaches only two out of every ten children affected with treatment.

Micronutrient Laboratories Limited launched its own brand of MNP called Cognito® MNP at the 44th annual AGM and scientific conference of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) in 2020. Cognito® MNP is a product and brand designed to meet a pressing need of tackling infant malnutrition in Nigeria.
Cognito® MNP has witnessed rapid growth on the back of acceptance by institutional buyers, notably the Federal Ministry of Health and other MDAs at federal and state government levels.

Posted on

Cognito Micronutrient Powder fortifies foods for infants to fight malnutrition

Micronutrient Laboratories Limited brought into the market on Wednesday 14 October 2020 its Cognito Micronutrient Powder to fight the threat of infant malnutrition in Nigeria.

Cognito MNP has witnessed rapid growth on the back of acceptance by institutional buyers, notably the Federal Ministry of Health and other MDAs at federal and state government levels.

Micronutrient Laboratories Limited stated that Cognito MNP would enhance the nutritional value of food served to children from six months to five years with the addition of Cognito.

Cognito MNP is a product and brand designed to meet a pressing need.

UNICEF states that Nigeria has the second-highest burden of stunted children globally, with a national prevalence rate of 32 per cent of children under five. An estimated 2 million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), but the country reaches only two out of every ten children affected with treatment.

Besides, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank Group identified three malnutrition categories. They are stunting, wasting and overweight.

The organisations’ Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates, 2020 reports that 144 million children under-5 are stunted (too short for their age), 47 million are wasted (too thin for their height), and 38 million children under 5 are overweight.

Dr Kenny Acholonu is the Chief Innovation Officer, Micronutrient Laboratories Limited. He averred that Cognito MNP “is a readily available micronutrient powder for optimising the nutritive value of local foods for all malnourished children including those in challenging settings such as conflict areas, IDPs, and poverty-chains.“

Acholonu said the micronutrient formulation directly responds to the challenge thrown by international agencies bothered with the high incidence of infant mortality traceable to food deficiencies and the lack of local capacity.

“Rotary International and UNICEF threw the challenge of local production of micronutrient powder in Nigeria in 2009. Before and since then, Nigeria has imported MNP. They approached me based on a recommendation by BASF, the world leader in chemicals. My team and I took up the challenge. We produced Micronutrient powder to global standards.”

Dr Acholonu asserted, “Cognito will assist Nigeria to tackle the problem of micronutrient deficiency. It will be useful in tackling the challenge of food lacking in vital nutrients that many of our deprived citizens eat and serve their children.”

Rachael Amadasun, Technical Manager, said Micronutrient Laboratories formulated their product according to the Federal Government’s prescription. She noted that “Cognito® MNP is a single-serve blend of 15 essential micronutrients (10 vitamins and five minerals). It is a 1gram powder used to improve the nutritional content of most staple foods. Users add Cognito to “semi-solid foods and porridges after cooking and at a temperature conducive to feeding the child. A sachet of Cognito® MNP is sufficient to provide 100% RNI for children within the age range (6months to 59 months).“

Home fortification of food is one of the federal government’s intervention strategies to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in children under–5 years.

Cognito MNP has NAFDAC certification.

Posted on

Pursue innovation and build brands to grow Sierra Leone’s economy, Nwakanma advises at Salone CEOs Meet

Sierra Leone’s business, government, and economy leaders should walk confidently into 2022 and pursue innovation to drive economic growth, Nigerian communication expert Chido Nwakanma counselled on Thursday 2 December 2021 at the Salone CEO’s Meet powered by La Fete Communications.

Nwakanma urged the leaders in the private and public sectors to build on the strengths of Sierra Leone and tap the opportunities in historical presentation, education, tourism, the extractive industry, and the environment.

Participants at the forum, leaders across sectors, agreed on the imperatives of innovation and entrepreneurship and exploring the country’s opportunities more closely.

Noting Sierra Leone’s relatively compact population and environmental serenity, Nwakanma submitted that the country has yet to leverage the history of Fourah Bay College as the first university-level institution in Africa.  He noted, “Africa longs for higher education. They go to institutions with history and tradition. What is holding back Fourah Bay College, Africa’s first higher education institution in modern times?”

Nwakanma is the president of the Nigerian chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and a former president of the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria. He also teaches as an Adjunct Faculty of the School of Media & Communication, Pan Atlantic University in Lagos, Nigeria.

Nwakanma asserted that Sierra Leone should market its rich environmental and tourist potentials as neighbouring Ghana and the Gambia do.

On tourism and the environment, Nwakanma shared his experience from 1 December 2021. “I took shots from my room at the Sierra Bay Hotel & Residence and sent them to friends back in Nigeria and across the world. Immediate response? “Wonderful. I love this. How much would it cost a family? Another person responded with the observation, “Is the water that blue? There is still hope for our environment.’

The speaker submitted, “I recommend that Sierra Leone should build on its strengths and the opportunities to craft and execute a value proposition around education, conferencing, environment, and tourism. Position and attract the conference market to the serenity of Sierra Leone. When they come, expose them to tourist facilities. Build superior educational institutions to serve West and Central Africa on the back of Fourah Bay College as the first university in Africa”.

Significantly, Mr Nwakanma harped on the imperative of innovation and entrepreneurship as needed ingredients for success in 2022. He noted that most experts agree that the Sierra Leone economy would witness “strong real GDP growth of 4.8% in 2022, well above the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 3.7%”.

He said it was up to leaders and entrepreneurs to make this happen and even exceed the expectations. “The critical question for entrepreneurs today in Sierra Leone and the rest of West Africa is one of vision. What can you see? Put another way, what can you envision even if it is not visible now?”

Nwakanma noted the many positives of the Sierra Leone Finance Act 2021 that offered tax reductions and incentives such as tax holidays to investors who build manufacturing facilities outside Freetown or go into tourism and small scale businesses. However, he added, “A plethora of other taxes, tolls and bills weigh heavily on businesses. They deny entrepreneurs the benefits of their enterprise. The approach is short-sighted. It creates room for tax avoidance and defaults, leading to under-the-table deals that deprive the government of revenue”.

Nwakanma asserted that innovation, the entrepreneurial art of seeking and developing new vistas, is the challenge before Sierra Leone and its leaders and the rest of Africa.

He affirmed, “Economists and global strategists say Sierra Leone should have a smoother ride in 2022 than in the last two years. The economic fundamentals should be good. That means the internal market will also get better and open. There are also opportunities in the larger West African and African market.”

He urged Sierra Leone and its business leaders to carve niches. Nwakanma added, “Once you have taken a position, you need to communicate the essence of your company and its offerings professionally. Engage internal communication teams. Or invite external counsel such as La Fete Communications Ltd. In this Information Age, communication is a critical imperative for business success. The matter is Darwinian: define yourself or be defined by sundry outsiders”.

La Fete Communications organised the Salone CEOs Meet 2021 following the first one in 2019. COVID19 aborted the event in 2020.

CEO Maraya Mushka Conteh said the Salone CEO’s Meet is a platform for exploring ideas and strategies for the country’s development.

=ENDS=

Posted on

UN empowers Women, names Lift Saxum founder, Nwanneka Okolo, Global Champion

Barrister Nwanneka Okolo, founder of the foremost capacity building and skills development NGO in the South East, Lift Saxum, has been nominated a UN Women Empower Women 2016-2017 Champion for Change.

Mrs. Okolo is one of 170 persons the UN Empower Women found worthy from over 4000 applicants from across the world. There are about 21 Nigerians on the list.

Lift Saxum is a non-profit organization established to transform the enterprise development landscape and the lives of youth and women in Nigeria, with a focus on the South East. Lift Saxum operates from New Haven, Enugu. Since incorporation in 2013, the organization has trained over 64 youth and women on their flagship programmes, Start Your Own Business (SYOB) and Enterprising Women (EW). It has trained 80 rural women on the Songhai Integrated Farming techniques, home craft, and life skills. It also sensitized and trained over 300 secondary school pupils on skills acquisition.

Okolo is a barrister, former Business Development Manager and Group Head Public Sector Business, Enugu/Ebonyi at First Bank. She is an alumnus of the Obafemi Awolowo University and the Lagos Business School. She is also an entrepreneur.

Nigerians featured prominently on the list of Global Champions, accounting for 12 percent of the awardees.

Other Nigerians on the list include Adekemi Adeduntan, Adenike Adedeji, Aderemi Bamgboye, and Ajibola Mujidat Oladejo. There are also Anuoluwapo Adelakun, Carol Ajie, Doreen Anene, Evelyn Ifeyinwa Ezeagu, Ezinne Ikejiani and Faith Ayegba. Other Nigerians named UN Women Empower Champions to include Immaculata Anudu, Kate Ekanem, Kelvin Chukwuemeka, Kemisola Ajide, and Lilian Ifemuludike. They also include Lydia Olanike Oladapo, Maryann Egwuonwu, Oladimeji Abiodun, and Oluwafunbi Alatise. Others are Tinuola Aina and Uzoma Katchy.

At least two Nigerians appear under the United States and Ireland nationality.

UN Women’s Empower Women said the nominees represent “a diverse group of dynamic and enthusiastic women and men from the private sector, civil society, academic and national and international organisations from both developing and developed countries.”

In a statement, the UN Empower Women said: “The nomination of the 170 Champions is the result of a month-long online rally with almost 4,000 applicants from all over the world. They campaigned and advocated for women’s economic empowerment by participating in several online activities on EmpowerWomen.org and social media.  As part of the rally, the selected champions have contributed extraordinary stories and resources, and substantive inputs to various online initiatives.

“Over the next four months, the Champions will work in three groups: (1) Advocacy and Social Media; (2) Business Development and (3) Skills Development. They will serve as Empower Women advocates for women’s economic empowerment both online and in their local communities. They will be involved in a series of innovative initiatives such as expanding the Organizational Hub, piloting   the Financial Literacy course, and participating in the #BreakTheGlass and #HERstory campaigns.”

The UN Empower Women was launched on 23 September 2013 during the High-Level session of the United Nations General Assembly by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under Secretary General of the UN and Executive Director of UN Women, and Lynne Yelich, Minister of State, Foreign Affairs and Consular, Government of Canada.

Since then, Empower Women has grown into a global movement with more than half a million viewers and over 12,000 passionate and ambitious women and men from the private sector, civil society, academia, governments and international organizations more than 190 countries. Empower Women has also cultivated a global network of 250+ dynamic, influential Champions for women’s economic empowerment from over 60 countries.

 

Posted on

Code Camp Africa to teach teens how to code and create apps

Four major firms are partnering in a five-year summer development programme that aims to teach teenagers computer programming, coding and app development. The initiators say they would be grooming manpower for an ICT-rich future in Africa.

Technology capacity development company, Code Camp Africa, would run the summer skills acquisition programme at Lekki, Lagos. It hopes to teach the youngsters coding, the computer language used to develop apps, websites and software.  The programme would commence on July 25 and run for four weeks.

Collaborating organisations are Andela, Angelos Foods, and Diamond Bank.

Edwin Momife, chairman of Angelos and chief promoter of Code Camp Africa, said the idea is to equip the participants with skills and cognitive ability to use ICT to solve problems. “Digital is the language of today and more so of tomorrow. Africans need to be able to solve problems in their environment with modern technology now epitomised by the computer.”

Momife added, “We believe that when children are taught how to code early in life, the African dream benefits.”

Participants register online on the codecampafrica.com website and can also pay online.  Angelos says it would provide meals twice a day.

Andela is a leading software development company. Andela recruits the most talented developers in Africa and shapes them into leading programmers. It then outsources them to technology firms and start-ups across the world.

Angelos Food Services Group specialises in the preparation and sale of healthy light meals for various markets including airlines and direct sales to customers. It would soon open outlets across Lagos.

Diamond Bank is lead sponsor.

Chido Nwakanma

 

 

For contacts and interviews on this project, please contact

  1. Edwin Momife, Chairman, Angelos Food Services Group on 0806 001 2678 or email emomife@gmail.com
  2. Chido Nwakanma, Blueflower Limited, on 0903723111, 08126474335 or email chido@blueflower.ltd or chidonwakanma@gmail.com.