Notes: none Tekedia Live Wed | 7pm-8pm | Telecom Business and Infrastructure – Engr Austyne Duru | Zoom link Fri | 7pm-8pm | Workplace & Teams – Vera Ng’oma | Zoom Link Saturday | 11am – 12noon | General – Ndubuisi Ekekwe | Zoom Link I made this video after a tweet by the founder […]
How Nigerians are making the country proud through promotions, awards
The relentless Nigerian spirit came to the fore as this week closes with Nigerians topping the ladder in all of their endeavours both locally and internationally. First, a Nigerian girl, Ruth Inomina was commissioned in the US Military as a Second Lieutenant. This was made known via a LinkedIn post by another Nigerian who was celebrating the outstanding achievement of the young lady. According to the post, the newly commissioned officer is a US Marine. The US Marine Corps is the elite, rapid response branch of the US Armed Forces whose various units are at all time prepared for a wide range of actions from humanitarian to combat missions. The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations with the United States Navy as well as the Army and Air Force. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States.
Another Nigerian,Dr. Ifeanyi Obi, had been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in Construction and Technology. The Nigerian scholar, who has an affiliation with The American University of Cyprus., made this known on his LinkedIn page celebrating how he defied a prophetic statement to go into academics climbing the ladder so quickly. Obi has also built an App, “Obi Soft” which is used to measure the sick building syndrome in Residential Apartments. Obi holds a PhD in Architecture and Construction Management. He teaches Building Components and Structures, Architectural Programming, Digital Design Presentation and Mathematics for Architects.
It was the Nigerian day again at the just concluded Tech Times African Influencer Award as Nigerians dominated all the categories carting away available awards. It was the Nigerian entrepreneur funding chief, Tony Elumelu, who first put the country on the list of winners claiming the platinum award with 5,838 votes out of 7, 266 votes for the category. The rain of awards continued with the Canadian based Nigerian Computer Science professor, Rita Orji, clinching the Top Voice Award with 4,817 votes closely followed by Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, who polled 3,292 votes while Nada Nayhi, a Moroccan LinkedIn influencer, had 2,640 to come third in the category. In the CEO award category, Kola Oyeneyin topped the list with 8,886 votes to lead Darsha Chandara and Toyin Sanni who had 6,475 and 2,808 votes respectively.
For the Company Executive awards, Lady Shayo Imologome, Oluseyi Olanrewaju and Maryam Abisola Adefarati shone brightly with 6,435, 5,157 and 3,354 votes in that order. The LinkedIn Nigerian achievers content creator, Samuel Aboki led the duo of Stephen Angbulu and Faith Nwaobia to clinch the Content Creators award category.
The trio of Mohammed Ibrahim Jega, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Samuel Ajiboyede were the Nigerian Entrepreneurs who emerged in the Entrepreneurs category with 5,502, 5,005 and 3,022 votes accordingly. For Health and Medicine, two Nigerians, Dr. Cassandra Akinde and Ola Brown, had the Kenyan mHealth Founder , Dr. Cathy Mwangi, separating them occupying the first and third positions respectively. Akinde had 2,948 to lead Mwangi and Brown who polled 2,803 and 2,222 votes. In the HR/Recruiter category, it was a purely Nigerian affair with Taiwo Dayo-Abatan who had 10,774 votes leading two other compatriots, Kemi Onadiran and Yemi Faseun who polled 8,590 and 2,087 votes in that order, Sam Adeyemi, a longstanding life coach and who pastors the Daystar Christian Centre was the winner of the Life/Business Coach category. He had 5,571 votes to lead Gbenga Adebambo (2,337) and Lanre Olusola (1,725).
The Tech Times Africa Influencer Award is Africa’s largest and most prestigious accolades for the most influential personalities in the African LinkedIn community. The Award is designed to identify and recognize those outstanding personalities and project their achievements to the African society and the world at large.
Curing Aging and Ushering Human immortality
He wants to stop aging and possibly usher human immortality. The other builds microprocessors which mimic human biology, possibly engineering a future where if you do not like your retina, you can buy a new one from Konga, or if you hate your brain, Jumia will ship one, on pay on delivery.
But the Archbishop of Methodist Archdiocese Okigwe, hearing from his grandmother, sent an order: “Ndubuisi, we did not send you to America to play God, leave that”. It is great to live in America where the purity of your mind and the quality of your thinking can get you anywhere.
Aubrey De Grey is getting closer to curing aging!
Nigerians, Believe The Promise of Tomorrow
Carlos Slim, the Mexican billionaire, was told by his father that nations rarely collapse. He has used that as an investment thesis. When Mexico was in the ruins of currency crises and inflation, he bought anything in his sights. Legendary Templeton did the same decades earlier as stock markets collapsed because of the second world war.
The fact is this: Nigeria would not disappear. The greatest business in Nigeria has not been started. I challenge young people to rise unto the promise of tomorrow. Thou will find pasture, and will leave any miry clay because thou liveth in the best era to be a youth.
“I do appreciate that you all feel sad and embarrassed as most of us feel as Nigerians with the situation we find ourselves in. Today, Nigeria is fast drifting to a failed and badly divided state; economically our country is becoming a basket case and poverty capital of the world, and socially, we are firming up as an unwholesome and insecure country.
“And these manifestations are the products of recent mismanagement of diversity and socio-economic development of our country. Old fault lines that were disappearing have opened up in greater fissures and with drums of hatred, disintegration and separation and accompanying choruses being heard loud and clear almost everywhere.” Olusegun Obasanjo, Sept 2020
Believe. Action. Advance
NBCUniversal Appoints Pearlena Igbokwe As the Chairperson, Global TV Studios
The Universal Studio Group has appointed Pearlena Igbokwe as the Chairperson of Global TV Studios. She is taking over the TV leadership role from Bonnie Hammer as part of NBCUniversal’s effort to reshuffle its leadership.
Igbokwe will be in charge of the company’s global television studio business, including Universal Television, Universal Content Productions (UCP) and NBCUniversal International Studios and will report directly to NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell.
She joined NBC Entertainment in 2012 as executive vice president after working for 20 years as a programming executive for CBS Corp.’s Showtime Network, and has since then served in other capacities. Igbokwe became the vice president of the Hollywood Radio and TV Society board and a member of the Television Academy Executive Committee. She became the president of Universal Television in 2016 after working on drama series such as ‘The Blacklist’ and ‘This Is Us.’
Igbokwe has a history of success in her different positions at NBC, which set her up for the new leadership role.
“She has a long track record of success and is the ideal person to take the helm of the studio group,” said Hammer.
The emergence of streaming services is forcing Shell to rethink its business model. The company is looking to streamline its operations in line with current trends that include streaming, and believes Pearlena has the expertise to drive their new vehicle.
“Our television studios are key growth engines for the company, and Pearlena is ideally suited to lead them. She has extraordinary taste and is well-respected within NBC,” Shell said in a statement.
The company said the shakeup in NBC means Dawn Olmstead, president of UCP and Jeff Wachtel, president of NBCUniversal International Studios will report directly to Igbokwe.
Pearlena left Nigeria with her parents for the United States at six, that’s in 1971, fleeing the ravages of 30 months of civil war that offered an uncertain future for children in then Eastern Nigeria. She started her early education in New Jersey where her parents settled, and went on to become a Yale English major.
Her journey to NBC started in 1985, following the end of her sophomore year at the Ivy League college. Igbokwe was desperate to get a summer job and was at Yale’s career service center searching the job notice fliers on the walls for openings. When she saw a “summer associate” position at NBC New York notice, she knew it was what she needed, though she didn’t know it would take her this far.
It has been over 30 years in the studios creating and organizing amazing TV works, and fortune still has more in store for her.
The undergrad summer job with NBC lasted for two years and opened the doors to the entertainment industry for her.
“It just opened up everything for me. That feeling of loving TV and movies for all those years and now being even remotely attached to that world just felt incredible,” Igbokwe said.
But Igbokwe’s work-life has not all been in the entertainment industry. After college, she had to jostle through her career in different fields to earn a living and live up to some financial responsibilities, including paying off some student loans. She worked in the financial services industry and in business school at Columbia University.
After earning her college degree, she got a temporary job at HBO, but it wasn’t long before she got entry-level post offers at HBO and Showtime. She chose Showtime, a decision she would be executing in the next 20 years in Los Angeles and New York with the programming team.
But in 2012, when Robert Greenblatt, former Showtime chief who switched to NBC made her an offer to join NBC as head of drama development, she jumped at it. “I felt like NBC was where I started, I knew I would love to be here,” she said.