Bowen University to Hold 2nd Convocation on Nov 1

The Nigerian Baptist Convention Institution,
Bowen
University, which is one of the private Institutions in
Nigeria, has unveiled the events that would take place in its second convocation ceremony which is to commence on November 1 2007.

The institution which was established with the aim of adding a distinctly moral dimension and Godly values to tertiary education in Nigeria, would start the programme on Thursday with a Choral Evening/Baccalaureate at 5pm. And on Friday, the convocation lecture would take place between 12 and 4pm.

The convocation lecture titled: GOD, SCIENCE AND GLOGAL WARMING, would be delivered by Sir (Prof) John Theodore Houghton, former Chief Executive, Meteorological Office,
United Kingdom, Trustee, Shell Foundation and President of the John Ray Initiative.

The Chairman of the occasion would be Deacon Professor Bisi Adewale, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of
Bowen
University,
Iwo. Convocation cocktail which is strictly by invitation would also take place between 4 and 6pm that Friday.  

The grand finale would commence by 10 am on Saturday. There would be a conferment of the first Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science (D. Sc.) of the University on the former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Followed by the Award of Degrees and presentation of prizes. And the convocation luncheon which is also by invitation. 

Unilever Nigeria Plc, UNICEF to Spend N78.6m on Schools

Having realised the havoc which the poor state of hygiene in the Nigerian communities does to the Nigerian pupils, Unilever Nigeria Plc in conjunction with the Federal Government and the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have launched an initiative that would cost N78.6 million to promote health among primary pupils. 

The aim of UNICEF in the programme tagged Wash Hand Campaign is to alleviate such ailments as diarrhoea, cholera, malaria and other diseases related to low standard of environmental hygiene which are the major causes of infant mortality in
Nigeria. 

The campaign is scheduled to take off in 222 primary schools across the country including the federal capital territory and over 1 million primary school pupils would be reached out to for awareness on personal cleanliness. 

During the launching of the programme in LEA primary school in Gida Mangoro, Abuja, the representative of UNICEF in
Nigeria, Mr. Ayalew Abai said over 200 children die yearly nationwide from diseases, due to people’s ignorance on the consequences of poor sanitation.

Nigeria: Shareholder Approves Mutual Assurance Benefit to Raise N10bn

In order to fulfill its aim of leading and delivering excellent services to its customers in the insurance industry, the shareholders of Mutual Benefit Assurance Plc has approved of the company to raise an additional N10 billion from the capital market to increase the company’s capital base. 

Chief Chamberlain Oyibo, Chairman of the company, while addressing the shareholders said the company decided to raise an additional capital in order to boost its working capital which will later yield better returns to its investors. 

The shareholders certify the directors to determine the offer price of the fund which would be raised by way of subscription or through loans, equity, debt or a hybrid in accordance with the approval of the regulatory authourities.  Read more

Skye Bank Nigeria Introduces Campus Yes! Promo

In order to continually encourage a saving habit in the Nigerian student, Skye Bank has added a Yes! Promo to the on-going Skye Bank Campus Card promo which are both meant to inculcate savings and the use of cash cards respectively. 

The Yes! Promo is another innovation of the Bank targeted to last for a month in any of the ten different campuses that would be visited in
Nigeria. The promo is on with the on-going Skye Bank Campus Card promo that was introduced to students on campuses to enable them draw, send, receive and do some other payment functions electronically.     Read more

Dana Drugs to Train Pharmacy Students in Nigeria

In order to continually produce effective and dependable pharmacy students from the Nigerian University, Dana Drugs, a subsidiary of Dana Group has planned a special training programme for pharmacy students nationwide. 

Mr. Prasenjit Banerji, Manager of Dana Drugs Limited, while speaking with the staff and students of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) said the firm is organising a hands-on-training programme for all students in the industry to enable them get the best education which can not be provided by the University alone. 

Mr. Prasenjit added that students in all teaching hospitals and pharmaceutical colleges throughout
Nigeria would benefit from the programme because it would enhance their skills to meet with the demands of the pharmaceutical industry. Read more

Afribank Opens N100bn Offer on Nov 1

As financial Institution fling open their doors for investors to come in, Afribank of Nigeria has joined in the race as it floats its public offer of N100 billion which involves 4billion ordinary share of 5kobo each at N25 per share. 

The offer which is expected to be between 5 weeks and some days will open on November 1 2007 and close on December 10 2007. It has 13 issuing houses which underwrote 80% of the offering on firm basis. 

Managing Director of the bank, Sebastian Adigwe, said the N25 per share is an opportunity for every investor because N36 was the initial market price until the board agreed on a bonus and dividend recently.  Read more

Nigeria: Unity Bank Introduces eSuccess Banking

In a bid to making banking easier, Unity Bank of
Nigeria has come up with an online package named eSuccess which will help its customers do all their banking transactions 24/7 nationwide and keep them informed of latest developments in their accounts. 

The Bank, which is an integration of 9 different banks, has adopted a banking software declared to be one of the largest in the industry where it linked all its 215 branches into a single network for its customers to transact business around
Nigeria irrespective of where they opened the account. 

Alhaji Abba Dandago, Head of Corporate Affairs, said the new development is a cost-efficient and convenient way to solve the difficulties of conventional banking through a scratch card, which will definitely yield success for customers’ businesses. 

He said with ePay system, which is one of the keys in the eSuccess; a businessman could pay or designate an authourised person to pay his contractor irrespective of the bank the accounts are. Some of the functions of eSuccess are: e-banking services, WebSchool, Internet Banking, ATM service, Telephone Banking and PayAlert among others. 

The Unity Bank eSuccess includes an Online Recruitment service specially developed for the Nigerian Army to perform its on-going recruitment on the internet. The strategy is however noted as the first of its kind in the history of the Nigerian military forces.  

First Bank Nigeria Harvests 3 awards at the IMF/World Bank Meeting

First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s pioneer and most reputable financial supermarket, has clinched three awards in the United States, being rated the Best Bank in Nigeria 2007. The three awards to be bestowed on the Bank, during this year’s World Bank/IMF meetings in Washington DC on October 19, 2007 by Global Finance (GF) are “Best Bank in Nigeria, Best Trade Finance Bank and the Best Foreign Exchange Bank for 2007”.

In a poll conducted by GF, the international financial publication based in New York, with input from industry analysts, corporate executives and banking consultants and technology experts in 24 countries around the world, FirstBank emerged the winner amongst 25 banks in Nigeria. This makes it the third consecutive year the Bank has won the awards. Read more

Celtel to acquire major stake in Ghanaian Operator, Westel for $120M

Celtel International, a subsidiary of Zain (formerly named the MTC Group) today announced the signing of an agreement with Ghanaian Government to acquire 75% of Western Telesystems Ltd (Westel) for USD 120 million.

The Government of Ghana will retain a 25% holding in Westel through the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. The transaction is subject to standard approvals and authorizations and but it is expected to be concluded quickly.

The acquisition of Westel is important to Celtel as it give the mobile operator a “gateway to West Africa”.

Westel is the second national operator in Ghana and is licensed to provide fixed and mobile (GSM) telecommunications services.

Zain Group, the leading mobile telecommunications network in the Middle East and Africa, hopes to launch enhanced telecom services nationwide in the country in the first half of 2008. Read more

Nem insurance Plc records highest turnover on NSE last Friday

The floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week witnessed buoyant activities as investors actively traded stocks of their choices.

Among stocks traded Nem Insurance Plc recorded the highest turnover volume of 254,043,799 units of ordinary shares shedding 10kobo and closed at N2.01 per share. Nem stocks were traded in 178 deals valued at N153.488million.

Access Bank preceded Nem Insurance. In 266 trades, investors bought 128.643 million shares valued at N2.446 billion which plummeted by 25kobo and closed at N19.49 per share. Read more

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