Events
Microbiologist wins N5m Heritage Bank’s Sponsored Next Titan Season-4
A 22-year-old fledgling entrepreneur, Mr. Iyeh Kennedy has emerged winner of Season 4 of the Next Titan, Nigeria’s entrepreneurial reality TV show sponsored by Heritage Bank Plc, as headline sponsor.
Kennedy is the MD of Blue Leaf Herbs and Spices which is into 100 percent organic cultivation, production and packaging of spices with the objective of reducing importation of spices from outside the country. He is a graduate of microbiology from Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu.
He beat three other contestants at the grand finale of the season 4 of the Next Titan held in Lagos recently to win the star prize of N5 million from Heritage Bank and a brand-new Ford Ranger from Coscharis Motors to kick start his business.
The Next Titan is Nigeria’s entrepreneurial reality TV show, a brain child of Mide Kunle-Akinlaja, where thousands of ambitious young entrepreneurs compete and a winner emerges to cart away with a grand prize of N5 million and a brand-new car to start his or her dream business.
The MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo said the bank has been sponsoring the Next Titan with other sponsors for the last four years in a bid to harness the youths and instil the spirit of entrepreneurship in them.
Sekibo, who was represented by the Divisional Head, Structured Assets, of the Bank, Mr. Kehinde Olugbemi said Heritage Bank believed in creating, preserving and transferring wealth across generations, adding that if they can teach a couple of people how to catch fish, they will in turn teach others so that wealth can be created, and employment generated.
He enjoined the other contestants who did not win to regard themselves as winners because they had learnt some invaluable concepts such as strategy, team work from the judges who are quite experienced in their areas of expertise.
In an interview with journalists, Mr. Kennedy said, “I can’t express myself right now. I left Enugu to come and pursue this dream and even lost my lectureship job with Godfrey Okoye University while on the programme. This prize means life and everything to me now and it also means that the vision which I have for Nigeria has just begun and waiting to be accomplished.”
At the grand finale four finalists: Miss Adenike Ogundoro, a baker; Mr. Sam Dioka, an ecopreneur; Miss Amaka Nworah, a shoe maker and Mr. Kennedy competed for the star prize of N5 million and a brand-new Ford Ranger.
The panel of judges made up of Mr. Kyari Bukar, Chairman of Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG); Mr. Tonye Cole, Executive Director and Co-founder of Sahara Group, Chris Parkes, Chairman/CEO of CPMS Africa, an integrated marketing communications firm and Lilian Olubi, CEO of Primera Africa Securities Limited evicted Miss Nworah after each of them made their business presentations and unanimously upheld Mr. Kennedy as the star prize winner and Mr. Dioka as first runner up winner.
The four finalists emerged from the top 16 contestants with the brightest ideas that were shortlisted from 50 aspiring entrepreneurs that were selected from auditions held in Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Enugu and Lagos recently.
The 16 contestants lived together and competed among themselves by carrying out weekly business tasks and challenges around the city of Lagos for nine weeks on television and with weekly evictions in the boardroom by the judges.
Earlier, in his address of welcome, Kunle-Akinlaja, the Executive Producer of the Next Titan Nigeria noted that in the past three years and with the support of the sponsors and judges, they had been able to give out millions of naira and brand-new cars to young entrepreneurs with a deliberate attempt to inspire their spirit of entrepreneurship.
He said besides the contestants, millions of other young aspiring entrepreneurs who are watching the show are also encouraged to see entrepreneurship as a viable career option.
The executive producer noted, “I’m absolutely grateful to the sponsors and the judges who have always collaborated with us by supporting the Next Titan Nigeria every year and by believing in our objective which is about demystifying entrepreneurship and presenting it as what young unemployed graduates should start leveraging on to build lasting wealth for themselves and for the nation.”
Vibes By Ann Restaurant, Abuja has called popular chef, Hilda Baci a liar while threatening to sue her for contract breach.
The restaurant claimed to have paid the sum of 3 million naira to the Guiness Book of Record holder for a ‘Meet and Greet’ event and alleged she cancelled on them for no reason.
According to reports, the restaurant has advertised the event and placed a 25,000 naira per plate price on meals to be sold at the venue when Hilda dissociated herself from the event in her posts on social media.
The restaurant showing the receipt of a 3million naira payment made to Hilda for the event slated for June 24th, 2023 released a statement that the event has been cancelled and threatened to drag the chef before the courts.
Further investigations by this newspaper revealed that the restaurant did not put the prices of the food that would be served in the agreement and the noise it created must have made Hilda, who was just officially confirmed as the new record holder of the longest cook-a-thon denied knowledge of the event.
There was a mild drama on May 1st, 2023 in Ibadan when an electricity worker fell off a ladder during a marching parade.
While demonstrating how electric workers operate during their march before the Governor, an official of the National Union Employee of Electricity worker fell off the ladder creating panic at the event.
The scene occurred as part of the union members’ salutation and demonstration when they got to the front of Governor Seyi Makinde who cheered the various unions marching past.
In an eye witness report to papermacheonline ‘While saluting the governor, some of the union members mounted and held a ladder at the base for one of them to climb.
Upon arriving the top of the ladder, the union member showed how electricity workers cut wire.
Things however almost went awry when the climber, while descending the ladder, had to jump down when he saw that the ladder was losing its balance on the ground.
There was however confusion as regards whether the electricity workers suffered any injury from jumping off the ladder
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