CWG plc names Agada CEO, Okere EVC

ITRealms:

Erstwhile Chief Technology Officer of the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) Plc, Mr. James Agada, has been promoted to the post of a Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG), reports ITRealms.

The CWG Board of Directors, ITRealms report disclosed this in a press statement made available to our newsroom, notifying all stakeholders and the general public of changes in the Company’s executive management.

As said by the board, Mr James Agada, formerly the Chief Technology Officer of the Company is now appointed the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company.

ITRealms reports that Mr Agada is a highly innovative and versatile technology expert who holds both a first class degree and a Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering, with specialization in Digital Systems, from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He also holds an MBA from the International Graduate School of Management (IESE), Navara, Spain and prides himself with vast experience in consulting, software development, implementation and support. He was pro tem president, Lagos Chapter of the Nigeria Computer Society, and was conferred with the “Titans of Tech Merit Award” in 2013, by Technology Africa. Prior to his appointment as the Company’s MD/CEO, Mr. Agada was responsible for the Company’s research and development unit. He was also the Executive Director overseeing the Company’s former software division, ExpertEdge.

Reacting, Mr Agada expressed appreciation to the Board of Directors of CWG for the confidence reposed on him by way of the latest elevation, asserting “I know the times are difficult and the challenges are many especially given the business performance of the company in the last few years.

Our first task is to return CWG Plc to sustainable profitability this year. We will be taking tough decisions to reduce our costs. We will also be investing to grow profitable business. Maintaining this balance between cost reduction and the needed investment for growth will be the big tasking effort that is facing us. I assure you of my commitment to put in my utmost best to ensure CWG Plc returns to a growing profitable path” he said.

Mr Kunle Ayodeji has also been appointed as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Ayodeji is a seasoned professional with enormous experience in the fields of banking, financial consulting and private equity. Prior to his joining CWG, Mr. Ayodeji was an Investment Principal with Aureos Capital (“Aureos”) and later became an Associate Director with The Abraaj Group (“Abraaj”), where he was instrumental in the investment of over US$45 million of Abraaj Funds. Before joining Aureos in 2007, Mr. Ayodeji was a Senior Consultant with KPMG Nigeria where he was involved with the valuation, due diligence and feasibility studies for various corporations and state governments. He also worked with Triumphbank Plc in Lagos, Nigeria. 

Mr. Ayodeji had been a member of the Board committees of both the Company’s Finance, Audit and Risk Committee (where he was the pioneer Chairman), as well as the General Purpose Committee, before he joined CWG in March, 2015 as Executive Director, Finance and Operations. Mr. Ayodeji holds a B.Sc. in Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria and an MBA from University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

ITRealms further gathered that Mr. Austin Okere continues as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Company. Mr. Okere who founded the Company, previously filled the role of the Executive Vice Chairman in addition to his role as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Okere is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Columbia Business School (CBS), New York, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria, and also serves on the World Economic Forum Business Council on Innovation and Intrapreneurship, Board of National Competiveness Council of Nigeria, and the Initiative for Global Development (IGD) will continue to contribute enormously to the continuous growth of the Company through his wealth of knowledge in the ICT industry and Entrepreneurial development.

To strengthen the finance function of the Company, Mrs. Obianuju Ejeh-Nnabuife has also been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer. She has enormous experience in the areas of audit, financial and risk advisory, financial control and treasury. She commenced her career at KPMG, where she provided audit and advisory services to banks, discount houses and insurance companies. She was one of the pioneer staff of the finance and treasury division at Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the African-focused Development Financial Institute. 

She also worked in other sectors such as the Retail and Oil and Gas in both Nigeria and the Middle East. Mrs Ejeh-Nnabuife holds an MBA from Manchester Business School, UK. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Benin. She is an associate Member of ICAN and a CFA Charterholder.

Announcing the appointments, the Company Secretary, Mr. Okey Ejibe expressed his conviction that the Company’s business performance and standard would continually improve.

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Airtel Touching Lives Season 2 premiere attracts Osinbajo, Belgore

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The wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo and former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Hon. Justice S.M.A. Belgore, have confirmed they would attend the premiere of Airtel Touching Lives Season Two billed to hold next Thursday, 14^th January, 2016, at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, reports ITRealms.

Equally the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara; Minister of Works, Power & Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola; Minister of Information & Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu and Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, among top government functionaries.

Captains of industry, heads of agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), philanthropists and notable media proprietors are also expected to grace the occasion.

Airtel Touching Lives is an inspiring corporate social responsibility initiative that seeks to offer practical relief, succour, hope, opportunities and credible platforms to liberate and empower the underprivileged, disadvantaged and hard to reach persons in the society. 

The activities of Airtel Touching Lives are recorded and produced for national television with a view to promoting the spirit of giving, self-sacrifice and love among Nigerians.

Following a successful and widely acclaimed Season One, Airtel Nigeria, last August, announced the Season 2 of the Touching Lives CSR programme and subsequently received thousands of entries/nominations in form of email, SMS and letters.

Speaking at the launch of Touching Lives Season 2, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya said the telco rolled out the second edition of the revolutionary programme based on the monumental success recorded with the first season.

According to him, Airtel went the length and breadth of the country, in the first season, scouting for people who needed help and cause for support, noting that the journey yielded great results as the telco touched lives of many Nigerians.

“At Airtel, we believe, that for us to be a great company we must be good company and we are very much committed to earning our social license – the love and acceptance of the people we serve,” he said.

Also speaking on the initiative, the company’s Director of Corporate Commission and CSR, Emeka Oparah, noted that robust return of the Season 2 of Airtel Touching Lives programme indicated the readiness of Airtel to continually support efforts of government, non-governmental organisations and individuals who are large-hearted. 

Scheduled to be aired on satellite and terrestrial TV stations in Nigeria and across Africa, the Airtel Touching Lives Season 2, is a 13 episode programme that captures the far-reaching and generous interventions of the telco toward less privileged individuals, people and communities in Nigeria.

The Season 2 is anchored by popular On-Air-Personality, Wana Udobang. It features 24 emotion-evoking stories of how the plight and despair of people are turned to optimism by the leading telecoms company.

Airtel’s Touching Lives programme CSR intervention is focused on empowering, uplifting and creating opportunities for under-privileged people, community and groups in the Nigerian society.

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Bisi Olaleye to unveil book on telecoms

ITRealms:

Telecoms industry in Nigeria is gearing up to witness the unveiling of another chronicle authored by Mrs. Olabisi Olaleye of the Sun Newspapers in her work entitled ‘Our Nigerian Story,’ reports ITRealms.

A press statement by Olaleye noted that the past 15 years has witnessed successes, countered challenges and continued to exude tremendous prospects for economic development, pointing out that chronicling these milestones forms the key contents of a new book to be unveiled later this year in the nation’s telecoms sector.

Olaleye, a multiple award-winning journalist, said the work recounts the experiences of the Global System for Mobile (GSM) operators in Nigeria since the sector’s liberalisation in 2001.

'Our Nigerian Story' , is the first of its kind in the nation’s sector, that catalogues the development of the telecoms industry, starting from 2001, when the various companies came into the country to invest, even when the Nigeria’s business climate was adjudged ‘a  war zone and porous’ by the international communities.

The book highlights how the demographic dividend or the large population in Nigeria then (which is still growing), served as a critical factor that attracted telecoms investment into the country with the sector now boasting of over $32 billion from about $500 million in 2001.

“In this book, the various telcos, Agencies, retail phone dealers share their experiences, the NCC’s involvement, the Ministry of Communication Technology or Ministry of Communications support and the numerous challenges faced in a system that is not too conducive for business, while leveraging on their strengths for more improvement in the sector,” Olaleye said, while providing insight into the contents of the soon-to-be-launched book.

In addition, other providers, such as the Value-Added Services (VAS) provider, which ride on the networks of the main telecoms networks, also tell their stories. 

Visafone, the ‘last man standing’ in the Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA segment of the telecoms industry, also tells its story.

Olaleye hails from Ake, Abeokuta South of Ogun State and a 1998 graduate of Mass Communication from the Ogun State Polytechnic, now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. She has undergone several local and international trainings to enhance her career.

Currently, she works with The SUN Publishing Limited Nigeria, publishers of The Sun newspaper titles and with over 12-year experience in journalism, she has  several awards in her kitty including ’Rotary International Humanitarian Report Award’(2012), triple winner of 'Best ICT Reporter of the Year' awards and is married with children.

 

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Gov. Ugwuanyi names GOCOP president, Malachy Agbo LG chairman

ITRealms:

The President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, Malachy Agbo, has been appointed the  Caretaker Committee chairman for Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, reports ITRealms.

 

Agbo, alongside 16 others were appointed by the Enugu State Governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,, who immediately inaugurated them and their deputies on Thursday also appointed  Prof. Rose Onah, Nsukka; Ekwe Chidi, Aninri; Igwe Isaac Chukwudi, Enugu North; Sunday Ugwu, Enugu South; and Fred Ezenwa, Ezeagu. 

Others are Uwake Ezeja, Igboeze North; Fidelis Odoh, Igboeze South; and Benjamin Edeoga, Isiuzo.

Speaking at their inauguration, Ugwuanyi charged the chairmen to live within their respective council areas. 

He said they should brace themselves for a governance style embedded in strict fiscal discipline in view of the peculiar situations confronting each of their council areas. 

Emphasizing the imperative of the new helmsmen domiciling in their local government council areas, the governor told them that the era of running the local government system from hotels was over in the state. 

He reminded them that government and the people of Enugu State expected good results from them. 

He thanked the outgone chairmen and the councillors for the service they rendered in their respective capacities, wishing them well in their future endeavours.

Governor Ugwuanyi also thanked the heads of personnel management of local governments in the state and treasurers in the council areas for their services during the period under review.

He disclosed that the swearing-in of caretaker councilors would take place on January 11, 2016 at the various local government council areas by the local government council caretaker chairmen. 

Governor Ugwuanyi retained three of the local government council chairmen, namely Prince Cornelius Nnaji of Enugu East Local Government Area, Afam Okereke of Nkanu West Local Government Area and Cornnel Onwubuya of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area. 

Earlier in a speech, the state Commissioner for Local Government, Chief Chijioke Edeoga, thanked Governor Ugwuanyi for constituting an amiable team made up of people with pedigree and integrity. 

Edeoga said: "When you look at the team that assembled here, dear governor, the outcome validates your sleepless night before their selection."

The commissioner called on the appointees to be mindful of their obligations in their various council areas.  

He gave them insights of what they are expected to meet in their various council areas in respect of duties, responsibilities and financial debts. 

Speaking on behalf of the sworn-in caretaker council chairmen and their deputies, Onah thanked the governor for finding them worthy to serve the state.

She said: "The chairmen and the deputies are very grateful to you for finding us worthy to occupy this seat of responsibilities and to contribute our own quota to your administration towards the growth and development of Enugu State."

Onah promised that they would not betray Ugwuanyi but will strive to promote the good and aspirations of the state. 

She added that in spite of the current enormous financial challenges in the country, their selection was something to thank God for as they were chosen among many contenders. 

She observed that the challenges of local government councils in respect of financing in the state is enormous, adding that she had also heard about bailout, reminding the governor of the need to bail them out. 

She promised the readiness of the team to strive towards pulling the local government system up and out of problems and odds.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +malachy agbo 

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