Connect with us

Interview

We’are staging Miss Awelewa to promote the rich cultural heritage of the Ijebu people —Dayo Rufai

Published

on

Ba’royin Dayo Rufai, is a roving journalist with over a decade experience in celebrity reporting. He is the Founder of Ogun state leading celebrity magazine, Ijebu News Xtra and the CEO, Pigeon Communications. In this interview, he talks about the much celebrated Miss Awelewa beauty pageant which is being organised by his magazine in conjunction with Citi Hotel & Suites Ijebu Ode. Excerpts:

What informed the packaging of the Miss Awelewa beauty pageant?
Like you and I know, we have a distinct culture and tradition in Ijebuland. Over the years, Ijebu people are known to be the most enterprising of their sort in Nigeria. And for your information, hardly will you see any sector in our economy where Ijebu people are not outstanding more than their peers. Apart from this, if you are conversant with the Holy Book of Bible, you would have read about the root of Queen of Shebbah. Till tomorrow, we still have the shrine of that unique woman of style at Oke Eri in Ijebu. In a nutshell, when you couple all these outstanding qualities and rich cultural values of the Ijebus together, you will come to understand the basis of the Miss Awelewa contest. But what we have done in this case is to simply expand the scope of the contest beyond Ijebuland, so that we can collectively celebrate our ageless beauty queen in our campuses across the states. You can therefore simply put that Miss Awelewa beauty contest is to uphold our cultural values by staging a competition to show the talent in our gals.

How would this contest be different from other ones that have been staged in Ijebu?
Thanks. Though, every contest has its limitation. But we have done in this case like I said earlier was to expand invitation beyond our Ijebu soil. Previously, most of the contests are primarily done to make ends meet by the organisers. Ours is outstanding in a way that we are using our platform to discover the talents in these gals for the betterment of their tomorrow. It may interest you to know that we have lined up several activities to enlighten our youths the more against social vices which could lead them astray.

It is not only about contest alone, we are inviting reputable organisations and professionals to where they would be camped to lecture them on these vices. The 15 contestants that we have invited to the camp will also avail themselves with the opportunities some of the tourist attractions in Ijebu and possibly outside the senatorial districts. And we are quite sure we will achieve a better result at the end of the day.

 

What are the activities lined up for the Grand Finale?
You would have read in several newspapers and magazines that Ogun first lady, Mrs Funso Amosun whose empowerment initiative has benefited thousands of people across the local governments is one of our major partners, so also are Mr Segun Oyebolu, the Founder of the Feed The Elderly Foundation, International Breweries, Nestle Nigeria PLC, Consolidated Breweries PLC, Pumavin Herbal Bitter Gin, Citi Hotel & Suites, Bolu Owotomo Initiatives and Wesco Pools and Lottery. We will be putting all these resources together in making the day a grand one.

To be specific on your question, there would be performances from different talented young artistes, display of various artefacts, brief lectures and showcase of Ijebu rich attires and a lot more. Let me quickly add that one of Nigeria leading entertainment companies, Goldmyne Entertainment, owned by Otunba Sesan Rufai, will also be there to handle the red carpet event.

You have not said anything about the prizes?
Smiles…Yes. We have several prizes for different categories of our winners. Don’t forget the fact that we are only doing this in appreciation of our modest ladies and not an avenue to rake in money. Notwithstanding, the winner will be awarded with an all-expense paid trip to United Kingdom, and 21 Inches LCD courtesy Fly4cheaper Nigeria Ltd, one of our major sponsors, a modelling contract for the first runner up and a fridge, while the second runner up will go home with a brand new Tablet.

Apart from these gifts, we also have other consolations prizes for some of the contestants. Once again, I want to seize this opportunity to appreciate many of the media houses that have been helpful in the build-up to this pageant show.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Interview

Bridging the Gap Between AI & Education: Tingo AI Hosts Foster Prime Schools for an Exclusive Tech Experience!

Published

on

By

 

In a world where technology is reshaping every industry, Tingo AI Radio, Africa’s first and only AI-powered radio station, is taking bold steps to introduce the next generation to the limitless possibilities of Artificial Intelligence! Today, we had the incredible opportunity to welcome students from Foster Prime Schools, Ikoyi Lagos for an immersive, hands-on experience that showcased the power of AI-driven media and automation.

 

The students had front-row seats to live AI broadcasting, where they witnessed firsthand how intelligent systems can create, manage, and automate radio content. From AI-generated news segments to smart automation workflows, they saw the seamless integration of human creativity and machine intelligence in action. Beyond the tech demonstrations, the students engaged in interactive sessions with AI experts, engineers, and innovators at Tingo AI. They asked brilliant questions, explored automation processes, and even brainstormed ideas for how AI can improve education, business, and daily life.

At Tingo AI, we believe the future of Africa is digital, and the youth are at the heart of this transformation. We are not just building AI solutions—we are building a generation of AI innovators who will take Africa to new heights. This is just the beginning! Stay connected as we continue to lead Africa’s AI revolution.

 

#TingoAI #AIForEducation #FutureTechLeaders #AIRevolution #ArtificialIntelligence

Continue Reading

Interview

Providus Bank, officials under investigation for alleged N1.1bn scam

Published

on

By

Providus Bank Limited, some of its staffers and another commercial bank are currently embroiled in an alleged N1.1 billion fraud scandal.

We learnt that the bank officials are being quizzed by the Nigeria Police following a transfer of about N1 billion by a bureau de change operator in Abuja, Shamsudeen Ahmed through the banks to suspected criminals, who reportedly offered to sell $1 million from Dubai to him and the mysterious disappearance of the huge sum of money.

It was learned that detectives are looking into the involvement of the bank staff in the illegal transfer of the money after the suspects provided three account details where the complainant paid in the money only to later discover that the suspects conspired to defraud.

In a petition written on behalf of the complainant by Anthony Odule, and addressed to the Inspector General of Police, the complainant alleged that on December 8, 2023, he was contacted by the suspects, Gambo Dahiru, Ibrahim Mohammed, Shaibu Mohammed and Francis Azubuike aka Frank, who deceived him to believe that there was a genuine $1 million for sale from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which he innocently indicated interest.

According to the petition, “Our client stated that the suspects provided the following account details: Account Name: Ushaib Global Investment Limited; Account number; Account number: 5400393231, domicile in (Providus Bank), Account name; Yadiz Oil and Gas Plc Nigeria Limited account; domicile in (a third-generation bank) and Account Name: A&M. Technology Red Set; Account number – 5404168804, (Providus Bank), where the complainant paid in N830 million, N330 million and N10 million, respectively.

“Our client stated that upon preliminary investigation, it was found that the suspects conspired among themselves to defraud our client of his hard-earned money as they do not have dollars anywhere to give to our client but have shared the money amongst themselves.

“What is worrisome to our client is that he borrowed part of the money he sent to the suspects and his conspirators, which non-payment will greatly affect his reputation negatively.”

It was gathered that immediately the complainant suspected foul play, he sent letters to all the banks where the money was sent, notifying them of the development and appealing that they stop the payment of the money and refund it to him.

However, according to the complainant, “One of the banks has refunded part of the money but the other one refused to send my money back to me. They claimed that the owner of the accounts said they gave me a value for the money which is not true.

“If they insist on telling that lie, why did the bank not ask for evidence? I asked the bank to return my money or freeze the account where the money was paid but they have not done anything. They have all the power to stop this fraud but they failed to do it.”

Police sources said detectives have been interrogating the officials of the banks while six of the suspected fraudsters have been arrested and they have refunded some amount of the money.

Continue Reading

Interview

EFCC arraigns lawyer for alleged N1.3 billion forex fraud

Published

on

By

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a lawyer for allegedly defrauding his victim of N1.3 billion.

The lawyer, Alexander Ozougwu is being prosecuted by the Uyo Zonal Command of the EFCC. The anti-graft agency arraigned the suspect at a Federal High Court in Uyo on 12 February.

In a statement on its website on Thursday, the Commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale said the lawyer disguised as a registered bureau de change operator with the Central Bank of Nigeria to defraud his victims.

Mr Oyewale said the victims — four of them — alleged that upon presenting himself as a bureau de change operator, the suspect earned their trust and collected the passwords to their betting accounts and promised that he was going to help them fund their accounts, but ended up diverting their funds.

“Investigation into the allegations revealed that the defendant was operating a Ponzi scheme under the guise of exchanging dollars for his victims and channelling most of the funds to various betting platforms. A total of N1, 323, 850. 000. 00 was discovered to have been diverted from the accounts of the petitioners,” the anti-graft agency said.

Charges
The lawyer was arraigned on six charges of obtaining money by false pretence, an offfence, the EFCC said is in contravention of provisions of Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.

“That you Mr Ozougwu sometime in September 2024 in Nigeria, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did take possession of the total sum of N268,850,000 through a bank account with account name-starlight attorneys which you knew formed proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: obtaining money by false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.

“That you Mr Ozougwu sometime in July 2024 in Nigeria, within the jurisdiction of this court, did take possession of N213,000,000 through a bank account with account name- starlight attorneys which you knew formed proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: obtaining money by false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the money laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act,” the EFCC said.

According to the EFCC, the defendant, pleaded not guilty, prompting the prosecution counsel, Joshua Abolarin to pray the court to remand him at a Correctional Centre, pending trial.

The defence counsel C. M. Onuchukwu, however, informed the court of a bail application which he said was filed on self-recognisance for the defendant, and also assured the court that he shall make himself available for trial, the anti-graft agency said.

After listening to both counsels, the judge granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500 million with two sureties in like sum.

“The sureties must be civil servants of grade level 12 and above and must have landed properties within the jurisdiction of the court. The court also ordered the defendant to deposit his international passport and two recent passport photographs with the court,” the EFCC said.

Continue Reading

Trending