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3 Winners Emerge in Goldberg’s Ariya Repete Talent Hunt 2018

It was celebration galore as winners emerged at the grand finale of Goldberg’s Ariya Repete Talent Hunt held on Friday 11th May 2018 in Ibadan.
The finale would forever remain indelible on the minds of Ashafa Olushola Martins, Ayodele Olatunji and members of Oludare Cultural Group, who were the three overall winners at the Ariya Repete Talent Hunt 2018 in the Fuji, Juju and Drumming categories.
The grand finale which is a culmination of three months of displays of superb music talent by about 5000 up and coming acts across the south west of Nigeria and Ilorin, an even more rigorous selection process by the Judges, held at the Trans Amusement Park in the ancient city of Ibadan.
The road to the final was a long one as each contestant who progressed from the audition stage went through rigorous grooming and mentorship sessions at the Ariya Academy.
Eventually, out of about 5000 contestants, only sixteen progressed to the final in Ibadan after they were selected from the forty that slugged it out in the Lagos semi-finals.
For the Fuji category, only six contestants namely Ayomide Ode Omotola, Saheed Akangbe, Abiodun Saheed Oloto, Sulaimon Ajibola Destiny, Mohammed Adewale and Asafa Olushola made it to the final.
Another four, Wale Crown, Bukola Ahmed, Ayodele Olatunji (a.k.a Femi Bright) and Ayegbayo Oluwaseun qualified from the Juju music category.
They were joined in the final by the six dance groups; Ifesowapo Cultural Group, Sakuba Cultural Group, Oludare Cultural Group, Igba Iwase African Entertainment Cultural Group and Eniafede Dance Group.
It was a blend of fun and serious business as all the finalists treated the audience to rich renditions of their severally rehearsed and composed songs.
Their sonorous voices rent the night as the whole of Ibadan stood still for the performances of all the 16 budding artistes.
All sixteen finalists delivered very impressive performances making the selection of the eventual winners even tougher for the Judges.
In the end, after long periods of result collation and consultation among the Judges, three contestants who stood out [Ashafa Olushola Martins, Ayodele Olatunji, and Oludare Cultural Group in their performances emerged.
Ashafa Olushola Martins got N2 million prize for emerging tops in the Fuji category, while Ayodele Olatunji a.k.a. Femi Bright also went home with N2 million cash prize after winning the Juju category while Oludare Cultural Group, led by a pregnant woman, Olubunmi Sadiq came first in the drumming category and won N1 million cash prize.
Consolation prizes ranging from N1m to N250,000.00 were given to First and second runner ups in all the three categories.
Franco Maggi Maria, Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Speaking to Journalists at the event, said: “As Nigeria’s first indigenous brewery, our pro-Nigerian orientation is evident in our various initiatives.
“The Ariya Repete roundtable and talent hunt is a reflection of our commitment to promoting the Nigerian brand and more specifically Yoruba culture especially through music.
“Music and Language are two very important elements of every culture, hence by promoting Juju, Fuji and traditional Yoruba drumming, we are not just promoting Yoruba music or the talented acts that have been unveiled here today, but the beautiful culture of the Yoruba people.”
An excited Ayodele Olatunji, a National Diploma certificate holder from the Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti could not hide his joy.
He said: “This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I give glory to God for this win.
“It didn’t come by my power. I just want to appreciate God and Goldberg Lager Beer for this great opportunity.
“With this 2 million naira, I will buy some of the music instruments needed for my shows and make significant change in the life of my family economic-wise.”
In addition to the beautiful performances by the contestants, there were also several scintillating performances by Fuji and Juju greats.
Juju maestro King Sunny Ade reminded all why for decades he has remained active in the music scene with a masterly delivery of several of his evergreen Juju songs.
Not to be outdone, Fuji Lords K1 The Ultimate, King Osupa Saheed, Taye Currency all represented the Fuji genre well with exceptional performances that got the audience raving as they engaged them in an endless sing-along.
Emmanuel Agu, Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout, Nigerian Breweries Plc said “We live for nights like this: beautiful music, beautiful people, smiling faces, cash prizes to reward excellence, a promise of a very future for the new talents discovered here and of course an endless supply of Goldberg Lager beer.
“I am impressed by the quality of talent displayed by the music acts discovered in Ariya Repete 2018 and can’t wait to see them excel in the music scene out there.”
The event was witnessed by The Oyo State Commissioner of Information, Arts and Culture, Mr. Tayo Arulogun, The Special Assistant to the Oyo State Governor on Youth and Sport, Honorable Bolaji Repte, Top Nollywood Stars including Yemi Solade, Sanyeri, Wakili, Adedamola Olatunji, Dele Fagboyo the Anchor of Aajirebi and Odunlade Adekola who anchored the event among many.
The Ariya Repete 2018 started in Abeokuta with the Roundtable discussion involving key stakeholders in the music, art and culture sector.
The initiative of Goldberg Lager Beer, a product of Nigerian Breweries Plc.
It is a yearly talent hunt competition that aims to discover, develop and promote talents in the indigenous Yoruba music of Fuji and Juju genres, including Drums, as a way of helping to preserve the Yoruba rich musical and cultural heritage.
Ariya Repete will return in March 2019.
News
GSK to Slash Cost of Malaria Jab to Less than $5

The manufacturers of the world’s first malaria vaccine are set to slash the price by more than half by 2028 to less than$5 per dose.
The manufacturers of the shot, known as RTS,S, said a phased reduction in cost would begin immediately, with an ultimate aim to reduce the price to less than $5.
The announcement could hardly come at a more critical moment.
Gavi, a major vaccination initiative which funds immunisations in the world’s poorest countries, is facing a major budget crunch.
In Brussels on Wednesday, Gavi’s replenishment event raised $9 billion to fund immunisation programmes over the next five years. While this sounds like a huge sum, it’s significantly less than the $11.9bn the group had been aiming for.
Governments around the world are cutting development spending dramatically.
The UK, for instance, cut its contribution to Gavi by 40 per cent in real terms, telling The Telegraph it was prioritising defence, while the US has pledged nothing at all.
Though America previously gave Gavi roughly $300m a year, the country’s new health secretary claimed without evidence that the organisation was ignoring vaccine safety.
The announcement from the British pharmaceutical giant GSK and Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech will therefore be a relief to those trying to balance the books.
In a statement the companies said the price reduction demonstrated their “commitment to Gavi”, and was “driven by process improvements, expanded production capacity, cost-effective manufacturing, and minimal profit margins”.
By the time the price has fallen to below $5 per dose, a technology transfer agreement means Bharat will have taken over production, though GSK will continue to supply the adjuvant piece of the shot.
“For us, this is more than a cooperation, it’s a promise,” said Dr Krishna Ella, executive chairman of Bharat Biotech International Limited.
“By joining forces with GSK, and working closely with Gavi, and the WHO [World Health Organization], we are taking a real step toward closing the gap between vaccine supply and the urgent needs of children at risk of malaria.”
Each year, malaria still kills 500,000 people – the vast majority of them children aged five and under in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to WHO estimates, cases and deaths fell significantly between 2000 and 2015, but progress has since stalled.
Some have high hopes that RTS,S, as well as another vaccine called R21 developed by Oxford University, could prove critical in efforts to turn the tide.
In clinical trials, RTS,S reduced hospitalisations for severe malaria by 30 per cent.
But critics say the shot is too expensive and not as effective as existing tools, such as bed nets and antimalarials.
The reduction in price will bring it more in line with the cost of R21, which is priced at around $4 per dose.
Yet the cost will still add up, as both jabs require multiple shots. For RTS,S, this means four doses – the first three doses are given monthly, starting around five months of age, while the fourth dose is administered 15-18 months later.
Both jabs “provide reasonable short term efficacy – over about a year – so are a useful addition to other measures,” said Professor Nick White, a professor at the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit who specialises in malaria.
“In the past GSK had limited production capacity – one of the reasons the R21 was developed. So reducing the price will be good and the two comparable vaccines can fight it out in the market place.”
A spokesperson for Gavi said the alliance’s goal is to “create sustainable demand backed by predictable financing so that companies – like GSK and Bharat – can continue investing in technology transfer and other efficiencies that bring down costs, thus making critical vaccines more available and affordable.
GSK’s decision to lower its prices, the spokesperson added, is “an important step for the global malaria vaccination programme, and our ability to make this lifesaving tool more widely available to those who need it the most”.
Gavi plans to help fund RTS,S in 12 African countries by the end of this year.
Previously, GSK has said it will supply up to 18 million vaccine doses between 2023 and the end of this year.
The company plans to supply 15 million doses annually from 2026-2028, a spokesperson told Reuters.
News
Rack Centre Signs Collocation Deal with TelCables Nigeria

Rack Centre, West Africa’s Tier III carrier- and cloud-neutral data centre, has struck a collocation agreement with TelCables Nigeria, an Angola Cables subsidiary.
TelCables Nigeria is delivering its high-capacity network and cloud infrastructure, as well as four international subsea cable systems (SACS, MONET, SEBRAS, and EllaLink), directly into Rack Centre’s regional carrier ecosystem as part of the agreement.
According to Angola Cables, the move provides reliable, low-latency south-bound routes to Europe, the Americas, and Latin America, reducing the danger of future cable disruptions along West Africa’s coast and enabling next-generation cloud services across the continent.
“Our unique Africa – to – Latin America route via SACS, combined with MONET, SEBRAS and EllaLink, gives customers the lowest – latency paths to the Americas and Europe,” said Fernando Fernandes, CEO of TelCables Nigeria.
“Businesses in latency sensitive sectors: financial services, content delivery and real-time communications will experience faster transactions, reduced lag and an enhanced user experience.
“By hosting at Rack Centre we also localise Clouds2Africa resources, price them in naira, and remove expensive ingress/egress charges or FX exposure.”
Rack Centre said its 13.5MW data centre campus designed with its recently launched LGS2 facility that delivers a design PUE of 1.35 and powered from sustainable energy sources, already hosts 70+ carriers, ISPs and network operators.
Lars Johannisson, CEO of Rack Centre, commented: “Adding a global operator of Angola Cables’ calibre through TelCables Nigeria dramatically deepens our connectivity fabric.
“We can now offer 99.95 % SLA routes to more destinations, enabling enterprises, governments and cloud providers to meet performance and data-residency requirements while keeping traffic local.”
News
Lagos Plastic Ban: MAN Warns of Job Losses, Closure of Businesses

Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has expressed concerns over the impending ban on Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) by the Lagos State Ministry of Environment.
It warned that it could lead to job losses and and lead to economic, operational, and social consequences for manufacturers, traders, recyclers, and end users.
Segun Ajayi-Kadir, director general, MAN, in a statement called on the Lagos State government to reconsider the ban, citing a lack of credible data and stakeholder engagement.
According to Ajayi-Kadir, a recent study revealed that 100% of manufacturers surveyed expressed fears of job losses and workforce restructuring if the ban is implemented.
He said, “A recent MAN-supported study evaluating the possible impacts of the Lagos State SUPs ban revealed significant adverse economic, operational, and social implications across the value chain, from manufacturers to wholesalers, traders, and end users. It has been noted that only poor and developing countries often tilt towards plastic ban as a strategy to combat environmental problems.
“A hundred percent of the manufacturers consulted expressed concern over a ban-induced workforce restructuring. Thus, several jobs will be lost in the industry if this ban were to be implemented.
“It is noteworthy to mention that there is no form of arrangement for social protection for the employees who will lose their livelihoods as a result of this ban.
“Also, there has been no form of social dialogue on the part of the government with these workers or the industry on the potential job losses.”
According to him, findings showed that 89% of operators in the plastic value chain rely on SUPs as their primary source of income with no alternative source of livelihoods, over 75% of end users, including SMEs, depend on plastic packaging with no affordable or practical alternatives, and 93% of dealers, many of whom are women, reported no prior information or social support mechanisms to cushion the impact.
Ajayi-Kadir emphasised that banning SUPs would not resolve pollution issues but merely substitute one problem for another, especially without scalable alternatives or infrastructure to support the transition.
He urged the government to focus on improving waste management infrastructure and promoting recycling, rather than imposing bans.
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