This week, three top football players of Nigerian origin who have played in the National Football League (NFL), also known as the American Professional Football League, will be guests on the Glo sponsored Cable News Network magazine show, African Voices Changemakers.

Three football players, Christian Emeka Okoye, Kenneth Odumegwu, and Haggai Chisom Ndubuisi, are featuring in the personality interview program.

Okoye was born on August 16, 1961, and was known as “the Nigerian Nightmare” while he was a fullback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL from 1987 to 1992.

He had an NFL rushing champion title in 1989, first-team All-Pro honours in 1989 and second-team All-Pro honours in 1991, two Pro Bowl appearances in 1989 and 1991, and three post-season appearances during his successful six-season NFL career. He was well-known for his explosive running abilities and ability to break tackles.

He mentored Ndubuisi and Odumegwu, among others, and is credited with helping to shape the future of many professional American football stars. In 2000, he was admitted to the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame.

Odumegwu, on the other hand, is a Nigerian professional linebacker who plays defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL. He was born in Lagos on November 29, 2000.

Before attempting American football in 2022, he played basketball and soccer while attending the National Open University of Nigeria.

He started his professional career with the Green Bay Packers in 2023 as a member of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program (IPPP).

Ndubuisi, the NFL’s defensive lineman for the Washington Commanders, turned 24 on October 15.

He joined the NFL through the International Player Pathway (IPP) program and has played for the San Antonio Brahmas of the United Football League (UFL), the Denver Broncos, and the Arizona Cardinals.

Scouting for gifted athletes to teach American football skills, the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program has been at the forefront.

The programme airs on Saturday 8.30a.m. on CNN Channel 401 with repeats at 12.00p.m. same day; Sunday 4.30a.m., 7.00p.m and Monday 4.00a.m. The same edition will be repeated on Saturday 8.30a.m., 12 noon and on Sunday at 4.30a.m., 7.00p.m. and 4.00a.m. on Monday.

By Chinyere Obiora-Ekwuazi, Henry Ukwadia, Hadiza Abdul Abubakar

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) was strategically established in 1992 as the only purpose-built intervention agency of the Federal Government, having the mandate of nurturing an appropriate and dynamic science and engineering infrastructure base for achieving home-initiated and home-sustained industrialization of Nigeria.

Without the application of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), it is difficult for any nation to optimize the benefits of her possession of both human and material resources. Against this background, NASENI has continued to make giant strides in Nigeria’s technological landscape through its eleven (11) Development Institutes, each contributing to the development of STI for economic development of the nation. Nevertheless this is not without some attendant challenges ranging from funding to human capacity building and development.

However, the Agency heaved a sigh of relief when in September 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed a young, energetic technopreneur, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu who has brought to bear his wealth of experience from the private sector to administer NASENI, giving it a new result-based orientation with market in focus.

On assumption of office, he set his goal of transforming the Agency, saying he would make it a central player in Nigeria’s technology revolution by adopting, adapting and domesticating cutting-edge technologies. To build a national brand, going forward, every household in Nigeria will have one NASENI product or the other.

Today, NASENI stands as hope for Nigeria’s indigenous technological advancement, aligning with its core mission of fostering needed dynamic science and engineering Infrastructure for national progress. The Agency under Halilu has articulated a bold vision and promoted shared management-staff philosophy hinged on 3Cs principles of Creation, Collaboration and Commercialization to fuel Nigeria’s innovation and sustainable future.

This approach has indeed opened more doors to result-oriented NASENI partnerships with both national and international corporate communities to foster EVC/CEO’s commitment toward the commercialization of NASENI’s products. In just one year, KSH as he is fondly called, spearheaded unprecedented collaborations cutting across many sectors with local and international partners in both public and private sectors, resulting in numerous groundbreaking agreements, making his vision for viable commercialization and rolling out innovative products for public consumption.

Briefing newsmen recently in Abuja, in commemoration of his one year in office, Mr. Halilu reiterated his resolve to make NASENI “the number One Technology Transfer Agency in the country.” This stems from his earlier promise in 2023 to take NASENI products from the shelves to the market. So far, not less than 36 products from NASENI are already in the corporate market.

During the media briefing, he disclosed the plans to have a showroom where people can walk in and buy NASENI products in retail, explaining that there are already plans to this effect. Halilu further noted that all the products of the Agency developed in the last one year are products of collaborations with strategic partners and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) with local content inputs.

The Agency has in the past one year introduced about 36 market-ready products which includes Solar Irrigation pumps, electric cars (EV), Android Smartphone, Solar Home System, Smart Prepaid Meters, Power Stove, Hatchbox, Pick-Up vehicle, Power Storage, Car Battery, Laptop, CCTV, Solar Street Lamp, Solar Wall Light, Electric Tricycle, Mobile Science kit, amongst others.

In addition, NASENI has established one of Nigeria’s largest CNG reverse engineering centre at Utako in Abuja to help Nigeria save cost on fuel products as well as cut fossil fuel emission in line with the SDGs on renewable energy. Also, under one year in office, the NASENI EVC/CEO made sure that the Agency carried out several administrative reform initiatives, such as Rebranding the Agency’s vision; introduced a new vision for NASENI’s brand identity, reposition NASENI with the 3Cs, increased NASENI’s valued investments to USD3.25 billion and launched the accelerated Technology Transfer Framework.

The initiatives also included the development of the Agency’s 2023-2027 strategic launchpad, reformed NASENI’s governance structure, enhanced staff welfare, established an Innovative Hub at NASENI HQ, launched Hatch Box for STEM education, digitalized Agency services and operations and positioned the Agency as Nigeria’s technology transfer agency, provided policy recommendations and contributing to economic growth, reduced dependency on imports and promoted domestic production.

Having attained these milestones, NASENI now is focusing on innovations and homegrown solutions that will contribute to the Agency’s job creation drive and the growth of the economy. Hence the mandate of NASENI to support the diversification of the Nigerian economy and strengthen the Agency’s position in the global technology and manufacturing landscape remain viable options through its accelerated technology transfer initiatives.

Moreso, NASENI has mapped out strategic plans that will upscale commercialization of the Agency’s technologies and products and drive the Nigeria economy in 2025.  Some of these upcoming projects include; NASENI Renewable Industrial Park, MTS (spare parts support), NASENI Holding Company, NASENI Technologies Limited, NASENI Asset Recovery, CGIWC – Land awarded, Lekki FTZ Partnership, Vehicles refurbishment, Small arms assembly, Ammunition production, NASENI Innovation Hub, NASENI Xceler8, Future-Makers by NASENI – 2025, NASENI Public Challenge – 2025, Global Return Programme – 2025, DELT-Her v2.0 – 2025, NASENI Governing Council and NASENI Campus. All these are geared towards economic growth, job and wealth creation for Nigerians.

Multichoice Group, South African Pay-TV operator, has announced that it has written off N31.6 billion ($21 million) in cash that was held with the recently liquidated Heritage Bank.

A write-off is the decision decision by a company or government to accept that they will never recover a debt or an amount of money that has been spent on something.

The company made this disclosure in its financial results for the six months ending September 30, 2024.

Earlier, in its FY 2024 annual report released in June, the group had reported a deposit of N33.7 billion with the bank as of March 31, 2024, the end of the fiscal year.

However, following cash remittances made before the bank’s liquidation on June 3, 2024, the balance was adjusted to N31.6 billion.

“Following the revocation of Heritage Bank’s banking licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria on 3 June 2024 and its subsequent liquidation, the group wrote off its receivable relating to the cash held with the bank,” Multichoice stated in a note to the $21 million listed as part of its operating losses for the half-year under review.

The Group reported that the continued depreciation of the naira against the US dollar led to additional foreign exchange losses on non-quasi equity loans, particularly on the USD-denominated intergroup loan from MultiChoice Africa Holdings B.V. to MultiChoice Nigeria Limited.

Despite these challenges, the Group successfully repatriated some funds from its Nigerian operations to its headquarters, although the amount was lower compared to the previous year.

“The group extracted USD65 million from Nigeria in the period (1H FY24: USD91 million) at an average rate of NGN1,516:USD (1H FY24: NGN794:USD), incurring extraction losses of USD1 million or ZAR20 million (1H FY24: USD28 million or ZAR518m) in the process.

“The group held USD11 million in cash in Nigeria at period-end, down from USD39 million at end FY24, a consequence of consistent focus on remitting cash, the impact of translating the balance at the weaker naira and the write-off of the USD21 million receivable relating to the cash held with Heritage Bank before its license was revoked and the bank was liquidated,” it stated.

After the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), revoked Heritage Bank’s banking license on June 3, 2024, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), was appointed as the liquidator.

The NDIC has since begun paying insured deposits, with a maximum coverage of N5 million per depositor.

While Multichoice initially stated in June that it would work with the NDIC to ensure a reasonable outcome regarding its funds in the liquidated bank, its deposit exceeds the maximum amount insured by the NDIC.

Recently, the NDIC announced that it is actively working to ensure that depositors with amounts exceeding the N5 million insurance limit are compensated through liquidation dividends generated from the sale of the defunct bank’s assets.

The Corporation also confirmed that it has begun efforts to recover debts and liquidate investments and physical assets from the bank to facilitate timely reimbursement for uninsured depositors.