Jobs/Appointments
Ambode Okays N8m Seed Funding for 5 Interns
By Dipo Olowookere
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has approved the payment of N30,000 stipend to Ready.Set.Work (RSW) interns who have been placed in various organisations for six-month paid internships.
The Governor also approved N8 million in seed funding for the top five winners of the RSW Business Pitch Competition, whose businesses will be placed in incubation, while the beneficiaries will commence their internships and incubation, respectively, on March 1, 2018.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, in a statement on Sunday said the interns were part of the 2,000 final year students from six tertiary institutions in the state who took part in the 2017 edition of the 13-week intensive Entrepreneurship and Employability training programme.
He said that the Ready.Set.Work programme, which held its pilot in 2016 with 500 final year students from three tertiary institutions in Lagos State, was scaled up in 2017 to 12,000 Students from six institutions including Lagos State University, University of Lagos, Lagos State Polytechnic, Lagos State College of Health Technology, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education.
“In 2016, we placed 76 students in internships with partner organizations like PwC, SystemSpecs, Total, GTBank, FCMB and Access Bank, to mention a few, who provided 6-month paid internship opportunities for RSW graduates.
“His Excellency, the Governor, further expanded the scheme by approving funds to place an additional 100 RSW graduates in internship positions with SMEs across Lagos State, with monthly stipends provided by the government.
“In 2017, we were able to scale up and secure internship slots in about 180 organisations across the State for 1,000 top performing RSW graduates.
“The placement process involved a series of Internship Fairs at which companies had the opportunity to interview and select their interns from a pool of qualified candidates,” Mr Bank-Olemoh said.
He also disclosed that preparation for Ready.Set.Work 2018 has commenced, adding that the programme would be expanded to train 25,000 while 5,000 final year students would participate in the 13-week face-to-face classes and that 20,000 students in their penultimate year would take part in the RSW Online Academy.
Besides, Mr Bank-Olemoh said the programme was also increasing the number of participating schools to accommodate more students in the programme, among which are Yaba College of Technology, Federal College of Education (Technical) and a private institution, Caleb University.
The Special Adviser added that the inclusion of new schools was in line with Governor Ambode’s commitment to ensuring that every student that graduates from any tertiary institution in Lagos State is prepared for the world of work as an employer of labour or a value-adding employee.
The Governor’s aide also called on professionals from different sectors to join the RSW Faculty, the largest volunteer faculty in Nigeria, as facilitators for the 2018 training programme, adding that the RSW Faculty recruitment would kick off officially on February 22nd, while the application portal will be accessible on the programme website, www.readysetwork.com.ng.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, has been appointed as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
Mr Gbajabiamila won his re-election into the lower chamber of the National Assembly on February 25, 2023, but with this appointment, he will have to lose his seat in the parliament to coordinate the activities of his new boss.
Also, Mr Tinubu has picked the former Governor of Benue State, Mr George Akume, as the new Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF).
He is take over from the former occupier of the position, Mr Boss Mustapha, who served under the administration of the immediate past President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari.
Similarly, the former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, Mr Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, has been chosen by Mr Tinubu as his Deputy Chief of Staff.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Mr Roshan Dharia has been appointed as the interim chief executive of Paxful, a leading global peer-to-peer Bitcoin platform.
In a statement issued by the company’s press team, it was disclosed that the appointment of Mr Dharia became effective on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
Recall that Paxful returned to business some weeks ago after it shut down its operations due to internal issues.
Mr Dharia would be expected to reposition the firm “with the objectives of strengthening operations and exploring strategic alternatives.”
He was most recently a senior executive at TrustToken (now known as Archblock) where he led the DeFi institutional lending business, successfully deploying over $1.5 billion in stablecoin loans to crypto-native companies.
Prior to TrustToken, Roshan founded and built the investment platform PTHL Affiliates, which specialized in the acquisition and turnaround of distressed private companies across multiple industries.
As a seasoned executive, he has held various positions as an investor and investment banker with transactional experience totalling over $30 billion across mergers and acquisitions, financial restructurings, and financings.
The interim CEO, who is highly adept in navigating special situations with complex risk profiles and significant intrinsic value, said he was greatly honoured “to become CEO of Paxful.”
“Over the last eight years, Paxful has been a pioneer in establishing the real use cases of Bitcoin and helping millions of people in the process.
“I look forward to hitting the ground running and building on the innovative technology developed by the Paxful team,” he added.
The Custodian of Paxful, Srinivas Raju, while commenting on the appointment, said, “I’m delighted that Roshan has joined Paxful and will take over day-to-day management of the company. I’m confident under his leadership; the business will keep building a financial system that truly serves the 100 per cent.”
Since its inception in 2015, Paxful has grown to a community of over 12 million users around the world, with billions of dollars traded on the platform over the last eight years.
By Dipo Olowookere
An Executive Director of Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mrs Abidemi Ademola, has resigned from the board of the conglomerate.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, it was disclosed that she would officially exit the board of the organisation on May 31, 2023.
In the statement signed by the Senior Legal Counsel and Company Secretary of Unilever Nigeria, Mrs Afolasade Olowe, the board thanked Mrs Ademola for her service to the firm, wishing her well in her future endeavours.
“This is to notify Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public that the Board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria Plc has considered and approved the resignation of Mrs Abidemi Ademola as an Executive Director with effect from May 31, 2023.
The Board of Directors wishes Mrs Ademola all the very best in her future career and would like to express their sincere gratitude to her for the many valuable contributions and legal expertise she brought to the company over a distinguished 27-year career at Unilever.
“Mrs Ademola’s replacement on the Board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria will be announced in due course,” the disclosure said.
