M&B Pharmacy Award Committee Inaugurated

 The committee   for the 12th  edition of the May & Baker Professional Service Award  in Pharmacy was inaugurated recently by the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria,(PSN)   Ahmed Yakasai. The committee, comprising five eminent pharmacists  led by  Muareen Ebigbeyi, a fellow of the PSN and  Director, Ports Inspection Directorate, National Agency for the Control of Foods and Drugs (NAFDAC), will conduct the 2016  edition  of the award whose winner is expected to be announced at the 89th Annual National Conference of the PSN, scheduled for Mina, Niger State, in November 2016.

The May & Baker Professional Service Award in pharmacy was instituted in 2005 by the company  to recognise outstanding achievements and contributions in the practice of pharmacy in Nigeria.  It targets individual practitioners, public servants, academics and researchers who have made outstanding and excellent contributions to the profession. The award, which carries a prize tag of N500, 000, is organised in collaboration with the PSN.

Inaugurating the Committee,  Yakasai  said the PSN and the entire Nigerian pharmacists are happy with May & Baker for instituting the award.  He  said this award in its eleven years history has helped the growth and development of pharmacy in Nigeria by encouraging pharmacists to work towards excellence. It has also encouraged pharmacists to track and document their contributions in the practice of the profession.

Yakasai described the Committee members as eminent pharmacists, who were selected on the basis of their character and contributions to pharmacy and  implored them to ensure that the outcome of their work would show transparency as has been the case with previous committees.  He urged other pharmaceutical companies to emulate the example of May & Baker by instituting programmes that would promote pharmacy practice in Nigeria.

Managing Director /CEO of May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nanmdi Okafor, thanked the PSN president for personally inaugurating the committee. He commended the PSN for working with May & Baker over the years to ensure the success of the award. He said the caliber of people always chosen to manage the award every year showed that the PSN takes  the award  project seriously. He promised that the company remained committed to the objectives of the award and will do what is necessary to improve on its offerings.

Responding on behalf of the Committee, Pharmacist Ebigbeyi, said the members have accepted the assignment with every sense of responsibility.  He promised that the Committee would not only do a good job but will also work to improve the quality of the award.

Spectranet 4GLTE Bags BoICT Award of the Year.

After one year of rebranding the Spectranet 4GLTE service offering as a premium house hold and business enterprise internet service provider in the country, the organisers of the Beacon of Information and Communication Technology (BoICT) recognised the efforts of the management of Spectranet 4GLTE as the broadband company of the year.
Presenting the award to the representative of Spectranet, the former Executive Vice Chairman of Nigeria Communications Commission, Dr. Earnest Ndukwe, said he watched with keen interest the transformation of Spectranet in the last one year as a modest business with operation somewhere in Lagos, but today is in Port Harcourt, Abuja and Ibadan.
He said aside the spread of the Spectranet brand to four cities, the brand is also challenging lifestyle and the use of internet service with its positioning as the smart home and office internet service provider.
He concluded that the award to Spectranet is a function of the customers’ vote of confidence on the brand.
Responding, Chief Executive Officer, Spectranet 4GLTE, David Venn, said, “We are humbled by the vote of confidence from our customers and this encourages us to continue our quest to provide the best internet experience at affordable prices.”
Editor-in Chief and Chief Executive Officer of the CommunicationsWeek media Limited, Ken Nwogbo, said, the Spectranet 4G:LTE brand has been a pace setter in the subsector in the last one year.
According to him when Spectranet 4GLTE announce the change of identity, he was curious as a journalist knowing that the brand at that time needed more than a new identity to win subscribers and obviously the management of Spectranet were aware of the challenges but kept rolling out innovative content from data plans to strategic pricing and outlets development that consistently enabled customers to engage with the brand.
Nwogbo commended the management for the various initiatives and hopes that the brand will sustain the momentum.
Venn, on his part, said the award is dedicated to all the loyal customers for choosing the faster, smarter and more reliable internet service. It is a show of appreciation and a call to action for Spectranet to push the boundaries in service offerings, he said.

iSON Group Bags Double Awards

iSON Group, a major player in Africa’s Information Technology (IT) space has been recognised with two awards on ‘Best Practices’ and Exceptional Corporate Social Responsibility’ by the Great Place To Work (GPTW) organisation.
The corporate award ceremony was held in Lagos recently.
The Great Place to Work awards is about recognising organisations who have demonstrated and been affirmed by their employees as the best place to work at.  This year, beyond the main category award, GPTW sought out Nigeria’s “Bright Spot” which are organisations that consistently engage in empowering their employees, transforming their communities and ensuring excellent service delivery for all their customers.
Responding to the award, Founder and Chairman of iSON Group, Ramesh Awtaney said, “We are deeply honored to receive both awards.  This is a collective win for all of us, one that underscores the passionate pursuit of our long-term vision of inclusive growth for all our stakeholders, especially our employees who have been committed to providing only the highest standard of services in line with international best practice, to our customers. “
“Our company philosophy and management practice have been developed to provide our staff with a work culture that promotes a healthy work-life balance. This has led to rapid employee growth and retention,” Awtaney further added.
In addition, we focus on accelerating youth empowerment for sustainable development as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility program in Nigeria.  We also employ staff from marginalized sectors, allowing iSON and its dedicated employees the opportunity to develop our communities through socio economic empowerment and skills development, he said.
The company currently employs 5000+ personnel with 99.5 per cent of its work force as Nigerians. In less than a year, iSON has set up three state-of-the-art facilities in Ibadan, Abeokuta and Ilorin, in addition to an existing facility in Ibadan. Each facility is fully equipped with a functional and contemporary Skill Development Centre.  The centre continues to provide skills training for thousands of graduates employed by the organisation. iSON can proudly boast of being one of the top generators of employment opportunities and capacity builders of talents across its footprints.
With a vision to create a fully digital Africa, iSON Group is changing the IT landscape in the continent and is poised to establish sub-Saharan Africa as a strong contender in the offshoring sector, whilst acting as a catalyst in raising the quality benchmark of IT services in this geography.