Road safety: Nigeria gets applause @FRSC 7th annual lecture

ITRealms:

As the Federal Road Safety Corps held its 7th annual lectures series on Thursday, members of the international community have rated Nigeria among countries with robust road safety strategic agenda, with calls on other nations to emulate it.

This was the main focus of this year’s annual lecture delivered by the United Nations Secretary General’s Envoy on Road Safety, Jean Todt, who was the Guest Speaker at the FRSC 7th annual lecture series held at the Banquet hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to the Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, in the lecture, titled: “Achieving the Goals of the UN Decade of Action For Road Safety in Africa,” Todt stated that in his past meetings with Presidents of other African countries, one of the issues that had continued to top his discussions with them was the need for them to promote issues of road safety in their countries. 

This, he said, was because of the debilitating effects of road traffic crashes on the social and economic wellbeing of the people of the African continent. 

He however expressed happiness that Nigeria is not only operating a road safety lead agency, but has been at the forefront of campaigns for safer road environment within the West African sub-region and African continent at large. 

The UN Envoy described the situation of road traffic crashes in Africa as very disturbing and called on governments of the region to devote more resources in tackling the menace. 

He stressed that if Nigeria could sustain its commitment to road safety through increased investment in the campaign, the country stands the chance of attaining the target set by the United Nations in its Decade of Action of Action For Road Safety: 2011-2020.

Todt said: “Nigeria is doing well in road safety agenda in Africa, and it should sustain its investment for the effects to become manifest.”

Speaking on the importance of road transportation in Nigeria, the UN Envoy declared that for a nation whose citizens depend largely on road for their transportation needs, the only way to contain the menace of road traffic crashes was for the government to ensure that it invests adequately in road safety, adding that the nation must do more to move road safety agenda forward through various means including legislation and public awareness creation. 

He also called on the Nigerian government to do more in streamlining its data collation system to make it align with that of the World Bank for a harmonious data from the country. 

“Nigeria could serve as an example for other nations through credible data management; but this cannot be achieved without some level of investments in data processing and cost,” he stated. 

Furthermore, Todt disclosed that as part of the commitment of the United Nations to tackling the issues of financing road safety programmes, a special road safety fund is being conceived by the UN General Assembly. 

He called on the Nigerian government to support the initiative to make it a success and create a situation where accessibility to safe and affordable road infrastructure could reach majority of the people by 2030. 

In addition, he called on the people to support road safety activities as a national agenda, noting that road safety is an all inclusive programme.

In his address, the Special Guest of Honour and Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was represented at the occasion by the Minister of State for Works, Power and Housing, Alhaji Suleiman Hassan, congratulated the leadership of the FRSC for the success it has achieved through the FRSC annual lecture series, which serves as an avenue for creating public awareness on issues of road safety in the country. 

According to Osinbajo, the vision behind the establishment of the FRSC as Nigeria’s lead agency for road safety management and administration 29 years ago, has been vindicated, adding that the menace of road traffic crashes remains a source of concern not only to the country but most developing economies of the world and attracting the attention of the UN General Assembly.

The Vice President disclosed that at the First Global Conference on Road Safety held in Moscow, Russia in 2009, member states of the UN agreed on the need to dedicate the next decade to road safety with focus on campaigns against the menace of road traffic crashes and massive participation of governments, non-governmental organisations, communities, religious and traditional institutions as well as the media on how to contain the menace. 

“The declaration of 2011-2020 as Decade of Action for Road Safety by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010, was therefore, the most audacious demonstration of the commitment of the world body to tackling the challenges which road traffic crashes pose to mankind,” he stated.

Osinbajo maintained that Nigeria as an active member of the United Nations has been unrelenting in its commitment to fighting the scourge of road traffic crashes in the country and the West African sub-region through evolvement of various measures. 

He further noted that aside having a road safety lead agency saddled with the responsibility of ensuring safer road environments in the country with full legislative powers and autonomy of enforcement, Nigeria was the first nation in the Africa Continent to activate the UN Decade of action campaign in 2010 under the auspices of the Federal Road Safety Corps to set the roadmap for attainment of the goals. 

“The FRSC Annual Lecture Series, inaugurated some years back, forms part of the nation’s activities aimed at creating public awareness on issues of road safety among various stakeholders,” he added.

The Vice President commended the United Nations for giving prominence to issues of road safety in the country and across the world as demonstrated by the choice of Todt, assuring that Nigeria remains committed to sustained investment in road safety. 

“Let me state that part of Nigeria’s commitment to the success of the UN Road Safety campaign is the nation’s continuous and expanding scope of legislative review of the law setting up the FRSC to enhance its capacity to enforce and boost the competence of its personnel through their capacity development as well as massive logistics support by the Federal Government,” he stated.

He further assured that as a leading nation in Africa with Afro-centric foreign policy objectives, Nigeria will continue to render necessary support to the FRSC to make it possible for it to extend technical assistance to the neighbouring countries in Africa for them to establish their road safety lead agency in saving them from threats of road carnage. 

“I must however stress that keeping the road safe is not a responsibility which one government agency can successfully handle alone, except with the support of all citizens and stakeholders who must join hands in the spirit of shared responsibility,” Osinbajo said.

In his welcome presentation, the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, expressed worry at the rate at which road traffic crashes affect the social and economic wellbeing of the people of the country.

According to Osinbajo, road transportation remains the most dominant mode of transportation in the country.  

The Corps Marshal disclosed that in the determination of the FRSC to tackle the menace of road traffic crashes in the country, FRSC took the strategic decision to key into the Accra declaration of 2007-2015 and the African Road Safety Charter, 2011-2020, all of which aligned with the national development agenda of Vision 20:2020. 

The goals of these declarations, he said, were to assist in combating the road safety challenges of the country and the African continent at large. 

These include development of safe system approach, activities and multi-sectoral involvement and an all inclusive approach.

Oyeyemi pointed at the adoption of the Nigeria Road Safety Strategy Document 2014-2018, which aimed at achieving 35 per cent fatality reduction as one of the strategic outcomes of government interventions in matters of road safety in the country.

He commended the Federal Government for sustaining its support for the FRSC, saying the investment in road safety by the government has yielded positive result as evidenced by the reduction of the rate of death, which was 16,382 in 1982, but down to about 5,053 in 2016. 

The FRSC boss expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the FRSC’s adoption of Safe System Approach, saying it led to reduction of Nigeria’s fatality rate to about 6,000 death per annum.

The Corps Marshal further stated that FRSC will continue to make efforts that could result in improvement in its crash data capturing mechanism and analysis while the nation strives to meet the target of crash without death. 

“Sustaining the safe system approach will set Nigeria among the top of the 20 safest nations in the world by 2020,” he stressed.

Other speakers at the event, which attracted huge foreign and local participants, included the Acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr. Habibat Lawal; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Mohammed Bello; and the Chairman of the occasion and Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.

The pioneer Chairman of the FRSC Board, Prof. Wole Soyinka, added his voice to the call for people to take personal ownership of issues of road safety.

Among those that graced the seventh edition of the FRSC Annual Lecture Series were the UN Representative in Nigeria; the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed; some past Chairmen of the FRSC Board; top government officials; road safety practitioners from home and abroad; representatives of military and paramilitary organisations in the country. members of Diplomatic Corps; Civil Society Organisations; transport unions; and stakeholders from the public and private sectors.   

It would be recalled that the idea of the FRSC Annual Lecture Series was conceived some years back as part of the strategic initiatives for creating public awareness on issues of road safety. 

Accordingly, eminent scholars, road safety experts and transport administrators as well as top government officials have always been selected to present lectures on various topics that could engender people’s consciousness on issues of road safety.

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Kaduna Bishops berate APC, say no respite in sight

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The Bishops of Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province have berated the All Progressive Congress (APC) led government, lamenting that there is nothing to show for the past two years, reports ITRealms.

A press statement endorsed by chairman and secretary of the conference, Archbishop Mathew Man-Oso Ndagoso and Bishop John Niyiring and made available to ITRealms, said at the end of a two-day meeting in Minna, Niger State. 

The meeting which held between Tuesday and Wednesday, August 22 and August 23,2017, wondering what is the state of the nation in Nigeria.

According to the bishops, in January this year, they had issued a statement commending the government in its fight against BokoHaram and modest gains in the fight against corruption.

"Despite the mass killings across the country by so-called herdsmen, a culture of kidnappings, assassinations and wanton loss of lives, we warned our people not to lapse into despair. Sadly, looking back, we are saddened that things seem to have gotten progressively worse today. We have witnessed resurgence in the killings by Boko Haram and the fight against corruption seems mired in judicial technicalities."

The bishops said they have continued to encourage the relevant agencies engaged in the fight against corruption to find new strategies for winning the war.

"Still no change or reprieve insight" they lamented.

They expressed sadness by the fact that after over two years, there are still no measurable changes in the welfare of the people. 

"The recession has not abetted, the lives of ordinary people continue to hang in a balance as insecurity ravages the land. The party in power remains riddled in internal infighting and has thus lost a sense of moral direction and urgency. 

"Sadly, very little has happened to assure Nigerians that there they have a stake in their own country. We cannot successfully go into the next election circle in this state siege," the said.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
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Abdullahi takes over from Echono as PS

ITRealms:

The newly appointed Permanent Secretaries by the Federal Government, Alhaji Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, has taken over from elsewhile Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications, Arc. Sonny Echono,reports ITRealms.

Abdullahi, ITRealms gathered assumed duties at the Ministry on Wednesday, August 23, 2017.

The former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Arc. Sonny Echono, who was posted to the Ministry of Education was on hand to hand over to his successor.

The new Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi is a Katsina State born Accountant and Financial Manager. Over the past three decades, he has worked in a wide variety of professional capacities in both the private and public sector. Until his appointment, he was the Director of Finance and Accounts in Nigeria Security and Defence Corps, Abuja.

He’s a recipient of various certificates in management, accounting, and computer appreciation courses.

Abdullahi was born in Mashi, Mashi LGA of Katsina State on the 12th of August 1961, about a year after Nigeria gained her independence. He attended LEA Mashi Primary School between 1968 and 1974 where he attained his First School Leaving Certificate.

He then moved to Katsina where he attended the then Government College Katsina from the year 1974 to 1979. In the spring of ’79, he got admitted into one of the premier universities of Northern Nigeria, Bayero University Kano where he majored in Accounting, graduating in 1983 with Second class Upper honours degree. In the summer of 2010, he decided to put his long and illustrious civil service career on hold to allow him go back to school. He earned his MBA in Financial Management through the University of Plymouth’s Business School, MBA program.

His first working experience was with the Bauchi Area Office of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria where he served his one-year youth service program. He had a brief stint as the Inspector of Taxes II at the Internal Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance, of the old Kaduna state before moving to African Petroleum Plc, Lagos in 1985 where he worked for over a decade as an Internal Auditor and Plant Accountant. He decided to return to public service in 1994 where he served for 3 years as the Chief Finance Officer of the defunct National Board of Community Banks. In the month of July 1997, he was posted to the Office of the Chief of General Staff where he served for 2 years as the Assistant Chief Accountant.

In 1999 he was posted to the Office of the National Security Adviser where he served rising to the post of Acting Director of Finance owing to his prodigious work ethic and loyalty, working under three illustrious retired Generals. He stayed in that post till 2011 when he was posted back to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. From 2012 to 2015, he served as the Director, Finance and Accounts II in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity. In March of 2015, he served briefly as the Director of Internal Audit in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation before he was again moved to the State House, Presidential Villa to assume the post of Director Internal Audit.

In June this year, he was again posted to Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as Director, Finance and Accounts, the position he left to become the new Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications.

Uboshe Uboshe/ED, ops

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Six influencers of Artificial Intelligence

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The world has gone digital. In fact, we are approaching the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also described as Industry 4.0: an age in which a range of new technologies is expectedly fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds in addition to impacting all disciplines, economies and industries.

This is an age marked by emerging technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented reality, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, The Internet of Things, 3D printing and driver-less vehicles, among others.

One of these emerging technologies, Artificial intelligence or AI, as it is commonly referred to, has the potential to cause significant disruptions to many established industries, presenting amazing new ways for business leaders and individuals to simplify complex tasks.

According to the Research and Development Unit of Yudala, Nigeria’s fastest growing e-commerce outfit, here are six ways Artificial Intelligence will shake up things in the corporate world.

1.Double-edged impact on jobs and employment opportunities: Artificial intelligence promotes the growing reliance on machines which possess the ability to perform a wide range of physical and cognitive tasks, admittedly with more efficiency and accuracy. This poses a great deal of concern for the future as these machines may put many jobs at risk and ultimately reduce human employment. While these concerns are legitimate, research posits that the rise of artificial intelligence and automation may, nevertheless, have a double-edged impact on employment: negative and positive. In the negative sense, AI may displace humans by directly replacing them in tasks previously performed by these workers. On the positive side, the deployment of machine learning and artificial intelligence may end up increasing the demand for labour in other industries or create new jobs or openings as a result of automation.

2.Data analysis and presentation: With the emergence of machine learning which is a direct off-shoot of artificial intelligence, the task of crunching numbers, analyzing data and presenting this as useable information just got easier. A single supercomputer using artificial intelligence running on continuous machine learning will definitely out-perform the work of ten or more humans working with spreadsheets to analyze and interpret the same amount of data. Most machine learning apps have the capability of, not only analyzing huge amounts of data in record times, but also reducing errors to the barest minimum -  a factor that makes them logically preferable to high-cost and error-prone human accounting or consultancy teams.

3.Budgeting: Closely related to the foregoing is the refinements and research-backed approach to the process of budgeting which AI lends. For most businesses, budgeting is often carried out haphazardly on a yearly basis, with funds allocated in similar patterns to various activities and business units. This inadvertently results in a situation where certain business units get more working capital while other units which yield more returns struggle with the meagre figures allocated to them. By deploying artificial intelligence, business leaders can generate valid information on the performances of various business units and gauge more accurately the returns on the investments made on specific activities. This will potentially cause a major overhaul of existing budgeting systems used by corporate organizations and bring more value and objectivity to the entire process.

4.More personalized marketing: The exciting benefits of artificial intelligence will also be keenly felt in the field of marketing, as advances in the field will usher in landmark advances in the marketing value chain, leading to more personalized experiences for consumers. Through AI tools, marketing will assume an automated dimension, enabling companies to deliver a richer, more personalized experience for all classes of consumers and resulting in stronger connections between brands and consumers. Ultimately, these new approaches will build brand affinity/loyalty and positively impact bottom lines. Presently, a number of organizations are deploying artificial intelligence principles to simplify the processes involved in various branches of marketing including email marketing, SEO, mobile, social media, among others. Global e-commerce giant, Amazon, is playing a leading role in this aspect –  a step that is on the verge of being replicated by Yudala – by relying on a series of algorithms to determine what customers are likely to buy or require next, with these suggestions and creatives sent to the target customers via customized emails in a process that is entirely automated.

5.Recruitment/Human Resources: AI will radically transform the recruitment and human capital management function by infusing more objectivity and transparency into the entire process. This will equip business leaders or owners with the requisite insight to take more informed decision on hiring, compensation, promotion and gender pay disparity/biases in the work-place. By leveraging the benefits of advanced statistical tools and machine learning, AI can help organizations recognize and reward performance more objectively among the entire work-force through the detection and elimination of partiality, imbalances and subjective appraisals.

6.Banking and finance: The entire financial services sector will also be disrupted by the emergence of artificial intelligence solutions and applications. A recent research survey carried out by The Economist revealed that 49% of banking executives believe the traditional transactional banking model will be dead by 2020. Through AI, banks, insurance companies, asset/wealth management firms and capital markets will have a plethora of cutting-edge tools that will streamline and bring unimaginable simplicity and ease to their core financial processes and customer service offerings. The potential is limitless. Robo-advisors are being mooted in the sphere of asset management; banks will expectedly rely on chatbots to boost customer experience while other AI tools will simply thorny reconciliations, reporting of earnings, financial analysis and asset allocation, among others. AI will also help insurance firms process claims, streamline their processes and uncover fraud. Understandably, a number of financial institutions are awake to this reality, head-hunting and mopping up fintech talents, in a sort of arms race to ensure they are not left behind in the sweeping wave of tech-mediated changes that is afoot in the sector.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI, also known as machine intelligence, MI) is intelligence exhibited by machines, rather than humans or other animals (natural intelligence, NI). In computer science, the field of AI research defines itself as the study of "intelligent agents": any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal. Colloquially, the term "artificial intelligence" is applied when a machine mimics "cognitive" functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as "learning" and "problem solving". 

AI research is divided into subfields that focus on specific problems, approaches, the use of a particular tool, or towards satisfying particular applications. Artificial intelligence is not one technology but rather a group of related technologies – including natural language processing (improving interactions between computers and human or “natural” languages); machine learning (computer programs that can “learn” when exposed to new data) and expert systems (software programmed to provide advice) – that help machines sense, comprehend and act in ways similar to the human brain.  

These technologies are behind innovations such as virtual agents (computer-generated, animated characters serving as online customer service representatives); identity analytics (solutions combining big data and advanced analytics to help manage user access and certification) and recommendation systems (algorithms helping match users and providers of goods and services) which have already transformed the ways in which companies look at the overall customer experience.

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Reformulation to stimulate Nigeria business growth

ITRealms:

The reformulation of the nation’s business paradigm both theoretically and experimentally must be achieved to grow business in the country, says Dr. Ayodele Ibrahim Shittu, reports ITRealms.

Dr. Shittu, an expert in Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation Economics, who lectures in the Department of Economics, University of Lagos, whilst delivering the lead paper entitled, “Transforming Business and Economy Through Innovation" during the #Worlstageeconomicsummit2017, explained  that commitment, consistency, and sincerity of purpose on the part of the business and political leaders and followers is required to transform the Nigeria’s business environment for greatness and prosperity.

According to him, Nigeria’s business environment is yearning for innovation in order to fulfill its potential of stimulating economic prosperity. In view of this, Dr. Shittu noted that as a nation, we must promote collaborative relationships between the university and our industries.

He also said we must develop SMART focus for specific economic sectors, promote knowledge sharing between the enterprises in both formal and the informal sectors, put in place physical centers such as business incubators, accelerators, etc, encourage innovative supply of infrastructure and utilities as well as prioritize innovative financing options to both existing and new businesses.

His paper which assessed Nigeria’s business environment on the basis of three indicators (i.e. ease of doing business, business confidence, and capacity utilization), revealed that Nigeria’s performance on the ease of doing business over the last eight years which depicts an increasing trend, implies a woeful performance between 2008 and 2016, where Nigeria ranked 169th position among 190 economies around the world.

According to him, this consistent diminishing in ranking was considered embarrassing to us as a nation, and as such, nudged the Federal Government in its wisdom to set up the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council to supervise the competitiveness and investment climate agenda at both federal and state levels in the country.

On Nigeria business confidence index, Dr. Shittu noted that there is a glooming perception of the business environment among leading firms in selected sectors of the Nigerian economy.

“Since the first quarter of the 2016 FY through the second quarter of the 2017 FY, we have witnessed negative perceptions of business activities in the country. While the level of pessimism is declining, common constraining factors cited among the firms surveyed include financial barriers, unfavorable political climate, competition, and insufficient local demand," he said.

Although, Dr. Shittu stated that, this should not come as a surprise to all, giving that Nigerians have been witness to the countless foreign trips embarked upon by the political leaders to woo foreign investors.

“Unfortunately, for majority of them, their search for vineyard yielded only thorns and rotten fruits as indicated in the erratic increase in Nigeria’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow from 2014 till date," he observed.

Speaking on notable factors that have contributed to decline of competitiveness to include health, education, and security. 

Shittu explained that, Nigeria’s educational system, if not prioritized, may see reduction in future human capital.

“The available evidence, in this regard, shows that the score of the skills of the future workforce sub-pillar is lower than the score of the current workforce by 10 percent or more.”

He noted that Nigeria is ranked 108/135 on the Business Dynamism and 90/135 on the Innovation Capacity indicators, but despite these, Nigeria remains the best in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of market size.

According to him, some Notable private sector initiatives some of which are the “Business Environment Legislative Review Report,” which was prepared by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and successfully delivered to the National Assembly; and the “Business Environment and Competitiveness across Nigerian States” (BECANS), which was initiated   by the African Institute for Applied Economics (AiAE), professes that appropriate regulatory and legislative instruments, as well as independent evidence-based research matters for the development of an enabling business environment.   

However, up until date, it is unfortunate that the task of creating an enabling business environment for the purpose of promoting national prosperity in this country remains a mirage.”

He stated that more still needs to be done in order to create the change that we all desire. Acknowledging the progress made so far, Dr. Shittu stressed that now is the time to take action, which does not connote the business as usual attitude. “Instead, we need to rethink our business culture and create innovative approaches to creating, nurturing and developing transformed local businesses with global outlook. But we must bear in mind that the process of transformation is not linear,” he advised.

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Pix: L-R Ogundeji R K. Deputy Director, FIIRO; Segun Adeleye, President, World Stage Limited; Barrister Sunday Oduntan, ED Research and Advocacy, ANED; Dr Abimbola Adegboye, Deputy Director, NAFDAC; Mr Soji Adeleye, CEO, Alfe City Institution and Dr Ayodele Shittu, University of Lagos at the World Stage Economic Summit 2017 held at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on 23 August, 2017

Cut-off marks: NANS demands reversal

ITRealms:

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has condemned in very strong terms the recent downwards review of the cut off marks for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria from 180 for universities and 165 polytechnics, now 120 and 100 respectively and describes the exercise as a gross misplacement of priority and exercise in futility, reports ITRealms.

NANS President, Comrade Chinonso Obasi said, knowledge acquisition is a function of determination and hard work and so if over the years, students were able to work hard to meet cut off points, it doesn’t make any logical sense to now lower the standard and insisted that the inability of any student to meet the cutoff points is a function of outright indolence that should not be encouraged.

According to Obasi even the current status, the general phenomenon is that Nigerian Graduates are not employable and stated that the lowering of standard will translate to a disastrous outcome in the future by churning out young people who cannot fit into the demands and expectations of the 21st century.

Obasi insists that Nigerian youth are intelligent and willing to learn and argued that because of the enabling environment provided by tertiary institutions abroad, Nigerian students who school abroad are known to study and come out with exemplary performance.   Obasi stated that the 21st century is driven by innovation and competitiveness and so lowering the entering level into tertiary institution will only further contribute to reducing the productivity and peak performance of young people seeking admission into the country's higher institutions of learning.

NANS President, Comrade Chinonso Obasi argued that the challenge of the tertiary institutions in Nigeria is not in the prospects of entering but largely dependent on the numerous challenges within the various institutions ranging from the falling standard of education due to lack of modern day teaching facilities, low level of morale by the teaching staff, lack of adequate facilities and enabling environment that facilitates effective and efficient learning by the students.

Obasi decried the high level of inconsistencies in policy formulation and implementation in the educational sector and call on government to mainstream and benchmark global best practices in educational policy formulation and implementation and concentrate more efforts to address germane issues bedeviling education in Nigeria rather than embarking on frivolous policies that would further compound the falling standard of education in Nigeria.

The NANS President stated that as critical stakeholders in the educational sector, the student body will vehemently resist the review and call on government to maintain status quo and endeavor to conduct a comparative study and analysis of policies from other climes that supports functional learning and production of young people that can compete with their peers globally.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Reapville School opens, promises best early childhood education

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The management of Reapville School had announced its opening in Mafoluku-Oshodi in the centre of excellence, Lagos, reports ITRealms.

The proprietor, Mrs Philomena Ugwuoke disclosed that admission is ongoing for full educational activities to commence.

She promised on behalf not the school management that Reapville School would offer the best any parent can get in early childhood education for their wards.

"We focus on character development and effective learning through an interactive, research-based and differentiated learning program, delivered by qualified and passionate teachers in a conducive learning environment," she declared.

Admission for full academic session, she said is ongoing at 26 Eweje Street, off Olowora Street, Mafoluku, Oshodi-Lagos.

This, Mrs Ugwuoke said is coming on the heels of the free summer session for students at the school compound.

Further, she said the school could be contacted via 08025320291, 08038821983, and 08034315380 or by electronic mail at: reapvilleschool@gmail.com

Uj. N. Dominic/ED,op
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Worldstage Economic Summit'17: Nigerians urged to imbibe innovation culture

ITRealms:

The President and CEO of Worldstage Group, Mr. Segun Adeleye, has urged Nigerians to imbibe the culture of innovation and collective economic development, reports ITRealms.

In his welcome address to the 2017  Worldstage Economic Summit, Adeleye who is the convener said in Lagos, both Nigerians and business owners alike within the country needed to imbibe the culture of innovation for economic development and transformation.

According to him, diversification into non-oil sectors may not be enough to sustain the nation’s economic development without adapting new ways of doing things.

“Nigeria is projected to be the third most populous country behind India and China by 2050, any diversification now without innovation by businesses and government may be tantamount to running on the same spot," he said.

Adeleye also explained that the theme ‘”Transforming Business and Economy Through Innovation’ was inspired through a new thinking, stressing that the reality today indicates an economy where the majority is disenfranchised and trapped in irrelevance. 

"Yet we are at a time in history of information explosion when nothing is hidden about where countries are and where they want to be in the future. 

"While we are still lamenting the lost opportunity to have developed with our oil wealth in the past, we can see the future unfolding before us, just as how the internal combustion engine is projected to die and the oil business, the mainstay of our economy is to become obsolete in the very near future."

He said, If we all know the shape the future is taking, we as a nation cannot afford to be stranded with costly obsolete technology or waste valuable time before changing direction, unless we want to remain the dump site of the future.” 

"With the calls for Nigeria to diversify its economy from oil after several missed opportunities in six decades, the new question begging for answer, is how fast and far can diversification solve economic problems in the short, medium and long terms?"

He advised that “We should not make the mistake to think that because the people in government are educated and well-travelled, they will be conversant with the shape of things to come and pursue the right policies in infrastructure development, education, smart grid, clean energy among others. Sometimes, we have to question our sensitivity, sanity and care for fellow human beings and our country.”

Adeleye noted that so much has been read about the support for SMEs or MSMEs by the government from the federal to the local government level, yet in reality they don’t exist. “I will pulse for you to sear your mind for few seconds; where are the so much talked about SMEs that are supposed to be creating millions of job? I personally believe that policies to support entrepreneurs should be such that anyone that have made an attempt at doing anything at all rather than roaming the street looking for unexciting jobs must get one form of support from the government or the established businesses in the private sector”.

Speaking further, he said "The private sector here is as culpable as the government. You know our big corporate businesses have insatiable appetite for foreign products and services and if they must patronize the small local ones at all, they will offer to pay ridiculous prices that they cannot get anywhere in the world. Beggars have no choice. It’s either they take it or die. With this corporate terrorism, it’s not surprising that we have hardly seen any small enterprise that survived and grow in our country like the inspiring cases of Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Tweeter and recently Uber in the United States.

He said: “We hold it as a duty in this forum and any similar ones to scream until those concerned will hear us. We don’t have any other choice anyway, because it’s about our wellbeing as a people, it’s about our survival, and it’s about the future of our children.”

According to him “WorldStage had made sure that the report of the last year summit with the theme: ‘Addressing Unemployment Crisis in Nigeria’ got to all the relevant government departments from the presidency, National Assembly to the state government. “Today’s summit will not be an exception. The lead paper will come from an expert in Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation Economics, Dr. Ayodele Shittu, of the University of Lagos. After that we shall have presentations on the sub-themes which will serve as guides to the thorough discussion of the main theme by the panelists.”

Adeleye also hinted that the summit this year will recognize outstanding contributions to economic growth during the current year through a “ WorldStage Economic Summit Awards” The awards will feature, Nigerian Development Best Bank of the Year, Nigerian Airport of the Year, Nigerian TV Station of the Year, Nigerian Public Institution of the Year amongst many others.

He said "The winners emerged from the compilation of the responses to our questionnaires by stakeholders adding that the Awards for only one outstanding institution or individual per sector of the economy will be presented after the panel discussion.

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9mobile apologizes over service disruption

ITRealms:

The Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS), trading as 9mobile has apologized over the service disruption on its network on Wednesday, reports a ITRealms.

This, ITRealms gathered 9mobile witnessed network outage in one of its data centres which resulted in the service disruption. 

The Vice President, Regulatory & Corporate Affairs at 9mobile, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko, confirmed this to ITRealms, saying they were aware of the disruption and are working on it.

"We are aware that subscribers may be experiencing some disruption with voice, SMS and data services due to this technical issue," he said, assuring that 9mobile technical teams are currently working assiduously to resolve the issue within the shortest possible time. 

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused our subscribers and we thank them for their patience and understanding," he said.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Group warns Shittu: Don't dream of Oyo governorship

ITRealms:

An Ibadan-based Information and Communication Technology (ICT) association under the aegis of the Computer Guild of Nigeria (CGN) has warned the current Minister of Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu to kill the idea of dreaming becoming for Oyo State governor if he cannot boost of any ICT hub in the state, reports ITRealms.

President of Computer Guild of Nigeria (CGN), Mr. Wole Adedoyin gave this advice after a workshop for his organisation, saying the current minister of communication, Barr. Adebayo Shittu, should not attempt to vie for the governor’s office in 2019 if he does not turn Oyo state into second ICT hub in the country after Lagos before leaving the office.

According to Mr. Adedoyin “Shittu’s appointment has not brought any tangible development in the area of information communication technology in the state."

CGN, he said, has not seen any feasible project two years after his appointment.

"Oyo State is very lucky to be given such juicy position despite the fact that the state currently accommodates the first female Professor of Computer Science in person of Prof. (Mrs.) Nike Osofisan," he said.

The group insisted that “A Communication Minister who cannot use his ministerial position to transform the state that presented him as minister to one of the ICT hubs of the country, what else could that type of minister do if he becomes the governor of the pace setter state? 

ITRealms recalls that Computer Guild of Nigeria is an ICT based association founded to bridge the gap between the town and the gown. It was established for computer scientists and ICT practitioners with the national headquarters in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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TOE's Observatory: Don't dare me!

TOE's Observatory@ITRealms:

THINKING ALOUD  

Come to think of it, this year's edition of the London wing of 'ReturnOrResign' brothers are much better than the 2015 Chattam House ffk recruits. These ones know the purpose of their protest except that the fellow who agreed to an interview, apparently jobless and uninformed, insisted that Yar'Adua handed over to  Goodluck Jonathan those days.  

The Chattam House recruits didn't even know what their protest was all about beyond the protest being against 'the evil that was going on in Nigeria' then. Besides, one knew Buhari as name of the person she didn't want, but she didn't remember the name of who she wanted.

That's an improvement of a sort, if you ask me.

MY CHAT WITH POLICE

I got talking with one senior police officer. One of the finest, I bet you.

"Honestly you guys too have improved quite considerably in recent time. You would have earned my full acolade if your men didn't loose their patience after only a few days into those 'ReturnOrResign' comedians' sit-out. 

"You see, police work......"

"What is police work that is not brain work?"

"Point is......"

"What point? You would have just ignored them for so long as they chose to sit there. Patapata they would just be singing things like 'yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-of-rum'..."

"They were ...."

"They were what? These were only 12, 15 area persons who were harmless, exercising their rights to protest  ...."

"You see....."

"See what?"

"When they got fed up they would head for Kuje Prison to recruit more of folks instead of Wuse Market where they met their waterloo."

He slipped into laughter. 

"And who knows?, an offence would then have been committed."

"And....."

"And then .... POLICE WORK... "

DON'T DARE ME 

“Ignore the empty threats. Go about your lawful business and sleep with both eyes closed. I will keep watch over you with my two eyes open. I will let anyone who dares us know I am from Aguleri.” - Governor Willie Obiano  of Anambra State in an IF YOU DARE ME story reassuring Anambrarians that Nov 2017 election will go on as planned. 

You see, the thing has now become 'gambari pa fulani' matter. An ordinary rascal elevated to an important miscreant that a Governor who has been doing his work jeje now has to be keeping vigil over his people. That is what PMB's goons brought as CHANGE.

From the Observatory of www.titiomoettu.com 

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