LAP launches future forward scholarship for indigent Anambra students - ITREALMS

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The League of Anambra Professionals (LAP) has launched its Future Forward Scholarship Programme, aimed at providing educational support for indigent but brilliant students of Anambra origin, reports ITREALMS.

According to LAP, the initiative is designed to give talented young people from less privileged backgrounds a fair chance to excel academically and pursue their dreams without the burden of financial constraints. 

Discourse: IoT moving forward in cross domain sectors - ITREALMS

Discourse@ITREALMS:

As the IoT week event in ETSI came to an end last Friday, there was no doubt that the huge tractor in front of the building was the star of the week. But this wasn’t only for the size of its tyres…

The showcase was indeed a worldwide first: a tractor connected to a car to mitigate the risk of collision on the road and bring down the 400 fatal yearly car accidents caused by farm vehicles that are not visible when coming into the road. Using ETSI’s ITS-G5 standard and the oneM2M gateway, the use case demonstrated how standards help provide interoperability between two sectors such as agriculture and automotive.

Other showcases proved how products based on the oneM2M platform have evolved from prototypes to commercial applications over the last 5 years. Implemented in all parts of the world, they addressed such diverse domains as smart cities, smart agriculture, automotive, smart home, smart living, testing, smart body area, aquiculture or healthcare. There was also the opportunity to test interoperability with interworking platforms or emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence or blockchain. Large global companies, SMEs, start-ups, R&D centres worked together to build up these projects and put them on the market, showing the dynamic IoT ecosystem and how the diversity of actors and expertise can be a real asset for industry at large.

Developers were happy to go into details in a tutorial dedicated to IoT applications and to build small projects with developers’ kits provided to them. In parallel, security experts discussed the challenges for IoT security and privacy. While the chair of the ETSI cybersecurity committee gave a list of very similar issues to those found in desktop OS vulnerabilities in the 90’s, he also gave a set of 3 main recommendations for IoT devices security: no default passwords, implement a vulnerability disclosure policy and keep software updated.

Smart cities was another hot topic of the event. It was addressed through use cases, standardization challenges and first implementations. As was outlined by the speakers, there is no ‘one size fits all’ for cities as they have various needs including those for towns, islands and rural areas which are different from large urban areas. If the cities’ priority is to solve societal issues, it’s a fact that interoperability of the various types of data collected is crucial, but standards are then essential.

Some very positive feedback from commercial implementations were presented. Bordeaux metropolis smart lighting in France was an example and their goals were achieved: reduce energy consumption, optimize services suggested for users by the metropolis and measure the impact of the deployment of street-connected infrastructures. A few Irish cities are also deploying several services. Other cities have implemented, or are going to implement, valet parking, highway use, platooning or urban driving for instance, this includes Livorno in Italy, Tampere in Finland, Versailles in France, Daejeon in South Korea, Eindhoven in the Netherlands or Vigo in Spain.

This year, SmartBAN, smart body area network, was also a new and very interesting topic. The use of wearables and body sensor devices is rapidly growing in the Internet of Things (IoT). Addressing eHealth is of course a technology challenge, you need to deal with interoperability in heterogeneous use cases, low power, low latency, security, robust operation and the ability to interact with embedded intelligence in smart environments. 

ETSI’s technical committee on Smart BAN presented its work but other industry players, including a prominent sportswear actor, offered technology solutions and visions to solve these issues. Speakers concluded that SmartBAN can not only provide connectivity for our portable and wearable devices in the IoT, but it can also serve as the personal interface to the digital world, in particular the healthcare system of the future. To do so, new solutions are needed both technically and in terms of interoperability.

Admin/GEE

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Adesina says ‘No country moves forward leaving talents on the sidelines’ - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

“No country can possibly move forward in the 21st century if it leaves half of its talent on the sidelines,” says the President, African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina at the launch of FinDev Canada, in Montreal, while making the Bank’s case for supporting women, reports ITREALMS.

FinDev, ITREALMS gathered was launched six months ago with mandate to support the growth and sustainability of businesses in developing markets.

Also, FinDev Canada is a subsidiary of Export Development Canada (EDC), the country’s export credit agency.

According to Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development, “With its universities, international organizations and multicultural population, Montreal is the ideal home for FinDev Canada.  From its Montreal base I am confident it will play a critical role in advancing our country’s international development agenda by offering a blend of public and private capital and building partnerships with businesses in developing countries, especially those operated by women and youth.”

Adesina gave the keynote address at the inaugural conference, urged participants to support women instinctively.

“Many of us have come from places – and have family in places – where the labor of women is absolutely essential to holding communities together. And yet so often, their labor is not even fully recognized. And all too often, women are denied their fair share of wages for equal work,” he said.

According to Adesina, the challenge was not just in Africa or even in North America. “In every society, this challenge represents a truly foolish squandering of resources.”

Nenye Dom/GEE

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African: Moving integration closer with free trade area

Commentary@ITREALMS: 

Twenty years ago, I hoped for an Africa that would draw closer and forge forward boldly, despite a bag of mixed fortunes. Rwanda had just been blighted by genocide; the ubiquitous coup d’état still reared its ugly head in West Africa; although a tentative calm prevailed in Central Africa, political tensions simmered below the surface; Zaïre was in the throes of the ‘first Congo war’; the civil war in Somalia grew in magnitude and intensity; Ethiopia began an experiment in state-led macroeconomic planning; a democratic South Africa rose from the ashes of Apartheid, a veritable validation of the OAU’s ultimate goal of political liberation for Africa.

An interim period of positive change ensued, a growth fuelled by new media including the Internet, greater multiculturalism and a stronger attachment to democratic principles.

In March 2018, 44 of the 55 African Union Heads of State and Government enacted the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) in Kigali, Rwanda at its 10th Extraordinary Session, under the able leadership of H.E. President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, with H.E. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda as current AU Chairperson and H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission. Once in force AfCFTA will be the largest trade zone in the world, increase intra-African trade by 52% by the year 2022, remove tariffs on 90% of goods, liberalise services and tackle other barriers to intra-African trade, such as long delays at border posts.

The end of colonialism in the early 1960s created 55 African countries which cut arbitrarily across ethnic, cultural and traditional boundaries. They established the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to promote unity and solidarity on one hand yet emphasised territorial sovereignty on the other. This hamstrung the OAU insofar as national affairs were concerned, and helped create regional economic blocks or communities (RECs) in the mid-1970s.

RECs engendered political and economic integration. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the East African Community (EAC) signed agreements for the free movement of goods, services and people. There are now 8 AU-recognised RECs and a number of sub-regional bodies that are actively pursuing Africa’s integration agenda.

In 1991 the Abuja Treaty established the African Economic Community (AEC), building on RECs for integration. At the 2001 OAU Summit, African Heads of States and Government adopted the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as a further vector to accelerate African economic co-operation and integration. The Summit recognised the importance of OAU input into REC programme planning and implementation. In 2002, the Constitutive Act of the AU was adopted in Lomé, Togo, formally replacing the OAU.

These milestones show that African economic integration is best pursued on a regional basis.

Rethinking Africa’s priorities is urgently called for. In this regard Agenda 2063, a consolidated strategy for sustained political and economic integration and prosperity, was launched by African Heads of State and Government at the 50th Anniversary of African Unity in 2013. Agenda 2063’s first Ten-Year Implementation Plan (2013-2023) draws heavily on NEPAD’s experiences. Beyond these broad strokes in development priorities and programmes, African development must be translated into concrete action.

While business and consumer confidence have improved, investment, trade and productivity have not. This has a direct impact on both foreign and domestic investments in Africa, particularly in infrastructure. As the world’s second-fastest growing region, Africa holds much promise for those willing to invest time to study our local economies and identify opportunities presented by a booming middle class with an endless appetite for consumables.

Although the Africa Report 2017 shows that virtually all countries plan large infrastructure projects and understand the need to industrialise, Africa cannot afford to be an ‘investment risk’ for infrastructure projects that advance sustainable inclusive development.

To this end, the AU-NEPAD Continental Business Network (CBN) continues to de-risk infrastructure projects in order to attract financing, especially through Pension and Sovereign Wealth Funds. In September 2017, NEPAD and the CBN initiated an Africa-led and Africa-owned campaign to increase African asset owners’ contributions to African infrastructure from approximately 1.5% of their assets under management (AUM) to 5% of AUM. By using financial resources available on the continent and strengthening public-private partnerships, infrastructure investments should increase. The CBN has called for a more strategic engagement with domestic institutional investors in support of this campaign.

The AfCTA, is a monumental step for Africa; another significant milestone in Africa’s integration process. I have to however aptly point out that the AfCFTA was signed in Kigali the capital that experienced complete turmoil some 24 years ago but is now poised to become the futuristic “Wakanda.”

*Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, a former Prime Minister of Niger, is the current CEO of the African Union’s NEPAD Agency.

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Restructuring is way forward - Aare Gani Adams tells APC

ITREALMS: 

The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Dr. Gani Adams, has told the All Progressives Congress that restructuring if the country is the way forward,  reports ITRealms.

Speaking when are team sent by the APC Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party, Engineer Segun Oni, paid him a visit at the Lagos home of Adams to dialogue with on the proposal of the APC to restructure the country and present to him copies of the report of the Committee on Restructuring.

The Committee, headed by the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, submitted the report to the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, a few weeks back.

The delegation from Oni, made up of Senator Olu Adetunmbi, the Secretary of the el-Rufai committee, and Otunba Ben Oguntuase, told Adams that as one of the champions of the restructuring of the country, his input remains critical to the eventual position of the party on the issue.

Adetunmbi said: “We are here to let you know that your views are important. We cannot embark on such a project without consulting proponents of restructuring like you.

“We have followed your position and know it is germane when it comes to State Police, system of governance and restructuring of the polity general.”

Adams, apart from his personal views on restructuring, was also at the 2014 Constitutional Conference, where he and others championed the cause.

Adams told the delegation that his first instinct was to clarify from them if the position of the party on restructuring was not just to get reelected in 2019 only to abandon the cause thereafter.

He said his belief in the restructuring of the country remains unshaken and unwavering, adding that without it, “we cannot become a Nation speaking with one voice and with a single focus”.

The Aare Ona Kakanfo said the restructuring of the country cannot be said to be complete without resolving the issue of State Police and the reversal to the six geopolitical structure of governance.

He said the present structure of governance was not only lopsided and a waste of resources, it can also not guarantee the flow of democratic dividends to the people at the grassroots, who should be the priority of the government.

He said:APC takes restructuring campaign to Aare Gani Adams

The All Progressives Congress has taken its campaign for the restructuring of the country to the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Dr. Gani Adams.

 “There is no way the man at the grassroot will feel the impact of governance if the majority of the decisions affecting his day to day living are taken in Abuja.

“Before this will permeate to the grassroots, the impact would have been lost.”

Aare Adams said he stands with anyone or group that believes in the restructuring of the country, adding: “Before we begin the talk of election in 2019, this issue must be tackled headlong.

“Otherwise, we still remain a country sitting on a keg of gunpowder.”

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Enelamah outlines strategies to move Nigeria's economy forward

ITRealms:

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Okey Enelamah, has outlined some strategies of the Federal Government to move the nation's economy forward and beyond its current recession crisis, reports ITRealms.

Enelamah listed some of these strategic policies to include robust partnership between government and the private sector, support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), as well as intervening in high potential sectors encompassing manufacturing and agriculture.

Speaking at the 2016 Annual Investor Conference organised by FBN Capital Limited, the Investment Banking and Asset Management subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc. held on October 27, 2016 at the Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island Lagos, in a presentation entitled ‘Matching Opportunities with Patient Capital,’ Enelamah said that despite the recession, Nigerians should see the economy from a positive perspective and deemphasize on the negative side of the recession.

He noted that the oil price crash exposed the structural deficiency in Nigeria’s large and thriving economy, asserting “Countries in difficulty have used different strategies to strengthen and diversify their economies. That is why Nigeria needs to move away from over dependence on oil. Diversification and growth is key to economic recovery and ensuring a more stable future. Nigeria should have a strong local base of investors because foreigners will always leave leading to dry up of capital.”

Mr. Enelamah recommended applying practical solutions such as creating the right environment and polices to harness the productivity of Nigerians in order to overcome the current inflation in Nigeria, as the economy remains large and full of potentials. He added that it is very easy to have a disconnect between the government and the people when there is no trust in government policies.

Speaking further, the Hon. Minister identified the 5 execution principles of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (MITI) which include creating a favourable economic framework, support to Micro, Small Scale and Medium Enterprise (MSME), sector prioritization, partnership and joint ventures and immediate implementation of policies.

In order to realize Nigeria’s diversification and growth plan, it is essential to concentrate on an area where Nigerians are advantaged and give them necessary support, he said.

He further identified areas such as energy, clarification of Nigeria’s foreign exchange policy, agriculture, manufacturing and transportation as critical to economic growth.

Ayo Omidele/GEE

FIRS offers 45-day special window to tax offenders of 3yrs

ITRealms:

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has offered 45-day special window to corporate organisations to settle their  tax indebtedness from 2013 to 2015, reports ITRealms.

A public notice endorsed by the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr. Tunde Fowler, and made available to ITRealms, informed this waiver of penalty and interest on tax liabilities within the period under review.

Fowler also said the waiver is to promote voluntary compliance and shield taxpayers from the burden of carrying forward old tax liabiltieis arising from penalty and interest, hence FIRS in exercise of its powers under Section 85 (3) of the Companies Income Tax Act CAP C21 LFN 2007 as amended and replicated in Section 32 (3) of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act (FIRSEA 2007).

“… Hereby invites all principal officers, especially chairman, managing directors, chief executive officers, executive and non-executive directors, chief financial officers and all company owners or their representatives, to take advantage of a Special Window to avoid payment of penalty and interest on tax due between 2013-2015,” Fowler said.

According to him, FIRS by this public notice, will grant a pardon stretching back to three years, between 2013 and 2015 to all tax payers in default, provided that such defaulting tax payers, come forward to declare their indebtedness within the 45-day window.

In addition, he said, the tax payers are expected to present a payment plan on the outstanding principal tax liability acceptable to the Federal Board of Inland Revenue.

“That this Special Window will be opened for 45 days only, commencing 5th October 2016 terminating 24th November 2016,” he said, stressing that this waiver relates only to accumulated penalty and interest and not principal tax due.

As said by him, based on this waiver, part payment or full payment of undisputed tax liabilities should be paid, while the balance could be paid instalmentally, just as it is expected that a reasonable amount of not less than 25 per cent should be paid on account.

“By this public notice, FIRS invites tax payers who have not been fulfilling their statutory tax obligations, to take advantage of this special window, failing which all legal means at the disposal of the FIRS will be deployed including criminal prosecution of board and management of defaulting orgaanisations,” Fowler said.

Applicants, he explained, who want to take advantage of this special window should forward their applications to FIRS headquarters in Abuja.

Chuks Egbune/GEE 
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