Our Reporter

South African Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Service Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has said the government is ramping up policies aimed at using digital technology to reduce inequality, create opportunities and reap the benefits of ICT for a post pandemic social and economic revival.

The minister spoke at the Better Africa Summit at AfricaCom2020, the largest telco, media, and technology event.

Ndabeni-Abrahams said President Ramaphosa’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) commission has already made several key recommendations that have been approved by Cabinet. These include a commitment to invest in human capital, the establishment of an Artificial Intelligence Institute, setting up a platform for advanced manufacturing and new materials and supporting data security data to enable innovation.

The minister congratulated the Summit organisers, Huawei, for the event, which came “when people everywhere are positioning themselves to play a meaningful role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)”.

“Technology can address the most challenging development problems faced by South Africa and the rest of the continent,” said Ndabeni-Abrahams. “By supporting SMMEs to develop technology that will optimise the delivery of services in sectors such as health, education and transport, we can simultaneously enhance the wellbeing of our citizens and become globally competitive.”

Ndabeni Abrahams said COVID-19 had confirmed the government’s belief in data as a catalyst for digital transformation and economic growth through digital technologies and innovations.

She said this had informed the government’s new Data and Cloud Policy, which aimed to improve citizens access to data and to encourage a new thinking about the world of work.

Echoing the Minister’s sentiment, Leo Chen, Huawei President for Sub Saharan Africa Region, pointed to the pandemic triggering a long-term shift in people’s behaviour to stay online.

“We recently saw new demands for work-from-home, online shopping and home schooling emerge, with data traffic soaring over 40% and digital services booming across the Sub Saharan Africa region. We are grateful to see that African governments have responded quickly to the crisis by enhancing the role of ICT in the fight and recovery, whether through releasing temporary spectrum or policy recommendations, said Chen

Also speaking at AfricaCom, Sharoda Rapeti, a non-executive partner at Delta Partners consulting firm, said telcos could be “growth accelerators” in building a resilient post-pandemic economy through infrastructure sharing models and increased investment.

Presenting the results of a pandemic survey, Rapeti noted there had been a surge in connectivity at regional level in Africa and signs of pent-up demand for Cloud-based solutions.

“Around 58% of African leaders surveyed saw the pandemic as an industry accelerator,” said Rapeti “These findings point to good prospects for the telco sector in Africa, as long as we take the right approach to investment and partnerships and we implement large-scale connectivity infrastructure at the right pace.”

ATU Secretary General John Omo told the conference that the ICT industry was growing into a new global economic growth engine.

“Solving the digital inequality gap must be our common goal to enable those with connectivity, digital tools and skills, and those without access to the digital world, to meet at a central point,” said Omo.

Omo called for policies and regulation that encourage investment in network deployment and passive infrastructure sharing among operators. He also called for simplified regulatory processes and timely assignment of spectrum for new and evolving technology according to industry protocols.

He said governments, institutions and ICT organisations needed to equip workforces with the latest ICT skills so that they could stay competitive in a fast-expanding digital economy. He also called for ongoing institutional support for innovation, as in ATU’s recent partnership with Huawei on the ATU Africa Innovation Challenge 2020

“Collaboration amongst stakeholders is the path we must take to develop Africa and reinforce the ICT contribution to the well-being of our people,” he said.

Our Reporter

Promoters of show business are more often than not people with academic disposition. This is according to George Omokehinde Peters, CEO of Canada-based Prince George Entertainment, a company that specialises in concerts, tours and nightclub events.

Using himself as an example, Peters said: “I worked as Computer Engineer with Bell Canada, one of the biggest telecommunications company in Canada before taking entertainment as my second career.”

Continuing, he detailed his academic trajectory: “I schooled briefly at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, and at the University of Ibadan before deciding to move to the UK. And that was because of the incessant strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). In 2005, I moved from the UK after about two years, to the United States of America and I spent a great deal of time focusing on my career in Computer Science. Thereafter, I moved to Canada three years later.”

Peter, who is Toronto-based is regarded as one of the biggest showbiz promoters in Canada, courtesy of his record as a big and consistent promoter of Nigerian acts and artistes in the North American country in the past few years.

Prince George Entertainment had sponsored Canada shows and tours of some of Nigeria’s biggest name in the entertainment industry including popular artistes such as Olamide, Timaya, Burna Boy, Flavour and fuji acts, Pasuma and K1.

Looking back at his life, he attributed his diligence and hard work to his parents sacrifice to give him and his siblings a sound education.

“For my parents, good education is the number one priority,” he avowed.

The thirst for knowledge has been inculcated in him so much so that despite his achievement and his booming career with Prince George Entertainment, he simply can’t call it quits yet with education. “Very soon, I will be a PhD holder,” he disclosed proudly.

By Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado-Ekiti

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, chapter said it would not hesitate to embark on an industrial action if the modulated payment of salaries of its members and cut in the monthly subvention continued.

ASUU lamented that the reduction in the subvention and modulated payment of salaries of its members in the last 15-months had grossly affected the running of academic activities in the university.

Addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday by its Chairman and Secretary, Dr. Kayode Arogundade and Dr. Daniel Ogunwale respectively, the Union said that some of the its members had died because they could not afford proper feeding due to unpaid salary occasioned by persistent cut in the university’s subvention from the state government.

ASUU decried under-funding of the state-owned institution, saying the situation has affected the university in the last few years to deliver on its mandate as well as compete favourably with other state-owned universities in the country.

It lamented that the members of staff had been placed on half salaries in the last 15-months in spite of the sack of 1, 172 workers in December 2019, thereby making life unbearable for workers.

The Union accused the visitor, Governor Kayode Fayemi of paying lip service to the issue of funding of EKSU, adding that the institution had continued to struggle to pay its wage bill totaling N452m with a monthly subvention of N260m.

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“It is pathetic that the university does owe not less than 15 months of half salaries to its staff even after sacking over 1,172 workers in December 2019; many of whom are either dead or battling with different kinds of ailments.

“The government already also owes the University five (5) months subventions. Our several appeals for separate funding for the College of Medicine as a separate entity as it is the practice in other climes have fallen on deaf ears of the government,” it said.

ASUU alleged that the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Edward Olafeso and the Chairman of the Governor Council, Prof. Bamitale Omole were running the universities like their personal fiefdom against the extant rules and regulations of the institution.

It added that the university community under the leadership of Prof. Olafeso and Prof. Omole are wallowing in precarious situation as the institution was suffering from financial suffocation and gross neglect of its workers’ welfare.

The Union accused Governor Fayemi of allegedly reneging on his promise to give priority and provide financial life line that would assuage EKSU fiscal paucity, in spite of the frequent consultation and dialogues the union had with him and the university management.

This, ASUU said, had adversely affected the standard of the institution and may further plunged it into imminent collapse if prompt action bare not taken to nip the situation in the bud.

“Let it be on record that the Visitor during his first tenure merged three Universities together for the paucity of funds (as claimed by him). How do we explain the attitude of a Governor who promised an increase in subvention from N260 million to N300 million out of the N452million wage bill even in the State 2020 budget without the implementation to date?

“In a manner revealing a zero commitment to the development and growth of the University, the Visitor has gone ahead to reduce this promissory note to a disheartening N286 million (projection) monthly in the 2021 appropriation bill presented to the Ekiti State House of Assembly even as the University has spent the money in advance.

“If N260 million was being released when budgeted value was N300m, one can begin to imagine how much should be expected now that the projection has been reduced,” it said.

The Union called on Fayemi to improve funding in the institution to enable it to meet its financial obligations including payment of 15-months half salary, three months outstanding salaries of July, August and September, 2018 as well as retirement benefits of retired members.

It warned that failure to oblige would propel the union to embark on industrial action, even if the national body calls off the lingering strike.

Our Reporter

Key players in the banking industry and the Judiciary are to discuss the new normal as it affects both fields at the 20th annual national seminar on Banking and Allied Matters for Judges.

The seminar, with the theme: The Judiciary and the Financial Services Industry in the New Normal: Challenges, Innovations and Regulations, is to hold virtually.

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The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), which announced this in a statement yesterday in Lagos, said the seminar will hold on November 10 and 11.

The institute said it is organising the seminar in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI) under the auspices of the Bankers Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The statement by the Head of Corporate Communication and External Relation of CIBN, Mr. Nelson Olagundoye, said the programme would provide a forum for stakeholders in the banking industry and judges across the world to cross-fertilise ideas on contemporary banking and related judicial matters.

Our Reporter

The Countdown is on to the 7th edition of the Annual African Muzik Magazine Awards and Music Festival (AFRIMMA).

AFRIMMA is the biggest African music award ceremony in Diaspora that creates a platform to promote the diversity of African music.

Every year, top African talents across the world come on the same stage to celebrate African culture and music. African music keeps getting bigger all over the world and African music berths new stars by the day.

AFRIMMA 2020 would be a virtual ceremony as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic means the congregation is not possible. AFRIMMA is however determined to always fly the African music flag high, hence the virtual ceremony.

This year, the theme of the awards show is ‘Destination Africa’, according to the President/CEO of AFRIMMA Anderson Obiagwu, “We are taking you on a musical journey into the sounds of Africa, the beauty of African music lies in the diversity and the AFRIMMA virtual awards would be a showcase event”.

Destination Africa is going to explore the different regions in Africa, and it promises to be an epoch ceremony with superstar performers lined up.

Some of the acts billed to perform at AFRIMMA 2020 include Fally Ipupa, Diamond Platnumz, Davido, Nadia Mukami, Soraia Ramos just to mention a few.

This year’s nominees list features a raft of established talents but also stars a host of new talents in what seems to be a major paradigm shift on the African music scene. Revered names like Burna Boy, Diamond Platnumz, Aya Nakamura, Soraia Ramos, Davido, Master KG all earned nominations while newbies like Oxlade, J Derobie, Zeynab and so on got their first AFRIMMA nominations. It promises to be a lot of fun and excitement on Destination Africa with AFRIMMA 2020.

The virtual ceremony kicks off at 1pm CST on November 15th, 2020 and would be transmitted via AfricanMuzikMagazine Youtube page.

The African Muzik Magazine Awards AFRIMMA has unlocked a new level with the announcement of its first Virtual Awards show. This event is sponsored by Majority Official and Axxess with performances coming from different artists around the world.

Anticipation is high and excitement hit the rooftop with the release of the nominees list. This is about to be an experience of a lifetime as AFRIMMA takes us on a journey of African music and sounds with Destination Africa.

Sampson Unamka

WITH the launch of its Skooleeo Learning Centre, an adaptive online learning app that provides students with unlimited access to highly-engaging learning content and a school management system tool to advance education management in schools, Skooleeo has said it will redefine the online learning experience for students in Nigeria.

According to the Chief Executive Officer Skooleeo Technology, Tunbosun Abioye the app is designed with the educational success of every child in mind. It is a unique learning tool that offers a new approach to online learning by providing students with vast learning content which they can use to engage in independent and self-directed learning for their academic and personal development.

He said: “We are thrilled about introducing our products to the Nigerian education sector. The way technology has impacted our lives is evident in every walk of life. Technology has affected how we learn and it is creating room for us to close the educational gap by making quality learning content available to students in various classes. People from various parts of the world can also gain access to better learning content. We’ve worked with experts to put together all the materials available on our app and we believe that they are engaging enough to help student to grow their desire to learn.”

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When students subscribe to the Skooleeo Learning Center, they will have unlimited access to learning content, from recorded videos lessons to colourful and engaging educational slides, past examination questions, flashcards, podcast, for their learning and development. The app is carefully designed to help students find learning more interesting and learn on their own without being coerced.

In addition to launching the Skooleeo Learning Center, the firm also announced the launch of its School Management System app,an easy-to-use tool to improve school management. With the tool, schools can efficiently manage billing records, staff and students’ records, calendar and event records, exam records, students’ attendance, health records and a lot of information that is important to the school and parents.

Our Reporter

THE  Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof. Kolawole Salako has made a case for effective water management across Nigeria, to avoid having major environmental climatic problems.

The Vice-Chancellor noted that though irrigation might be necessary in some dry parts of the country to avoid having soil build-up, effective water management with adequate rainfall would go a long way in preventing environmental issues, stressing that indiscriminate pumping of water underground and damming of rivers could lead to uneven distribution of water to states at the lower end of the country

“In drier areas, when you don’t have enough water, you can have soil build-up. If we want to irrigate from every state, it will get to a point that the states at the lower end of the river will not get anything. Meanwhile, if you also mine the water underground excessively, it can be a problem thereby causing some environmental issues”, he said.

He advised that for any state to embark on the development of irrigation facilities, they must have proper irrigation plans, adding that each state should work more on developing ways through which water can be adequately conserved.

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Prof. Salako emphasised the need for the provision of policies and insurance that would make life abundant for farmers with the availability of basic amenities such as security, transportation, electricity and water, among others.

He stated that agriculture is about life and transportation should be made accessible to farmers because real farms were usually not in the urban centres, but in the rural areas with bad roads and that food production should not be made too expensive.

The Vice-Chancellor disclosed that over the years, most farmers had suffered from the inability of agriculture-based organisations to keep their promises at making life better for farmers, adding that quite a number of such groups had been pretending to do extension services for farmers, but only ended up making profits for themselves through their non-governmental organisations.