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Tag: Benjamin Ozumba

  • UNN sets record of electricity generation with organic waste

    The University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) on Tuesday set the record of electricity generation by using organic waste to install 100KVA Refuse Drived Fuel (RDF) gasification plant for its Nsukka Campus.

    Prof Benjamin Ozumba, UNN Vice-Chancellor, who expressed happiness over the project during its inauguration, said the university would no longer be a customer to Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).

    He said the project was first of its kind in Nigeria and described it as another feather added to the cap of the institution.

    “I am happy that the university under my watch has witnessed innovations and transformation, as today another feather has been added to the cap of my administration.

    “This is the first of its kind in the country, using of waste to generate electricity.

    “By the time more of the plants are produced that will cover every part of the university, millions of naira will be saved every month, as UNN will longer pay monthly electricity bill to EEDC, ” he said.

    The VC also commended Prof Emenike Ejiogu-led research team that produced the RDF gas plant.

    Ejiogu from the Department of Electrical Engineering applauded Ozumba on his belief of making record-breaking innovations to transform UNN.

    “The 100 KVA RDF project is designed and fabricated by laboratory of industrial power devices and energy system under special grant by Ozumba.

    READ ALSO: UNN seeks partnership with Nigerian Air Force on training

    “The aim is to enable UNN to generate its own electricity with organic waste that will serve as fuel,” he said.

    The Japan-trained engineer said his research team was set to produce 250KVA plants, which will supply the energy need of the entire university and its environ.

    “UNN power demand now is 3mgwats, so with twelve 250KVA of RDF plants, we will meet electricity supply need of the university,” he said.

    He said on request, his research team was ready to install the RDF plants to any individual, company or office who needed it.

    “It is cheaper and can carry more loads than solar energy installation.

    “With RDF plant in your house or office, it will carry your air-condition, deep freezers, pressing iron and other things in your house, office or company,” he said.

    Ejiogu listed some of the organic waste that could be used as waste materials to power the plant to include: agricultural byproducts such as corn husks, wood chips among others.

    He said the plant would create employment for many people through supplying of waste to UNN or other people who would be using the plant,” he said.

    Some UNN staff in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) described the innovation as one of the greatest legacies of Ozumba.

    NAN

  • Ugwuanyi inaugurates 1.6-kms road

    Ugwuanyi inaugurates 1.6-kms road

    Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on Friday inaugurated a 1.6km road constructed by Mr Samuel Onyishi, the Chief Executive officer, Peace Mass Transit ( PMT ), in his village Amaukwa, Nsukka.

    Ugwuanyi commended Onyishi for keying into the state government’s agenda of ensuring that every village in the state had access roads all-year-round.

    “I am happy with Onyishi for keying into my administration’s initiative to ensure that every community in the state has access roads both during rainy and dry seasons.

    “This 1.6-kms road that started in Amaukwa and terminated at the University of Nigeria Nsukka ( UNN ) Odim gate, this will strengthen the cordial relationship between Amaukwa and the university community.

    “My administration will continue to put premium on the development of the state as well as ensure adequate security of lives and property in the state.

    “Enugu State will continue to grow from strength to strength.

    “I thank Enugu State residents for their maximum support and cooperation and urge them to keep it up,” Ugwuanyi said.

    In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of UNN, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, said the road would ease movement of university staff and students living in the area.

    “On behalf of staff and students of UNN, I commend Onyishi for the kind gesture.

    “I also commend Gov. Ugwuanyi in a special way because it was his good administration that touched the PMT boss to construct this road.

    “When a good person is on the throne, people will be happy and will like to emulate his good work,’’ Ozumba said.

    Earlier in his remarks, Onyishi said he constructed the road to ensure that people, the university staff and students, had access road to his village as well as a smooth road into the university from Odim gate.

    “I love my people and I will continue to do anything within my capacity to make them happy.

    “I am also happy with the administration of Gov. Ugwuanyi for his commitment in moving the state to the next level,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • UNN seeks partnership with Nigerian Air Force on training

    UNN seeks partnership with Nigerian Air Force on training

    University of Nigeria, Nsukka ( UNN ) is seeking partnership with Nigerian Air Force ( NAF ) on training, Research and Development (R & D) to support the service in the discharge of its responsibilities.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Benjamin Ozumba, made the plan known when he paid a courtesy visit to the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, at NAF Headquarters, Abuja.

    The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, AVM Olatokunbo Adesanya, made the fact known in a statement  in Abuja on Thursday.

    During the visit, Ozumba said the university decided to partner NAF because of its giant strides in R & D and the consistent display of professionalism in the discharge of its responsibility, Adesanya said.

    He commended NAF for its efforts toward attaining self-reliance, adding that NAF was one of the government agencies that were in tune with the changes in the 21st Century.

    According to him, the world has gone beyond the era of commodity driven economy to knowledge-based economy.

    Ozumba commended the efforts of the current NAF leadership toward improving the knowledge base of its personnel through sustained R & D activities.

    Read Also: UNN  set to establish $7m Science Park in Africa

    “Therefore, I reiterated the readiness and capability of the institution to collaborate with NAF in all aspects of R & D to ensure that the service continued to successfully accomplish its constitutional tasks.

    “UNN has been consistently ranked Number one in the Google Scholarly Search in West Africa, for the past three years, a testimony of the university’s commitment to academic endeavours,” he said.

    Ozumba said arrangement had been concluded by the university to establish a science park toward advancing technological knowledge.

    He used the opportunity to invite NAF to be part of the institution’s Innovation Conference scheduled for February.

    In his remarks, Abubakar  said that NAF would also partner UNN in the area of aircraft maintenance, building technology and other relevant fields.

    The CAS added that the service had identified the need to partner with academic institutions in Nigeria more than five years ago.

    He said NAF had already signed a Memoranda of Understanding with 15 other Nigerian universities, adding that the partnerships had started yielding benefits, especially in the enhancement of NAF’s aircraft maintenance capacity.

    Abubakar expressed the readiness of NAF to participate in the establishment of the science park at UNN and promised that NAF would be  represented at the Innovation Conference.

    Abubakar  directed that a team of relevant NAF personnel from NAF Research and Development Centre and NAF Institute of Technology, Kaduna,   be composed to visit UNN.

    He explained that the visit would help identify  specific areas of potential partnership between both organisations.

    NAN

  • Emefiele tasks graduates on job creation

    Emefiele tasks graduates on job creation

    Mr Godwin Emefiele, the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ), has tasked  graduating students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka ( UNN ) to create jobs in order to overcome the current economic challenges.

    In a statement by Mr Isaac Okoroafor, the Acting Director, CBN Corporate Communications, Emefiele gave the charge while delivering the institution’s 47th Convocation Lecture entitled: “A mindset for Succeeding in Today’s Nigeria”.

    He said that the rising unemployment was the greatest challenge facing the country, warning that failure to empower the youth could boomerang against the Nigerian society.

    He emphasised the need for young Nigerian graduates to change their mindset about the labour market, stressing that in spite of the challenges, Nigeria remained a land of limitless opportunities.

    Emefiele, an alumnus of the university, charged the graduating students to strive to be job creators and entrepreneurs rather than being mere job-seekers.

    He said the CBN, as part of its efforts to address unemployment and promote entrepreneurship, the bank had designed and formulated policies and programmes aimed at direct real sector intervention.

    The CBN chief encouraged the graduating students and youths with not more than five years post-service experience to take advantage of the CBN Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme ( YEDP ).

    According to him, the programme is run in collaboration with other banks and the National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC ).

    He tasked the graduating students to take cognisance of the opportunities in their respective environments to motivate themselves by creating innovative ideas as well as turn the ideas into profitable ventures.

    Earlier in is his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, said the convocation lecture was one of the prestigious public lectures hosted by the university.

    He said the privilege of delivering the lecture was usually reserved for men and women, whose achievements would motivate and inspire graduating students and the entire university community for greater achievements.

    Ozumba used the occasion to call for adequate funding of some ongoing projects embarked upon by the institution.

    He said that the projects would not only boost entrepreneurship and innovation, but also help to curb youth restiveness in the country.

    NAN

  • ‘Tractorisation project will move Nigeria out of food insecurity’

    ‘Tractorisation project will move Nigeria out of food insecurity’

    The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN) says it is embarking on a tractorisation project, which is aimed at moving Nigeria out of the stranglehold of food insecurity.

    The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, said this when he featured at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja on Thursday.

    He said that the university, in collaboration with some foreign and Nigerian universities, the private sector, governments and other relevant stakeholders, would begin the project with the production of 500 tractors.

    Ozumba said that the project would be executed via four platforms, adding that these included the Tractor Assembly/Manufacturing Production (TAMP) and Tractor Value Chain Support Service (TVCSS) schemes.

    He said that the other two platforms were the Tractor Vocational and Entrepreneurship Programme (TCEP) and the Tractor Outreach/Extension Workshop Support Centres (TOEWSC) schemes.

    “We need tractorisation.

    “So, the vision is to move Nigeria out of this stranglehold of food insecurity to food security so that we can export and make money for our God-given territory,’’ he said.

    The vice-chancellor, who noted that Nigeria was a commodity-based economy, said that the university was embarking on the project so as to facilitate the transition of the country from a commodity-based economy to a knowledge-based economy.

    He said that the tractorisation project was introduced, as part of efforts to commercialise the institution to enable it to be self-financing, while generating revenue for the Federal Government.

    According to him, “With the tractorisation, we will be able to achieve the goals of the Minister of Agriculture and the Federal Republic of Nigeria to generate more than 15 billion dollars annually to pay our external debts and run the country.

    “Every other country that has made it now is able to feed itself. The big question is can Nigeria feed itself with peasant farming? The big answer is ‘No’.

    “We still struggle to produce palm oil and groundnut oil, which we used to be greatest exporters, and so on.’’

    Ozumba said that most of the citizens still engaged in peasant farming, adding that the farmers also relied on crude farm implements to produce food which was not enough to feed the nation.

    “If you read the dailies often, you will see that the Minister of Agriculture has been repeatedly saying that if we are not able to generate 15 billion U.S. dollars through exports, Nigeria will be in trouble by the year 2020.

    “The question then is how do we do that? Currently, most farmers in Nigeria engage in peasant farming.

    “Peasant farming is where farmers just go to their farms to produce enough cocoyam, enough cassava, enough Ugwu (vegetable) and so on, just to feed their families.

    “It cannot get Nigeria anywhere and we will just go about importing rice when we can produce better quality rice in the country.

    “But can we produce rice with our bare hands as we do now? The answer is a big ‘No’; so we need tractorisation to boost mechanised farming.

    “The only way this can happen is to use our land resources maximally and see how many hectares we can put under cultivation.

    “But you cannot cultivate hectares of land without the use of tractors, hence the rationale behind our tractorisation project.

    “Honestly, you cannot engage in large-scale farming without the use of tractors,’’ he added.

  • UNN, firm partner to start tractor assembling, manufacturing

    UNN, firm partner to start tractor assembling, manufacturing

    The University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Hightech System Limited are to partner in tractor assembling, manufacturing and other tractor value chain services as part of Higher Institution Tractorisation Initiative(HITI).

    The joint venture Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Abuja between UNN and HITI under the Partnership Development Programme on Nigeria Agricultural Mechanisation Local Content Support Initiative.

    Speaking at the event, Mr Ike Willie-Nwobu, Transactional Adviser to HITI, said that the project would be domiciled at the Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANAMMCO) plant, Enugu.

    He said that an Israeli automotive firm would be providing mentorship and guardian manufacturing support.

    According to him, the technical support is under the auspices of Chinese-Israeli European Technical Partnership Guide with the Digital Bridge Institute, Abuja, providing Tractor Information and Communication Management System (TICMS).

    The transactional adviser said that the initiative was necessitated by the need to develop agriculture and agro-business.

    “This initiative is conceptualised to ensure the following: begin and sustain local manufacturing and maintenance of tractors in addition to value addition for the farmers who are using the tractors.

    “Support to agriculture thus leading to the stated diversification of the economy from a mono-product economy to a multi-product economy.

    “Invest in Medium and Small Scale Enterprises which will drive the economy of Nigeria.

    “Create jobs by restoring the functionality of ANAMMCO in addition to empowering farmers and others along the value chain.’’

    Willie-Nwobu said that the global linkages and partnerships provided by the MoU would create global competitiveness.

    On his part, UNN Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, said that the initiative would fast-track sustainable agricultural mechanisation in Nigeria using higher institutions as focal centres.

    Ozumba said that the medium and long-term goal of the initiative was to leverage the huge concentration of skilled manpower and human resources in universities to provide solutions to tractor challenges in Nigeria.

    “Students, under close supervision and mentorship, would be drafted to assemble tractors, provide service/maintenance back-up and operations so that farming and food security initiative of the Federal Government would be achieved.

    “In addition to providing solution to food challenges, students of our higher institutions will have the opportunity to serve as extension staff, learn in practical terms and contribute to their communities while earning good money at same time.

    “The proposed HITI will be powered through the four platforms — Tractor Assembly Manufacturing Production (TAMP), Tractor Value Chain Support Services (TVCSS), Tractor Vocational and Entrepreneurship Programme (TCEP) and Tractor Outreach/Extension Workshop Support Centres(TOEWSC).

    “The initiative will also incorporate partnership with optional Asian-Turkey-European and Israel systems and institutions for Integrated Agric/Farm project, Modern Agricultural/Mechanisation Innovation Relay Centres.’’

    He said that the project was geared towards providing alternative tools of thinking for the country using innovation linkages.

    In his remark, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, said that the Federal Government was committed to making agriculture attractive to young graduates.

    Represented by Mr Kayode Obasa, the Director of Economic Growth in the ministry, Udoma said that the Federal Government would continue to promote agro-mechanisation platforms in the country.

    The minister said that Nigeria needed additional 100,000 to 200,000 tractors in the next five years to meet its agro-production target.