The Nation Newspaper

Tag: news

  • Cheery news

    •It is great the Babington Macaulay 3 have been freed.
    But that school should boost its internal security

    It is cheery indeed that three girls, Oluwatimilehin Olusa, Tofunmi Popo-Olaniyan and Deborah Akintayo, all 14-year-olds, kidnapped from their Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu school, have regained their freedom. That was swift and admirable.

    With the swiftness of their freedom, not many would begrudge Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, his triumphant crow.  “Let me warn,” the governor roared after the girls’ release, reportedly without any paid ransom, “that Lagos State will not tolerate any forms of crime in the state.” Of course the governor has every right to say this because the state government has done a lot for security in the state. It is this investment that is now paying off.

    It is all reassuring that the state government, with the police, rose stoutly to the occasion; and ensured the girls came back hale and hearty, bar the initial trauma of sudden seizure: the agony to the girls, the school authorities and the girls’ nervy parents.

    That the girls, according to the police, were neither physically nor sexually harassed by their captors was especially gladdening.  The police also say the girls were medically certified hale and hearty.  That happy situation can only be a function of early release. All these are additional reasons to praise the police and commend the government.

    Still, there is need to ask serious questions on the school’s apparent security laxity. According to one Emmanuel aka Arigidi, one of the masterminds of the kidnap and self-confirmed clue to how the police cracked the case, the kidnap of February 21 followed a botched one earlier.

    At the first attempt, a gang of five raided the school and indeed captured a girl.  But in the hubbub, the girl escaped. The gang then went back to re-plan and re-strategise; and came into the second operation with a gang of 11. The impetus, according to Arigidi, was that the school boasted children of rich parents who could afford to pay fat ransoms, in exchange for their children’s freedom.

    While the school cannot be blamed for the workings and machinations of criminal minds, it certainly earns some blame in lax security. While Arigidi claimed they never broke into any wall to gain access though the school provided pictorial evidence of a burrowed wall in the school compound’s fence, there was no controversy at all that the school fence was low.

    Indeed, Arigidi claimed the fence was low enough to be easily scaled; and that the gang of 11 easily positioned themselves to scale the fence, both to gain entry, and to escape with their quarry.  That was not good enough, from the school’s security viewpoint. The good thing though is that the school has since rectified that error. It has not only raised the fence, it has also installed some barbed security wires to repel intruders.

    Also, after the abortive raid, the school reportedly tightened security to avert a recurrence. Still, this new arrangement fell flat, in the face of the second invasion. Why? A case of basic negligence and human error? Or a more serious one of wilful collusion and subversion by those within, in collusion with criminals without?

    While the police have done well by making three arrests, they should probe more for possible internal sabotage. That should hold the key against a possible future subversion, if indeed internal subversion aided the February 21 kidnap.

    But having said all that, the government, both federal and states, should work harder at enabling environments to create jobs. Inasmuch as joblessness cannot be used to rationalise crime, it is clear that profitably engaged youths would have less time for crime.

  • Bad news

    • A dip in oil and gas calls for urgent diversification of the economy

    Two reports, from New York Times and Reuters, should raise, by a bar, the adrenalin levels of the managers of the beleaguered Nigerian economy.

    The first, from New York Times, is that the American oil major, Chevron,  is planning to axe 7,000 jobs, in addition to the 8,000 it announced earlier in the year.

    Reuters, on its part, also reported that the Anglo-Dutch oil firm, Shell, also seeks to shed a massive 1,000 jobs globally – a figure said to be different from the 6,500 it earlier pencilled to be laid off in July.

    That the global oil industry as a whole currently faces an uncertain future can only pass for an understatement. Indeed, not with the trio of Chevron, Shell and Eni reported as collectively posting $12 billion losses in three months: Chevron, $3.6 billion; Shell, $7.4 billion and Eni, the Italian major, $1 billion.

    In the circumstance, the future of the oil economy – as indeed the fortunes of international oil companies (IOCs) – can only be described as bleak.

    At this time, the number of our compatriots to be affected by the massive job cuts is not exactly known. However, given the vastness of the nation’s industry and the scale of the trio’s operations in Nigeria in particular, it is not hard to imagine that a sizeable number of our nationals would be affected by the planned shakedown.

    For the economy, in which unemployment is at a record high; and the individual families and their hordes of dependants, that cannot be anything but bad news.

    What makes the situation particularly regrettable is that the economy at this time has neither the capacity to absorb those to be laid off, nor can it boast of alternative outlets through which their specialized skills could be productively deployed.  It is unfortunate that Nigeria is again forced to bemoan a situation, not only predictable but actually predicted.

    For years, the nation’s leadership hugged the enclave economy of oil and with it, its restrictive, narrow and opaque ways. They went on wild, unproductive expenditures, not caring about the future.

    But with the reality now firmly set, it seems hard to imagine we have lost the whole of a decade to lay a solid foundation for a truly diversified economy.  What is more?  We had enough time to put in place world class infrastructure; and to enact policies very friendly to business.  All of these could have gone a long way to mitigate the impact of the negative developments on the economy and the individual.

    The pathway out of the quagmire, of course, remains that path not taken:  diversification, in its broadest sense, to expand the nation’s productive base.

    As always, we believe that the pathway is massive investment in the critical infrastructures of power and transportation to drive down the cost of doing business. We may well add that small and medium scale businesses remain key; as they are best placed to create jobs.  Hence, they deserve special incentives: access to cheap, long-term funds and allied business-supporting policies.

    Finally, for far too long, the Federal Government has neglected to heed the imperative to harness and optimise the linkages inherent in the hydro-carbon value chain – despite our vast endowment in this area.

    That explains why the nation is currently a net importer of every conceivable foreign manufacture, not the least petroleum products, which it imports at a premium, after exporting crude oil it now has in quantum, on the cheap.

    Therefore, massive investment in petrochemicals and allied industries seems to us as the surest path: not only to cut down on the nation’s huge import bill, but also to create jobs on a massive scale.

  • Cheery news from the Diaspora

    The inventor and physicist, Joe Jacobson was lounging on a beach one day, when he finished the book he was reading and realised he hadn’t brought another. Plenty of sun left in the day, but no book to fill the afternoon. At that moment, he envisioned an electronic book with light, thin, pages that – at the touch of a button – could receive the words of an entire book or newspaper through the airwaves.

    And, at the touch of a button, a different book or newspaper would appear. Using no back lighting, readable in direct sun and at any angle, the image would draw no power once it had appeared — enabling the device to avoid heavy batteries. It was through his imagination that the e-ink came into being. Even now, years after that idea became a real product, it almost sounds like magic. That is what innovation does.

    E-ink is hardly an isolated example. Two of the wealthiest tech companies on the planet right now, Apple and Google, continue to introduce stunning products. They were recently ranked as among the five most innovative companies in the world by both Business Week and Fast Company. Modern China also appears to be hitting its innovation stride, fueled by its unprecedented economic boom backed by government support.

    Talking about Apple; it recently purchased HopStop.com, Inc. (HopStop), an online city transit guide offering door-to-door subway and bus directions and maps for over 140 cities around the world using its website, or apps for iPhone, iPad and formerly Android. Interestingly, the company was founded in 2005 by a Nigerian; Mr. Chinedu Echeruo, who was named one of the top 100 fastest growing software companies in the United States in 2011. It was reported that Apple bought the app for $1 billion.

    Since the release of iOS 6 in September 2012, in which Apple replaced support for Google Maps with their own mapping, HopStop has been named as one of the top transit apps for Apple products by multiple publishers including Business Insider, Fast Company and Wired.

    Through it, users can get step-by-step public transit, walking, taxi, biking, and hourly car rental directions based on the travel options selected (departure time, transportation mode, more walking vs. more transfers, etc.). Other major functions include nearby stations, which allows users to find subway or bus stops near an address, as well as providing transit maps and schedules. HopStop also calculates calories burned and per passenger carbon emissions savings for each transit route.

    The City Guide also assist users find attractions, bars, restaurants, hotels, shopping areas, and other businesses. The Community tab offers users the ability to plan a trip with multiple destinations, including City Guide listings and custom locations.

    So what propelled him to come out with the innovation? His own difficulties traversing through New York City while working on Wall Street inspired him to create the technological solution. Nearly 10 years later, the free mobile application and website HopStop.com assists travelers by guiding them to subway stations and bus stops in more than 300 cities worldwide, including London, San Francisco, Paris and Toronto.

    “Every entrepreneur starts off thinking ‘What’s a problem I can fix?’ he told The New York Times. “The problem for me was how to get from Point A to Point B in New York.”

    Hailed as Black Enterprise’s 2007 Small Business Innovator of the Year and listed in the magazine’s ‘Top 40 under 40’ list, the serial entrepreneur also founded Tripology.com, a U.S.-based Internet company, in 2010. Echeruo, 39 is now a partner in a private equity firm in Accra, Ghana. He grew up in Eastern Nigeria and attended Kings College, Lagos. He later attended Syracuse University and the Harvard Business School in the United States where he founded Hopstop.com after working for several years in the mergers and acquisitions and leveraged finance groups of J.P Morgan Chase where he was involved in a broad range of M&A, financing and private equity transactions.

    He also worked at AM Investment Partners, a $500 million volatility-driven convertible bond arbitrage hedge fund. Tripology.com, an interactive travel referral service focused on connecting travelers with travel specialists which was later acquired by American travel and navigation information company, Rand McNally is another of his innovation.

    Not resting on his oars, this proud Nigerian is working on yet another venture, but this time focused on small businesses in Africa. According to him, “There is no reason why every entrepreneur should have to reinvent the wheel every single time in all the countries in Africa. My idea is to essentially have one place where a budding entrepreneur can access a template for starting a business, and then customise it to suit their own situation; essentially, a business-in-a-box.”

    Another Nigerian, Ufot Ekong, who studied Robotics and Electrical Engineering at Tokai University,  Tokyo, Japan emerged the best all round graduating student of the institution this session. He graduated with First Class Honours.

    The last time anyone graduated with a similar Grade Points Average (GPA) was 50 years ago which makes his feat unique. Ufot, a multi-talented youth, has artistry in music, specialising in Saxophone. He distinguished himself from the outset in the school when he won the Japanese language best student award.

    To think that he combined two jobs with studies, won six other awards in the University, makes his story more compelling. Ufot, who lived in Lagos while in Nigeria, is the director of Strictly African Japan, an African retail wears and accessories shop.

    Aside from paying himself through school, Ufot who has already started his PhD programme works with auto giant Nissan where he has already patented two products.  For his project, he made an electric car that goes as fast as 128 kilometres per hour. The car drives on charged batteries. He plans to drive it May 29, in Abuja, Nigeria to celebrate Buhari’s inauguration.

    This cheering news couldn’t have come at a better time. Nigeria is on the verge of having a new government and as expected, expectations are at an all-time high. Majority of Nigerians want a country that can produce the likes of Ufot and Chinedu on its soil.

    In their book “Why Nations fail,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economist Daron Acemoglu and the Harvard University political scientist James A. Robinson argue that for any economic success political institutions must be sufficiently centralised to provide basic public services including justice, the enforcement of contracts, and education. Given that these functions are carried out, “inclusive” institutions enable innovative energies to emerge and lead to continuing growth as exemplified by the Industrial Revolution.

    “Extractive”  institutions  can  also  deliver  growth  but only  when  the  economy  is  distant  from  the  technological  frontier.  These extractive  institutions  will  ultimately  fail,  however,  when  innovations and  “creative  destruction”  are  needed  to  push  the  frontier.  Hence, while success may be possible for a while under extractive institutions continuing success is possible only under inclusive institutions.

    What we need going forward is a creative economy which enables people use their creative imagination to create an ideas. This will revolve around an economic system where value is based on novel imaginative qualities rather than the traditional resources of land, labour and capital.

    In the second half of the 20th century these ideas were expressed as the Post-Industrial Society, Information Society, Knowledge Society and Network Society. These concepts prioritised data and knowledge as the new sources of growth. The growth of China’s economy since 1980 has been stimulated by market-based creativity and innovation. Europe, America, Japan, China and other countries see creativity as the dominant economic force affecting jobs, economic growth and social welfare. The 2014 OECD Forum declared: “Creativity and innovation are now driving the economy, reshaping entire industries and stimulating inclusive growth.”

    We cannot afford to be left behind as these two Nigerians have shown that it is possible to excel if given the right environment.

  • Not yet good news

    Not yet good news

    • We hope the discovery of oil in Lagos will be a blessing

    From all indications, Lagos State is set to join the league of oil-producing states in Nigeria next year. The  Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had reportedly approved, early this year, the Field Development Plan (FDP) for the take-off the project. On this basis, the Final Investment Decision (FIT) is expected to be taken anytime from now, with first production scheduled for the end of 2015.

    The area where oil has been proven to exist in commercially viable quantities is the Aje Oil Field located in OML 113, approximately 24km offshore in Badagry, Lagos. The joint venture partners involved in the project – Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum, Jacka Resources, New Age, First Hydrocarbons Nigeria, Energy Equity Resources and Panoro Egypt are understandably excited about the prospects of the business.

    They anticipate an initial field production rate of approximately 10,000 barrels of oil per day, using solution gas as fuel. And the Cenomanian variety of crude available in the Aje Field is light, sweet under-saturated oil with a gas-oil ratio of 375-480 standard cubic feet per barrel. A spokesman of the joint venture partners thus enthused that although “No crude sales agreements have yet been entered into for the project, but as the Cenomanian oil is light crude and the project is located on major shipping routes to and from Nigeria’s main oil-producing areas, sales and access to transport is not expected to be a problem”.

    Ordinarily, this development ought to be good news both for the economy of Lagos and Nigeria as a whole. But we are hesitant to come to any such conclusion because of the sordid realities of the country’s petroleum sector.

    Yes, petroleum has generated humongous revenues for Nigeria over the last five decades. But this has not translated into development for the country or better living standards for the majority of her people. For one, oil revenue has spawned reckless corruption that has enriched a small minority while impoverishing the larger populace. Again, a critical sector of the economy that blossomed before the discovery of oil, namely agriculture, has been neglected because of oil, with the country becoming dependent on food imports.

    Moreover, oil has perverted the structure of our federalism with the component parts of the country failing to develop their natural potential, including solid minerals because of access to easy oil money. Indeed, oil has become a veritable ‘resource curse’ to those states where the commodity is found, leading to massive pollution of their environment with negative consequences for their health and sources of livelihood.

    The country’s petroleum industry is plagued by so much criminal malfeasance, illegality and self-inflicted inefficiency that the discovery of new sources of oil can have no positive impact without drastic reforms in the sector. Yet, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) designed to achieve this objective has remained stalled at the National Assembly for years now. It remains a mystery, for instance, why the country has for decades been unable to refine crude oil locally.

    The existing government-owned refineries have perennially operated substantially below capacity despite billions purportedly spent on their Turn-Around-Maintenance (TAM). To compound matters, the country has been unable to attract the necessary private investment to eliminate or drastically reduce her dependency on imported refined petroleum products. The implication is an intricate and massive fraud network built around purported subsidies on imported petroleum products.

    Lagos has over the years been able to build a robust internally generated revenue base that has significantly reduced her dependence on oil revenues from the centre. We hope that the prospects of oil revenues will not lull the state into complacency and the abandonment of the virtues of fiscal innovation, discipline and self-reliance.

  • NIMET set to commercialise operations

    NIMET set to commercialise operations

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) will soon commercialise its services to generate revenue for its operations, the Director-General, Dr Anthony Anuforom, has said.

    Addressing reporters at the weekend in Abuja, Anuforom said NIMET’s attainment of the International Standard Organisation (ISO) 9001 certification would enable it to offer quality services as a world-class organisation.

    He said this feat has prepared the ground for the agency to pursue the commercialisation of its services.

    Anuforom said: “Getting the ISO 9001 certification is paving the way towards the commercialisation of our services.

    “You cannot commercialise something that does not have quality. In other words, the quality of our services is now very well assured. The benefits of the ISO 9001 are enormous for this country. Nigeria is a destination because the air traffic will increase and the airspace will be busy. That is an opportunity for us. We must be prepared and live up to the challenges of providing sufficient safety services.”

    The NIMET chief said the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) prescribe that all aeronautical service providers in the aviation and related fields should attain the international quality management audit to achieve the ISO certification.

    He explained that without acquiring the ISO 9001, foreign airlines would not be obliged to obtain or use the agency’s weather forecast.

     

     

     

  • ‘Abuja rail target realisable’

    The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed has assured that the Abuja light rail project started in 2007 will be completed in 2015.

    Mohammed gave the assurance during the ground-breaking ceremony of the rail mass transit station at the National Park station, Wuye District.

    The event which marked the commencement of the construction works on the 12 railway stations under the first phase of the Abuja light rail project will include shopping precincts, cultural and entertainment centres to boost tourism in the Federal Capital Territory FCT.

    The 12 railway stations are Abuja Metro Station, Stadium Station, National Park Station, Ring Road II Station, Wupa Station, Idu Transfer Station, Airport East Station and Airport Station.

    Also included are the Gwagwa Station, Deidei Station, Jibi Station and Gwazango Station.

    The rail stations, he said will be places of high economic activities like boarding or alighting, rail transit management and operations, commercial and tourism activities among others.The locations of these stations are strategically designed to connect the transportation network to districts and area councils.

    The Abuja main railway station located at the central business district of the Federal Capital City (FCC) will be linked to the transportation centre in the central business district (CBD) for high capacity bus and para-transit services, located within the vicinity is the world trade centre’s 35 twin-towers which will serve as the major business hub within the vicinity of the Abuja main railway station and transportation centre.

    He said that shopping malls, hotels, offices, restaurants, banks, clinics, etc, will all be located in the twin towers and will boost the economy of the railway stations.

    Bala added: “When the projects are realised, they will bolster economic development of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and speed up the pace of our attainment of FCT administration’s vision to build a capital city that would be among the top twenty capital cities in the world.”

    The Chairman Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, Smart Adeyemi who was also present at the occasion commended the Minister on the progress recorded so far.

    He also said that, “I hoped that in no distant time from now, the administration will be thinking of how to integrate the whole Federal Capital, where the Abaji axis can be connected to Lokoja so that the FCT can as well develop its neighbouring states.

    “The FCT will not be asked to pay but the Federal government can start thinking of constructing a rail system from Lokoja to Abuja, Minna to Abuja, etc, to increase the economic activities because it is important to have rail systems connecting all the neighbouring cities to Abuja.”

  • Residents warned against substandard drugs

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has raised the alarm over the proliferation of substandard medical outfits in the territory, warning residents against patronising them.

    The Secretary, FCT Health & Human Services Secretariat Dr. Demola Onakomaiya sounded the alarm when the Private Health Establishment Registration and Monitoring Committee (PHERMC) paid an unscheduled visit to the Abuja Unity Hospital and Maternity in Lugbe.

    Onakomaiya said that the hospital was registered by a retired nurse and a doctor but the registrar of PHERMC later discovered that there is no doctor covering the facility and strongly advised her to employ a doctor but she declined doing so.

    He added that the committee visited the facility after hearing the rumours and allegations of complications attending the delivery of a set of twins.

    It was said that the first twin could not be delivered easily, causing a dislocation of its shoulder. The baby reportedly died later.

    The secretary said in addition that the owner of the hospital has not renewed her practicing license for the year 2013, and that she has no qualified nurses in addition to the environment being very untidy. Therefore the hospital is being run above the scope of its operation.

    Considering these reasons, the registrar of PHERMC promptly closed down the hospital and withdrew its registration.

    The Secretary who attributed the proliferation to the constant influx of people into the FCT, however, said the administration is on top of the situation, adding that Health & Human Services Secretariat of the FCT has been empowered to deal with such ugly situation through the activities of the Private Health Establishments Registration and Monitoring Committee

    The registrar of the committee Dr. Ibrahim Tata advised  the residents of the territory to always demand for license issued by the FCT administration before registering as a patient in any hospital and enjoined the residents to as a matter of urgency raise alarm wherever they suspect such outfits to be operating in their neighbors and advice the owners of private institutions to conspicuously display their certificate of the facility with PHERMC in their reception.

     

  • FAAN hires debt collectors to recover N22b debt

    THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has hired debt collectors to recover the over N22billion owed it by foreign and domestic airlines, its Managing Director, Mr George Uriesi, has said.

    FAAN took the step because of the huge debts owed it by many domestic carriers.

    The move was part of the authority’s measures to restrategise as it prepares to unveil its new credit scheme powered by automation.

    Uriesi said: “We are being owed a lot of money, I must be factual. For now, we are going through a legal process where we have assigned legal debt recovery agents for the first time, to go about recovering the debts owed FAAN.

    ‘’That for us is the only avenue through which our debts can be retrieved. It is difficult to tell you the exact amount because for the first time, we are going to ask the Federal Government to allow us write off some debts that are considered unreasonable in our balance sheet. Such debts include the ones owed by airlines that are no more in active operations.’’

    He said some moribund airlines that were still in FAAN’s balance sheet. ‘’We want to delineate between what is recoverable, because by now, we should know the ones that can never be repaid,” he said.

    Foreign carriers, he said, had shown commitment to schedule their debts, such that domestic airlines allow the debts to accumulate over time.

    Uriesi said: “The good thing about the foreign airlines is that they are the ones that keep FAAN going . They pay their bills. They all owe, but the international airlines pay regularly. But the problem we have is the domestic airlines. They owe and do not pay, and the debts keep accumulating over the years. We need the domestic airlines to service their debts more.’’

    In 2011, FAAN raised the alarm that it might not meet its obligations as a result of the N10 billion debt owed it by 79 domestic airlines, allied bodies and international airlines.

    In March 2011, about 79 domestic airlines and allied bodies, owed FAAN N3,424,627.56.

    Active international airlines and allied agencies also owed the authority over N6,632,702.21. N3,424,627.56 during same period.

  • Small business property insurance

    Property insurance can be purchased based on the property’s actual cash value (the replacement cost minus depreciation), its replacement value (the cost of replacing an item without deducting for depreciation) or an agreed-upon amount (commonly used for art objects and other unique items).

    Basic property insurance will cover your losses in the event of a problem such as a fire or a lightning strike, and will pay the cost of removing property to protect it from further loss. Additionally, a standard small business policy will usually cover losses from windstorm, hail, explosion, theft, and damage caused by aircraft, automobiles or vandalism. Optional coverage can insure against earthquakes, floods, building collapse and glass breakage. Property insurance can be categorised by what is insured and by the events leading to a loss.

     

    Taking stock of your business property

    You should take a complete inventory of all your business property, determine its value and decide what’s worth insuring. Make sure the items you want to cover are provided for in the basic policy; if not, buy more coverage.

    If your business rents space, your lease might require you to carry certain types of insurance coverage. However, just because the building owner carries all the necessary insurance on the building doesn’t mean it will cover any of your equipment, furniture or other business property.

    “Named-peril policies” will cover certain losses resulting only from the perils that the policy names; “all-risk policies” offer coverage for all perils except those specifically named in the policy. A business owner may choose a named-peril policy if his business is located in an area that is frequently hit by natural disasters such as flood, hurricanes. Insurance experts recommend that the average small business purchase an all-risk policy.

     

    Find an insurer specialising in small-business insurance

    Some insurance companies specialise in small-business insurance coverage. Their policy offers additional optional coverage’s for small business owners who also own their own buildings.

    It pays out if your building is destroyed and it costs more to demolish and rebuild it to code than its previous value; it provides full glass coverage and full sign coverage; it provides additional coverage for damaged landscaping; and it extends coverage limits for newly acquired buildings. So, when you shop around, keep in mind that this coverage’s are not standard.

    If your company has a variable growth pattern, you may want to adjust your coverage annually.

    Other coverage that you can buy through riders include: accounts receivable coverage from $25,000 up to $250,000; coverage for loss of stock; protection against counterfeit money orders or currency; employee-dishonesty protection; sewer and drain back-up coverage; and valuable papers coverage.

    Deductibles for property insurance can be calculated on a per-claim or on an aggregate basis. The out-of-pocket cost for per-claim deductibles is often lower, so if you’re in a business that has a relatively low chance of filing a claim, you might consider this. Companies with a lot of claims would do well to consider calculations on an aggregate basis.

     

    •Culled from insure.com.

  • ‘Today’s classroom must be 21st century-compliant’

    Shantanu Prakash is an Indian who chairs Educomp Solutions Limited, the firm managing the model secondary school established by the Rivers State government. On a recent visit to Nigeria, Prakash spoke on the similarities between Nigeria and India. KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE reports:

    Educomp Solutions was established in 1994. From your experience of managing schools in a country like India, what differences or similarities are there between India and Nigeria?

    I think that the challenges facing both countries are similar. They both have young population. Countries that have young population have opportunities but also a danger. The opportunity is that if you train these young people and give them the right education, they can become globally productive citizens. But the danger is that, if you do not provide them the right education, they can become a demographic disaster. So I think the challenges facing countries like India and Nigeria are similar: what should we do about our human capital? In the 21st century, I believe that one of the most important capitals is going to be the human capital. It’s more important than the financial capital because we are rapidly entering into a knowledge economy and intellectual property is more important than physical property. For the past 18 years, Educomp has been working tirelessly trying to find the best and the most technologically advanced method of making the student more efficient and productive; improving the curriculum interaction so that we have a better human capital base.

    How has Educomp helped?

    One of our products is the Smart Class which brings the power of digital content right inside the classroom. Almost every part of our world has been impacted with Information and Communication Technology. However, our education sector remains, in some countries, very backward, and right now I am not only talking about India or Nigeria. I’m looking at the entire world in this discussion. How does a typical classroom look like today in 2013? In most parts of the world, a typical classroom still looks the same as it was a hundred years back. There’s some furniture, there is a blackboard and there is a teacher. But the society has changed. Yesterday I was in Eleme, near Port Harcourt and I was there at the inauguration of the Smart Class system in one of the schools and I said that today’s children are three screen children: they have the cell phone screen, they have the computer screen and they also have the TV screen?

    But the big question is: has the education system changed and evolved? I think the big answer is no, it has not. So there is an urgent need for the education system to change with the times.

    We have partnered with the government of Rivers State to set up a model. In this model school, every student has a laptop. Every classroom is enabled with the latest smart classroom. When a teacher is teaching photosynthesis, for instance, the old means is to use the blackboard and explain orally what it is. It’s very difficult to explain the wonders of nature. But when you use the digital content and animation and you show these students how the photosynthesis happen and they see the process, they get very fascinated and immediately in the brain the learning happens and that is the beauty of harnessing the power of education technology and that is why Educomp is here in this country for a partnership. I don’t think we are here to sell our product, we are here to create a partnership with the young people, with educationists, with teachers, with the policy planners of the different states in this country because Nigeria recognises the power of young people.

    Nigeria faces a challenge in the area of infrastructure: power, teacher manpower? Is it the same in India?

    I have to be very candid to say that India does not pay teachers very well. For some reasons across the world, teachers’ salaries are not very high. This means it is difficult to attract the best talents to the teaching profession. If you go to the class and ask the students, how many of you want to become teachers, very few will raise their hands. They want to become sportsmen, football players, politicians, pilot and others. Because the sector is not able to attract the best quality, the delivery of education is not so good, even though the students are very hard working. Yesterday I was at Ambassador Nne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School, Eleme, and was really pleasantly surprised to see how disciplined the students are; how bright they are and I asked some of the Indian teachers we brought to teach Maths and Science, ‘How do you find the students compared to the Indian Students,’ and they gave me a very frank answer. They said many of the students are even better than the students in India. So, when you have teachers who are unfortunately not the best given that the society can’t pool the best teachers and the students are very bright, to bridge the gap we have to use some support. Edumate is that kind of support. In India right now, about eight million students in private schools are using digital content everyday as part of their learning experience. More than 15,000 private schools and 12,000 government schools are using digital content everyday. That is 27,000 schools. So, so far, it has had a very big impact, not just in India but in other countries as well.

    Putting ICT inside classrooms is one of the big themes of the 21st century. After the successful launch and use of this product in India, we are now launching in Africa and Nigeria is one of the markets. We have mapped the content to Nigerian curriculum so that teaching is outlined in that respect. Second, because of the power challenge in the country, we are providing solar panel as an option. The school may decide to have its own power or buy the solar panel from us, dedicated or ready made. In other words, the remotest rural school can be equal to the best city school in no time.

     

     

    In introducing these products to classrooms, are you envisaging that soon there would be no teachers?

    I don’t think so neither do I want it to be that way. My belief is that the teacher is the most important aspect in the classroom. The magic is not because of the computer or technology, the magic is the teacher. Our job is only to support the teacher. Our Smart Class product has the digital content and the black board put together. It’s a specific answer to your question. If you see the photograph of the Smart Class product, the blackboard, the chalk and the digital is put together. There’s something very interesting: whenever a new technology comes into our lives, it does not replace the earlier technology, it supplements it. The television did not replace the radio; the internet did not replace all these things. In our lives, everything co-exists and I think that is the beauty of human life. We can use all the technology together. So we are not advocating that chalk and blackboard should phase out. Rather it should be about using all the tools that modern science can put in the hands of a teacher.