The Nation Newspaper

Tag: REVOLUTION

  • Revolution in Osun

    Education is essential for everyone. It is an indispensable part of life, both personally and socially. But in our own part of the world, unequal standard of education or sadly, total absence of it, is still a major problem that needs to be solved.

    The importance of education is undeniable for every single person. Thus, it is unarguable to say that education is pivotal to human life and development.

    Every individual needs knowledge. Only with qualitative education can people gain knowledge and enlarge their world views. This is in tandem with Biblical saying that ‘My people perish for lack of knowledge.’

    In other words, people become more useful and civilised if educated. In areas where residents are not able to receive an appropriate education, life cannot be as thriving and prosperous as locations where there is a high standard for education.

    Education plays such a rudimentary role in our society that we cannot even imagine a life without it. It is a vital element of the civilisation of human society. Not only does it helps us develop healthy surroundings but it also generates an advance community. As a matter of fact, everything we create today is based on the knowledge that we obtain throughout our life by way of education.

    It is the same education that opened the vista to the yet-unknown world that scientists stumbled on to discover and invent ground-breaking equipment and gadget, resulting in a high technology nowadays. The more developed life becomes, the more necessary education is for everyone.

    Even at the risk of sounding immodest, without education, life would be disastrous, disappointing and rather detrimental. Consequently, every responsible government must do everything humanly possible to make education accessible to every youth of knowledge- seeking age bracket.

    Education is therefore synonymous with the future any human being or nation. The future of a people or country rests on this pedestal, the lack of which guarantees a gloomy future for such people or country.

    It is this future that occupies the mind of Osun State government on all policies formulation. The governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made it top priority since the beginning of his administration in 2010.

    Seeing the abysmal state the education sector was when he took over as chief executive, the governor quickly put on his thinking cap.  He called an education summit where the future of the children of the state was placed on the table and given thorough assessment so as to properly plan for future.

    The summit was chaired by the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. And a comprehensive long-term policy was fashioned out. The education programme in the state has followed the laid down recommendations of the summit, which started with school reclassifications and school free feeding programme.

    Government is now on the last lap of the summit’s recommendations, the building of new schools. On Tuesday, October 24, another state-of-the-art school was commissioned in Ilesa.

    This ultramodern Ilesa Government High School, Ilesa, brought the number of the state-of-the-art senior secondary schools commissioned to five out of 11 of such schools at various levels of completion.

    Fakunle-Unity School, Osogbo and Oduduwa High School, Ile-Ife, have been completed, awaiting commissioning. The remaining four schools at Ila-Orangun, Iwo, Ikirun and Ikire, which are under construction, would also be completed before the end of the year.

    Two first class traditional rulers, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Eniitan Ogunwusi and the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran led a pack of traditional rulers, who showered encomiums on the Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s education strides at the inauguration of yet another mega secondary school, in Ilesa.

    It will be recalled that last year, President Muhammadu Buhari was also in the South-west state to inaugurate one of the 3000-capacity, Osogbo Grammar School.

    Oba Ogunwusi and Oba Aromolaran in their separate remarks lauded the state government over its investment on education and showered Aregbesola with royal blessings.

    Ooni, who was impressed by the size of hall, the classrooms and other modern facilities, noted that the governor would be remembered for good.

    Ooni counselled politicians to strive to do what will make people remember them for good, saying, “Just like former Governor Lateef Jakande of Lagos State is being remembered in all spheres of life today, Osun people will reference Aregbesola in years to come.”

    The facilities in the new schools are second to none and ones hitherto not seen in this part of the African continent south of the Sahara.

    As befitting a modern architecture, the school complex has 72 classrooms of 49 square-meters each capable of sitting 49 students, six offices for study groups, six laboratories, 18 toilets for young ladies, 18 toilets for young men, one Science library, one Art Library, one Facility manager’s office, one Bookshop, one Sick Bay, one Bursar’s office, three Principal’s offices, three General Staff office, one Senior principal’s office, one Record store and one Security shed/Reception.

    Besides, there is a total of 1000 square-metres of floor space hall capable of sitting 1000 students for external examinations. This hall has storage for equipment, utility storage, a stage, office space, storage for documents, four female toilets and four male toilets.

    Sports  is not left behind as the school boasts of a an Olympic sized football field, seven-lane sprint tracks for 100 metres and 400 metres events, a pavilion and an outdoor Basketball court that doubles as tennis court.

    Also equipped with stand-alone transformer for powering electricity and a borehole, the school cost N1.3 billion, including the cost of furnishing, landscape and electronic boards.

    At the end of his tenure next November, Aregbesola’s government would have constructed 20 Elementary Schools, 22 Middle Schools and 11 High Schools – all brand new and state-of-the-art.

    Aregbesola captured the essence of education and of preparing for the future this way: “All these are in fulfilment of our promise to provide functional basic education. This stems from our conviction that every child is owed basic education.

    “It is a fundamental and inalienable right of every child. We have gone to this length and committed such huge amount on education because we are preparing for the future.

    “A good basic education fulfils the definition of literacy as the ability to read and write and is a solid foundation on which other superstructure of vocational training or higher education can be built.”

    What is on ground in Osun today contradicts what the naysayers mouth around that the government of Aregbesola has not performed.

    It seems as if any government with people-centred policies and programmes always draw flaks from political buccaneers whose brand of wasteful political hegemony has been permanently consigned onto the waste bin in Osun.

    Yet, Aregbesola remained undeterred by their campaign of calumny. One thing seems clear in his horizon: the future of his people.

    Certainly, Aregbesola has a grasp of what immortality means in respect of what education can do – ability of others to continue moving where he stops.

    No other platform is better than the one he is building on the pedestal of education. With this landmark achievement, the future of Osun youths is assured a là Aregbesola’ education revolution.

     

    • Owolabi writes from Osogbo, Osun State.

  • Nigeria @ 57: The revolution we need

    At 57, a human being is regarded as an elder with a mature outlook. At that age, any organisation, project or business cannot be considered a start-up. In fact, the financials of such organisation must consist of major investments. Essentially, 57 is seven years into the second half of the century, and should be taken seriously.

    Nigeria has marked another year of independence after the British granted us self rule. The question is: what have we been doing since we got our independence? As opposed to popular mockery of our nation, the aim of this missive is not to launch baseless attacks on the British establishment, or throwing darts of vilification at the colonial relic they made of us. Like the proverbial four fingers pointing backwards, if one replaces the British in the accusations, we will realise how the description fits so well, and how we moved from white privileged colonialism to black entitled colonialism.

    I am also not here to brandish the whip of confrontation against a nation that has aged without growing, or recounting rancid tales and dismal accounts of national failings and shortcomings; that has been done a lot I assume. I am here to talk about the future and the role we all have in it. I am unapologetic then in saying that this nation at 57 is what we have made of it – all of us.

    We are the pieces of this puzzle. Perhaps, due to our long history of a nation that incessantly slaps us in the face, we have developed a culture of casting blames all over, except on ourselves. This is a product of lack of introspectiveness, an absurd dissociation of our existence from the nation. There is uncanny inclination to blame whatever Nigeria becomes on the colonial masters, or on delayed independence or for some, hasty independence. Some blame diversity of the country, while others believe population is our problem.

    The same individuals that have used electricity for the last six months without paying bill are blaming leaders for the country’s woes and not themselves. The gun-wielding policeman, who earns his salary illegally on the highway by ripping off unsuspecting motorists of their hard-earned cash won’t blame himself for what the nation becomes.

    There is no doubt Nigeria is at the crossroads in the area of leadership, which we have not solved since independence. It is appalling that at 57, playing big brother of Africa, and proud black nation to the world, we do not count among the top developed nations. Instead, when the roll call for corruption is released, our country earns a pride of place.

    It is distressing that, countries like Rwanda and Botswana, which got independence after Nigeria, are listed as more desirable places to live in Africa, in terms of security, economy and life expectancy. So can we ask why we have continued to take the deleterious path for 56 long years without considering a round peg in a hole?

    I do not believe our problem is our multi-ethnicity, a topic I must broach in the discussion of our nationhood. I also do not believe that breaking up into tiny bits of nations is the solution to our problems. Perhaps a look at the governance structures of the states seeking emancipation will make a poignant argument that we have not learned governance or leadership. We have an immature and self-indulgent sense of entitlement to power and illusory national cake; that is the crux of our problem.

    I believe our problem is one of sheer apathy and confusion engendered by circular stagnancy – like a game of musical chairs that leaves player dancing in confusion without a seat. Quite frankly, it is hard to blame the average Nigerian for how much they have lost faith in the country, because for a country immersed in abundant resources, and 64 per cent of its population living in poverty, anyone would lose faith .

    The solution to our challenges requires that each of us understands that the country belongs to us and not any group of people or a cabal. We must know that being born a Nigerian entitles us to own this country, decide its future and determine its leadership. I ask that we take this country in our hands and make it what we want to be. I ask that we understand that our leadership has failed us because it has focused on religion and how to making money. The necessary institutions we need to checkmate bad governance have been weakened. I want you to understand that the country has failed, because we all have failed.

    Nigeria is a place where citizens hustle for survival by any means. Our women are equipped with idea that they are only good for cooking and cleaning, which give them out to rich politicians that will marry them and funnel money into the family to lift them from poverty.

    We have witnessed personal and institutional failure. For a country that prides itself as one of the most religious in the world, boasts of inventors, a booming entertainment industry, and achievers spread across the globe, how do we still struggle to achieve a 5, 000 megawatts target? Maybe we should point out that the ‘government’ we blame is only a handful of people – a minute demographic compared to the millions that are not ‘the government’.

    We should give it some thought that we actually put this people in power, every four years, passively or actively, by participating in the election process or by refraining from it.

    We need a new crop of Nigerians to assume leadership. Breaking up the country is not the solution. We got independence when we thought that was our solution. What we need at this point is to have conversations and forge a common front.

    We need to set up leadership programmes for young people to acquire leadership traits as they grow to become future’s leader. The country must support current leadership initiatives, and stop waiting for aid and donors that take away our best brains and innovators to the developed world.

    I have no doubt that Nigerians are a rare breed of creative, innovative and persevering people. Yet, we need to turn these solutions towards fighting for our nation, fighting for its peace and security, fighting for its unity and progress, fighting for its leadership. This requires taking the gauntlet and strategically prepare for the next election with credible candidates. And all of this I say, too, to the 15 million Nigerians in the Diaspora.

    We must understand the process of nation building starts with us, with every family and household. Families make communities, which in turn make cities, states and the nation. So, let the religious institutions preach morals and values that will help our vision as a nation and stop amassing wealth and causing division among us. Let the academic institutions infuse leadership, civic responsibility and anti-corruption as core subjects taught by passionate individuals who live what they teach.

    Let us determine to change Nigeria for good. It always takes one committed individual to influence others to act. If we take ownership, rise from apathy and lead ourselves to make the country better, then bit by bit, person by person, we solve our leadership problem. If not for us, let us do it for our children.

    I am not asking us to make a revolution happen; I am asking us to be the revolution.

     

    • Caleb is a Corps member in Lagos

     

  • DDA3: Sahara Group advocates digital revolution 

    DDA3: Sahara Group advocates digital revolution 

    Executive Director at the Sahara Group, Tonye Cole has said the industrialisation of Africa in the next decade must be owned and led by Africans with key support from the private sector as well as regional and multilateral organisations.

    Citing the need for a robust “digital infrastructure”, Cole urged African leaders to commit to having a digital highway that connects the various nations. “It will form the basis upon which everything else will thrive. It will unleash jobs for our teeming youths, deliver education to the uttermost corners of the continent, connect farmers and entrepreneurs to the world, deliver healthcare to remote locations and inspire electrification projects across borders.”

    Cole who is also co-funder of the leading African energy conglomerate represented the Private Sector on a panel during a session on Africa at the recently concluded 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York.

    Themed: “Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA3, 2016-2025): From political commitments to actions on the ground,” the session sought to address, among others, the environmental, social and economic challenges and opportunities that the continent faces in its quest for sustainable development.

    According to Cole, a strategic digital revolution would also expose abuse and injustice, enhance law enforcement and justice, address inequality and transparency, build strong institutions and foster partnerships towards actualising sustainable development.

    In 2016, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) proclaimed the decade 2016-2025 as IDDA3 following a United Nations General Assembly resolution – signalling the need for collaborative efforts geared towards ensuring the continent fits into plans aimed at realising the 17 SDGs by 2030.

    Cole highlighted the continent’s youthful population, agriculture and education as avenues that can be explored to foster development in Africa.

    He said Sahara Group’s corporate responsibility interventions show that people empowerment is critical to achieving industrialisation.

    The panel was moderated by CNN News anchor Zain Asher. Introductory remarks were given by Li Yong, Director General,  UNIDO, and Ms. Amina Mohammed, former Minister for Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations.

    Speakers on the panel included H.E. Mr Edgar Lungu, President of Zambia, H.E. Mr Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and H.E. Mr. Mokgweetsi Masisi, Vice-President of Botswana, amongst many other notable dignitaries.

    Key messages ranged from forging strong partnerships amongst stakeholders of IDDA3, to building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusivity, establishing sustainable industrialisation and fostering collaboration and innovation amongst African countries.

  • Agriculture revolution in Niger Delta

    As an officer in the Army, I took to farming believing that is the future of the country and that  on a personal level, I could better sustain my family. Our lands are so fertile that I did not need much fertilizer; the inputs were minimal and the yields were much. Our climate, by God’s grace is predictable; it rains when it should rain and the sun shines when it should; so why not take advantage of what nature has freely given us as Nigerians.

    When in July 2015, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed me Special Adviser on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, I had the primary responsibilities of streamlining the Programme and transforming it back on track, working for peace in the Niger Delta and sustainably reintegrating some 30,000 Amnesty beneficiaries back into society.

    Although we have various integration programmes which include education, vocational training, professional training in Aviation and Maritime, automobile engineering, entrepreneurial training and tourism and hospitality, I had no doubt that the best way to integrate such a huge number of beneficiaries quickly and sustainably, is through aquaculture and agriculture. However, I also realized that  this requires a lot of planning and painstaking implementation; like other programmes, we had to conceptualize, plant, culture and  water  the ideas to the germination and harvest stages.

    We approached a number of agencies and embassies especially the Israeli Embassy. We have also  gone into partnership with various Agricultural bodies. But as a basic step, we had to get the beneficiaries interested so they can buy into the Programme. In keying into the Federal Government’s Agriculture Initiative, we presented our  ideas and the facts on the ground.

    The facts are that agriculture creates mass sustainable jobs and empowerment; advanced  technology and high yield varieties ensure good harvest, and costs can  be drastically reduced by building locally fabricated integrated feed mills which rely entirely on local products. Also,  our country of over 180 million people is a huge market in itself and additionally, the ECOWAS (West African Region) provides a market that is more or less limitless. On the national level, we know that in   taking to agriculture, the country is moving towards  food self- sufficiency and security.

    I am happy at the level of enthusiasm for agriculture amongst Amnesty Beneficiaries and to harvest this, we had turned to the  National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) with an agreement to train an initial one thousand beneficiaries and youths at its Bio-Resource Centre in Odi, Bayelsa State. Unfortunately, budget delays have not allowed us to take full advantage of this agency which uses  technology and the principles of science to produce high yields in farming.

    However, the Presidential Amnesty Office  has  trained and began to empower Amnesty Beneficiaries in crop farming,  fishery and  poultry. As at June, 2017, 1,000 Amnesty beneficiaries across the nine Oil-Producing States are being trained in agriculture and will be empowered to establish their own farms.  These include 105 Beneficiaries undergoing training in Agro-Business with the Songhai  Rivers Initiative at the Songhai Farms, Rivers State,  and 100 Beneficiaries training in fish farming under  kabocastle Services  at its Perecastle Fish Farm, Patani, Delta State.

    Also, an average of 25 Beneficiaries each are being trained in fish farming in   six centres including  the Delta State University by  Gedisco Energy solutions, Infinite Farms in Ozoro, Delta State and     Orus Resources Farm, Aluu, Rivers State. At the  Institute of Oceanography, University of Calabar, Cross Rivers State,  96 Beneficiaries are undergoing training in fish farming. The Ma-Atari Farms,  Port Harcourt are training some Amnesty Beneficiaries in agriculture and poultry farming, the Ogbebor Leadership Institute, Ologbo, Edo State is training some in rubber processing, TSC Services is training 24 in General Agri-Business  at the  Edo State College of Education, Iguoriakhi, Edo State while  Eunirusk Investment is training 18 in  Cassava, Corn and Oil Palm at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State. Forty eight Amnesty beneficiaries are  being trained in crop farming by the Faculty of  Agriculture,  Imo State University.

    The  training in  agriculture is designed as a full value chain ; from farming, production, processing, packaging, marketing to  Agri-Business Management. By our planning, each farm  will require the services  of at least four farmers. This has the prospect  of creating 4,000 farm workers in the Region under this phase.

    Also, some leaders of the Amnesty Beneficiaries have bought our argument that  building houses is not sustainable as they have to be serviced and  maintained, but in contrast, taking to agriculture is a money-yielding venture. So many of them have bought  into the agriculture revolution.  One of them is into large scale rice farming in Bayelsa State while another which has taken to plantain  cultivation, is emerging as  the biggest farmer in Bomadi, Delta State.

    It is not only the consciousness of the Amnesty Beneficiaries that  need to be transformed but also  that of the Niger Delta and country as a whole; oil is a wasting asset, it may dry up in the foreseeable future. In contrast what the future foresee is that agriculture would enrich us all. So let us start with the basic policy of eating only what we grow, and growing what we eat. Change should begin with each of us.

    • Brig.-Gen. Boroh (rtd) is the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
  • Igniting Nigerian socio-economic revolution via digital animation

    Igniting Nigerian socio-economic revolution via digital animation

    Text of a speech delivered by Information, Culture & Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed at the opening of the Seventh African Digital TV Development Meeting in Beijing, China.

    I will like to express my immense pleasure and gratitude for the invitation extended to me and my delegation to attend this 7th African Digital TV Development Seminar here at the scenic Yanqi Lake Resort. I am particularly delighted because I am among friends and staunch allies of Nigeria.

    It is no longer news that a 2014 BBC World Service poll revealed Nigeria to be the most pro-Chinese country in the world, with 85 per cent of Nigerians viewing Beijing’s influence in the world positively. Nothing has changed.

    The great Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, once remarked: Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.

    Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream. China is an undisputed power today because it has cultivated great success via boundless optimism and persistently finding and creating solutions.

    The world has watched the Chinese people unite in the face of difficult challenges, looked inwards for ways to nurture and actualise their dreams and have succeeded spectacularly.

    The Chinese story is an inspiration for the ages and one the Nigerian people can find some encouragement in. Like China, Nigeria continues to look for ways to harness and optimise its teeming human resources. Like China, it continues to look for ways to build a just, equitable and prosperous society for all its citizens while fighting waste, corruption and other socio-economic virulence. And of course, Nigeria keeps striving for organic, intuitive and homegrown solutions, undaunted by setbacks and false dawns, in its quest to turn problems to progress and claim its place amongst the global greats. This quest has led it to embrace and adopt digital technology solutions.

    Everywhere you look at these days, digital technology is defying and disrupting the old ways of doing things, democratising access to information and improved quality of life as well as proving a great leveller for people in Africa and other developing parts of the world.

    It’s a brave new world and the frenetic, live-at-the-click-of-a-button pace is not for the faint of heart. The lifespan of digital products continue to plummet. And the future predicted by popular science fiction, the future bustling with concepts like augmented and virtual reality, self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, the Internet of Things, 3D printing and nanotechnology, no longer looks or sounds outlandish anymore. We seem to live it every other week.

    Nigeria’s quest to diversify its economy and stimulate business and employment growth has compelled it to examine the digital economy closely and invest in it more assiduously. For example, the advent of a fast-growing “digital age” in Nigeria, the growing popularity of the Internet, and the establishment of various media-distribution platforms have given rise to an increasing demand for content and services like animation and digital artistry. Ranked seventh in global internet usage, methods of communication and entertainment in the country are fast evolving. Corporate entities and advertising agencies are adopting new creative methods of getting information across. The creative industry, of which film and animation are an integral part, is developing and adopting new technology and the demand for content shows tremendous growth potential with the advent of various digital platforms. A widening gap has been opened and is barely being filled, hence the need for an animation industry to keep up with global trends.

    The animation market is exploding worldwide. It currently represents 25 per cent of the world audiovisual market, a figure that is only set to increase with the introduction of new delivery systems, changing scheduling patterns, and a proliferation of new media forms. The major animation markets include the United States, Canada, Japan, China, France, Britain, South Korea and Germany, while the major emerging animation markets include China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In Africa, we have South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt.

    American animation has developed as America’s sixth largest pillar industry; in Japan, the animation industry has outperformed automobile, iron & steel industries to be the third largest industry; and South Korea has undertaken nearly one third of the global animation production business. Most of the segments in the animation industry are growing at the rate of 10 per cent year-over-year, and some segments are growing at 15 per cent year-on-year. The output value of global animation industry has reached over $300 billion, and animation-related derivatives have exceeded $500 billion. The animation industry has gradually become a pillar of the national economy and a new economic growth engine in some countries.

    The multinational animation studios leverage various forms of partnership, co-production and joint ventures with global partners (countries) who subsidise their national film industries, including animation. Funding flows for co-production from Hollywood to other countries and vice versa have become common practice. As co-production increases, animation studios in China and India have become popular co-production partners of studios in Europe, Japan, and North America.

    From the point of view of the major studios, co-production provides subsidised/cheaper production cost as well as flexibility, while working with small studios and bring new and fresh creativity from other countries.

    Outsourcing of animation has also become widespread. Many entertainment giants such as The Walt Disney Company and IMAX are beginning to outsource an increasing amount of their animation production to Asian countries, particularly India, while other companies are outsourcing animation from India for commercials and computer games.

    In all these, Nigeria, and indeed much of Africa, scarcely play a part in this industry, but aim to rectify the situation by making a grab for their share of the pie in this massive economic boom. Now, why does Nigeria believe it has a shot at this? In the first instance, because it has a ready domestic audience and market, Nigeria has about 86.2 million people online, and that’s 46.1 per cent  of the population, ranking it number one in Africa and number seven in the world. It has 44 million TV viewing homes in the country. Nigeria is expected to switch over to digital broadcasting when all 44 million homes have to invest in purchasing Set-Top Boxes.

    In addition, Nigeria’s telecommunication industry has grown to $25 billion, and active lines are said to be well over 113 million, in comparison with 450,000 people and $500 million investment portfolio in year 2000, again ranking it No. 1 in Africa and 11th in the world.

    Nigeria’s smartphone penetration is estimated at 15.5 million. 70 per cent of the population are below 30 years of age, about 50 per cent are below 20 (approximately 80 million), and over 40 per cent of the total population are children under 14 (over 70 million), while about 20 per cent of the population are teens (approx. 30 million). These demographics amply demonstrate that the uptake of animated content is already guaranteed.

    Secondly, the Nigerian film industry, ranked third in the world on the scale of output, has content consumed nationally and globally and is a ready-made conduit for animation-based content.

    Thirdly, the country boasts of an incredible treasure trove of literature, brimming with exciting classics such as a Forest of a Thousand Daemons, a book translated from its original Yoruba language to English by the Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, The Lion and the Jewel, The Passport of Mallam Illia and Things fall apart.  These works are crammed with wondrous worlds and richl-realised characters that can be successfully adapted into animated feature length movies and TV series, all capable of astounding and entertaining global audiences. Finally, the country has an English-speaking workforce that can potentially provide a large supply of low-cost, high-quality, creative talent for a thriving animation industry.

    So, what are the challenges Nigeria and other developing African countries facing in joining the animation party? For one, lack of adequate training for creative talent and animators. To build a competent workforce capable of meeting global manpower demands, Nigeria needs to train competent animation, graphic artists and post production professionals. This will cover all the needs of the animation, film and entertainment industry at large. Secondly, it suffers from lack of funding. Insufficient financial support affects the quality of production. This derives directly from inadequate investment in skill development and production tools to achieve competitive global standards. It also prevents independent producers from taking advantage of the global animation space. As far back as 2008, the top four animation producers spent between 150 -250 million euros per country on animation. With just 20 per cent of this, Nigeria can achieve the same production output of animation content that these countries boast of.

    Thirdly, useful partnerships are nearly non-existent.

    Partnerships in terms of software, hardware, distribution, and animation production resources will need to be forged in order to derive maximum value from the investments in training and production.

    Finally, for a long time, previous regimes did not prioritise the animation industry and so it suffered from lack of government support and enabling policies. For the animation industry to thrive, the existence of favorable government support, policies and trade agreements is paramount. In China, for example, there has been a lot of encouragement to develop animation.

    What are we currently doing to rectify the situation and help build up the animation industry in Nigeria? In the words of Confucius: If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of 10 years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people. We must train an army of animation professionals.

    The current administration is committed to developing the animation/creative industry into a new growth sector by promoting Nigeria’s creativity and creating a highly-skilled workforce for the industry. Already, it has created a programme called N-POWER CREATIVE, a job creation and empowerment initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the purpose of training and encouraging the development of creative and technological skills in young Nigerians such as animation, graphic illustration, script writing, story-telling, sequential arts and post-production.

    With such skills, young Nigerians will be able to find employment in the ever-growing creative and animation industry. Its target will be to equip about 15,000 creative industry professionals across story/script writing, graphics/illustration, animation and post-production this year and that figure should rise to 75,000 by 2020 year end.

    By next year, we shall have a pool of creative industry professionals, locally producing content for and providing services to enhance and grow other Nigerian industries and economic sectors as follows: television, education and training, architecture, Nollywood and entertainment, print, animation and visual effects, as well as gaming.

    We also aim to:

    • Be ranked among the top emerging markets in the global animation industry by the end of next year.
    • Rake in $5-10 billion additional revenues from overseas markets by 2020 through co-productions and outsourcing from other major animation and creative industry markets, especially United States (U.S.) and Europe.
    • Be ranked among the top 10 countries with major global animation producing markets for the global industry by 2022.

    We also aim to initiate government and private funding to jumpstart the animation industry. We are working on a slew of annual exhibitions for the creative industry.

    In conclusion, let us reiterate that global animation industry is at a thriving point with content from global locations taking key positions in annual growth. Nigeria’s entertainment in film has positioned itself as the third largest in the world and has content consumed nationally and globally.

    Noting the influence of already established Nigerian entertainment media, the Nigerian animation industry will extend this effect through producing home-grown animation content as well as becoming an outsourcing destination for global animation services.

    Within two years, Nigeria will also position itself as a global power house of the top 5 emerging market destinations for outsourced animation from key animation producing nations.

    All these might look daunting, but we are encouraged, once again, by the immortal words of Lao Tzu: “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. With your kind support, we can achieve spectacular success.

  • JAMB and Africa’s place in global ICT revolution

    One of Africa’s most talked-about ICT success stories in the education sector is the adoption of Computer Based Test (CBT) for entrance examination into tertiary schools organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, a body with a core mandate to conduct matriculation examination for entry into all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria.

    Globally, there has been an ICT revolution since 2000. The internet economy has grown larger and faster than could have been reasonably expected back then.  In future, technology, connectedness, the internet-of-things all promise a more efficient, fast-paced economy set within an accessible global market. But how can Africa really harness all this change to its betterment?

    For a long time, ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’ in technology were only latent concepts in Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular, until the dawn of the digital age. ICT plays an important, valuable and critical role in education development. Its usage has become very common but its full potential is yet to be discovered. Nigeria’s JAMB is now playing a critical role in ensuring that Africa maintains its pride of place in the Global ICT arena with a particular reference to education. It is heartwarming to see that fact that developing countries have now understood the importance of ICT and have started adapting to it as a basic tool for quality education.

    The trailblazing credentials of JAMB experienced a surge with the coming on board of Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who has accelerated reforms at the institution and fast-tracked innovation. JAMB is applying ICT to areas that no one would have thought possible.

    The ICT mediated examination innovation by JAMB, which replaced the Paper and Pencil Based examination system that was fraught with problems of accuracy and delay in timely results’ declaration is an effective tool for integrating and automating the activities of examination system to bring reliable, efficient, transparent and robust e-examination solutions for Africa.

    JAMB, especially under Professor Oleyede, has increased its institutional capacity and credibility since the introduction of the CBT in 2015. Determined to make the Computer Based Test all inclusive to different category of candidates with disabilities, JAMB embarked on nationwide training for visually impaired on the use of Apex Braille-note computer. This is quite commendable.

    The Apex Braille-note computer is an electronic devise invented by the board to enable visually impaired to take the Computer Based Test without stress like a normal Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination candidate.

    The machine is affixed to a desktop computer and questions are deployed to it electronically with hearing aid. No fewer than 200 visually impaired participants in the training held at designated venues across the nation; namely South West Resource Centre in Abeokuta, Lagos , Kano, Enugu and Port Harcourt.

    It is a good thing that the parliament through the House of Representatives committee on education has thrown its weight behind the JAMBs ICT drive with reference to the Computer Based Test (CBT) when it said the electronic test was in tandem with global dictates to sanitized the education system. “The paper Pencil Test (PPT) was cumbersome and characterized with several irregularities and unwholesome activities. The world is flying and we cannot be crawling”. The chairman of the House of Representatives committee on education Hon. Zakari Mohammed was quoted to have said.

    Thus, if the board’s major objective is to completely eliminate malpractices through the conduct of CBT, it may as well have achieved it because the CBT has to a large extent eliminated malpractice in the examination process. As with everything good, there are those who will lose because of the elimination of malpractices. These are the people that pick holes in the reform and tend to highlight the few teething issues.

    Irrespective of how much such people try to make a mountain out of a molehill, JAMB could compete auspiciously with any examination body in the world considering its innovation in digitizing its examination. The innovation has now restored confidence and integrity in its examination process. With the pace of the current registrar, the body is set to become a global reference point.

    From its application to obviously mundane tasks to its use for the noblest of all human endeavors, the place of information and communication technology (ICT) in today’s world cannot be over-emphasized. The fate of individuals, businesses and countries largely depends on how fast they latch on to the ICT revolution and stay ahead in the game. It is the 21st Century equivalent of the scramble for land and territory most races of humankind have been involved in from ages past.

    Against the backdrop of the importance of ICT to the present era, the effort by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) which has now phased out the use of the paper and pencil method for its examinations in favour of computer-based tests, is not only a commendable step in the right direction, it is also a pointer to the fact that Africa and indeed Nigeria is playing a very crucial role in global ICT revolution.

    A disquieting percentage of graduates in the country today are not computer literate, thus, making them unemployable. This wouldn’t have been the trend if all critical stakeholders in the education string had been proactive in espousing ICT, specifically in testing candidates over the last two decades. The contemporary workplace is ICT-oriented and anyone not trained in this direction is hopelessly unfit to take on many tasks in the corporate world, which can only get more sophisticated, as technology is being daily improved to work more for the human race. Embracing ICT for providing the robust, transparent, accurate and authenticated outputs as we have witnessed with the JAMB innovation brings substantial quality improvement in education and this needs to be extended to other examinations in the country.

    Nigeria’s JAMB has taken the lead. There is no gainsaying the fact that ICT will make exam system more efficient and transparent. This will produce competent human resources, which will contribute to the development of the country. The development at JAMB, which fully digitized and modernized most of its operation is the way to go and should be rolled across others facets of the education sector.

    A consensus has been built around the fact that today is the era of technology which is resulting in changing the life style of people. Today many African institutions are imparting education in the field of ICT, but its application in the functioning of the system is low. The meaning of computerization is limited to just typing or surfing web; full potential of ICT has not been explored. ICT is a useful tool to have transparency, reliability and efficiency in examination system. There are tremendous facilitations integrating ICT with examination system. JAMB’s ICT innovation from what we have seen will ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the examination system and effectively deal with malpractice and inefficiency thus bringing about the much needed change.

     

    • Clement, a medical practitioner, contributed this piece from Harvard University, USA.
  • Group roots for ‘green revolution’

    Group roots for ‘green revolution’

    As part of its centennial celebration, the Lions District  404B1 Nigeria has adopted the Tree planting project to save the environment from deforestation.

    Last week, Lagos Valiant Lions Club took the campaign for tree planting to Olorunfunmi Junior Grammar School, Idimu, a Lagos suburb, where it planted some trees.

    Its President, Mrs Jennifer Benson-Akinremi, said the club selects a project yearly, and that this year’s event specifically came up last month with the choice of saving the environment.

    ‘’What we are working on was based on a directive from our international office. It is not we only that are doing this, it is all over the world. But we chose this school as our project,’’ she said, adding that the funds for the projects were raised from her colleagues, who are committed to Lions’ three Ts – Talent, Treasure (money) and Time.

    She promised to check the plants regularly to ensure that they do not die.  “Our Tree Planting Chairman, Ibrahim Odunsi, would come here to see to that,’’ she added.

    Odunsi said they chose the school because they felt that the ‘green revolution’should be taken to the grassroots too. ‘’When you protect the environment, you protect lives,’’ he said.

    The state Ministry of Education District 1 Director Dr Olufolayimika Abiose Ayandele, the school’s Principal Mrs Olufunmilayo Adeseri and her deputy Mrs Odeyemi as well as the Head Boy took turns to plant trees, urging that the trees would provide oxygen, shelter and wade off evil winds.

    Mrs Ayandele said: “We pray the trees will germinate and give us fresh air in this environment.’’  Mrs Adeseri thanked Lions for the gesture. ‘’We appreciate Lions. May God bless you. We are planting trees. Tree is life,’’ adding: “We also need your assistance in our perimeter fencing. We have tried and tried, but no help came to  us.’’

  • Medical experts canvass healthcare revolution

    Medical experts canvass healthcare revolution

    Medical experts have urged  public and private sector institutions to work together for a paradigm shift in the health sector. This, according to them, will improve its  quality and practice and provide easy access to international standard.

    This was the position of speakers at the Doctors’ Forum, organised by The Bridge Clinic and Pathcare Laboratories in Lagos. The main bowl of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island where the event was held, was filled to capacity, with who is who in the medical world.

    The participants argued that when the sector experiences a radical change, there would be an increase in the patronage of indigenous medical facilities, which would conserve the forex used for foreign medical tourism. This will  be ploughed back into developing medical infrastructure and manpower in the country.

    The programme which focused on Addressing the fallout of Medical Tourism in Nigeria, had a  panel anchored by Founder/Medical Director, First Cardiology Consultants, Dr Yemi Johnson; and Clinical Director, St. Nicholas Hospital, Dr Ebun Bamgboye. The discussion was moderated by the Managing Director, The Bridge Clinic, Dr Richardson Ajayi, with Chief (Dr) Oluyomi Abayomi Finnih, Chief Medical Director, Finnih Medical Centre as the Chairman.

    Dr Bamgboye, speaking on ‘Nephrology and the success recorded in Renal transplant in Nigeria,’ said Nigerians spend at least $1 billion yearly on medical treatment in various countries of the world. “India is attractive because of its experience in high technology especially in diagnostics and also for the relatively lower cost of treating patients. Nigerians visit India for cancer, spinal cord, plastic and neuro-surgeries as well as fertility and transplant tourism. The problems associated with renal transplant in Africa include manpower, facilities, literacy level, poverty, lack of access to transplantation centres, lack of dialysis facilities and other infrastructure, quality and safety issues.”

    According to Dr Johnson, Nigeria needs to upgrade its health infrastructure as a nation and also invests in health education and training for its medical professionals. “Patients who go abroad for cardiovascular- related diseases such as routine health check, hypertension, heart failure, stroke, arrhythmias, angina, coronary artery diseases, vascular heart disease and so on; do so because of the poor infrastructure and non-availability of high-tech equipment, shortage of manpower and medical supplies. This is occasioned by the registration of products which is cumbersome and expensive and government policies were confusing and oftentimes counter-productive.

    “Medical tourism started with patients from the developed world seeking high quality, less expensive medical care in less developed countries” he noted.

    The convener, Dr Ajayi said that for Nigeria’s healthcare to be fit for purpose more needed to be done in the areas of implementing quality management systems, patients’ satisfaction surveys, effective consequence management and patient reported objective measures. He said Nigeria would only thrive when the right policies and personnel are in place to run the healthcare system and that a lot needs to be done to improve the health structures and institutions, especially in the area of standards and quality.

    During the interactive session, many speakers emphasised the need for adequate budgetary provision for healthcare. They spoke about increasing the availability of funds with low interest rates for private practitioners to enable them source for latest medical equipment for diagnosis and treatment.

    There was a general consensus that Medical Centres of Excellence is the future of healthcare in Nigeria, and can at best be achieved within the private sector or in partnership with the government. These centres will also provide adequate capability development and exposure to cutting edge innovations, procedures and technologies for medical professionals.

    Dr Finnih, while expressing gratitude to all stakeholders who have contributed to the breakthrough in the medical sector, praised private entrepreneurs who provide technical support with well trained and qualified medical personnel.

    While rounding up the programme, Chairman, Pathcare Laboratories, Prof Ibironke Akinsete said the medical experts are well equipped to address the problem, adding, “we can come up with technical support to make healthcare in Nigeria fit for purpose.”

    The forum brings together experts in the medical profession, both within and outside the country, to share experiences, discuss modern advances in medical science and proffer solutions to Nigeria’s healthcare system. The Doctors’ Forum is organised by Pathcare Laboratories, the only internationally ISO 15189 Accredited Pathology Laboratory in Nigeria, in collaboration with The Bridge Clinic, Nigeria’s foremost fertility clinic.

    Managing Director of Pathcare Laboratories, Mrs Pamela Ajayi said Nigeria has all it takes to emerge as one of the best countries with medical novelty, only if there are deliberate efforts on all fronts to achieve same. “The road may be turtous as we experienced with Pathcare Laboratories before obtaining the internationally ISO 15189 Accreditation, but then it’s was done, so also it can for the health sector,” she said.

  • Senate revolution consuming own children?

    Perhaps it was Nigeria’s first parliamentary coup: Bukola Saraki’s emergence as president of the Senate, against his own party’s official choice. Those were halcyon days, when the spoils of war were sweet and mushy!

    Saraki got his coveted prize. Ike Ekweremadu, of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), got festooned as deputy Senate president — again, another first in parliamentary opportunism: a minority party clinching the Senate deputy presidency.  Well, good old Aik is still enjoying his lolly!

    Not so, Mohammed Ali Ndume, erstwhile Senate Majority Leader — or Senate Leader, for short.  In the APC rapprochement, he became the sacrificial lamb for Saraki to retain his seat, no matter what.  He gave way to Ahmed Lawan,  the original APC choice for Senate president. Well, lollies are not forever!

    But did Ndume take it in good faith?  It would appear so, though some growl from his corner suggested he didn’t exactly like the idea of use-and-dump.  Still, nothing serious; just some verbal skirmish.

    But the real revolution, of the Senate power royals consuming their own, appears breaking out: and all of the “big boys”, Saraki, his growling side-kick, Dino Melaye, out-of-favour Ndume and even, still-in-favour Ekweremadu, are bang in the vortex!  It all has to do with the hoopla over Col. Hameed Ali (retd), Comptroller-General of Customs, over his uniform or non-uniform.

    Somewhat along the way Ndume drew the Senate’s attention to media allegations that the Ali brouhaha ensued because Saraki allegedly imported a Range Rover sport utility vehicle  that the Customs impounded for allegedly dodging import duty.  That, Ndume suggested, triggered the Ali-must-appear-in-uniform drama, in a if-you-Tarka-me-I-Daboh-you fashion!

    On Melaye, Ndume referred to a media report alleging his Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) was a fakery, with the report dragging Melaye into a bribe-for-certificate scandal.

    As it happened, Saraki was out, in the dock, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).  Ekweremadu, presiding, referred the matter to the Senate Ethics and Privileges Committee, asking the body to investigate and revert in four weeks.

    A brave Melaye first said Ekweremadu acted right, since no one was above the law. Besides, he recused himself from the committee, rightly reasoning that he would only attend if called upon, since the allegation involved him.  Beautiful!

    But later events are revealing a “rofo-rofo” (dirty) warfare, teeming with crude and rude name-calling.

    By insisting on the probe, Ndume cited precedences of former Senate presidents, accused of misdemeanours being probed.  Still, who knows — is Ndume having his own back at Saraki that used and dumped him to clinch to the Senate presidency?

    And Melaye?  He hasn’t quite disappointed in his rude and crude histrionics, dubbing Ndume as “Boko Haram” senator.

    Ekweremadu?  So far, all quiet on his front.  But Saraki might accuse him of ingratitude or even worse, perfidy — for trotting him off for a probe, when he was supposed to have his back?

    It’s early days yet. But the rising fireworks may well suggest a Senate power cabal set to fall upon itself.

    Hardball has booked a ringside seat.  Should  hostilities break out, reports, hot, fresh and smoking, would come from that vantage site.

  • The railway revolution we need

    SIR: Towards the end of last year, Nigeria was and is still faced with a major transportation challenge to wit: the impending closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. This impending closure is attributed to the urgent need to rehabilitate the only runway servicing the airport.

    From Thursday, January 12 to Tuesday, January 17, the Senate engaged the stakeholders in the sector with a view to considering other options available to the millions of Nigerians that would be affected by the six-week closure of the airport. The whole essence of this engagement was to find the least stressful alternative that would benefit the country.

    I have given the forgoing preamble mainly to further underscore the need to quickly and speedily reinvigorate our rail transportation sector, in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Railway Bill, 2016. To achieve this, our counterparts in the House of Representatives will have to hasten up to pass their version of the Bill so that the harmonised version can then be forwarded to the President for assent.

    Nigerians will recall that the Nigerian Senate on July 21, 2016 passed the Nigerian Railway Corporation Bill, 2016. The new bill is poised to replace the antiquated Railway Corporation Act of 1955.

    Basically, the passed bill is a departure from the old order, which shut private investors out of the railway business. The new bill, among other things, seeks to open up the railway business to private investors, and to distinguish the regulator – which is the government – from the operator.

    I remain a strong believer in the primacy of the railway. It is my belief as well that the railways remain a critical infrastructure that will extenuate Nigeria’s motley transportation problems. Hence, I am dedicated to leading the charge for revolutionising the system.

    Now, with the impending closure of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, a frontal focus on the railway is more than ever germane. The goal is not to have just functional railways, but to have trains that are as fast and effective as those we see outside Nigeria. I believe that the private sector has a pivotal role to play in turning around the fortunes of the Nigerian Railway System. To achieve this, the Senate has taken the lead in giving the executive the requisite legislative support to attract foreign and local investments into the sector. This was the prime goal, when the Senate committee on Land Transport, worked round the clock to ensure the passage of the Railway Bill in good time.

    The imminent total closure of the second busiest airport in Nigeria has caused unrest for many Nigerians and foreigners going by their outcry. Imagine if we had an effective rail system whereby cities, states and communities are linked.  A sturdy railway system or a faster train traversing the Abuja to Kaduna corridor, the consequences of the total closure of the Abuja Airport would be minimal and frequent travellers might not feel much pain or discomfort.

    The time for linking every Nigerian artery by rail is now.

     

    • Senator ‘Gbenga Ashafa,

    National Assembly, Abuja.