The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SAP

  • Time to vote not fight, says SAP

    The Al-Mu’minaat Social Advocacy Project (SAP) yesterday said election is a period to exercise franchise by voting, and not for violence

    Its Coordinator, Mrs Sherifah Yusuf-Ajibade, in a statement said violence is an ill wind that blows no one any good

    According to her, there can be no development and progress in an atmosphere of conflict and rancour.

    Mrs Yusuf-Ajibade said: “Women and their children suffer the most when violence occurs. Their husbands are killed making them become widows. Their children are killed and they live the rest of their lives in perpetual sorrow.

    “We call on Nigerians at this critical time in our history, to disregard calls by individuals, groups and even international collaborators to incite violence. Nigerians will be killed, maimed and left to suffer all the pains and backwardness that comes with such acts. Several Nations across the globe are very available to study how they got to war. International collaborators as well as country men and women who have homes outside the countries perpetuate evils and leave for their homes. Fighting and destruction will claim lives and make us refugees.”

    She urged political gladiators and candidates to obey the peace accord they signed. “Elections isn’t war, and should not result in war. Candidates and their parties must ensure that the elections hold peacefully, credibly, and transparently. Party loyalists and electorate need to be safe and secure all through the electoral process,” she said.

    SAP called on women to come out on elections days to vote the candidates of their choice, go home and await the results from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

     

  • SAP, AYECI renovate school with N7m

    A technology firm, Systems Application Products (SAP) Nigeria and AYECI Africa, a not-for profit (NGO) have collaborated to renovate Tolu Primary School, Ajegunle, one of the numerous schools in Tolu School Complex, Temidire Street, Ajegunle in Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Goevrnment Area of Lagos State

    In 2015, over 300 pupils of the school were displaced after a storm blew off the roof of the entire block of classrooms housing the school. All the school’s infrastructure, including furniture, teaching and learning materials were destroyed forcing the pupils to take lessons in the open and under trees.  The outcome drastically affected the quality of teaching and learning as it exposed the pupils and their teachers to environmental hazards.

    Hope, however, came when founder and President of AYECI Africa, Mrs. Ifeoma Adibe-Chukwuka, visited the school and saw the ruins. She then intervened through a collaboration with SAP Nigeria, which led to the renovation a block of eight-classrooms with offices, toilets, library, 120 desks and sinking of a bole hole in the school.

    The gesture, which costs N7million, was in line with the group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme started in October 2017 completed in less than three months.

    Every October, SAP embarks on its signature global CRS initiative tagged: “Month of Service”, through which it came to the rescue of Tolu Primary School and other schools.

    In a keynote address, the Marketing Manager SAP West Africa, Mrs. Juliet Omorodion, who came in company of the Office Manager, Mrs. Dumebi Okeleke, said the SAP Nigeria Month of Service intervention was facilitated by AYECI Africa.

    She said: “Out of the feelings we have for the pupils in this school, we intervened, we are poised to intervening in such hopeless situations in order to give hope to the hopeless pupils and for a brighter future.”

    Inaugurating the project, SUBEB Chairman, Dr. Ganiyu Oluremi Sopeyin, represented by the Director, Curricular Department, Mrs. Bunmi Oteju, commended SAP Nigeria and AYECI Africa for their  interventions in the state.  She said it is a worth-while venture.

    Mrs. Oteju promised to make available more desks to complement the 120 desks donated by SAP and AYECI Africa, advising the school management to properly take care of the infrastructure. She added that the Lagos State Governor  Akinwumi Ambode encourages and welcomes private and corporate partnership in infrastructural development in the state. She called on other corporate bodies and NGOs to emulate SAP Nigeria and AYECI Africa.

    “We are most grateful and we appreciate you for your milk of human kindness in this and other gestures in the state,” she said.

     

  • SAP, AYECI renovate school with N7m

    A technology firm, Systems Application Products (SAP) Nigeria and AYECI Africa, a not-for profit (NGO) have collaborated to renovate Tolu Primary School Ajegunle, one of the numerous schools in Tolu School Complex, Temidire Street, Ajegunle in Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Goevrnment Area of Lagos State

    In 2015, over 300 pupils of the school were displaced after a storm blew off the roof of the entire block of classrooms housing the school. All the school’s infrastructure, including furniture, teaching and learning materials were destroyed forcing the pupils to take lessons in the open and under trees.  The outcome drastically affected the quality of teaching and learning as it exposed the pupils and their teachers to environmental hazards.

    Hope, however, came when founder and president of AYECI Africa, Mrs. Ifeoma Adibe-Chukwuka, visited the school and saw the ruins. She then intervened through a collaboration with SAP Nigeria, which led to the renovation a block of eight-classrooms with offices, toilets, library, 120 desks and sinking of a bole hole in the school.

    The gesture, which costs N7million, was in line with the group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme started in October 2017 completed in less than three months.

    Every October, SAP embarks on its signature global CRS initiative tagged: “Month of Service”, through which it came to the rescue of Tolu Primary School and other schools.

    In a keynote address, the marketing manager – SAP West Africa, Mrs. Juliet Omorodion, who came in company of the office manager, Mrs. Dumebi Okeleke, said the SAP Nigeria Month of Service intervention was facilitated by AYECI Africa.

    She said: “Out of the feelings we have for the pupils in this school, we intervened, we are poised to intervening in such hopeless situations in order to give hope to the hopeless pupils and for a brighter future.”

    Inaugurating the project, SUBEB Chairman, Dr. Ganiyu Oluremi Sopeyin, represented by the Director, Curricular Department, Mrs. Bunmi Oteju, commended SAP Nigeria and AYECI Africa for their remarkable interventions in the state.  She said it is a worth-while venture.

    Mrs. Oteju promised to make available more desks to complement the 120 desks donated by SAP and AYECI Africa, advising the school management to properly take care of the infrastructure.  She added that the Governor  Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State encourages and welcomes private and corporate partnership in infrastructural development in the state. She then called on other corporate bodies and NGOs to emulate SAP Nigeria and AYECI Africa.  “We are most grateful and we appreciate you for your milk of human kindness in this and other gestures in the state,” she said.

     

  • SAP, Bluechip drive digital economy

    SAP and Bluechip Technologies have stressed their commitment to help the economy and local businesses discover ways to boost business processes, and engage their customers and employees.

    Chief Delivery Officer at Bluechip, Tope Ajao, who stated this at a cocktail held in Lagos, said the event was meant to boost the role that technology plays in driving efficiency through a series of presentations on business-relevant topics.

    He said more than 30 delegates attended the dinner, comprising customers, potential customers and SAP experts.  “One of the major problems that businesses are faced with today is complexity – from huge data sets, new technologies, increasing regulation, globalisation and increasing customer awareness and mobility,” Ajao said.

    “Organisation such as Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook have proven that simplicity is the way forward. Hence, helping organisations simplify their IT landscape will tremendously lower cost and differentiate their products and services,” he added.

    Re-affirming its commitment to the West African Market as both strategic and innovative, the SAP Analytics event showcased how companies can unleash the power of digital innovation while finding a balance between maintaining their current infrastructure and innovating without disruption.

    “Information Technology is therefore faced with the challenge of enabling the business to analyse all relevant data for making decisions on time. SAP provides an end-to-end solution that enables smart decisions for people and applications within the window of decision opportunity,” Ajao added.

    The event also focused on ways of reinventing one’s business using analytics which was followed by interactive sessions on staying ahead of business in the current economic situation, and how business owners can take advantage of transformational business models, reinvented business models and new ways of conducting business processes.

    Despite the economic impact of low foreign currency supply, challenging commodity and oil prices, there is no doubt that enterprise businesses in Nigeria are ready to seize the opportunities in the digital economy.

  • SAP, Twintech, partner on success factors awareness

    SAP, Twintech, partner on success factors awareness

    SAP, the world’s leading provider of business software recently collaborated with Twintech – a Nigerian-based business and technology services firm – to host a roundtable to highlight the merits and advantages of SAP Success Factors, the leader in Human Capital Management (HCM) software.
    The event held last week in Lagos, helped in throwing more light on the inner workings of the cloud-based Human Resources software.
    Participants at the presentation were drawn from various sectors including banking, insurance, energy, marketing and advertising and more, with senior executives of Coca-Cola, UAC, Prima Garnet, Mikano, FrieslandCampina WAMPCO, The Moorhouse Company present, among many others.
    Speaking at the media roundtable, the Channel Development Manager of SAP, Ayokanmi Ayuba, said the cloud solution is aimed at transforming the way organisations carry out their HR businesses and responsibilities, adding that with the changing roles of HR, it has become very strategic therefore the need to improve the way HR is practised.
    She explained that Twintech as a partner firm is committed to driving improved growth in HR practice in Nigeria through cloud based solutions, stressing that in the Nigerian technology space, cloud solutions are still growing. “Success Factors requires less infrastructure, and it is a subscription based model,” she said.
    Ayuba added that the cloud solution contains all necessary value chain information that would be useful to organisations in the areas of HR management such as workforce planning, recruiting, on-boarding, learning, performance and goals, compensation, succession and development, and SAP JAM social collaboration.
    She said: “You don’t have to invest in servers, networking and other hardware devices if you are to implement the solutions on premise (in-house). Nigeria is due for cloud solutions. A lot of our personal information is stored in the cloud. The country is witnessing a digital transformation and the revolutionary power of social media in helping people do businesses better.”
    Echoing similar sentiments, one of the Managing Partners of Twintech, Taiwo Alliex expressed disappointment that the practice of HR in Nigeria has been slow because of the lack of investment in technology solutions in Nigeria.

  • Security agencies have failed us, says NGO

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Al-Mu’minaat Social Advocacy Project (SAP), has expressed disappointment over the inability of security agencies to foil the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, and the Nyanya bombings.

    The group spoke during a mass protest to the Lagos State Governor’s Office in Alausa, Ikeja.

    SAP Coordinator, Mrs Sherifah Yusuf-Ajibade, described last week’s Nyanya explosion as the result of security agencies’ failure, especially the security officers who mounted road block on the route.

    She said: “It is now evidently clear that our security agencies are bereft of the technical know-how of modern intelligence gathering. This is why bombings and other crimes are perpetrated with the culprits smiling away, leaving hundreds of their victims in pains. …There are the agonies by the family members, relatives, friends and colleagues of those who have died.

    “No doubt, the recent bombings in Nyanya, in the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the abduction of over 200 girls from a secondary in Chibok, Borno State, have shown that the efforts of the security agencies are not working effectively. The fight against terrorism has not curbed the insurgency in Nigeria and such huge security challenge cannot be allowed to continue.”

     

  • Can African leaders emulate Mandela?

    Can African leaders emulate Mandela?

    His assessment of Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, a First Republic Parliamentarian and Minister of Health from Borno, smacked of emasculation. To him, Ibrahim, the rich businessmen, was an unserious politician bidding for power.

    Throughout his life, Aminu Kano had championed the cause of the repressed and deprived masses. Obasanjo simply dismissed him as a figure renowned for carrying placards, adding that he could even protest against himself.

    Former President Shehu Shagari also fell under his hammer. He described him as a slow and dull President, who was not in effective control.

    Obasanjo described Mohammadu Buhari and the late Tunde Idiagbon, his juniors in the Army, as autocratic military rulers, who held the nation in its jugular.

    Apart from flaying former Military President Ibrahim Babangida for detaining Buhari and Idiagbon after toppling them, he also criticised his economic policies. On the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), Obasanjo disagreed with Babangida on the implementation process, saying that adjustment must have human face, human heart and milk of human kindness.

    When Babangida tinkered with the transition timetable, Obasanjo rallied prominent Nigerians to protest the elongation of military rule. He was one of the leaders who suggested the Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan.

    He said, the option was regrettable but understandable. The suggestion nailed the coffin of the “June 12”. Of course, Obasanjo said the winner of the historic presidential poll, the late Chief Moshood Abiola, was not the messiah.

    The late Gen. Sani Abacha sacked the interim contraception that was set up by Babangida. He also imprisoned Obasanjo after he was roped in a phantom coup. He was saved by divine intervention.

     

    Between Mandela

    and Obasanjo

     

    From grass, Obasanjo rose to grace. He had a second chance. He emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in 1998. When he became the civilian president, Nigerians had high hopes. His commonwealth leaders welcomed him back to power with optimism. Their confidence was intact.

    Former United States President Jimmy Carter hailed his re-emergence. He said, judging by his leadership qualities, he would justify the trust of a model of transparency and a leader committed to higher ideals. It was a wasted expectation. The previous achievements were not repeated.

    Obasanjo could not fight the infrastructure battle adequately. He left behind a prostrate nation, agonizing over lack of electricity, good roads, good hospitals and good schools.

    In 2003, there were complaints about electoral malpractices. It was a child play to what happened in 2007.

    The leader of Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dr Joei Okei-Odumakin, alluded to a large scale electoral fraud unrivalled in Nigeria history. He said the malpractices had created a hollow in the leader’s record of transparency outside power. Many also doubted his commitment to the sanctity of the ballot box. Up came the third term project, which was knocked out by credible politicians and the media.

    As the election drew nearer, there was confusion. Court orders were disobeyed by the leader. The anti-graft body, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was misused to witch hunt perceived political enemies. Council allocations in some states were seized, thereby aborting grassroots development.

    Obasanjo ran a large administration. The cabinet size was huge. According to critics, it was largely unproductive. The dividends of democracy were scanty.

    When the former President now exposed the ballot box to a virulent attack, all hopes were totally lost. Democracy thrives on periodic elections as a means of choice, rejection, endorsement and change of leadership. This right reinforces the strength of the voting public and it is a predictor of democratic survival.

    The former President had shocked the anxious nation that the contest would be a do-or-die affair. Hell was let loose on poll day. It was akin to war. Domestic and foreign monitors said it was the worst in the history of the country.Three years after, the cases were still in court. The victories allotted to Obasanjo’s favoured candidates were later upturned by the judiciary after he vacated the exalted seat.

    Before he left, it was impossible to right the wrongs.

  • ‘75 % of industries affected by SAP yet to be revived’

    More than 75 per cent of industries that closed shop during the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) are yet to be revived 26 years after the programme.

    The Managing Director, Alind Nigeria Ltd, Bauchi, Dr Ahmad Mai-Abba, made the observation in Bauchi in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    Mai-Abba, who talked about the prevailing economic challenges and survival of industries in Nigeria, expressed concern with the effect of SAP on the bulk of the industries across the country.

    “Over 75 per cent of these industries are still dead; a visit to the industrial estates in various industrial cities in the country will throw more light on this point.

    “To what extent the programme transformed the economy from mono-culture to a diversified status, as far as I am concerned, my answer is negative.

    “We all have seen the speed at which the programme killed the bulk of the industries and over 75 per cent of these industries went under.

    Mai-Abba said SAP, which was meant to strengthen the naira against other currencies, ironically made the naira to depreciate to the low ebb.

    He said: “In 1986, the value of the U.S. dollar to naira was 97 kobo, while the 97 kobo worth of our crude oil was equivalent of one dollar.’’