The Nation Newspaper

Tag: technology

  • Poor credit, technology access hurting MSMEs, says minister

    The capacity of MSMEs in Nigeria to perform optimally is hampered by poor access to finance,  modern technology, inconsistency in government policy, multiple taxes and levies, Minister of State,  Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar has said.

    She spoke at the validation workshop on the proposed curriculum for the certification and accreditation of business development service providers BDSPs in Nigeria held in Abuja.

    The minsiter lauded Small and Mediun Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and its collaborators for the efforts they have made in drafting the curriculum.

    She said this was in tandem with the desire of government towards ensuring global best practices in the development of MSMEs sector as well as sustainable growth in the country.

    Represented by Deputy Director, Industrial Development Department of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment Opaluwa John, Abubakar noted that 95 percent of enterprises in the world are micro small and medium enterprises and they account for about 60 per cent of private sector employment, hence the need to recognize the sector in achieving the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

    The minister also said NEDEP was developed to address the challenges that are stifling the growth of the MSME sector in Nigeria. She said NEDEP provision includes the development of an accredited BDSP certification in Nigeria which serves as an input for determining the credit rating of MSMEs, adding MSMEs that have been trained by certified BDSPs would be deemed less risky.

    Abubakar said supporting small businesses was essential to increasing productivity, creating jobs and boosting the economy, “This is why Government is working with stakeholders across all sectors to ensure that MSMEs have the support they needed to grow now and in the future”.

    The Director-General of  SMEDAN, Dikko Umaru Radda, said the need to have a minimum standard for business development service provides in the country cannot be overemphasized.

    He said Nigeria as a country is saturated with all manners of people who claim to be business development service providers and lamented that our MSMEs, are not deriving quality services from these BDSPs.

    Radda asked, “Can our MSMEs after passing through a Business Development Service Programme today be able to compete with their peers across the globe? He said it was difficult, considering the kind of trainings they have received from unqualified MSME trainers.

    He said the SMEDAN decided to establish a frame work for making sure the content of Business Development Service Providers is of the minimum standard that can propel Nigeria MSMEs to compete effectively with their peers across the globe.

    Represented by Monday Ewans, the Director, Enterprise Development and Promotion Department of SMEDAN, he said we need to have a standard document, a standard procedure and a standard way of making sure that our BDSPs can be certified and recognized globally.

    He also commended the effort of MAFITA and other stakeholders who worked hard to make the framework ready.

    Radda said that the law that established SMEDAN gave it the legal right to accredit BDSPs in Nigeria, and called on all stakeholders to critically look at the document, “As whatever we do today is going to affect us as a government and as stakeholders.

    He urged them to look at the document and clear all bottlenecks as a critical mass of BDSPs who can now attend to these 37 million MSMEs in a very short time, so that we will join hands to achieve the MSMEs sub-sector of our dreams.

    Radda disclosed that after fine-tuning the document, the Agency will kick start in the first quarter of next year, the training of initial trainers and that the Kaduna Business School and Enterprise Development Center of PAN African University in Lagos would be engaged for this purpose.

     

     

  • Change, leadership  and technology

    I write today  on a topic that I regard as an abomination   and I do  so  with great discomfort.  I  am discussing today the  issue  of the cloning of the Nigerian  president with a high  sense of duty and responsibility.  Really  I   wanted to steer  clear of a topic  that I    felt  had cast aspersion on both the office  and person  of our President.  When  however I read that  the President had responded  that he is himself  and that the  rumours  were ignorant rumours  I  felt  I  should come out of  the cocoon of affront   and disrespect  of our president that  I have,  on  my own, woven around the  topic.

    Let  me state  that I found  the president’s  response on his existence, measured,  matured  and extremely  tolerant.  He  even went as far as saying that he knew  some people hoped he was dead while he  was    sick  and were soliciting the Vice  President  for   his position when  he succeeds  the ailing then  and still living    President.  Surely  our president is not dead and is not  a clone but  a lot has  changed  in him and that is what  we shall  discuss  today in the context  of our topic   here.  We  shall    muse  at how technology  especially   the likes  of  cloning, artificial  intelligence, robotics  and the internet,  especially.  Facebook and WhatsApp    have changed  our  way   of  life  generally  as  well  as our  perception of our leaders in a very  comparative manner  in the global  village we live in ,  powered  by  Information Technology  in   this   digital world.

    Aside from  the high gullibility that  followed  the President’s cloning  ignorant  rumours ,  the fake news gained audience in places  that  you   would expect  to dismiss  such  distasteful  news   as  fit for  the trash  can. Intellectuals, high  professionals  and even  religious leaders  were conspiratorially  sending sms and messages on social media on something they will  not wish to happen to their kinsmen  and loved ones and they were enjoying  it. That  is the crux  of the matter here. Social  Media  in Nigeria seems  to have created  a class  of otherwise jobless and idle  Nigerians who    have   sunk lower in morals and low esteem of those they think  are socially  and politically  above  them.   They  peddle   unconfirmed    and uncorroborated    news    in   such   a breezy    and speculative manner.  Over time   given   their   obsession   with  social  media  which  has been  branded  medically   as the digital  disease    they  have concomitantly  developed  a  brutal   psyche    with no  compunction  at  all  on any  news, or issues, no  matter   how   slanderous and  libelous,  that  they  send  out to  their accomplices  and rumour  pedlars  on the internet.   Such  then  was the speed  at  which the  unfortunate  clone story  travelled   until  the steady  and gracious   response  of the President  which I  honestly  commend.  Yet  how  I wished  the President  had  said  he wished  them  heartily  what  they  so earnestly  wished  or  said  had happened to  him. Also   I   wished  this  cloning  rumour  had  happened  when  this same   President  was our  military  Head  of State, 30  years  before  he was elected President in  2015.  Very  safely, I leave  that to your  imagination.

    Let  us look  at  two  events  this week  where technology   brought  the role of world leaders to our  doorsteps  or  living room literally.   The  two  events   were  the Brexit  Debate  in the British  Parliament   and  the   state  burial  of the 41st US President George W H  Bush.  The  two  events symbolized  change  and  are  clear  lessons  on leadership style and the globally  pervasive  nature of  technology. They  were  watched  all over  the world   live and real  time as they say in TV Production.

    The  Brexit  Debate   to approve or disapprove the British  PM’s  draft  Brexit  Deal  which she said is the best  deal  possible  and with which  the EU agrees,  is  not likely  to be approved  by the British  Parliament  which  instead  voted to accuse  the cabinet of contempt  of  Parliament in not making available full  legal  advice  given  the cabinet  by the Attorney  General.  Indeed  Brexit  is all about change and fear and mistrust of   change.  The  Brexit  Referendum  sailed  through  by a slim  majority  then  the British  people  woke  up  from their slumber  and developed  cold  feet  on leaving the EU.  The British PM, Theresa May  thinks   it is a matter of state integrity  to stick by the result of the  referendum  but  she is digging her own political grave with  that  view  point, which  unfortunately   is her  political   survival  strategy.  The  odds  are that she will lose  the debates and the final  vote on December 11 and will  be swept  into  limbo  by the  Brexit   change  she has attempted to manage  so  brilliantly  but so  hopelessly.

    The  other  issue was  the state  funeral  of the US  President George Bush  at  which  his son the 43rd US President  of the same name gave a moving  and historical oration that  moved  the whole  world.  Of  significant   historical   importance  is the fact both  the 41st  and 43rd US presidents, a father  and his son  took the US  to   the  two  Gulf   Wars  of our   time   and  the consequences  of  the change  wrought  by their leadership  continue  to shape our world   for good   or bad till  today.

    However  the  event that I want to comment on was the service at  the National  Cathedral  at which former  living Presidents Jimi  Carter, Bill Clinton , and Barak  Obama  and their wives  were present   and  chatted with each  other.  The  entrance of present President Donald  Trump  in the church   was a moment of tension as he greeted the Obamas  but ignored  the Clintons . Which  showed   that   political  animosities  die  hard and cannot be hidden  even  at state  funerals.  The  reason  for Trump’s  cold shoulder   for the Clintons  was  the manner  of the emergence   of  Donald  Trump   himself  on American   political  arena   and  the defeat  of  Hillary Clinton in the 2016  presidential election.   Donald  Trump in  particular  has  been made different from the other  previous  US presidents because  of a technology  that has made him  more communicable  in a speedier and more spontaneous,    if    nastier  way,   than any  of his  predecessors . That  technology  is tweeter which  he has used so powerfully  to take on all  comers  who  have dared  to  criticize him or    especially  doubt  the legitimacy  of his 2016  presidential  election ,    now  being   bitterly  tainted  with allegations   of collusion with  Russia which  he resolutely  disputes.  His  election  too was a  charge   and  change against  ‘political  correctness’ and that  together  with twitter  have    invariably   turned  him into  the most  influential American    leader in the modern  world as we know  it  today.  Such  is the power  of both change  and technology  in the digital  village that has  brought  us all  on stage  to watch global  leaders  in  action   literally  on a 24  by 7 basis .  Once  again  long  live the  Federal  Republic  of Nigeria.

  • Firm deploys technology to deliver houses in 14 days

    A property firm, EchoStone Nigeria Limited, has introduced a technology that will facilitate the delivery of houses in the country.

    Through this technology, the firm hopes to deliver four units of two-bedroom flats in 14 days.   Echostone officials said it would help in reducing the three million housing deficit in Lagos State, and the over 17 million deficit across the country.

    The firm said the  technology, which allows for rapid construction, will be deployed in the state beginning with 250 units of two-bedroom detached bungalows in Idale  Housing Scheme in Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    A unit in the estate, which will have state-of-the-art facilities, will cost N9 million. The firm plans to construct 2,000 housing units in three LGAs, including Ayobo in Alimosho and Imota in Ikorodu.

    The ground-breaking event for the Idale Housing Scheme, known as Peridot Parkland, Idale, Badagry, was held at the Lagos State Vocational Education Centre premises at Agidingbi, Ikeja.

    EchoStone’s Global Chief Executive Officer/co-founder, Mr. Anthony Recchia, stressed the need for industrialisation of housing. He said rapid urbanisation and population explosion in Lagos required radical construction technology to bridge the housing deficit of over three million in the state.

    According to Reccia, since construction has not evolved in the last 50 years, industrialisation would bridge huge housing demand gap, while the mortgage institutions could effectively drive the supply.

    “What we really need is the industrialisation of labour, along with the technology to create the asset, which then produces the mortgages,’’ Recchia said.

    On the scope of work to expect, he said four housing units would be finished on the Badagry site every two weeks, noting that the  project on the 10 hectares would be completed within three months.

    Recchia said training of local artisans had started to ensure skill transfer to residents, saying that the project was also creating jobs.

    “Mostly, what I see on the job side is that it is gender neutral; of men and women working together with women running the machines and helping with the form-works,’’ he said.

    EchoStone co-founder/President, Business Development, Mr. Ander Lindquist, explained that the form works to be used on the project would eliminate time wastage and could construct a minimum of eight homes daily.

    According to him, Echostone presents a paradigm shift in technology construction and showcases the missing link between housing deficit and demand. He said some housing solutions were slow, unable to scale effectively and most times incapable of working in traditionally challenging geographic environments.

    The Echostone boss  added that the carbon footprint caused by traditional construction technologies is largely unsustainable in the long run as seen in its short life cycles, while the houses being built for low income communities require significant continuous maintenance.

    Lindquist said the technology also provided 7.5 percent lower temperature in the homes, thereby reducing the need for air conditioners. He said electrical and plumbing fittings alongside other accessories, were done simultaneously with the construction, thereby ensuring durability of the facilities for over 50 years without maintenance.

    Peridot Parkland, Lindquist further said, would also have facilities like green areas, power supply, street lights, sewage reticulation, carparks, among others.

    Indeed, the Echostone project is seen as a further complement of the  government’s plan to construct 20,000 houses in the state in four years.

    Other developers are expected to complete the 20,000 housing units target within this period.

    Echostone has started work in Badagry using the technology,  believed to reduce the carbon footprint by 40 per cent.

    The Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), Mrs Omolara Erogbogbo, praised the firm for choosing to construct a prototype in the school. She explained that the skill transfer to the students of the centre is an invaluable knowledge which remains very important in driving change in construction methods in the country.

    A representative of Homebase Mortgage Bank, one of the mortgage banks providing support for purchase of the 64 square meters two-bedroom detached bungalow, Mr. Derin Adediran, said the mortgage institution has in place the financial capabilities to help residents finance their dream of owning their own homes.

    The project is in partnership with the state government.

  • Terrorism, technology and vulnerability

    In this era of expanding domestic and transnational terrorism, it is impossible not to contemplate the burgeoning relationship between technology and terrorism, and how vulnerable reliance on technology has made us all. The evolution and transformation of human society from its pristine, primitive and pre-historic origins to today’s modern, advanced and highly sophisticated and complex society have not been without the discovery or invention of new technologies. Indeed, transitioning from primitivism to modernity has always been a product of the discovery, development and application of new technologies or improvement on old ones, be they for civil purposes such as agriculture and construction, or even for violent enterprises such as fighting wars and mass murder.

    For instance, revolutions in transportation and communications have been by far the most far-reaching and impactful. The invention of the automobile, airplane, train and engine-driven ships has made traversing vast distances remarkably easy in ways our ancestors could never have imagined possible. Man has also mastered long distance space travel, such that human beings have for decades been exploring outer space and landing machines, men and women on other celestial bodies. Computers, the internet and artificial intelligence have revolutionized communication such that today we live in an inter-connected world.

    But by far the most sophisticated and complex of modern technological inventions are the weapons of violence – guns, bombs, explosives and advanced delivery systems like tanks, fighter jets, bombers, ballistic missiles, warships, submarines, and now weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles known as drones and other robotic fighting machines. Whilst all these are military grade weapons that are usually found in the military arsenals of sovereign nation-states for controlled use, improvised explosive devices, self-made guns and other weapons of human destruction, on the other, are now widely available to ordinary people, including terrorists and sundry equal opportunity merchants of death who now use them to commit mass murders and mayhem. Recently the Nigerian Army made it known that the Boko Haram terrorist group now uses drones in its attacks on Nigeria, and perhaps on the neighbouring countries as well. This scary scenario is undoubtedly a game-changer, and it calls for urgent and comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency policy and field operations before the whole of the country becomes one vast arena of aerial combat. Come to think of it, wasn’t life much simpler in those days when men fought with sticks and stones than in this current age of mass annihilation? Indeed, the need for a redesign of the overall architecture of national security to take on board these hitherto unprecedented developments in the age of technology-assisted terrorism cannot be more urgent.

    Take for example the most recent incidents of domestic terrorism in the United States that targeted former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Attorney-General Eric Holder, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and others with explosive devices sent to their addresses. This is nothing but a graphic reminder of the vulnerability of modern society to technology-based acts of terror. Whilst it is true that the United States has been free of, or protected from external terrorists attacks since 9/11, by virtue of the vigilance and effectiveness of their myriad intelligence and security agencies, and their counter-terrorism surveillance, vulnerability to domestic terrorism is however a different matter. Even though most of the mass murders that have ravaged US schools and other public places are never officially classified as terrorism, their frequency and dastardliness are nonetheless worrisome. Technology is handy for both organized and freelance terrorists, and other mass murderers to perpetrate their acts. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing, the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. that killed nearly 4,000 souls; Africa was also a victim of the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya where more than 200 innocent Africans were murdered. Here at home, Boko Haram, the dreaded Islamist terrorist group, has wreaked horrendous atrocities on hapless communities in the Northeast with modern weapons. Even the nation’s capital, Abuja, has had its own share of the bloodbaths, with the bombings of the Nigeria Police headquarters, the UN compound, several motor parks, churches, mosques and others, where tens of thousands were slaughtered with modern explosive devices.

    All these emblematize the simplicity and ubiquity, widespread availability of the technology of violence and mayhem and the ease with which they are deployed. Time there was in this country when explosives were only used for rock-blasting during road and dam constructions, but those days of innocence have receded into memory. When it was reported a few years ago that Boko Haram carted away tons of explosive materials from the premises of a cement manufacturing company, my mind went swiftly to the havocs that crudely improvised explosive devices in the hands of terrorists can wreak on mass transportation, including civil aviation! I visualized mass murders at motor parks, bus terminals, markets and other places of mass gathering.

    Modern society’s heavy dependence on technology for survival is, unfortunately, also its ‘Achilles heels’, the very epicentre of its vulnerability. Today, urban centres and large human settlements depend on central electricity grids, dams and central water processing plants, giant industrial plants; airlines depend on modern computers and advanced avionics, railways depend on computers, banks and other financial institutions rely heavily on computers for data storage and retrieval and are thus immensely vulnerable to cyber intrusions and attacks and all forms of cyber criminality. Terrorists and criminals are increasingly targeting these infrastructures and institutions of modern living, making our modern societies infinitely more vulnerable.

    Like it or not, cyber-terrorism is now an everyday reality!

    The more sophisticated the police, intelligence and anti-terrorism agencies get in tracking all these and protecting the society from highly destructive attacks, the more desperate, innovative and sophisticated the terrorists become, such that keeping track of their activities is nothing short of a Herculean endeavour. Added to this vulnerability is the fluidity and absence of global or national governance of the cyber domain. Quite unlike the highly or tightly regulated weapons manufacture, stockpile and sales, modern cyber weapons are outside such governance or strictures. Cyber attacks, whether launched by nation-states, corporate organizations or individual criminals and freelance terrorists, are difficult to monitor and curb. Today, there are online sites offering information and training where even amateurs can learn how to make crude bombs and other improvised explosive devices to cause havoc.

    Realizing that the cyber domain is currently one of those ‘ungoverned spaces’ how prepared is Nigeria to address these emerging threats to national security? Are our policy makers and national legislators mindful of the inevitability of national vulnerability to cyber crimes and threats? Yes, it is true that the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015, is there to curb or deal with this new phenomenon, but government must be proactive and engage this threat with all the seriousness it demands. In recognition of this growing menace, the US Defence Department in 2009 had to create an entirely new combatant command called the United States Cyber Command now based in Fort Meade, Maryland to fight cyber warfare and protect the US from all manner of cyber attacks. While not necessarily advocating the same for Nigeria, it behoves the government to act proactively in addressing the growing menace of election interference and manipulation, hacking of financial institutions, identity theft and other insidious forms of cyber criminality. Nigeria must recognize threats from the cyber domain for what it is and put in place effective countermeasures to secure and protect the nation, its critical infrastructure, military and civil institutions of the state, businesses and the generality of the people from cyber-terrorism.

     

    Prof Fawole writes from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.

  • ‘Technology key to reaching underserved populations’

    New technology and innovative finance will help bridge the infrastructure gap in getting goods and services to end users, and connecting the underserved populations to business value chains.

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) made this known during a session at the Global Infrastructure Forum 2018, on the sidelines of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Bali, Indonesia.

    This year’s forum was themed “Unlocking Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Technology-driven Infrastructure.” The “last mile” was a crucial topic of discussion during a main panel session of the Forum entitled “Achieving the last mile through technology.”

    AfDB’s Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulation, Wale Shonibare, said the Bank’s commitment to connect millions of households under its New Deal On Energy For Africa, a core component of its Light Up Africa High 5 development priorities –  required flexibility and innovation from both a technology and financial perspective.

    “We are looking to connect 200 million households to electricity – 75 million of those will be off-grid,” Shonibare, said, adding that “Conventional grids cost, on average, $2,500 per connection in rural communities, whereas mini-grids cost between $500-1, 00 per connection.”

    Shonibare said in Cote d’Ivoire, the Bank’s approval of a credit guarantee covering part of a guaranteed loan facility to Zola EDF Côte d’Ivoire (ZECI), a 50/50 joint venture between Off-Grid Electric (OGE) and EDF, paved the way for them to provide access to approximately 100,000 rural households with pay-as-you-go solar home systems by 2020.

    According to him, this operation was the first large-scale local currency financing structure using the securitisation technique for the off-grid renewable energy sector in Africa.

    Shonibare added that energy projects in Rwanda and Nigeria, which had obtained the Bank’s approval, were additional examples of the Bank partnering with the private sector to bring service to end users in innovative ways.

    Other panelists in the session weighing in from backgrounds in law, private sector and development finance, discussed new and green technology, the digital economy, social media and innovation.

    The Vice President for Economic Research, Risk and Strategy and Partnerships, NDB, Sarquis Jose Buainain Srqis, warned that the contribution of MDB’s would still depend on conventional infrastructure -roads, healthcare access, which is why innovation was particularly essential.

    Jiang Yang, an entrepreneur from China, who has developed a map-based public participation platform focusing on space quality and livelihood issues, said data would be essential to the process of creating opportunities for doing business inclusiveness, and improving the livelihood of people.

    Given the remarkable improvements in the field, Shonibare said there was no doubt as to the role technology could play in the Light Up drive and other key aspects of the Bank’s development agenda.

    He said smart technologies and creative financing models could facilitate business and inclusiveness, while also improving livelihoods across the continent. “We have to look for more ways of scaling up access,” Shonibare said.

    The Global Infrastructure Forum takes place annually and brings together private sector investors with representatives from the United Nations, and leaders from the major multilateral development banks.

    They include AfDB, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Islamic Development Bank, New Development Bank, and the World Bank.

     

  • 26m women may lose jobs to technology, IMF warns

    About 26 million female jobs in 30 countries are at risk of being displaced by technology, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

    The IMF in its report, “Gender, Technology and the Future Work”, said globally, 11 per cent of women were at risk of losing their jobs due to advances in computer technology, while only four per cent of the male population faced the same risk.

    The IMF President, Ms Christine Lagarde, made this known on Tuesday at a panel discussion on “Empowering Women in the Workplace” at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Bali, Indonesia.

    Lagarde said: “Less well-educated and older female workers aged 40 and above, as well as those in low-skill clerical, service, and sales positions are disproportionately exposed to automation.

    “Extrapolating our results, we find that around 180 million female jobs are at high risk of being displaced globally.

    “Therefore, policies are needed to endow women with required skills, close gender gaps in leadership positions and bridge digital gender divide that could confer greater flexibility in work, benefiting women.”

    Also, the Indonesian Minister of Finance, Mrs. Mulyani Indrawati, said adding more women into the labour force of an economy would reduce poverty and ensure prosperity.

    She urged women to be role models at their places of work. “As women, we must strive to do extraordinarily well in other to set example for the younger generation.

    “We also need to ensure girls have the right role models and mentors so they can really be the ones leading the way,” she said.

    The Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Mrs. Vera Songwe, also said increased access to the Internet would bridge women’s skill gap.

    “250 million fewer women than men in 2017 had access to the Internet. In Africa, 27 million fewer women access reliable and affordable Internet, which will help close the current digital divide,” Songwe said.

    She also said higher female labour force participation could boost economic growth of a country. “Creating more and better opportunities for women to engage in paid work and a greater ability to control their income and assets can also contribute to stronger economic growth in emerging market and low-income economies,” she stated.

  • How innovative technology is driving retail industry

    The retail industry has grown over the years, thanks to innovative technology, which has continued to drive shopping centres and retail outlets, reports TONIA ‘DIYAN

    Shopping has gone beyond merely meeting needs. There is an improvement of what it used to be, especially with the exciting one-stop shopping, which presents the convenience and unique experience of retail, leisure, entertainment, movies, games and health.

    The fastest growing format for shops is the mall, which is huge, convenient and comprehensive. Nigeria, like the western world, is beginning to have a piece of the action. It seems that Western styles’shopping malls indeed have come to stay. With globalisation, trade became established in cities across the country.

    Enter Mega Plaza Shopping mall, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Aside a comfortable ambiance, quality service delivery was one of its treasured strategy.

    It prides itself as the leading shopping mall and has a super mega supermarket, several shops, ultra modern car park, local and foreign restaurants. It became a recreation spot for shoppers, especially the elites. It also served as a haven for whites who work with the oil companies and other big foreign investments; and of course, fun-loving Nigerians.

    The opening of The Palms Shopping Mall, Lekki, Lagos in 2005 brought more excitement and the presence of Shoprite and Game as the anchor tenants gave the mall a boost. Game, a discount retail chain, occupies the largest space at about 5,495m²; its rival, Shoprite, also sits on an equally ample space. While Game stocks a wide range of merchandise from groceries, electronics, furniture and other household goods, Shoprite concerns itself with mainly fast-moving consumer goods. Both manifest all the indices of a ramified departmental store complete with an in-house bakery, a fast-food section and different sections for a wide range of goods.

    Shortly after, one of Europe’s largest retail network, SPAR, also opened its first outlet in Nigeria, at Lekki, Lagos, in a partnership with Park ‘n’ Shop, a Nigerian retail store owned by the Artee Group.

    It operates from a 3,000 m² shopping complex, attracting shoppers with moderate to high-income profiles. Many see it as a healthy rival to Shoprite in terms of grocery shopping.

    Some of the big retail shops that threw their hats in the ring, attracting shoppers and making shopping a delight in the various areas where they are located are stores like Zizi, More4less, Prince Ebaona,  Addide, Justrite, Home Affairs Supermarket, Delightsome Gifts Concepts and G-Mall, among others. State governments have established free trade zones, including the Federal Capital Territory, partaking in the development, as retail outlets are being established in some of these states.

    The Silverbird Galleria, a huge shopping and entertainment centre, which mounted its first structure on Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, has also replicated itself bigger in Abuja and working with some state governments to establish in other states. It also replicated itself in Yaba, Lagos as E-Centre to serve people living in Lagos Mainland.

    On the prospects of the malls development in Nigeria, Centre Manager Ikeja Mall, Sander Norman expressed optimism about the development of shopping malls, adding: “What matters to us is great service delivery to fulfill optimum satisfaction of our customers”. He further stated that, giving the fact that Nigeria is a large country with great human and material resources, the development of shopping malls would increase.

    Former Broll Chef, Mrs. Erejuwa Gbadebo once said countries like Indonesia and China were developing like Nigeria, but over the years, have remained consistent with development, expressing optimism that Nigeria would improve if the right steps are taken.

    She noted: “The local brands will enjoy the benefit of being introduced in the formal supply chain. They will become more competitive in terms of price and quality. The trickle-down effect will include better packaging and presentation of Made-in-Nigeria products.”

    All these predictions are playing out. Gbadebo foresaw more retail chains making their entry into the eye-catching market. “More foreign investors will come in to compete, franchises will come in from the US, Europe and Southeast Asia, especially Singapore, in the next few years. These enterprises will be encouraged by the success stories of retail chains and the steadfast appetite of Nigerians for consumer goods,” she said.

    Chief Executive Officer, Delightsome Gifts Concept, Gbagada, Lagos, Mrs Modupe Shopeju said: “Nigeria’s retail environment has achieved considerable growth over time and this can mainly be attributed to the population, which is generating increasing demands of products in the country.

    ‘’Another factor of growth in Nigeria’s retail industry is the high rate of sophistication of consumers; people are more sophisticated now, therefore, there is the tendency that there will be demand for more quality and trusted products.

    The improvement in Nigeria’s economy is leading to an increase in purchasing power, as well as an encouragement in international retails.

    Some of the big retail shops include Shoprite, Spar, Mr P, Max, Reg Tag, Mango, PEP, and Casabella.

    With their entry, shoppers have become aware of the benefits of shopping in a more conducive atmosphere. Retailers and owners of malls in the Lagos metropolis have introduced various innovations focusing on improving the environment for shoppers. Some are expanding their businesses, while others partnering big players to enhance the experience of their customers.

  • ‘Farmers must embrace technology’

    Government, private investors and farmers have been urged to embrace technology to boost agricultural produce for local consumption and for export.

    An entrepreneur and international scholar, Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe, stated this yesterday during the sixth Lagos International food and beverage trade fair tagged ’Food Security through Technology’.

    He said the time had come for Nigerian farmers to move away from traditional farming system to the modern trend where technological application is widely put into use.

    Prof. Ekekwe advised that the use of technology in farming sector would guide farmers through the process of efficient farming to reduce their loss during harvest.

    He however lamented that lack of formal education might pose challenges to most of the farmers to key into the process.

    According to him, the introduction of technology will make loans easily accessible to farmers because technological application will make the progress on farms available to government and private bodies charged with the responsibility of monitoring the use of the loans.

    Special Adviser to the Lagos state Governor on food security Ganiu Sanni Okanlawon, said Lagos was prepared to embrace technological innovations to make farming easier

    He added that a task force set up to ensure food consumed in the state were hygienic was doing well

  • Defence Industries, FUTA to partner on science, technology

    The Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on science and technology.

    DICON’s Director-General Maj.-Gen. Bamidele Ogunkale said the deal, which was signed at the corporation’s headquarters in Kaduna, will boost science research and efforts to solve national technological challenges.

    He said: “With the signing of this MoU, I hope we can define our relationship or collaboration in specific terms to realise what constitute our defined objectives with clarity to both parties.

    “Our areas of convergence and line of action have of also been clearly expressed and I am highly optimistic we can take the MoU to the next level.”

    Ogunkale said the partnership was inspired by the Chief of Air Staff (COAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who, during this year’s Nigerian Air Force Day celebration, signed an MoU with DICON and 25 science and technology universities across the country.

    According to him, such partnerships could help to stem brain drain.

    He said: “Presently, we experience brain drain; our best brains travel out to develop other nations, most of which are already developed. I believe this situation we find ourselves in could be mitigated with the will of all stakeholders being expressed towards positive end.”

  • How technology can deliver credible elections, by NCS

    Nigeria’s elections have usually been marred by rigging and violence, leading to deaths and destruction of properties. But the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) believes the application of technology to the process would change the narrative, reports LUCAS AJANAKU

    THE Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) has said the application of technology to the elector  al process in the country would deliver free, fair and rancour-free elections.

    Its President, Prof Adesola Aderounmu, said there is the need for information communication technology (ICT) to be deployed to electioneering not only in the country, but also in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Speaking on: The future of elections in Nigeria: Leveraging ICT infrastructure for sustainable national electoral process at theFifth Covenant University Conference on e-Governance in Nigeria at Otta, Ogun State, he said elections should be seen as the best opportunity to encourage political leaders to promote innovation in the polity.

    “So, using ICT to elect credible leaders could motivate successful and satisfied politicians to encourage emerging governments to adapt the innovations to mainstream development and governance.

    “As the 2019 elections draw closer, there is no doubt that putting in place relevant ICT infrastructure for the application of adaptable technology in our electoral processes will go a long way to ensure transparency and credibility of the elections. It is a welcome development that leveraging technology had started, even if rudimentary, with the last 2015 elections that ushered in the present administration in Nigeria.

    “For instance, the application of technology for biometric registration of voters, the issuance of smart permanent voters card (PVC) to voters and voter verification and authentication using the smart card reader, has helped the infiltration of ICT into the electoral process. So also was the idea to scan and upload all voting result sheets for all the elections on a database, which was made accessible to all stakeholders for some months after the 2015 elections. All these formative adaptations of technology with the 2015 elections are commendable, but there is still a long way to go with our future elections,”  Aderounmu said.

     Sensitisation, civic education, e-inclusion

    Aderounmu, who is the Co-Centre Leader, World Bank-Designated Centre of Excellence in Software Engineering, ObafemiAwolowo University, Ile-Ife, said when it comes to conducting elections, sensitisation and civic education are  key in the electoral process and are necessary for democracy. It is all about voter consciousness and popular participation in elections. The citizens, who are voters, need to be effectively sensitised or enlightened about their civic duties and rights during elections.

    According to him, voter education should come before and during an electoral event, showing how, where, and when to vote. Citizens need to know why they must turn out to vote and how to cast their votes to make them count. Sensitissing and educating voters have always been done via the traditional mass media and direct town-hall community engagements.

    He said now with the pervasive influence of technology in society today, educating and cultivating the voters can be done better with the leverage of digital media such as  mobile phone with bulk SMS, bulk voice call or inbound interactive voice response, and the use of web-portals from pre-election polls.

    “Digital technology now enriches political communications and voter engagement like never before. And with the majority of people having access to computers and mobile technology devices these days, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other concerned agencies can transform the sensitisation, civic education and e-inclusion of with the use of the internet via popular social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp and special mobile apps to channel and disseminate voter education messages,” he said.

    According to him, digital media help information to be disseminated faster, smarter and real-time, reaching far more people and carrying everybody along. As an illustration, the Barack Obama American presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 as well as the global Arab Spring in 2011 transformed interest in leveraging networked digital connectivity for political action. During those epochal moments, he recalled, the use of social media for citizen engagement spread like wild fire. “Today, even experts at the Brookings Center for Technology Innovation in the U.S. affirmatively advocate “using social networking and digital tools to reinvigorate democracy and extend electronic engagement from campaigns and grassroots-activism to governance.” However, he said it is also possible that not every Nigerian voter will have access to new, cost-effective technological solutions like internet-enabled smartphones.

    For instance, using the internet for voter engagement is a step forward in accommodating technologically advanced voters. So, INEC needs to consider these less-technologically advanced voters as we adopt ICT in our electoral process. And also, voter education should be a continuous process and not necessarily tied to an election year.

    Constituency delimitation

    Another way to leverage ICT for Nigeria’s electoral process is through constituency delimitation, using digital maps and charts for proper voter registration.

    In a democracy, constituency delimitation is very important and an improper segmentation of constituencies can compromise the electoral process, thereby provoking needless conflicts and insinuations of marginalisation among peoples and politicians. To address this, it is better to apply the use of ICT solutions, such as digital mapping, digital charts, Global Positioning System (GPS) and GIS Satellite Footprints like the NigeriaSat-1. GPS uses satellites that orbit earth to send information to GPS receivers that are on the ground. The information so received helps people determine their location.

    Registration, data capture

    Voter registration and data capture constitute a major foundational step in the electoral process. Without a proper voters register, there cannot be proper elections. Voter registration helps to facilitate the credibility of the electoral process by preventing multiple voting as each person is only allowed to register once. With this, no one is allowed to register at multiple centres.  It helps in preventing cases of underage voting because only adults of voting age (18 years and above) are registered. He said there have always been controversies over voter registration as some complain of ghost names appearing on the voters register, names of foreign nationals appearing and names of under-age voters appearing too on the register. The use of a centralised countrywide database for voter registration, drawing on the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) data inventory will be good. Updates to the centralised database can be done through web portal e-mails with smart fields, mobile apps, and automatic fingerprint and photo identification systems. In a way, online voter registration via the internet is simpler and more secure than paper registration and manual updates, Aderounmu said.

    Voter verification, voting

    He said when election day comes, ICT also has a huge role to play in streamlining the electoral process to make the election outcomes fair and valid. In fact, the deployment of technology during elections is most consequential because it helps minimise the rampant incidents of rigging and its resultant crises.

    “Thus voter verification and voting on election day can be digitally done through the use of direct electronic recoding machine, optical scanning system, use of smart cards and card readers,” he said.

    Card reader technology was deployed during the 2015 general elections, but card readers malfunctioned in a lot of voting areas across the country. There were even complaints by some governors that the card readers deployed by INEC could not read their fingerprints at the polling booths.

    He said for the coming 2019 elections, we hope INEC would have upgraded the card reader technology to be more effective and error-free. Also, the security of the voting technology is of great concern, and INEC officials must take significant steps to secure the voting equipment from their warehouses to the voting centres. This is where GPS technology also proves useful, as it helps INEC to track its drivers as they deliver equipment and supplies to the polling booths or transport election results from there, to avoid tampering with sensitive vote data.

    Vote counting,computation

    For so long in Nigeria, the use of manual systems in vote counting during elections has been the practice. This process should be transformed with digital computation technology that is cheaper, faster and more accurate. Deploying technology in vote counting will also improve the electoral process by making the counting of tedious electoral systems easier to use.

    Thus, new ICT innovations can be used to replace traditional paper ballots. As earlier said under voter verification and voting, using direct electronic devices, or using machine-readable ballots, can help remove the need to count ballots manually and greatly speed up the vote counting process, as well as guaranteeing accuracy. So, with vote counting and computation, it is highly recommended that INEC engages the use of result management systems.  Most automated voting systems even come with analytics based software to make vote counting and computation easier.

    Result dissemination

    After votes have been properly counted and computed, vote results can also be digitally disseminated to the public. Results can be streamed real-time from INEC website, obtained via SMS Query interfacing with INEC website and real-time RSS Feed.

    Other ICT apps

    The applications of technology in improving the electoral process and enriching democracy are quite many. There are other ICT apps such as the automation of electoral court system; digitisation of ballot papers; use of financial tracking technologies for campaign funds that require the cooperation of financial institutions; deployment of motion detectable security cameras at polling booths (in addition to cameras attached to the voting system); use of robots for detection and diffusing improvised explosive devices (IEDs); and use of body scanners with alarm system at polling booths.

    Challenges

    There are enormous challenges against deploying an ICT-driven electoral system in Nigeria. This is not surprising because the penetration of new technological advances in other areas of our national life has always been sluggish, aside e-commerce and social media.

    He sad political manipulation by political actors is a major challenge against the adoption of ICT in the electoral process. “We all know that Nigerian politicians take elections as a do-or-die affair and would kick against, or circumvent, any innovation that would deny them the opportunity to rig elections in their favour. So, the desperation of politicians to win elections by all means can frustrate or slow down the penetration of ICT in our electoral process,” he said.

    Also, abysmally inadequate infrastructure is a challenge against the leverage of technology in the electoral system. There is poor IT and base infrastructure in the country.

    Then, there is also the perennial problem of poor power infrastructure militating the application of ICT tools in the electoral process. It is a fact that IT needs stable power to function; when that is lacking, as it is the case in Nigeria, adoption of technology in the electoral system can be frustratingly