Gbenga Kayode | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

Maida’s educational background and hands-on experience

Dr. Aminu Maida obtained a Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy) in Digital Signal Processing from the University of Bath, England.

Maida has described himself as ���somebody who has been exposed to a broad set of roles that has repeatedly put me in situations where reinvention was essential.”

He is humbly convinced that both his educational background and hands-on experience in the telecommunications and technology industry equip him to drive the sector.

Maida: ‘Our job now is to protect consumers, steady the network….’泭

The Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO of NCC also said: ���Before Nigeria gets there, a lot of things have to come together���we have to become an industrialised nation, then we have to become a knowledge-based country. because telecoms is a highly standardised industry as well as highly competitive.���

Insight into Doctorate Degree at University of Bath, and study of Information Systems Engineering at Imperial College, London

Certainly. I chose Information Systems Engineering at Imperial in the late 1990s, right at another inflection point in the fusion of computing and electronics.

Entire systems, CPU, memory, storage, radios, were moving onto single chips, hardware���software co-design was becoming the norm, and advances in digital signal processing were enabling software-defined radios.

Globally, we were on the cusp of mobile Broadband with 3G technology.

Back home in Nigeria, I had just experienced the Internet over dial-up landlines, and then, you would see a few senior public and private sector Executives carrying those 090 analogue NITEL phones.

I wanted a programme that combined cutting-edge mobile technology with systems thinking. And Information Systems Engineering at Imperial delivered exactly that���four academically intense, rewarding years at the intersection of Electronics, Computing, and Communications.

PENGASSAN slams Dangote Refinery for alleged mass sack, intimidation of workers

After Imperial, I returned to Nigeria for NYSC (National Youths Service Corps) scheme, then I got a scholarship back to the UK to pursue a PhD in Digital Signal Processing at the University of Bath. While studying for the PhD, I worked part-time as an enterprise software developer, which kept me grounded in practical delivery.

On finishing, I had an offer from a global management consulting firm, but my PhD supervisor also introduced me to UbiquiSys, a UK telecoms OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) startup collaborating with the University. I initially declined and then decided to join.

That path, moving between academia, software development, consulting opportunities, and an OEM, captures why I often say I���ve had a broad set of roles that repeatedly put me in situations where reinvention was essential. It has been a consistent theme in how I have prepared to contribute to this sector.

���We will strengthen measures against electronic fraud, cyberbullying, and impersonation, advance child online protection, and harden critical infrastructure against global cybersecurity threats.���

Now, at the time, UbiquiSys was trying to solve the problem of poor indoor mobile coverage, where the majority of phone calls are made.

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The company���s proposition was a customer-installed 3G base station, known as femtocells at the time but now falling under the broad category of small cells, which uses the customer���s home or business Internet to connect to the core of the mobile operator���s network. I recall the Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) pitch to me.

He said, ���We are building a base station that can fit through your letterbox, does not require a technician to visit for installation and costs less than $100.���

I asked where the product was, and then, he showed me a medium-sized hard-shell suitcase with all sorts of circuit boards, chips and wires.

At the time, it was a generation zero hardware, but he sold the vision to me, and I saw he had raised money from Tier 1 venture capitalists and assembled a team of highly talented and accomplished individuals from the likes of Alcatel, Motorola, Nortel and Nokia, who were the giants of the telecoms OEM space at the time. So, I joined. I was staff Number 22, and the only non-experienced graduate fresh out of the University at the time.

In fact, I was actually the only person of African descent. I saw it as an adventure, as I am naturally a curious person. I think initially I spent about four years there, and I was responsible for the intelligence algorithms in the products, specifically researching, testing and trialling the algorithms that enabled the product to work without the need for a technician to do any configuration: that is, you simply receive the product and plug it into your Internet router, and your phone has full bars in your home or business.

Over four years, we went from our generation zero suitcase to a product that could not just fit into the palm but also cost less than a hundred Dollars and could auto-configure itself.

That is, it did not require a technician to install. By the time I left UbiquiSys, we had deployed around 2 million units across the world.

I was also a co-author of close to half of the patents the company held. I felt fulfilled as we had achieved the vision of a self-install 3G base station product.

This was in 2006, and together with our other competitors, of which we had a few at the time, this was what started the commercial deployment of a category of base stations today known as small cells.

Maida asserts ���I am one of pioneers of small cell technology in the world���

What people do not know is that I am one of the pioneers of small cell technology in the world and author of some of the very early patents in that space.

I left UbiquiSys out of curiosity. I wanted to understand why the sales process with the mobile operators took months. We had sold to the mobile operators who, in turn, either sold or gave them to their customers for free or at a subsidised cost.

I decided to go into the world of our customers. I had just got married then; I consulted with my wife, and she said she would back me.

So, I leaped and joined EE���that is, the entity that emerged from the merger of Orange UK and T-Mobile UK.

I joined as a consultant and drove their project to deploy 3G small cell technologies, using UbiquiSys technology, in partnership with Nokia as the system integrator, under the brand name ���Signal Box���.

Around the same time, Vodafone UK was also deploying Alcatel-Lucent technology under the brand name ���Sure Signal���. Vodafone deployed about 300,000 units in the UK, whereas in EE, we deployed about 250,000 units.

Across Europe, it was the second- or third-largest deployment of 3G small cell technology at the time. The largest deployment by numbers was AT&T in America. They had over a million units of 3G small cells deployed by one of our competitors, IPAccess.

UbiquiSys��� largest customer was SoftBank Japan, where they had close to a million units deployed.

For the AT&T 3G small cell deployment, Cisco had partnered with our competitor, IPAccess, and having seen the success of their AT&T engagement, they grew more interested in the technology.

Cisco had this vision of adding a 3G/4G small cell module to their enterprise WiFi access points, of which they had millions across the world.

Now, Cisco is among the tech industry���s most acquisitive companies, frequently using deals as a core growth lever rather than only organic R&D.

So, they did their assessments and eventually acquired UbiquiSys in 2013 for a modest fee of just under $400 million, which was a decent amount, considering Europe was in the middle of a financial crisis.

Not all stories have a good ending.

You may want to ask why we don���t see these miniature base stations in our homes. It is due to the emergence of alternative technologies, such as ���Voice over WiFi��� and OTT apps such as WhatsApp and the like, which allow you to still use your mobile number as your identity.

But nonetheless, small cells are central to the future of 4G/5G small cells���think mini mobile masts in buildings and lamp posts on busy streets. Most phone use is still indoors, and big outdoor towers cannot always deliver strong, fast, and reliable signals there.

Small cells bring the network closer to people, boosting call quality and data speeds, and in 5G, they power private networks in places like factories and hospitals. In short, they are how we make modern mobile networks work well everywhere���not just near the big towers.

Important leadership lessons in driving and achieving a vision

Alan Carter, who recruited me to UbiquiSys and whom I worked under throughout my time there, taught me that a vision only matters if it is backed by disciplined execution and relentless thoroughness.

My Ph.D defence was my first real lesson in rigour, but Alan turned that rigour into a habit: be clear about the goal, ask the hard questions, test assumptions, and follow through to the last detail. That mentorship shaped how I lead today.

At the NCC, and previously at NIBSS, some colleagues joke that they hesitate to bring things to me because I probe deeply and often spot gaps.

I understand that, but as the EVC/CEO, the buck stops with me���and Alan���s influence is why I insist on clarity, evidence, and accountability. He polished those instincts in me, and that grounding has been central to everything I have done since: hold a clear vision, then pursue it with focus, discipline, and an unflinching eye for detail.

Experience in championing Nigeria���s digital infrastructure

Let me finish the UK chapter briefly. After Cisco acquired UbiquiSys, they asked me to return���this time as a Senior Solutions Architect in the new Small Cells Business Unit. I worked in the New Product Introduction team, essentially hand-holding early-adopter operators from concept to live deployment, often pre���general availability.

It meant very close, trusted-adviser relationships and a number of successful launches that earned recognition inside Cisco. After a few years, I felt it was time for a new challenge and moved back to Nigeria.

I first joined Arca Payments as CTO (Chief Technical Officer) around 2016. We had big ideas but quickly learnt that many of those ambitions depended on the efficiency and reliability of the national payments switch at NIBSS.

When a leadership transition opened up at NIBSS, my colleagues at Arca Payments urged me to take on the role and help to drive the change we all wanted to see.

I spent four years at NIBSS as Executive Director, Technology & Operations. I was responsible for technology strategy and the day-to-day running of operations and IT infrastructure.

I came in a month after the new Managing Director, Premier Oiwoh, resumed. We commissioned an independent external assessment of our infrastructure and built a roadmap to scale capacity to 50 million transactions per day, from under 2 million at the time.

We launched a transformation of the organisation with new hardware and software platforms, modernised architecture and processes, and intensive staff upskilling.

That work was stress-tested almost immediately by COVID-19, when telecoms and digital payment volumes spiked as the country shifted online, and again during the Naira redesign and cash shortages in January 2023.

Those were tough periods, but the resilience we had started building, capacity, uptime, incident response, and operational discipline, helped the system cope. I am proud of the team and the foundations we laid to strengthen Nigeria���s digital payments infrastructure.

Professional achievements, challenges in the world of work

I would say being an early pioneer in small-cell technology is a standout achievement for me. Long before 5G made densification mainstream, we were proving that capacity would come from many small cells rather than just a few big towers���an approach that now underpins how modern networks globally meet exploding data demand.

The challenge then was persuading operators and partners to back an unproven approach while tackling immature standards for small cells.

I am also proud of the transformation we drove at NIBSS. Between 2019 and 2022, NIBSS revenue grew at about 43% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) and transaction volumes at about 50% CAGR, reflecting stronger platforms, processes, and execution.

The flip side was the scale of the lift: moving from less than 2 million transactions a day toward tens of millions, then absorbing shocks like COVID-19 and the Naira redesign���all amid the familiar headwinds of power, Forex, and legacy constraints.

These experiences reinforced the same lesson: match a clear vision with disciplined delivery, and keep building resilience for the unexpected.

Telecoms liberalisation, leadership and achievement of NCC���s mandate?

This is a big question, and the context matters. I assumed office just as the government made two bold macroeconomic reforms: the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of Foreign Exchange (Forex) rates. Necessary as they were, they immediately changed the operating economics of the whole economy, telecoms included.

Now, I have to say I inherited a strong institution with a proud legacy: the NCC we know today is anchored on the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, itself a product of the National Telecommunications Policy 2000, which liberalised the sector.

That policy is probably one of Nigeria���s recent success stories; it connected tens of millions and enabled digitisation across payments, health, education, and more. Without that liberalisation, if we were still under the NITEL (Nigerian Telecommunications Limited) monopoly, it is highly unlikely that we would have today���s level of connectivity.

On consumer-centric approach, service quality and long-term resilience

At the same time, those macroeconomic shifts exposed structural weaknesses that the industry has had to, and is confronted with. This is a business where, beyond salaries, almost every major input is imported, and of course, this means it is priced in foreign currency���radio equipment, software licences, spares, even many fibre and power components.

Power is a particular stress point: Nigeria���s approximately 40,000 telecoms sites must run 24/7, yet many are not on reliable grid power; so operators rely on generators.

The sector is consuming about 40 million litres of diesel per month, and diesel moved from around ���700 to over ���1,000 per litre, almost doubling that line item.

Meanwhile, the core hardware that runs global networks is produced mainly in China (that is, Huawei and ZTE), Sweden (that is, Ericsson), and Finland (that is, Nokia)���and all of that is paid for in Forex. So, you have rising local energy costs, Forex exposure on almost every capex and opex line, and consumer price sensitivity���all at once.

What I also ���inherited���, therefore, was the need to sharpen focus and direction: keep quality of service stable under cost shocks primarily through ensuring improved operational efficiencies, strengthening compliance and transparency, and investing in local skills so more of the value chain, software, integration, site power, and fibre build, can be done in Nigeria.

But we also have to be realistic; in the near to medium term, Nigeria cannot start mass-manufacturing cutting-edge radio hardware, which requires a broader industrial base and standards ecosystem.

But we can lay the foundations now, talent, Research & Development (R&D) partnerships, local assembly/integration, and better operations, so that over time we move up the value chain.

In short, I inherited a capable Commission and a sector that has delivered immense progress; our job now is to protect consumers, steady the network through macroeconomic volatility, and build the groundwork for long-term resilience and self-reliance.

Vision, plan for NCC as foremost telecoms sector regulator

First, credit to His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), whose clear belief in the digital economy is reflected in the team he has assembled���our Minister and many agency heads come from the private sector and are empowered to deliver.

My vision is for the NCC to lead Nigeria into the next phase of communications.

In the last two decades, under the NCA 2003, the Commission successfully executed the National Telecommunications Policy of 2000, creating a competitive market that connected millions of Nigerians.

The next phase goes beyond connectivity: The Internet is now the platform for communications. The majority of us now communicate via chat, audio and video using apps that run on the Internet, what we refer to as ���Over The Top ��� OTT Apps���, and at the same time, the Internet has become a platform for banking, commerce, education, entertainment���virtually everything.

So, it is no longer humans communicating with humans or machines; we now have machines needing to communicate with machines.

In fact, your PoS machine is a good example of such.

On commitment to enabling environment for robust Internet infrastructure

We plan to create an enabling environment that will build a robust Internet infrastructure that can carry today���s services and tomorrow���s���Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality (AR), and more. That means attracting investment in data centres, Internet exchange points, and fibre-to-the-premises, alongside 4G/5G densification and smarter spectrum use.

We will pair this with a transparent, pro-competitive, innovation-friendly regulatory environment, so private capital can scale fast.

Equally, we must protect people and the networks. We will strengthen measures against electronic fraud, cyberbullying, and impersonation, advance child online protection, and harden critical infrastructure against global cybersecurity threats.

In short, the NCC will champion a market that is investment-led, infrastructure-rich, innovation-ready, and safe for all users, so Nigeria���s digital economy can grow inclusively and sustainably. (Interview adapted from BusinessDay)

Emmanuel Akosile | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

What exactly is happening in regard to the just released 2025 WASSCE results

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) just released the 2025 examination results, but for some time, candidates and parents faced challenges in accessing them on the Internet and the Web site.

Later in the evening on that same day, candidates started accessing their results without any hitch.

Thereafter, there was a list made about schools allegedly indicted in the Examinations for their children to have committed some act of malpractice.

A day after, there was a release from WAEC that such information about those allegedly indicted in examination practices never originated from the Council.

The Council further supported their claim that there is no way a school would have come before the investigation panel committee with the scripts of the children, knowing well that the scripts are in favour with the Council.

So, that made the statement a false statement to start with. Back to the WAEC results.

On capacity building for school teachers

The results, according to the Head of the National Office of WAEC, had reported that the students passed at about 38 percent, which is the worst for about 15 years from 2015 to date, whereas the list before then was put at 39 or thereabouts.

The reason for this cannot be far-fetched from the fact that there are a lot of challenges that are facing the education of our country, as it affects the students writing their final year examinations.

Top of the list of these challenges is the fact that we have not paid sufficient attention to the capacity building of our teachers. In a few months, we shall be celebrating World Teachers’ Day.

For about two years now, not much has been done to see that the teachers’ capacity building has gone to a level that could assist the teachers to play the mentoring role in the lives of the children.

Aside from this is that, you agree with me that the budgetary allocation falls short of the recommended percentage by UNESCO to education.

We also have issues that relate to infrastructure and digital accessibility, especially in rural areas where children hardly have access to a computer and where they do, it is just about 1 to 100.

And we still have some of these children who are studying in an atmosphere that is not conducive to learning.

This then, points to the fact that there is a whole lot of gap between what is going on in the class and the outcome for the children.

Just recently, a school Director announced plans to protest because the English Language subject did not accurately reflect the students��� performance, despite their good scores in other subjects. Do you have a similar experience?

We have received concerns from members of our Association who believe that the recent examination results do not accurately reflect the abilities of some children.

WAEC (West African Examinations Council) has a process in place to address such concerns, allowing individuals to apply for a review of a child���s exam script.

We have encouraged our members to utilise this option, and ensure applications are made for the reconsideration of the scripts of children we can confidently support.

Additionally, we cannot ignore the fact that the conditions under which some students took the exams in certain states were unacceptable.

For example, children who were forced to write exams late into the night using candles or torches cannot be set as a standard for attaining commendable results.

Therefore, I want to commend the children who have overcome these hardships���particularly economic challenges���and still achieved commendable results.

Should we declare a state of emergency in education to protect the future?

Yes, the current Minister for Education had taken the bull by the horns by ensuring that some policies are pushed outside there to confront these challenges.

Some of these he has challenged the body in charge of registration of teachers ��� Registration Council ��� to ensure that no teachers, nobody, no personality, no officer that has not been verified by the TRCN is allowed to interface with these children.

And I would not agree less, knowing that whatever goes in is what comes out of a woman.

As a man thinketh, so he is; so we cannot raise children who have to struggle to pass the examinations without adequate facilities. We cannot expect much from them.

It is what we give to them that will come out of them in many years to come. Suffice it to say that what is coming out currently has started some 30 years back, and except we take a drastic action to correct that, we shall continue to have these challenges, and they may be worse.

But for the fact that the current Minister has shown capacity, has shown tenacity, I���m not in doubt that there will be some quick changes in the years to come.

It appears that no standards are ensuring these schools meet at least the minimum international criteria necessary to secure the future. What���s your take on that?

Yes, you know that formulating policies that will ensure standards is not as important as monitoring and implementing such policies.

The challenges we have in Nigeria are not about the provision of policies that can take us to the world level.

It is the ability to implement these policies without fear or favour.

In times we have seen where challenges have been seen and the monitoring team has observed a shortfall in policy implementation, and no drastic action has been taken.

And for those schools that were listed out there, I���ve said it earlier: I want to reiterate this, that those lists are not facts, they are not true. We are expecting the true list from WAEC, if there is any.

The public should discountenance that, as we have interacted with WAEC over that, and no such list exists.

And for schools that are running short of the standard of the policy of education, we want to challenge the policymakers who are in charge of implementation to buck up, and ensure that the monitoring and supervising department is up to the game.

Isola Moses | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

The US initially, slammed a 14 percent tariff on Nigeria, and later lowered it to 10 percent within its 90-day pause. What does this mean for Nigerian manufacturers and exporters to the US?

Generally speaking, what Trump is doing is shaking the table in line with his strategic objective of making America come first in all things.

That said, tariff all over the world is used to achieve several purposes. I think for his, it is to directly grow domestic manufacturing and restrict imports because, for a long time, according to him, people have been taking America for a ride. But for us in Nigeria, in terms of manufactured exports, we are only beginning to make inroads as also part of our own strategic objective of mitigating the impact of Forex.

So, there is a stumbling block in one of the countries that we are expecting to make in-roads.

Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General of MAN

The AGOA is ending in September 2025, and Nigeria is yet to make sufficient inroads, compared to South Africa, Kenya and so on.

And now, you throw a spanner in the works. So, for us as manufacturers, it���s a major issue.

We know that when there are retaliatory measures, there will be collateral damage as in the case between America and China; it���s going to lead to an uptick of the duties.

Even if you are not suffering directly, you suffer indirectly.

Taking all of this together, it becomes a source of worry for us, and we are hoping that we���ll be able to find local succour that will allow us to be moderately impacted, not severely impacted because if our government retaliates, we are also going to suffer because we import capital goods from those countries.

So, we are worried, and the only relief came when we had the Minister for Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, said that there���s going to be a conversation among the economic team involving the private sector on how Nigeria should respond to it.

Even lowering it to 10 percent is still a source of worry because we are operating in a positive balance of trade with America before then.

Just January 2025, America had a net negative balance of trade of up to $143 million.

So, we shouldn���t relent in our effort to cope with even this 10 percent because it wasn���t there before, especially for over 6,000 items that are qualified under AGOA.

It���s not yet Uhuru, and we shouldn���t breathe too much so that we slumber.

It looks like the AGOA has been pushed aside and Trump���s tariff is what is in is in play now.

Yeah, unfortunately so; and I was wondering why America is so easy to bend, I mean because AGOA was a valid agreement with 54 plus countries in Africa and how an Executive Order, or a pronouncement, or a tweet on X will just upturn the thing is a source of worry.

Nigeria has to think very well, government has to engage the private sector and all players.

We must go granular in the kind of exchanges we have because the next person after Trump might be worse.

We really need to be very strategic in the way we respond to this.

So, are you worried extensively about the policy flip-flop in that sense globally? How should Nigeria prepare for eventualities like this because this is a precursor to anything that could happen anytime in the world?

The response that Nigeria is going to give must take into consideration that there is no way you can beat an efficient and conducive business environment for domestic industries.

I believe that it builds resilience, and it allows even the intelligence that the private sector has to count because no matter what intelligence you have, no matter what strategies you have, government policy will trump it.

It is important that in building resilience and readiness, we should ensure that the domestic environment is supportive; supportive regulations, assurance of policy and all of that.

We need to hold regulatory agencies in check to improve competitiveness, for any eventuality because there will always be surprises.

For instance, in this moment, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) must be on high alert.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) that is dangling 15 percent increase in port fees should just forget it now, and never think about it. The 4 percent free-on-board that Customs is talking about should just be. In fact, we should assume we never had it.

We should build a robust sector, a productive sector that will be able to respond to this eventuality.

You can imagine if Trump has continued with this. I���m telling you our export will just come to nothing. Many people think, okay, because America is the sixth in terms of our export, and even China is closing at 3 trillion, I think America is doing 5.5 trillion but they are the sixth in terms of our trading partner.

You can imagine that the number one to five countries are badly impacted by Trump, and we are going to suffer collateral damage.

So, there is nothing you can do other than preparing in-house.

Lessons for Nigeria and other African countries, and what is the role of the African Continental Free Trade Area?

Happily, things have actually been working well for Nigeria in Africa. For instance, last year, we traded more within Africa than with any other nation on earth.

I think our trade was up to 8.7 trillion naira with Africa whereas it was 5.5 with America even China was 3 trillion, so I think that we are already set on a trajectory of making AfCFTA work for our exports and our imports.

I believe that���s very important and in terms of lessons we should know that growing in African trade is probably the best way for us to survive as individual countries, and for Africa to project and make inroads in international trade.

We should make no mistake that the world doesn���t just need America.

America needs the world and it���s been said that President Trump may just be overestimating his power, his influence, and importance because it looks like there���s a new world order already and America may be punching above its weight.

Alexander Davis | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, has advised Malam Nasir El-Rufai to learn how to move on with life, following the disappointment of not being made a Minister in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet.

Onanuga, who said this Tuesday, February 25, 2025, while featuring on a Channels TV programme, monitored in Lagos, affirmed former Minister and ex-Kaduna State Governor El-Rufai is still hurting for being left out during Tinubu���s ministerial appointments.

Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy

It is recalled that President Tinubu initially, had nominated El-Rufai as a Minister while forming his cabinet in 2023, but the nominee eventually did not scale through the regulatory screening process in the Nigerian Senate.

In regard to the fallout of the ministerial disappointment, El-Rufai is said to have become critical of the Tinubu administration and the ruling All Progressives Congress in recent times.

El-Rufai, in a recent interview also claimed that it was not the Senate that rejected him as a Minister but President Tinubu himself.

El-Rufai still ‘crying over spilt milk’

Speaking on the private television show Tuesday, Onanuga acknowledged even though El-Rufai worked hard for Tinubu���s emergence as the Nigerian President, it is time for the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State to move on from the disappointment of not being made a Minister.

The Presidential aide also stated: ���I will pity former Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai.

“He feels hurt that he was not made a Minister; but I think it���s time for him to move on.

���You cannot continue to behave like a child as if someone stole his bread and things like that, and then you are crying over spilt milk.���

Acknowledging the fact that it is normal for El-Rufai to feel aggrieved having worked hard for the election of President Tinubu, Onanuga, however, said that the President is not in denial of his efforts at the time.

He further noted: “It is natural for him to feel bad that he has been excluded.

“I think the President has acknowledged in a recent tribute to him that Nasir did a lot in installing President Tinubu, and if he is not there (the cabinet), it doesn���t mean he will bring down the roof.���

Tinubu has nothing against El-Rufai, but the former Kaduna Governor is going about everywhere campaign against the President because he feels hurt, said the Presidential Spokesman.

Onanuga urged El-Rufai to let go of the ill-feeling because he has been in public service since 1999 after all.

���It���s time for him to move on,” said the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.

Alexander Davis | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

Could you tell us about your background?

I teach the German Language in the Department of Foreign Languages at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where I���ve been a lecturer for the past 22 years. I am from Esa-Oke, in Osun State.

How many languages do you speak?

I am fluent in Yoruba, English, French and German. I also have a basic knowledge of Italian. I speak a variety of Yoruba languages (Ijesa dialect).

There is a , in which students presented gifts to you. What was it about?

I didn���t expect it. I just do my normal teaching, putting in all my efforts to ensure they get the best. It was completely unexpected and a surprise to me. I felt emotional, great, and happy. It���s good to be good. Reflecting on the past and all the efforts I���ve put into my work, it feels rewarding that the students recognise and appreciate it. Coming together and planning something like that made me feel deeply happy.

What was going through your mind during the presentation of the gifts?

It was a mix of emotions, shock, and surprise. I kept wondering, ���What���s going on? How did this happen?��� It was so emotional that I had to control myself to hide my tears from the cameras.

Could you share your teaching philosophy, and how it has shaped your relationship with your students?

I believe students are like blank sheets of paper. As a lecturer, it���s my duty to fill those sheets with knowledge. If you don���t teach them, they won���t learn.

The Senate Building of OAU, Ile-Ife

It���s a collaborative process. What they learn from one lecturer combines with what they learn from others to shape them into successful individuals.

My principle is to ensure I teach my portion of the curriculum thoroughly, so there are no gaps in their learning.

I also focus on creating an environment conducive to learning. For instance, in primary school, if you taught Mathematics with a cane in your hand, students were more likely to give wrong answers out of fear.

Similarly, in language teaching, I make sure my students are relaxed and happy in the classroom. When they���re comfortable, their minds and hearts are open, and they���re more ready to learn.

Some students may come in with the mindset that the subject is difficult, but by interacting with me and experiencing a positive atmosphere, they develop the readiness to succeed.

Aside from being a lecturer, we understand you���re also a pastor. How do you balance being a pastor, lecturer, husband and father?

It���s all about balance and planning. As a lecturer, some tasks must be done daily. As a pastor, there are responsibilities in the church. As a father, there are duties at home. Once everything is planned and scheduled properly, it becomes easier to manage.

Of course, it requires sacrifices, such as less sleep, but when there���s passion for what you do and a clear goal in mind, you���ll find a way to get everything done. At the end of the day, nothing is left undone.

Remember, one doesn���t do everything in a day. On a given day, there may be 10 tasks to complete, maybe five for the church, three for school, and two for the family. The key is putting everything down on paper and tackling them little by little. With proper planning and the help of God, everything gets done.

What has been the reaction of your family and friends to the video of your students presenting you with gifts, especially since it���s been trending online?

Well, they know me well. My wife especially sees the work I put in, waking up at night to mark scripts, prepare lectures, and handle other tasks. When the students appreciated my efforts, it felt like validation not just for me but for my family, too.

My wife said, ���Oh, so, they also recognise what you���re doing!��� She was happy, and my children felt proud as well.

It���s a lesson for them that being good pays off, even if it takes years for recognition to come. As I���ve always believed, your good deeds will eventually be acknowledged.

Have you received similar forms of recognition before?泭泭泭泭泭泭泭泭泭泭泭

This kind of online recognition is new to me. In my generation, things like this didn���t happen.

I���ve been teaching here for over 22 years, and recognition from students has always been more personal, individual messages, calls, or visits when they come back from abroad.

For instance, when I travel, former students often come to see me, but this public, widespread appreciation, it���s different and overwhelming.

What���s your view on the Gen Z generation? Some people describe them as difficult, arrogant, or even lazy

There���s some truth to those perceptions, but they���re not the full story. As a lecturer and also parent, you need to understand them. If you do, you���ll see their potential. When you categorise them as arrogant or lazy, they may live up to that expectation.

But if you encourage them, tell them they can do it, and believe in them, they���ll rise to the occasion. It���s like prophesying into their lives, it can come to pass.

I���ve had students: one, in particular, would often come to my office saying, ���This course is too hard.���

I kept encouraging her, and today, she���s in the United States. She���s completed her Master���s Degree in German, and is planning to pursue a PhD.

Many of these students simply need someone to believe in them. We, as lecturers and adults, have more experience and can help them see what���s possible.

The challenges they face are real, but I believe we should help them by encouraging them and letting them know they can succeed. With the right support, they can overcome these challenges without much difficulty.

How do you manage to stay passionate and committed to your role despite the challenges in the educational system?

From the beginning, I���ve always loved to impact lives. That has always been my driving force. After completing my Master���s degree in Germany, I felt I���d have a greater opportunity to make an impact if I returned home.

Though I couldn���t come back immediately, the passion to contribute to the growth of young people never left me. That passion makes the sacrifices worthwhile because I truly want to see my students succeed.

If you were to advise other educators on building meaningful relationships with their students, what would you say?

My advice would be to see students as individuals with the potential to succeed. There is no student who cannot make it. Many of them face challenges, financial struggles, family losses, illnesses, or a lack of proper upbringing.

As educators, we should strive to understand these issues and do our best to contribute to their lives, happiness, and future.

Instead of labelling them as bad or horrible, we need to see the positives, encourage them, guide them, and support them. We are their leaders, mentors, and in some ways, their parents. That���s why we are here.

This generation needs help and guidance, and I believe that���s why God placed us in positions ahead of them���to lead and inspire. None of us chose when we were born, and if we find ourselves as lecturers in such a prestigious university, it is a privilege.

We must carry out our responsibilities well, and help our students become successful in life.

What advice would you give students going through challenges, whether financial difficulties, struggles in a particular course, or other personal issues?

I always encourage them not to give up. Giving up doesn���t solve the problem; it only makes it worse. They should keep pushing forward. I can share stories of some of my students who had significant financial struggles but were encouraged to persevere. Today, many of them are successful individuals; some are even abroad, while others are doing very well here in Nigeria. Because of what I���ve seen, I always tell students in tough situations not to give up.

Sometimes, there may be days when you don���t have enough to eat, but if you trust God and manage to get by with something small, it will sustain you.

I even advise them that if there���s no food, drinking water can help keep you going and prevent health issues like ulcers.

I remind them that it���s just a temporary phase. Four years, or however long their programme lasts, of hard work and challenges can lead to a lifetime of success. I also tell them to rise above the difficulties they face, even the challenges of Nigeria as a country. Once they focus on their goals, you���ll see them scoring good grades and achieving success, despite the odds.

What are your hopes for the future of education in Nigeria?

I believe there is great hope for the educational system in Nigeria. However, I would like to appeal to the Federal Government to invest more in education.

For example, in my Department (Foreign Languages), particularly the German section, you���ll notice that many lecturers are aging, and the young ones are not joining the system as much as they should. The reason for this is partly due to globalisation.

Young graduates today often earn more working remotely than they would as lecturers. For instance, some fresh graduates earn more than professors while working from home. So, when they���re offered a starting salary of N150,000 or N180,000 in academia, they ask themselves, ���What can I do with this, especially with the current level of inflation?���

Curbing brain drain in education sector of economy

This situation has led to brain drain, with many young people leaving the country and those unwilling to take up academic positions. I appeal to the government to address this issue so that education can be respected and attractive enough for the younger generation to join and contribute.

Younger and intelligent individuals can voluntarily choose to become lecturers. This will significantly enhance the progress of education in our country because the foundation of every successful nation is education.

Once education is well-funded, research will thrive. With increased research, the economy will improve, and we will have capable individuals contributing positively to the nation���s development.

However, when everyone avoids lecturing and younger people lose interest in studying because they believe there are no opportunities afterwards, it creates challenges. I encourage our government to invest more in education and urge parents to prioritise their children���s education.

What is your message to the students who honoured you?

I deeply appreciate them. I���m genuinely grateful for their thoughtful action. As a teacher, my role is to give them everything, not to expect anything in return. While I initially thought about returning their gesture, I decided to accept it graciously. To the students, I encourage you to work hard and, most importantly, remember to give back to others when you have the opportunity to make an impact. If you appreciate me today, you should also strive to impact the next generation positively.

By doing so, we can collectively improve our society. Students are the future. If we nurture and guide them well, we are effectively building a stronger nation. If they���ve seen good things in me, I hope they embody those values and avoid vices, such as dishonesty or other harmful behaviours.

My guiding principle has always been my faith as a child of God, which influences every aspect of my life. I encourage my students to embrace this faith and be sincerely devoted to their values.

To those watching the viral video, I urge you to embrace righteousness, hard work, faithfulness, focus, determination, and a love for mentoring others.

What is your connection with the Multi-Language Place?

The Multi-Language Place Foundation is a language institution I established several years ago.

It offers students the opportunity to learn languages of their choice, particularly German and French. The institution prepares students for international exams, such as German and French proficiency tests.

In today���s globalised world, these certifications open doors to numerous opportunities. For instance, many Nigerian students are in demand in Germany, America, and France. With professional certifications in German or French, students can access scholarships and pursue advanced studies or vocational training abroad.

For example, pursuing a Master���s degree in America typically costs about $50,000. However, with these certifications, students can secure scholarships that cover the cost. Additionally, universities often provide a monthly stipend of $1,700, and students may assist lecturers in teaching undergraduates due to their language skills.

That was why we established the foundation���to equip students with the knowledge and certifications needed to access these global opportunities. It���s our way of opening doors for them to excel internationally.

Web Editor | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

What are your thoughts about the allegations that the Port Harcourt Petroleum Refinery has yet to commence full operations?

I am here as a professional and President of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers. The truth is that Area 5 of the Port Harcourt Refinery is running, and it is, indeed, running. Port Harcourt refinery has two parts, there is the old refinery and the new refinery.

The old refinery has been brought back into operation. It is running, and we can confirm that it is running. We have made contact with our colleagues, the professional chemical engineers who are on the ground, and we can confirm that it is running.

Products are being produced from the old refineries and those products are being blended to give the PMS that we consume in our cars and diesel oil which we consume in trucks and which some of us use in our generators as well.

Those products are indeed being produced, kerosene is also being produced, and that is the truth.

Expatiate on Area 5 of the Refinery with the expectations of Nigerians in mind. Why is there a delay?

Exactly, as you referred to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, it has to be brought up in stages. It is the same that is happening in the Port Harcourt refinery. Crude oil comes into a refinery and goes in through the Crude Distillation Unit.

There is distillation in the column, and products come out from the column at various levels. From the top is gas, which eventually goes in to give you your cooking gas and then the next level down is straight-run gasoline and the next level is heavy naphtha, then kerosene and then diesel and then crude oil which is at the bottom of the column. These are the straight products that come from the column, but they go for further processing in different parts of the refinery.

The heavy naphtha goes to what is called the catalytic reforming unit, which is then reformed into high octane stock because the light naphtha or straight-run gasoline is low octane and does not meet the spec of 1991, which is the standard for PMS.

What happened is that Area 5 was commissioned as the main column. The crude distillation unit has been commissioned, and it is running as I said, and it is producing these products.

However, the heavy naphtha, which should go into the catalytic reforming unit is the next unit, which will be brought on stream, and that is not yet on stream.

Some people have been making statements in the media about a product called Crack C5 coming from Eleme Petrochemicals, saying that is what they have been loading. No.

The truth is that Area 5, otherwise called the old refinery, is producing light naphtha, hard naphtha, kero, and light gas oil, which goes out as diesel and it is also producing fuel oil. Those things are then blended. The light naphtha is blended with the crack C5, which is obtained from Eleme Petrochemicals, and together, it gives you your PMS.

I am surprised people are saying loading hasn’t taken place. Loading has taken place, trucks have been loading, and those trucks have gone out to supply the public. You can visit the refinery to confirm for yourself that what they are reporting is not true.

Is it not misleading for the NNPC to announce that it is producing at 70 percent capacity, and is producing PMS while blending PMS泭with naphtha?

It is not PMS that is brought into the refinery, it is Crack C5. Crack C5 is a high-research octane product that is a by-product of the Eleme Petrochemical processes. That is high-octane stock; that high-octane stock is then blended with naphtha, which is the lower-octane stock to give you the 1991 spec that you need for PMS.

PMS is what you buy at the filling stations. That PMS is made from high-octane stock and low-octane stock. The high-octane stock that they have right now, because the CRU is not yet in operation, is the Crack C5 that is coming from Eleme Petrochemicals which is blended with light naphtha and that is giving you PMS.

The refinery produces light naphtha, Kero, light gas oil also known as diesel and others and those go into storage. And from the storage tank, you do your blending to get the final product that the consumers outside are familiar with.

What is the cost implication of blending, compared to refining, which is the expectation of several Nigerian energy consumers?

Let me explain again. There is a slight misunderstanding by the people. Every refinery does blending every day. In the refinery, we produce, as I told you, these products which are not the products you see outside, we produce LPG, we produce light naphtha, heavy naphtha, kerosene, light gas oil, heavy gas oil, and atmospheric residue. These are going into the storage tanks in every refinery.

Then, from those storage tanks, you will now start blending for the public because these things I have mentioned now are not the things that the public consumes. The public consumes PMS.

What is PMS? PMS is a blend of light naphtha – which is a lower run by-product- with high octane products like Crack C-5, or when the Catalytic Reforming Unit starts, they will produce Reformate.

Reformate is high octane stock. By the time the CRU starts, there will be no need anymore for the crack C-5 because the CRU produces reformate, which is high octane. The octane of reformate is about 94, 95, and 96, depending on the start of the run and the end of the run. That is what is then blended with light naphtha to give you your PMS.

You may have heard earlier that we produce light and heavy naphtha. The heavy naphtha is what is sent to the CRU to be reformed, and that is why it is called reformate. It is reformed in the Catalytic Reformer to give you reformate, which becomes high octane stock, which is then blended with light naphtha to give you PMS. Diesel, on the other hand, comes from lower down in the column.

The light gas oil is blended with some portion of the heavy gas oil to give you diesel. What you call fuel oil used in power plants is made from the balance of heavy gas oil and atmospheric residue. I hope I have explained. Every refinery does this.

With the claim of 70 percent capacity, what does this translate into for Nigerians in terms of how many litres per day, and if there will be any impact at all in terms of pricing?泭

As far as I know, the refinery is running at about 60-70% right now. They are probably ramping up towards 90 as the gentleman you mentioned confirmed.

Hopefully, when they ramp up to 90%, then, of course, there will be more products coming out. What I will be looking forward to would be for the catalytic reforming unit to be brought into operation as well, so that the refinery- Area 5- can fully optimise the crude oil that it is processing, and then you can have a lot more products reaching the public.

As for the price at which they sell it because it is a refinery in the country, I am sure they are going to look at their production costs and what it is costing them to take it to the people, and then the price would be determined accordingly.

What has been happening in the past is that all prices are being indexed to the price at which they were bought in Rotterdam. Rotterdam is the port that is used for the pricing of petroleum products when they are importing.

So, because you get the crude oil from Rotterdam and then ship it to Apapa and then discharge it into bulk storage and from bulk storage it goes into the storage of various marketers and eventually to the filling stations, so there is a cost associated with all of this.

There is a template that is used in determining the price of petroleum products. What we may hope is that since they are no longer having to transport these products from Rotterdam, we could see a little difference between the price it was before when it was being imported and now that it is being produced.

That would depend on the efficiency of production and the cost that they are incurring in the process of producing the products.

Why the differences between how both refineries (Dangote and Port Harcourt refineries) get their petroleum products?

As I explained earlier, when Dangote started, they also started just with their CRU, and they were running the product to storage. Over time, they then started the units that are downstream.

They started the CRU, they started the FCC after some time, and so on. It was when they started the CRU and FCC that they were then making high-octane stocks, which they blended with light naphtha and then sent to storage.

If you remember, that is exactly what happened. It is the same thing that is happening with Port Harcourt refinery Area 5. The only difference is that Area 5 is fortunate that right next to it is Eleme Petrochemicals company that produces Crack C5, which has an octane number of 95 to 97. That is the luck Area 5 has.

If you recall, Dangote did not immediately start selling PMS. They were selling diesel because diesel is your light gas oil as I explained. So, it took them time. They had to start downstream before they were able to start blending to give PMS. I hope you recall that transition in bringing products into the market.

Did NNPC Limited rush the processes by not being clear with the company���s communication to the publics?泭

Now, I see where the slight confusion is coming from. If you recall, the first statement that we all heard was on the day they started loading trucks at the loading bay and they said they loaded PMS and diesel and that was the case because they already had that crack C5 in their storage tanks.

For your information, I used to be the Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refinery in 2010.

We have two lines that link Eleme Petrochemicals with the Port Harcourt Refinery. One of the lines takes what we call the propane-rich field from the Port Harcourt refinery to Eleme Petrochemicals while the other line brings back crack C5 from Eleme Petrochemicals to the Port Harcourt refinery.

So, as soon as they started Area 5 and they were producing light naphtha and diesel, they were able to immediately start blending the light naphtha and crack C5 to make PMS and that is what they loaded out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

There was an issue and I had to speak with our colleagues who were there and they said they needed to do more blending of the balance of the light naphtha that was being produced with the crack C5 that they had in storage.

So, they took the time on Friday to do that blending, so that they would continue loading out. I think people misunderstood that it was not producing. No, loading out of product has to be done after blending. Let’s give the benefit of the doubt.

I think that the reality we are facing in the country today is that there is a trust deficit among us as a people. But let us make all efforts again to be transparent in reporting and also believe when a transparent report is being given.

It is like an elephant, when a blind man touches the trunk, this thing is very big. Another blind man touches the strut and says it is just like a pipe because he is not seeing the whole picture.

People tend to misunderstand things and that leads to misrepresentation and wrong interpretation. Let us build trust on the side of the people and the side of stakeholders, and our country will be better for it.

*The Federal Government says the appointment of fresh leadership in the sector is aimed at entrenching world-class standards in Nigerian public health administration to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks in line with international best practice

Isola Moses | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment and reappointment of the following Board Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

AjuriNgelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, show disclosed this development in a statement issued Thursday, February 15, 2024, said the move was part of the Federal Government’s efforts at entrenching world-class standards in Nigerian public health administration and commitment to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks commensurate with international best practice. These are:

(1) National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC):

Board Chairperson: Dr. Mansur Kabir

Chief Executive Officer: Prof. Moji Adeyeye

(2) National Blood Service Commission (NBSC):

泭Board Chairperson: Prof. Abba Zubairu

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Saleh Yuguda

(3) Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN):

Board Chairperson: Prof. AfolabiLesi

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Fatima Kyari

(4) Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN):

Board Chairperson: Pharm. WasilatGiwa

Chief Executive Officer: Pharm. Ibrahim Ahmed

(5) Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN):

泭Board Chairperson: Dr. BabajideSalako

泭Chief Executive Officer: Dr. TosanErhabor

(6) ModdiboAdama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUTH):

Chief Medical Director / CEO: Prof. Adamu G. Bakari

(7) Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH):

Chief Medical Director / CEO: Prof. Reuben Eifediyi

Besides, the statement also noted in the government’s efforts at enhancing the resilience of Nigeria’s public health surveillance and security architecture, President Tinubu approved the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to assume office on February 19, 2024:

(8) Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC):

Director-General / CEO: Dr. Olajide Idris

The Presidential media aide equally explained President Tinubu has “painstakingly considered the wealth of experience of each qualified and aforementioned Nigerian, who will be tasked with driving his Renewed Hope Agenda in the sector.

Profiles of new appointees at a glance

The government further said some details about the new leadership in the sector include the following:

NCDC Director-General/CEO, Dr. Olajide Idris, received his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos’ College of Medicine, after which he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the Ivy League’s Yale University in Connecticut, United States of America.

He had served as the Commissioner of Health in Lagos State from 2007 to 2019, after serving as the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Health from 1999 to 2007.

NBSC Chairperson, Prof. Abba Zubairu, PhD, has served as the Medical Director of the world-leading Mayo Clinic in the United States of America, following a long career in which he served as a Resident Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Hospital as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and undertook a Clinical Fellowship at the Harvard Medical School’s Transfusion Medicine Programme during which he obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Science at the same institution.

泭MDCN CEO, Dr. Fatima Kyari, PhD, is a renowned ophthalmologist and Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Medicine (FNAMed) who obtained an MBBS degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, after which she obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before she obtained a Doctorate degree in Public Health from the same institution.

It stated: “The President expects that the new leadership across this critical human development sector will substantially raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population.

Ngelale as well noted that Tinubu’s administration is committed to implementing a whole-of-government approach to transforming the sector to enhance aggregate national quality of life and productivity.

“Owing to the high cost of historical underperformance in the sector, the President anticipates the immediate and effective implementation of new policy frameworks to reposition the sector under the able leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social ExWelfare, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate,” stated he.

TemitopeAjayi

There is a viral video where Mr. Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), human rights lawyer, made allusion to the sum of N135.4 billion given to the 36 states December 2023, at a memorial event in honour of late Dr. BekoRansome-Kuti.

It is important to state here that Mr. Falana has a strong reputation for exaggerations and embellishments.

What the Lagos lawyer rendered in that trending video was total misrepresentation of facts.

He also did not tell his audience the real reason the said amount was released to the States under the World Bank-funded NG-CARES Programme.

Contrary to the wrong impression of wasteful and frivolous spending being conveyed to the public by Mr. Falana, it should be stressed that it is the Lagos lawyer who needs to get himself acquainted with the issue in contention.

Here are the facts:

1. The whole global economy is still reeling from the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with the attendant disruptions to the global supply chain, from which the world is yet to fully recover.
2. COVID-19 exacerbated poverty around the world, especially as a result of loss of livelihoods in rural communities and among the urban poor.
3. Post-COVID-19, the World Health Organisation and World Bank are still supporting countries to strengthen their health systems and emergency preparedness, so nations can be in much better position to deal with other public health emergencies that may occur in future. Just last year, there was an outbreak of Diphtheria, monkeypox, and Lassa Fever in over 20 states in Nigeria that government effectively contained.

In a bid to further manage the aftermath of COVID-19 in line with the framework of the WHO and the World Bank, the Federal Government, in December 2023, disbursed N135.4billion to the states, following Independent Assessment of results achieved under the Nigeria泭 COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme.

The money, which Falana attempted to scandalise in the viral video, was released to address social and economic crisis created by COVID-19.

This is not peculiar to Nigeria. Every country in the world today is still dealing with many socio-economic problems caused by COVID-19.

The aim of the NG-CARES Programme backed by World Bank, which is being implemented in all the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, is to mitigate the economic and social shocks faced by vulnerable people, who are yet to get their livelihoods back as a result of the lockdown occasioned by the pandemic.

The project is structured as one that delivers results. Only states that have implemented according to laid-down procedures prescribed in the Financing Agreement, the Funds Release Policy, and the Independent Verification Agent Protocol get reimbursement for the money already spent.

Therefore, the money Mr. Falana mentioned with the intent to ridicule the Federal Government and incite the public against the government and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was disbursed, based on the results achieved by the States and FCT in their efforts at supporting poor and vulnerable Nigerians under the NG-CARES Programme.

The ���three best performing states in the泭 Second Round of Assessment are Nasarawa, which got N13,697,828,496.96, Cross River N10,944,747,818.84 and Zamfara N10,231,055,267.82,” according to NG-CARES National Coordinator, Abdulkarim Obaje, in a statement.

While government needs critics as watchdogs for accountability, and to engender more transparency in the management of public affairs and finance, that sacred duty should not be left in the hands of those who have elevated half-truths and embellishments as their article of trade.

Criticisms should be constructive and fact-based.

*Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.

Isola Moses | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

Mrs. Patience Ehigiator, a petty trader in Benin City, in Southern Nigeria, juggles multiple businesses to support her family.

She is majorly a food vendor, but complements the business with sales of table water, soft drinks, beverages, among others.

Ehigiator says that she has been in the business for more than five years.

Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of CBN

The young woman says she loves digital transactions which she finds safe and secure.

���Digital payment methods are not common in our area, but I always encourage my customers to pay through mobile money to a designated bank account.

���I was excited when the Federal Government announced the plan to implement a cashless policy in Nigeria; clearly, the policy will streamline transactions and reduce the risk of dealing with cash.

���Online payment is good. It is secure and safe. It reduces robbery since nobody would be carrying money around.

“Even with an ATM card, one can go to a POS operator and transfer money without anybody knowing.

“This informed why I preferred to be paid digitally even before the government policy,��� she says.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in 2012, introduced a cashless policy in Lagos, Nigeria���s major financial centre and economic hub, but extended it to other parts of the country on July 1, 2014.

This policy, alongside naira redesign, ensured a full implementation of a cashless economy from January 9, 2023.

The initiative, according to the CBN, seeks to reduce financial crime and tax avoidance, decrease cash dependency, advance the adoption of Digital Financial Services (DFS), decrease the risks to the payment system and foster financial inclusion.

Eager to embrace the change, Mrs Ehigiator applied for a Point of Sale (POS) machine for financial services which could also expand her petty business.

She says, however, that the excitement about the new digital payment system introduced by the government has been replaced with general frustration.

According to her, malfunctioning POS machines and intermittent network failures constitute constant hindrance.

���Very often, we struggle to receive payments from customers to restock our goods,��� she fumes.

Ehigiator is not alone in the situation. Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus, a civil servant, who also engages in petty trading, says she has lost many customers due泭 to the ineffective payment system introduced by the government at the centre.

���My experience has not been palatable. Buying and selling has been very difficult because of the digital failures while making payment for goods and services.

���The situation has resulted in poor sales because people do not have cash to make purchases and they cannot make digital payments because of poor infrastructure. As a result of this, I only sell to people I know,” she says.

Yusuf-Badmus explains: “When I tried to find alternatives, I got swindled.

���This bad infrastructure forced me to open a palmpay account which is faster, but I got swindled through the application and I lost over N6,000 before I later deleted the application.”

But Yusuf-Badmus is optimistic that the policy to digitise payments, if implemented well, will solve many challenges traders like herself face.

���Cashless economy is a good initiative as it reduces carrying cash around and also reduces theft, but it can only thrive in a society that has a good facility and available network.

���I prefer a cashless economy but Nigeria seems not ripe enough for it.

“There are many things that have to be put in place before we can have a total switchover.���

These experiences are faced by several Nigerian consumers since the relaunch of the digital payment policy, judged by many to be good.

Even when the digital payment system seems to work, the collapse of several financial institutions has often left people in a state of uncertainty.

Reports of funds disappearing, accounts frozen and difficulties in making online payments as a result of downturns are common.

For individuals like Mrs Ehigiator, who rely heavily on online platforms for their livelihoods, these drawbacks have brought financial strain and anxiety.

While the objective of the policy was to bring positive change, the lack of adequate preparation and infrastructure have proved to be debilitating for Nigerians.

Government agencies, financial institutions and technology providers appear ill-equipped to handle the immediate and broader impact of the policy.

According to a report by the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Nigeria lost more than N20 trillion to poor policy implementation between January and March 2023.

In the report obtained by Dataphyte, a media research and data analytics organisation, the losses emanated from the de-celeration of economic activities, crippling of trading activities, stifling of the informal economy, contraction of the agricultural sector and the paralysis of rural economy.

The report said the economy was gradually grinding to a halt due to the collapse of payment systems across all platforms, as digital platforms performed sub-optimally due to congestion and poor infrastructure.

As the problems mounted, Nigerians voiced their frustrations, demanding swift action and resolution.

The government, recognising the urgency, pledged to rectify the situation by investing in improved digital infrastructure, training personnel and ensuring seamless access to digital payment platforms.

Calls for policy reevaluation

Currently, the Federal government is under intense pressure to fix the challenges of implementing the policy as demands for digital payments and transactions grow among the populace.

Charles Collins, a student, has been transacting via the government-built platform and wants the government to address current challenges so he could fully benefit from the system.

���There is a need to revisit the policy for its inherent benefits.

“However, it must be ensured that the technical glitches that undermined the policy are looked into,��� he said.

Corroborating Collins��� stance, Yusuf-Badmus also backed a re-evaluation and re-introduction of the policy.

According to the trader, this is necessary due to the weighing benefits of digital payments which surpass whatever may be the shortcomings, particularly in a country battling insecurity.

���Cashless economy guides against carrying physical cash and reduces chances of corruption because any digital payment made or received can easily be traced. This will reduce theft and can also help one to control lavish spending,��� she says.

Experts��� opinions

Mr Abbo D���L矇on, a digital expert, acknowledged the impressive growth Nigeria has recorded in the adoption of digital payments in Africa.

He noted, nonetheless, that limited investment as well as lack of trust occasioned by low awareness of the inherent benefits of the policy among the public, still hinder the progress of this technological innovation in the country.

A digital expert, Abbo D���L矇on, blamed the poor infrastructure on the financial institutions in the country, which have failed to expand their facilities to meet future demands.

���Infrastructure for the policy was not anticipated at that rate. There is what we call bandwidth. Internet subscription or internet access is limited by either speed or bandwidth.

���Technically, the internet is free, but it is being limited by speed and bandwidth. So, the access or bandwidth that an organisation has, based on the existing infrastructure, could be 10,000 users at a particular time frame. That means, that is the limit they are paying for.

���When the policy implementation started, they may now be getting 50,000 transactions or processings. Meanwhile, the system was not set up to do that.

It means the institutions are only managing their existing infrastructure instead of upgrading the infrastructure to fit the current demand that led to the collapse,��� he said.

Similarly, a tech expert, Mr Oloruntobi Oladele, has observed that right of way laws were slowing down digital infrastructure expansion in the country. Many cables for strong connectivity, which is an enabler of digital public infrastructure, he says, are being destroyed owing to right of way claims by the government.

Right of way law is the total land area acquired for the construction of the roadway. Under this law, the government hides to unearth telecommunication cables meant to improve quality service delivery.

The infrastructure that is unearthed remains the backbone of enabled service delivery all over the world, Oladele points out.

He opines that investment is required at government and private sector levels to optimise infrastructure interventions as digital payments run through the same service providers which are few at the moment.

���The huge traffic on those infrastructure leads to poor quality of service provisioning,��� the expert says.

D���L矇on, on the other hand, identifies awareness as key to deepening adoption of digital payments for commercial transactions, which the cashless policy seeks to encourage.

���There is adoption among institutions because of the high educational awareness, but adoption in the less formal sector is low such as among marketers and other SMEs because of lack of educational awareness.

���The second part is lack of awareness of the capability of the facility. If people do not know that something exists, they cannot use it.

“The conventional type of transaction that works and is reliable to them, is cash,��� he said.

Backing the calls for the full scale implementation, D���L矇on says that when cashless economy grows in a nation, it fastens such economy at a very rapid rate

���Based on the way money works in terms of how cash works and the value that is attached to it, cash, in terms of currency, is limited in print and supply. When a cashless economy grows, we see that it allows the economy to grow at a very faster rate as it does not require you necessarily to have more cash.

���With increase in mobile financial transactions and purchases across different sectors or industries, you do not necessarily need to print more cash.

“That is one benefit; it helps the economy to grow faster. The cost of printing money is reduced. It does not necessarily mean they won���t print or make cash available, but when people adopt this, it increases the growth of the economy and makes it easier as well as less expensive for the government to manage it.

���It also increases the ease of doing business because it ensures there is convenience on the part of business owners and the consumers because nobody needs to start looking for cash to carry out transactions,��� he says.

He submitted that since Nigeria had tested the policy, it was a very good learning phase for the country and an opportunity to take a look at how the system operates and create a better system.

���I think people were beginning to get used to the situation before the policy was relaxed. If it had existed a month longer, we would have adapted properly to it and be able to manage it.

���Nevertheless, the adoption rate has increased. It was a good learning period for the financial institutions, business merchant and for the government in terms of seeing how people want to do business,��� the expert said.

CBN���s efforts at ensuring efficient payments system

Meanwhile, to make the digital payment system more robust in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has developed Nigeria Payments System Vision 2025 meant to promote and encourage electronic payments and convince the public of the benefits of the new technology solution.

On Nigeria Payments System Vision 2025 document

The CBN, in the document, aspires for Nigeria, a cashless and efficient electronic payment system infrastructure that will facilitate financial services in all sectors of the economy, and provide secured, reliable and user centric financial solutions in compliance with international standards, with minimal risk.

To achieve this, the apex bank says it has initiated a review of the core payments infrastructure and central switching platform to ensure continued capacity to meet payment demands.(Piece extracted from (NAN)

Alexander Davis | 蟯簽瓬ぺ

There is a current trend of heavy emigration in Nigeria. It is called ���japa��� which literally translates to relocating. What would you say about the trend?

I���m aware of it, and I see things changing.

I think it���s an indicator of a menace of the youths not recognising themselves in a country as an opportunity for life.

Laurent M.J. de Boeck

Like I was discussing with my colleagues recently, they are looking for better opportunities.

I think we have to look at it from the perspective of the demography.

I think there is a demography pressure on the country and on the government, also on any institution to structure. Year after year, it has only increased.

We have more youths entering the Labour market and the big secret is to create employment at the same pace.

So, migration is one of the solutions and we are not against it.

The only thing that is extremely important is to inform the youths that they shouldn���t believe anyone luring them with offers.

They should look at the legal ways to migrate or be informed on the conditions of migrating. We see a lot of things.

We promote legal migration, but at the same time, we are fighting those who are abusing this vulnerability because they will believe anyone who can promise them a job, asking them for money to take them through the borders; either smuggling them through the borders or transferring them to another country or within the same country with the intention to exploit them.

And that is where, as an organisation, we are very alarmed because this is increasing.

It is increasing because people are desperate, they try to find job, some have even tried the legal ways but they���ve been rejected, so, they will say that they have nothing to lose and will believe what anyone tells them.

We really need to reinforce the message but honestly, I believe it���s necessary to prevent by talking to the people, but then what?

I have not solved the issue by telling them not to go or not to believe the lies. So, we need to work with alternatives and the alternative is empowering them to believe in themselves.

I have been visiting Edo in a programme where we support the returnees, those who have failed in the migration cycle.

Some had reached European countries but others were in Libya or elsewhere. We worked with some actors or the civil societies there.

They have a very comprehensive programme that is not only looking at the skills or the qualifications which will be needed in the market but their self-esteem and the soft skills because people have lost faith in themselves and I think that means that we have to be involved in a lot of dialogue with the youths. There are not enough places where they can actually exchange their desperation and it was quite interesting that the centre I visited, that we are supporting, there were some people who returned and they talked to the community and brought in youths who had the intention to migrate but eventually didn���t do it.

In the area of employment, we are discussing with the necessary stakeholders for the involvement of the private sector because government is trying, even with the task force on smuggling and trafficking at the government level, but the structures are not able to adapt as quickly as the months go by, so we have to invest into every other actor playing a key role in private sector.

We hope to engage them. It���s very vivid in Nigeria. There are young people who succeed in setting up start-ups, so we would like to actually emphasise scaling that up with structures.

One dimension in joining these objectives is also to look at green jobs because we have to do much for greening the economy and that���s youthful potential with starts-ups for the youths.

Are you referring to agriculture by the green jobs?

It might be agriculture but in a way that is different from what we say farming is, but hydroponic farming for example, where you bring technology into farming.

It might be for a specific niche, a specific product that you need to use it.

I have that and we have done that in my previous posting.

To what extent have you engaged the youths in dialogue in Nigeria?

My colleague and I were discussing it and my analysis is that we are not doing enough in the dialogue with the youths. We need to identify them and talk with them.

In Edo State and in Lagos, we are working with youth organisations of returnees only, for now. It���s our obligation to talk to them.

How were you able to identify and get them?

We have many of them. We have so far supported about 30,000 of them to come back and in each case, we gave individual support.

We put them together, and then, they created these associations themselves and they expanded them by talking to one another.

So, it reaches out to more than 30,000 people but that���s still structured, not necessarily that they have created their own NGO.

I think what we need to look at is talking to youth associations and forming a larger group before they migrate, because what we have done is only a reaction, we have not been proactive and that���s what I want to change now and I believe strongly in the youths and in their power.

I have seen in some countries that they could change, going to the parliament as a group, advocating laws and programmes of the government to be changed in a dialogue.

I would like to do much more in a structured way by engaging with the youths in this regard.

The 30,000 youths that you are talking to at the moment, are there also legal migrants among them?

No, they are all ���irregular.��� We don���t want to stigmatise the person; so, it���s irregular migration.

We don���t like to say ���illegal’; it���s stigmatising.

They have all been identified with smugglers or traffickers.

We have structures through our office where they work on their return and reintegration.

That���s how we���ve been in contact with them for long.

What possible projection do you see with this trend?

With the new trend that we have seen, we can localise the departure, the majority of returnees were almost exclusive to Edo State and partially Lagos but mainly Edo State.

And it���s diminishing because there are a lot of our efforts with some associations there by the government, which are also committed to the task force against smuggling and trafficking.

The Edo State Governor has really worked by engaging other actors than just the government and it did pay off.

Now, we did anticipate that departures are from Kano.

We didn���t notice until now that we discovered through the returnees from Libya who we are supporting.

So, that���s what we need to look at in our policy countrywide.

What about the legal migrants, especially with respect to the ���brain-drain���? Are there measures that you have taken in that light?

Yes. It���s a difficult dimension because we are promoting the right to migrate.

So, Nigerians who are willing to go and find an employment as doctors is totally legal.

In London, we can only encourage him or her because they have done it legally.

The second difficulty is that he or she may send money back home, which has an impact in the well-being of the population and economy.

But it���s his private money, we can���t interfere; we can only provide guidance, encouraging them to reinvest in the system, not only transferring money to their family back home.

How do you mean to reinvest their money?

Those in London will transfer their money or remittances. It can be productive but it���s a guidance; it���s freedom because it���s their private money.

In seven countries in West Africa, which Nigeria is not part of yet, we created funds to support unemployment, which was a support for members in the Diaspora.

The other way is to encourage them to either come back for a temporary time if it will be possible for those doctors or teachers.

We have also done it for some that they can stay there and still provide assistance in the country or given incentives for them to come back and create businesses.

What we look at for the time being is a seasonal work as well.

When I mean seasonal, not necessarily related to agriculture but for short periods they acquire the expertise and the cycle is that they apply these expertise here.

We did it with some countries in Europe, Italy to be specific, and the agreement with the company was that the person goes for six months in a kind of coaching mechanism training for him to come back to start the branch of the business.

So, it���s a guarantee for the company. We want to also invest in Nigeria, that the person will be trained in how the company functions.

That has been very successful with Tunisia, for example, and we have done the same with Egypt. So that���s the kind of thing I would like us to look at and engage the kind of people who leave.

We take up specific sectors with the working conditions because if doctors go, the reason is that they may have more success in their career.

So, we need a structural change and that will take time but we need to alert the ministry of health, ministry of education that the doctors are leaving, but they know actually.

The UK lately announced a policy encouraging teachers from other countries to come in. Don���t you think it���s a strategy used by some developed countries to steal Nigeria���s human capital and that of other developing nations?

I will agree with you. It���s unfair because it���s two different levels if you compare what they are offering.

I will say that the government here should be aware that if they do not provide a conducive environment, those qualified people will go, so, it���s a natural choice, what people will do to seek better conditions.

They may not consider all the social aspects, that they may not necessarily be well-treated, they may lose their jobs, or be homesick because that happens.

We never really heard that much of those who have left, that they may not have employment but it���s not necessarily the panacea and in addition, they feel excluded and there may be some form of discrimination in some countries.

So, there are different aspects of social lives, which they will lose by going.

If we look exclusively at the economical side, maybe it���s better and indeed, it���s unfair.

I think it will be a government-to-government agreement to look at how they can take them with a condition that they should come back and reinvest or gain after their expertise in the country and I think we should be advocating specifically on those two sectors, education and health, because these are key for both the social and health development of any nation.

I cannot condemn (the UK policy) because it���s a freedom of people; it���s a choice but I will say that, yes, I find it unfair.

I have also heard people describe this era of frequent migration as a post-slavery era.

In the first era, the colonial masters came and took people against their will but now, even professionals are lured with ���juicy��� offers and they go on their own accord. Do you think that description fits?

It might be one consequence that they may go on their own, to be exploited or to be in conditions which are not conducive but that���s an unfortunate situation and that���s why I say it���s unfair because some big countries can make promises but in the end, may not actually fulfil all. That���s where I talk about integrity, looking at yourself.

Are you ready to sacrifice because there might be the need for sacrificing what you have hoped or would have hoped to meet or the dream you have created for yourself and your family.

So, in a way, I may understand if some people say that it���s a new form of slavery.

A lot of legal migrants from here also go through a lot to migrate.

Some even invest their life savings, sell properties, get into debt to be able to achieve that.

With your experience with migrants from Africa and especially Nigeria, What has been the testimony so far? Do they always meet their expectations abroad?

I think it���s the case for some but I think one has to think twice.

If you take the risk of investing your entire life and not yours alone but that of your parents, your uncles and entire family, putting them in debt sometimes, I think you have to think of it if these debts wouldn���t be worth investing in the country and even a quicker success than moving far, being cut from your family links, your community.

I wonder whether it���s worth it. In terms of quality of life, we cannot only evaluate the quality of life by the quantitative amount of money but I had a discussion sometimes in Central Africa with some youths willing to go to my country and they said the salary is higher, but I said the cost is higher.

If you gain 1,000 Dollars but your apartment and cost of living is 700 dollars, then you are left with 300 because life is much more expensive there than it is here in your country.

Here, you may gain 300 in your currency but your cost of living is maybe 50, so, you may have the same in the end without being exposed to difficulties and being far from your family circle.

So, I think we need to measure: Is it worth this really to be far away?

You may believe you may get more funds but the number of people I see in Europe renting an apartment; I have seen cases of 25 people renting a room and they rotate to sleep.

Really?

Yeah. There are people taking advantage of that because they can���t pay for an apartment on their own, so, they can���t sleep three hours.

They will never say that to their families. They will send money back home but after sending money back home, they will have nothing to eat or a place to sleep because they have to sacrifice.

Not that they are super-rich, but they have to save money to come back.

I have seen many coming back with beautiful shoes, beautiful suits when they come back and they are able to pay for their tickets and they pretend that they are very rich but they are not.

But they can���t say it because the family has put itself in debt. So, they must send money and they have to sacrifice on their own.

So, I will say, think twice. There is a labour market here that is difficult but there are also a lot of opportunities.

It���s just to identify them and find who can help you develop your a start-up business plan.

So, it���s feasible but it���s just to make sure that the investment is worth it because you may lose your integrity but otherwise, we encourage legal migration.

In the aspects of insurgency and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North, what role is IOM playing?

We are very active in the North-East, and in the North Central for the time being, in Kano, Katsina and Yola.

In Borno, we work with the people displaced by the conflicts.

There, we are coordinating activities and providing humanitarian assistance. It could be temporary shelter, non-food items and the coordination with all other actors where we need health, nutrition, water, wash and sanitary services.

So, we have a big team helping in providing these humanitarian assistance to the displaced.

We are trying to look at durable solutions to identify places where it���s stable and safe for them to return and reconstruct their housing and the social network of schools and health centres, but it���s not feasible everywhere for the time being. Another aspect is that we work on what transpires between the farmers and herders and the situation sometimes which may be tense is the case of social cohesion basically, because people are moving and then they are fighting for the same resources, so, we have to work on identifying solutions between the two.

We have done that successfully in Yola, trying to prevent clashes between communities which are within the borders.