Damola Rufai
Innovation is a common subject in Nigeria, especially in the tech space, where Nigerian youths are increasingly dedicating their time to develop exceptional solutions to problems. But a furniture innovation in Nigeria? That, is a rare subject. Two weeks ago, Damola Rufai emerged winner of a million naira prize at the IO Furniture Innovation Award, a CSR initiative of leading interior design and furniture manufacturing company, IO Furniture.

Damola Rufai’s ‘Esho Table’ was chosen as the winning design amongst other great designs, like ‘Ubuntu’, by Yinka Adepoju, and ‘Beta’, by Nafisat Dada. The ‘Esho Table’ is a versatile design that can be used in both commercial and residential settings. Made of a glass top and welded steel rods as the support, it was designed with low poly graphics in mind to conjure up images of a cut jewel, hence the name ‘Esho’, from the Yoruba word for treasure or jewel.

Ventures Africa had an exclusive interview with Mr Damola Rufai, to discuss his success at the event and the future of designing for him.

Ventures Africa (VA): Kindly introduce yourself briefly?

Damola Rufia (DR): I am Damola Rufai. I am a designer/artist. I studied architecture at Howard University and Miami Dade College. I attended Kings College, Lagos Nigeria. And Nigerian International School in the Republic of Benin for a little bit. That’s me in a nut shell.

VA: You studied architecture, can you explain the diversion to furniture making, since most people would relate architecture to building?

DR: For me it is not too far a stretch, because architecture involves design. For me, that’s the part I’ve always enjoyed about architecture, but it’s just one part of architecture. And I decided to take that skill and parlay it into something that I felt at home with and enjoyed doing more. When I was in school, one of the things I loved doing was model making, it was always like I was creating a piece of art or sculpture. It took a while but I realised I was more of a maker.

VA: How did you hear about the IO furniture Innovation award?

DR: Well, everything leads to something. My old boss I used to work with sent me the flyer. When I worked with him, I started as an architect and we had discussed going into other products not just buildings, and it was there that I started exploring lighting, furniture … After I left, this opportunity came up and he just thought I’d be interested and sent it to me. So you see why I said it is not that far-fetched that I am doing this now.

VA: How did you feel winning this award; did you think you were going to, or was it a total surprise?

DR: It was a surprise. The other finalists had very strong designs, it was very hard for me to figure out who was going to be the winner. I had confidence in my own work, I admired it and also saw the value in it but I was nervous to the very end. Let me put it this way, sometimes it’s hard to give myself all the credit, so when I saw the works of other competitors, I was like Whoa! Pretty good entries. I had no idea how it was going to end but I just thought, “Whoever wins will deserve it.”
Esho table by Damola Rufai Credit - LSF PREsho table by Damola Rufai
Credit – LSF PR

VA: So who was your biggest competition amongst the other finalists?

DR: I would say it was Yinka, he created Ubuntu. It was like a collapsible furniture piece that had an in-built shelving system. I thought he was a very strong competitor. Nafisat also had a very ambitious project – the one that converts from a bunk to a bed and sofa.

VA: So why do you think you emerged the winner, what was your edge?

DR: I’d like to think the edge was the ingenuity in the materials used, I’d like to think that was part of it. My intent was to create something that didn’t immediately look like a table and almost had a sense of weightlessness to it. When I say weightlessness, I mean visually. If you look at other people’s work, there is a heft to them. But there’s a lot of void space, when you see mine – there’s a lot of play between negative and solid. So it almost looks like cobwebs, same way cobwebs have this structure to them but still have all this void space. I wanted it to look brittle, like something that could easily break but actually wouldn’t. So for me it was like a play on expectation, because if something looks like it’s frozen in motion and looks like it might be easy to break, but then when you get to it, and it isn’t any of those things.

VA: A surprise factor?

DR: Thank you. That was what I was going for.

VA: What did you do immediately you got information about the competition, what was the process to the final design?

DR: Well, fortunately, the design is something I had done before. So it was like I just had to revisit it and improve on some things and work it out. So it still was like doing it for the first time because I didn’t just have the dimensions and everything on hand. I still had to start from scratch, and the way I usually work is – I create a physical model that gives me the look, feel and scale of what the final prototype will be. I didn’t do anything on the computer. I have a sketch and then I just intuitively start to create what I want it to look like. I use a glue gun, sticks, and I just add and remove things until I get what I’m looking for. Then I go to my artisans here in Lagos, speak to them, supervise them and we come up with the final product together.

VA: Kindly explain the name of your work – “Esho.”

DR: The name came after I finished making it. It’s part of a line; I have some table lamps that I have created in the same style too and after I finished making those, they just reminded me of a cut jewel. Let me bring this to pop culture a bit, do you listen to Drake?

VA: Yes, a little bit.

DR: Okay, there is an album he released recently with Future, if you look at that album cover, it is like a close up shot of a bunch of diamonds. And the way that just looks with the light refracting off the edges of the jewel, is what I was reminded of when I created them (the table lamps). And I just liked how easy it was to say “Esho” – two syllables.
Esho table Credit - LSF PREsho table
Credit – LSF PR

VA: So Esho means what exactly?

DR: It means treasure or jewel in Yoruba.

VA: You mentioned earlier, that this (Esho) was part of a line. Do you always have lines for your work? That is often related with fashion.

DR: Yea, it is basically the same thing, it’s no different. I am currently working on a line of fabrics, and shirts and dresses. So it pervades everything, it is bigger than just one thing. Because I know how to design buildings, I can also design other things. And so with lighting, furniture, if it has the same aesthetic style, you group them into one collection. It is the same in fashion where you can say there are spring, summer lines that usually have themes… It’s basically the same concept.

VA: A unique aspect of your work is the decision not to use modern computerised tools. Why?

DR: If you remember at the beginning of our conversation, I said when I was in school, I loved playing with sticks and my friends in school knew me for that. That’s what I liked. I like the intimacy of working with the material, and coming up with a form that is genuine to me. The way I use to do it in school was I’d start with the model and then translate that into the computer, so I’d have my drawings and 3d renderings. I also just wanted to show that you could achieve something contemporary even if it wasn’t made on a computer.

VA: What were your challenges doing this work, or was there none?

DR: Well, I wouldn’t say there was none and it is just a prototype. For me right now, it’s a one off art piece to showcase an idea, it’s not a finished work. It is functional, but there are still things I’d like to work out. Some of the challenges I faced had to do with availability of processes that could make the finished product more refined and also, access to funds, I was ultimately able to do this with support from my parents.

VA: How will a million naira affect your work?

DR: What a million naira affords me is the opportunity to do more one off pieces to showcase my vision a lot more. So I can hopefully be able to partner with bigger manufacturing companies that could assist in mass producing lines because these (current works) aren’t necessarily mass production friendly. These are like audition pieces, just to showcase the idea and the vision. Ultimately, I’d like to work with bigger manufacturing companies whether at home, or outside the country.

VA: It has to be at home.

DR: If there is a manufacturing company here that is interested, I am totally game. Ultimately, I always prefer if it’s here; its home, and you are adding to the economy. But I also know that manufacturing in Nigeria has taken a big dive. Even the CEO of IO said the other day in her speech, that a lot of manufacturing here have taken a dive. That’s one of the things that is very impressive about what she is doing; I am very excited and glad that there are people like her taking up the mantle and creating that avenue again in Nigeria because there aren’t that many. Even our textile industry, like I told you I’m planning to get into fashion, you’ll be surprised how little of our fabric is made here. If at all.
Credit - LSF PRCredit – LSF PR

VA: Have you ever had an exhibition?

DR: Yes, I participated in one but I do want to have a solo exhibition that’s a lot more expansive; something that shows off new work, and also a bigger library. The one time I did, it was part of a group exhibition, and that didn’t showcase designs, it was just art – digital painting. In the future, I want to do something that showcases art, design, and fashion because that’s where I’m headed.

VA: What’s next for you?

DR: To make more things, for people to see, to purchase, and produce. That’s what’s next for me.

VA: Any word of advice for people in your field?

DR: Hang in there. You have to stick to your guns, knowing that your work is valuable. Also know that you can’t do it alone; always talk to people that share similar interests, include as many talented people as you can in what you do. No industry is just one person, it takes a group of people to make something good.

The IO Innovation Award is aimed at promoting the raw, untapped talent of Nigerian youths through a competition that requires a display of their creativity in furniture and interior design. IO Furniture firmly believes that this platform will spark a conversation that will inspire and motivate youths in the design industry, and show them the endless possibilities of design and manufacturing in Nigeria.

Judges at the event includes Muni Shonibare, Chief Executive Officer of IO Furniture, Tayo Babalakin, president of the Association of Consulting Architects Nigeria (ACAN), and Stefano Moretti, Head of Production at IO Furniture, amongst others.

Damola’s ‘Esho Table’ will be produced and added to the IO Furniture product line, he will also receive royalties on his design for a year.



JUST LOOK AT THOSE LOVELY DESIGNS...

MAIN ONE: FUNKE OPEKE
Landing points

1. Portugal Seixal, Portugal
2. Nigeria Lagos, Nigeria
3. Ghana Accra, Ghana
4. South Africa South Africa

Total length 14,000 km
Topology trunk and branch
Design capacity 1280 Gbit/s
Currently lit capacity n/a
Technology Fiber optics
Date of first use July 22, 2010

The Main One Cable is a submarine communications cable stretching from Portugal to South Africa with landings along the route in various west African countries. On April 28, 2008, it was announced that Main Street Technologies has awarded a turnkey supply contract for the Main One Cable System to Tyco Telecommunications.

The cable system spans 14,000 km and provides additional capacity for international and Internet connectivity to countries between Portugal and South Africa on the west coast of Africa. The submarine cable project was designed in two phases, both of which were scheduled for completion in May 2010. The dual fiber pair, 1.28-Tbit/s, DWDM project connects Nigeria, Ghana, and Portugal in Phase 1 with onward connectivity through Portugal to Europe, Asia and the Americas. The Phase 1 cable system spans 6,900 kilometres. Additional connectivity extending to Angola and South Africa occurred in the second phase of the project.

Main One provides international capacity into a region that has experienced explosive growth in tele-density in recent years, but which remains constrained with respect to access to international cable capacity for global connectivity. The system is being developed by Main Street Technologies headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. An October 10, 2008 press release states that the desk top study and engineering for the system has been completed. On July 22, 2010 the cable was launched.

Project management and engineering for the cable system has been contracted to specialist undersea consulting firm, Pioneer Consulting.[1]


Path
Main One - phase 1

The Main One Cable is an undersea cable system stretching from Portugal to South Africa with landings along the route in various west African countries.
Landing points

The Main One cable system has the following landing points in operation in July 2010

Seixal, Portugal
Accra, Ghana
Lagos, Nigeria

planned landing points for phase 2 are:

Casablanca, Morocco
Tenerife, Canary Islands
Dakar, Senegal
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Bonny, Nigeria
Libreville, Gabon
Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Luanda, Angola
Cape Town, South Africa
Swakopmund, Namibia

Impact

Main One will provide international capacity into a region that has experienced explosive growth in tele-density in recent years, but which remains constrained with respect to access to international cable capacity for global connectivity.

The Main One Cable system will provide open access to regional telecom operators and Internet service providers at rates that are less than 20% of current international bandwidth prices in the region available via SAT3 or satellite service providers, according to the project's organizers. Main Street says it will encourage local content development via skills transfer of critical networking technologies and job creation with the location of the network operational center (NOC) for the entire system in Nigeria.
Ownership

The cable is privately owned by Main Street Technologies, international investors like the Africa Finance Corporation and the Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF) and a couple of Nigerian banks.
Progress

On April 28, 2008, it was announced that Main Street Technologies has awarded a turnkey supply contract for the Main One Cable System to Tyco Telecommunications.[4] An October 10, 2008 press release states that the desk top study and engineering for the system has been completed.[5] On July 1, 2010 press release states that Main One has been completed and commissioned.[6] The cable went live on July 22, 2010.


THE INTERVIEW...

Funke Opeke
Chief Executive Officer
Main One Cable Company, Nigeria

Funke was born and raised in Nigeria where she obtained a degree in Electronics & electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in 1981 before she proceeded to New York for a Master’s degree at Columbia University. Following graduation from Columbia, Funke pursued a career in ICT in the United States and successfully ended that phase of her career as an Executive Director with the Wholesale division of Verizon Communications in New York when she decided to return to Nigeria in 2005. She joined MTN Nigeria as Chief Technical Officer, and also served as adviser to Transcorp and Chief Operating Officer of NITEL for a brief period before launching Main Street Technologies in 2007. The company went on to raise $240 Million to build the pioneer private submarine cable system in West Africa – Main One Cable. The 7,000km cable runs from Portugal down to Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria and is delivering wholesale broadband capacity across several countries in West Africa today.
What would you say are the most challenging and the most satisfying aspects of your work?

The most challenging aspect of my work is building the team to drive such an innovative project and deliver world class service quality out of our operational headquarters in Nigeria. The most satisfying is seeing how much we have achieved in four years with the establishment of the company and early progress towards the transformation of the Internet economy in West Africa.
What qualifications or certifications did you attain in order to reach your professional goals?

My Master’s degree was critical, but so were numerous training classes in Business and Finance that I obtained during the course of my employment.
If there is one message you would like to convey to young women to encourage them to consider a profession in the ICT sector, what would it be?

ICT offers a tremendous opportunity for young women to work on solutions and technologies that impact people’s lives and change the world. A career in ICT can be diverse, varied and offers good rewards. Young women with the Science and Math aptitude and skills who do not explore a career in ICT are limiting themselves.

How Main One boosts W/Africa’s ICT devt’

By Adeyemi Adepetun on August 4, 2015 9:11 pm



BEFORE the landing in 2010 of Main One undersea cable system, West Africa’s Internet service market was characterized by the slow and exasperating access to the online space. Though in Nigeria, the vibrant telecommunications market had recorded significant milestones in terms of nominal growth and voice service uptake, following liberalization in 2001, the Internet service industry at the time was witnessing a severe downturn in fortunes.

Many cyber-cafes and notable Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were closing up shop owing to the high cost of international bandwidth capacity, amplified by harsh operating environment and challenging business models. Fast-forward five years, MainOne has undoubtedly changed the face of Internet in West Africa and has been a catalyst for the growth of the Internet in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy by GDP.

Investment profile
The firm has invested over $300 million in broadband infrastructure, which is indicative of MainOne’s commitment towards improving accessibility of broadband services across the region. Huge portions of the said investment were ploughed into the deployment of the firm’s state-of-the art 7, 000 kilometer submarine cable from Europe to West Africa.

In the first year of operations, MainOne led by its Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke, cut down the price of wholesale international bandwidth capacity by 50 per cent. Many ISPs that were hitherto out of business got a new lease of life. Since the launch of MainOne’s services in the country, there has been a re-birth of ISPs across West Africa, many of which are customers of MainOne.

To date, there has been increase in the number of Internet Users in Nigeria since July 1 2010, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Data from Renesys, a global Internet intelligence company, showed that MainOne is the foremost Internet Protocol (IP) provider in the West African region, with majority of the traffic coming out of West Africa on its network.

As part of the firm’s transformation from a submarine cable operator to full-fledged ICT Company, MainOne built a multi-million dollar Next Generation IP Network for Internet services. Earlier in the year, the company launched a 600 Rack, Tier III Certified Data Center, which offers colocation services and provides the foundation for offering cloud-based services in the nearest future.

Impact on Internet ecosystem
With MainOne’s massive investments in broadband infrastructure expansion, industry observers are of the view that the company is well positioned as a digital game-changer in the anticipated economic boom from frontier markets such as Nigeria and Ghana. In spite of the two countries’ socio-economic challenges, they remain attractive to global investors because of their large and young demographic, huge mobile penetration and usage, and continued strong economic growth. MainOne actively supports the social entrepreneurship and start-up community by powering technology incubation hubs, including CCHub, 440ng, Hackerspace amongst others.

The company has also supported technology development initiatives such as the yearly software competition of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria and Demo Africa among others.

The company is also facilitating the growth of electronic commerce in Nigeria, which is quite evident with the huge successes recorded by the likes of Konga.com, PagaTech, IrokoTV, Wakanow and DealDey, to mention but a few. Today, leading online stores achieve about $2 million worth of transactions per week with market size valued at $550 million expected to grow to $13 billion in 2018.

Network reliability
MainOne runs a superior network with unmatched records of high availability and reliability when compared with any other network in West Africa. Even with Nigeria’s harsh operating environment occasioned by epileptic power supply and incessant vandalism of infrastructure, the company has recorded zero downtime on its submarine cable system in the past five years.

To provide its teeming customers especially the enterprise segment, best-in-class levels of service, the MainOne network is interconnected to the leading global Tier 1 operators responsible for 70 percent of the world’s Internet traffic. This ensures quick response times for access to sites anywhere in the world.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos recently, Opeke, said, “Today, MainOne has the region’s highest active capacity on the firm’s submarine cable, and is the No.1 Internet transit provider in West Africa, interconnected with the London Internet Exchange (LINX), Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMIX), Nigerian Internet Exchange (IXPN) and the Ghanaian Internet Exchange (GIX).”
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/08/how-mainone-boosts-wafricas-ict-devt/

Funke Opeke - the hottest woman in Nigerian telecoms industry. She is an Ile-Oluji chic.

STILL ON MAIN ONE...

MainOne pledges to deepen broadband market

Source: Thomas-Moore Adingo | B&FT Online | Ghana
MainOne pledges to deepen broadband market

MainOne Cable has pledged to deepen its footprint in the country’s broadband and internet market to support the growth of businesses in Ghana and the West African region.

“We want to expand the network to get more customers connected, deliver value-added services, build infrastructure and services that support the internet ecosystem, and the oasis of services that enables productivity and drives organizational efficiency.

“We are continually looking at the Ghana market to see where further opportunities are to further deepen broadband adoption and replicate our impact on the connectivity market in other areas of the ICT sector. This is to enable the growth of corporate and enterprise businesses and support the overall economic prosperity of Ghana,” Kazeem Oladepo, Business Executive for West Africa told the B&FT.

Mr. Oladepo said this in Accra at the company’s fifth anniversary celebration of powering West Africa’s broadband and internet landscape.

Commenting on the company’s five-year operation, Mr Oladepo said, “It has been a very tough but exciting journey so far, one that we feel privileged to be part of when you consider the growth and progress that has been achieved in the last five years, which we pioneered.

“We wouldn’t however have gotten here without our partners, including our customers, the Government of Ghana, the National Communication Authority and the people, who have given us the opportunity to deepen broadband adoption. Everything we have achieved has been with a lot of hard work, given the operating environment generally in the region and competing in a market where there is a lot of value erosion by arbitrage business, in addition to being faced with currency constraints. The regulatory support and operating structure in Ghana has however been exceptional in helping us to overcome most of these challenges and the market has been quite supportive. We are indeed grateful.”

According to him, MainOne’s achievements in the last five years are enormous, adding that; “internet services is now commoditized and has become more efficient in Ghana is representative of the value we have brought to Ghana and the region over the years. The enormous ICT improvement tells us we have come a great long way in enabling success, for us and for the ISPs, including the 3G and LTE operators, whose sustainability we remain committed to. This is in addition to supporting the large telcos in their effort to improve quality of data services and enhance connectivity services in Ghana. The growth of e-commerce is part of our unique story and the overall productivity improvement in Ghana remains part of our most cherished accomplishments so far.”

He said infrastructure lapses remains one of the major hurdles in the sector. In spite of the challenges, the company continues to invest in fibre optic infrastructure, most recent of which is the 16 kilometers connecting its cable landing station in Teshie Nungua to Tema, which is part of its commitment to improving connectivity and uptime for its customers in the area.

The company intends to continue to implement such build-outs where the opportunities and economics align, but will also continue to work with its current partners in further deepening service spread.

Going forward, the company says it plans to move beyond connectivity services in Ghana to enabling more value-added services; and is currently exploring the landscape to appraise opportunities for increasing its product and services suite in Ghana, including additional data center space to accommodate customer requirements. It is also planning to extend its submarine cable footprint further into West Africa, with potential landing into Ivory Coast, which is in the pipeline, and Cameroon, which has reached an advanced implementation phase.

http://thebftonline.com/business/ict/14753/MainOne-pledges-to-deepen-broadband-market.html

9jacrip:


As I've always said, Africans in the Diaspora do not necessarily have to go through the DNA to find their ancestry. I believe over the years too much damage has been done for them to pin point where their actually family in Africa is/was. So I often suggest you read about various cultures in Africa and adopt one, learn it thoroughly, identify with it and pass it on to your kids. This way, you'd give your many generations to come an African identity.

Just my thoughts.

There are some diasporans who can determine their various tribes based on history here in Trinidad.Various tribes settled different areas for those who came as indentured laborers.I am okay just being Trinidadian .At ur suggestion,yea those orisha folks here have done that...quite a bit of them or their children have yoruba names such that you can't ever assume a yoruba name is a Nigerian.Lol...we have a soca artist name olatunji here and those Nigerians were arguing that he is Nigerian for one of his songs on youtube,that Trinis are lying when they claim him...the comments were funny jah.

Shymm3x:


Impressive.

Yes,very impressive...

Ritchiee:
I learnt Olukotun's recent work focuses on domain-specific programming languages that can allow algorithms to be easily adapted to multiple different types of parallel hardware including multi-core systems, graphics processing units, and field-programmable gate arrays...something akin to AI,if I may say.As for John Dabiri...his research in bio-inspired propulsion,the popular Science magazine named him one of its Brilliant 10 scientists in 2008 and for his research in bio-inspired wind energy, Bloomberg Businessweek magazine listed him among its Technology Innovators in 2012, and the MIT Technology Review magazine named him one of its 35 innovators under 35 in 2013.His expertise in
Mechanics and dynamics of biological propulsion, fluid dynamic energy conversion puts him in the field of AI because AI is interdisciplinary...it would surely get better...

Yes, AI is basically about making computers act intelligently. Though there's a lot of robotics involved today, especially the military. So they're both into AI. You can throw Akintunde Akinwande in there as well cos he's also a fellow of IEEE.

The three Nigerians that are IEEE fellows are: Olukotun, Dabiri, and Akinwande.

quimicababes:


There are some diasporans who can determine their various tribes based on history here in Trinidad.Various tribes settled different areas for those who came as indentured laborers.I am okay just being Trinidadian .At ur suggestion,yea those orisha folks here have done that...quite a bit of them or their children have yoruba names such that you can't ever assume a yoruba name is a Nigerian.Lol...we have a soca artist name olatunji here and those Nigerians were arguing that he is Nigerian for one of his songs on youtube,that Trinis are lying when they claim him...the comments were funny jah.

Interesting.
I never knew folks settled by ethnic groups.

Nigerians will claim anything LoL

Shymm3x:


Yes, AI is basically about making computers act intelligently. Though there's a lot of robotics involved today, especially the military. So they're both into AI. You can throw Akintunde Akinwande in there as well cos he's also a fellow of IEEE.

The three Nigerians that are IEEE fellows are: Olukotun, Dabiri, and Akinwande.

I think I have posted something about those scientists.They are great people...

Another brilliant mind and inventor.

Soni Oyekan



Dr. Soni Olufemi Olubunmi Oyekan who was born in 1946 in Nigeria is a U.S. citizen and a chemical engineer. Soni has over 35 years of experience in petroleum refining technologies and operations. Soni came to the United States in 1966 from Nigeria and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Yale University in 1970. He is a member of the Yale Manuscript honor society. After his undergraduate studies in Yale, Soni completed his graduate studies in chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned MS and PhD degrees in 1972 and 1977 respectively. His MS degree thesis title was "The Stability of Low Tension Interfaces—Effects of layers of Discrete Dipoles and Charges". The title of his doctoral thesis was "An Infrared Spectroscopic Study of the Isomerization and Hydrogenation of Cyclic Olefins Over Zinc Oxide".

Soni is President of Prafis Energy Solutions. Prafis Energy Solutions is an oil refining and energy consulting services company. Dr. Oyekan retired in December,2012 after years as the Reforming and Isomerization Technologist of Marathon Oil Corporation. Soni's contributions to chemical engineering are notable as a result of his significant contributions for the efficient use of reactor engineering and catalysis in the processing of crude oil to meet consumer demands for transportation fuel, heating oil, propane and butane gases, and for his extensive volunteer and leadership roles in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Soni has held a variety of positions in AIChE . The positions include chair of Fuels and Petrochemicals Division (F&PD), chair of the Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) and he served as a director of the AIChE Executive Board. He is a member of the AIChE Foundation Board of Trustees and a Fellow of the AIChE. Soni has contributed over the years in technical discussions on petroleum refining at the annual National Petroleum Refiners Association (NPRA) Q&A conferences. He has been honored for his academic achievements and research in petroleum refining. Soni is a member of Sigma Xi and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. He is a member of the Yale Manuscript Society. He was honored by AIChE's Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) with MAC's Distinguished Service award in 2000. The Fuels and Petrochemicals Division honored him with its Distinguished Service award in 2002. He is listed in the 2000 13th edition of Who's Who Amongst African Americans. Dr Soni Oyekan was named an Eminent Black Chemical Engineer by MAC at the AIChE Centennial Meeting in 2008. He is the recipient of the AIChE MAC 2008 William W. Grimes award for excellent contributions in chemical engineering and mentoring of under represented minority groups. Dr. Soni Oyekan is the 2009 Percy Lavon Julian award recipient. The Percy Julian award is the most prestigious honor given by the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). The award recognizes and honors a recipient's scientific contributions and achievements, dedication to research, commitment to the educational development of others and passion for the chemistry profession. Dr. Oyekan is specifically recognized for his contributions in oil refining and chemical engineering. He has 10 patents and numerous publications on a variety of topics in petroleum refining and catalysis.

Soni is married to Priscilla Ann Parker and they reside in LaPlace, Louisiana. They have four children.

14. Catalyst Regeneration and Continuous Reforming Issues, P. K. Doolin, D. J. Zalewski and S. O. Oyekan, in Catalytic Naphtha Reforming, Second Edition, edited by G. J. Antos and A. M. Aitani, Marcel Dekker, 2004
15. SRC-1 Naphtha Reforming Study, S. Oyekan, G. J. Townsend, K. N. Mathur, J. S. Sopko. Work performed under Contract DE-AC05-780R03054, 1983
16. Spain Patente De Invencion 495.771, 1980, G. A. Swan and S. O. Oyekan
17. France Patent 80 21507, 1980, G. A. Swan and S. O. Oyekan
18. Germany Patent DE 3038231, 1980, G. A. Swan and S. O. Oyekan
19. Desulfurization Technologies For the Control of Atmospheric Pollution of Sulfur Compounds in Brazil, S. O. Oyekan and K. E. Voss, Engelhard, 1983

Shymm3x:


Ikeke-idi, I knew it. A lot of these Yoruba chics secretly covet Igbo nyggahs, while Igbo nyggahs also secretly covet Yoruba chics, hence on most Biafran threads, you'd see a lot of Yoruba chics, even the ones that seldom post, telling Igbos not to leave Nigeria and are always the biggest proponents of one Nigeria - while Igbo nyggahs always allude to how Yoruba chics have nice bodies, but they're ugly. Somewhat reminiscent of how white guys and black women secretly covet each other but act like they don't get along in public.

However, with Yoruba nyggahs and Igbo chics - it's open and both desire each other in the open. Yoruba nyggahs will snipe anything under the skirt, regardless of the nationality/ethnicity. Shyte, a Yoruba nyggah would go to Biafra, if it becomes a country in "Neverland" and snipe all the Igbo chics there with pride. Ethnicity/nationality is the last thing on a Yoruba nyggah's mind and the typical Yoruba guy doesn't discriminate. Shyte, the only black guys I have seen from around the way married to Chinese, Filipinos,and full Indians (I've got an Igbo friend who has a baby with some half Indian chic - half-Indian and half-white) are Yoruba guys. If pygmies weren't extinct and they look nice - a Yoruba nyggah would snipe them.

There is no good reason for this sort of ignorance!!
Nigga,why are you always pulling sshit off your azz like a rretard.
An common ibadan village drunk is more intelligent than your ddumb azz.

Nobody is coveting anybody,you hook with what you like and is available to you whether Igbo ,Hausa or Yoruba. Igbo chics and guys don't go around fantasizing about Yoruba women and men. It's all in your mind because you have a warped mindset clogged with senseless tribal sentiments. One of my guy is married to a Yoruba chic who is by the way a nice person but before that he mostly dated Igbo chics. And one thing is common with these Igbo women that marry Yoruba guys, 99.9% of them grew up in lagos which make them available to the Yoruba guys to see but their male counterparts rarely marry Yoruba women.
Now,I am not saying Yoruba girls are not desirable but it's a common knowledge in Lagos that Igbo girls are very pretty. I know because I have been around your people for more that ten years. A lot of us have dated Yoruba women in our early twenties but it's not our ideal marriage partner. Most Igbo guys who grew up in Lagos will say the same but a Yoruba guy won't mind to wife Igbo chic in a heartbeat which is good because we have more women than men.

Our dissolve to stay with our women doesn't mean we are not open minded but we prefer our women because they are beautiful,which Yoruba guys can attest to. Also our marriages survives because of the the kind of women we breed in Igbo land.

[s]

NRIPRIEST:


There is no good reason for this sort of ignorance!!
Nigga,why are you always pulling sshit off your azz like a rretard.
An common ibadan village drunk is more intelligent than your ddumb azz.

Nobody is coveting anybody,you hook with what you like and is available to you whether Igbo ,Hausa or Yoruba. Igbo chics and guys don't go around fantasizing about Yoruba women and men. It's all in your mind because you have a warped mindset clogged with senseless tribal sentiments. One of my guy is married to a Yoruba chic who is by the way a nice person but before that he mostly dated Igbo chics. And one thing is common with these Igbo women that marry Yoruba guys, 99.9% of them grew up in lagos which make them available to the Yoruba guys to see but their male counterparts rarely marry Yoruba women.
Now,I am not saying Yoruba girls are not desirable but it's a common knowledge in Lagos that Igbo girls are very pretty. I know because I have been around your people for more that ten years. A lot of us have dated Yoruba women in our early twenties but it's not our ideal marriage partner. Most Igbo guys who grew up in Lagos will say the same but a Yoruba guy won't mind to wife Igbo chic in a heartbeat which is good because we have more women than men.

Our dissolve to stay with our women doesn't mean we are not open minded but we prefer our women because they are beautiful,which Yoruba guys can attest to. Also our marriages survives because of the the kind of women we breed in Igbo land.

[/s]

This illiterate village trader again? - le sigh.

I was going to smack ya biitch arse but I won't derail this thread. But read ya post again and see the contradictions and bigotry oozing out of the tripe you posted.

Don't derail the thread and take ya effeminate emotions elsewhere. With how fvcked ya face looks, no one is checking for ya arse. Not even midgets.

NRIPRIEST:

Whao!i'm really impressed with your comment.Infact you're a scholar.Thank you very much for your contributions Sir.May chukwu okike abiama bless you.You can now..

[img]http://niketalk.com/content/type/61/id/545358/width/350/height/700/flags/LL[/img]



Thank you

Main One achievement is one of the least most celebrated major feats in this country.

Lmao.

Afam4eva and lalasticlala have moved this thread to the culture section.

Why not move all the Igbo threads in the politics section to the culture section? These folks are bigots and that other handle that complained about the thread is one of Afam4eva's alternate handles, including the Balkan handle.

OAM4J

Please, help us move our thread back to the politics section where it belongs. We're discussing politics here.

Non-oil export earnings drop by N52.2bn in Q2



THE Nigerian Export Promotion Council has said that the country’s earnings from non-oil exports dropped by N52.2billion ($261million) in the second quarter of this year.


The country’s non-oil export dipped to N78.2bn ($391m) in the second quarter of 2015 from N130.4bn ($652m) recorded in the second quarter of 2014, representing 39.25 per cent decrease.

The figures were disclosed in Abuja yesterday by the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, during a courtesy call on the Council by the new Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd).Awolowo attributed the slump in non-oil export revenue earning to the suspension of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and the insurgence in the North East. “The situation is compounded with the non payment of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and the insurgency in the North East which is the agricultural basket of the nation.

He said, “The nation is not only losing on the economic front, the lull in the non-oil export is also affecting the capacity of the manufacturing sector to employ, lamenting that in the period under review, the nation lost 50 per cent of its labour force.“The country has taken a dip of 60 per cent in oil revenue. For any country across the world, it is huge. However, the challenges we are having in the oil sector are also affecting the value of our non-oil export. One of the challenges is the continued rejection of products by foreign importers, which he noted was due to improper documentation by clearing and forwarding agents. Awolowo stated that an inquiry into some of the causes of products rejection revealed that most exporters ran foul of documentation rules adding that exporters employed the services of cheap agents who do hasty jobs for them.

Services of cheap agents

On what the Federal Government is doing to put an end to rejection of products from Nigeria, the NEPC boss noted that an inter-agency committee was working to ensure zero rejection by 2016.

“In a bid to unearth the reasons behind the rejection of our export products in Europe, we went to London with seven agencies of government. We visited the largest Port where Nigeria and other West African countries’ goods pass through. To our utter disgust and amazement, many of the rejects were based on improper documentation. They route some of the goods through fraudulent clearing and forwarding agents. We have to work with the Customs service to address this. When we have an export portal, people can track their exports.

In his response, the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali, assured the NEPC of the Service’s support in removing all impediments to export trade. On the EEG which was meant to boost the nation’s exports but was suspension by the past administration due to alleged abuse of it, Ali said that Ministerial committee set up by the past administration would submit its findings to President Mohammadu Buhari for necessary action as soon as the Ministers get to work.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/non-oil-export-earnings-drop-by-n52-2bn-in-q2/




Abeg let's discuss this

What measures should South-west Governors take to improve our non-oil export.

Clearly we're suffering from the troubles facing the north.When we don't even provide our own food in the south-west

superstar1:
Main One achievement is one of the least most celebrated major feats in this country.

Sign the petition to move this thread back to the politics section.

Aareonakakanfo:


Whao!i'm really impressed with your comment.Infact you're a scholar.Thank you very much for your contributions Sir.May chukwu okike abiama bless you.You can now..

[img]http://niketalk.com/content/type/61/id/545358/width/350/height/700/flags/LL[/img]



Thank you

Afam4eva has moved the thread to the culture section.

Fulaman198, please help us move this thread back to the politics section. The thread is about Yoruba politics.

They've banned us several times in their attempt to kill this thread.The next step is to move the thread to the Culture section.nawa


Ilekehd,Ilekemd,Ilekegd,Shymm3x,mayoroflagos,modath,jstbeinhonest,zimoni,superstar1,coolitempa,asEdeyhot,django1,OkutaNla,
ERODEDEAST,scholes0,funjosh,veraponpo,aigbofa,ritchiee,TyHadebimpe,firefire,emilokoiyawon.IyaIode,
Musiwa419,tunde1200,jaymichael

princemilla,9jacrip,Wizguy69,delpee,wytecat,quimicababes,sanmibukunmi,anulaxad,segend,hinohsend,aresa,okutanla,totit,
FFKfuckedBIANCA,SUBWAY101,Mrmbam,Okolochyke,PrincessJaneDoe,forgiveness,PassingShot,theV0ice,Rilwayne001,
teamchocolate,tonytony208,angiographylaudate,orlandoowoh,missy89,gbawe,flyoruboy,razid,abuklaw,aresa,

yemaldo,oduastates,YoruBanger,Arogunmasa,superduperjay,marioking,oduavanguard,tupacshakur,lowgeorge,
ashiwajuforward,ba7man,pensniper,meracool,shizzy7,pauljohn1,OBAGADAFFI


Sign the petition!

NRIPRIEST:
A lot of us have dated Yoruba women in our early twenties but it's not our ideal marriage partner. Most Igbo guys who grew up in Lagos will say the same but a Yoruba guy won't mind to wife Igbo chic in a heartbeat which is good because we have more women than men.

Our dissolve to stay with our women doesn't mean we are not open minded but we prefer our women because they are beautiful,which Yoruba guys can attest to. Also our marriages survives because of the the kind of women we breed in Igbo land.

Okay, let me restrain myself from responding to you for 2 reasons:

1). I do not want to derail this thread.
2). I have a lot of respect for the folks on this board.

So I will take my leave. But if you make the mistake of posting this on a totally different thread, I will not spare you. So continue your 'dissolve to stay with your women'.

Shymm3x:
Lmao.

Afam4eva and lalasticlala have moved this thread to the culture section.

Why not move all the Igbo threads in the politics section to the culture section? These folks are bigots and that other handle that complained about the thread is one of Afam4eva's alternate handles, including the Balkan handle.

OAM4J

Please, help us move our thread back to the politics section where it belongs. We're discussing politics here.

But what the sky is wrong with these mods.Playing tribalism?Seun,pls there should be some punitive measures for these bias mods...

Aareonakakanfo:
They've banned us several times in their attempt to kill this thread.The next step is to move the thread to the Culture section.nawa


Ilekehd,Ilekemd,Ilekegd,Shymm3x,mayoroflagos,modath,jstbeinhonest,zimoni,superstar1,coolitempa,asEdeyhot,django1,OkutaNla,
ERODEDEAST,scholes0,funjosh,veraponpo,aigbofa,ritchiee,TyHadebimpe,firefire,emilokoiyawon.IyaIode,
Musiwa419,tunde1200,jaymichael

princemilla,9jacrip,Wizguy69,delpee,wytecat,quimicababes,sanmibukunmi,anulaxad,segend,hinohsend,aresa,okutanla,totit,
FFKfuckedBIANCA,SUBWAY101,Mrmbam,Okolochyke,PrincessJaneDoe,forgiveness,PassingShot,theV0ice,Rilwayne001,
teamchocolate,tonytony208,angiographylaudate,orlandoowoh,missy89,gbawe,flyoruboy,razid,abuklaw,aresa,

yemaldo,oduastates,YoruBanger,Arogunmasa,superduperjay,marioking,oduavanguard,tupacshakur,lowgeorge,
ashiwajuforward,ba7man,pensniper,meracool,shizzy7,pauljohn1


Sign the petition!

I have severally signed the petition....

Aareonakakanfo:
They've banned us several times in their attempt to kill this thread.The next step is to move the thread to the Culture section.nawa

I do not understand why this thread is being moved to the Culture section. Why??!

This is a thread that celebrates something positive, unlike a lot of threads where ethnic bashing and rivalry dominate the posts. It should be on the FP. I do not want to accuse the mods of being impartial, but like someone said on another thread recently: Awon mods ti gba ib'ode.


cc: Seun

NRIPRIEST:


There is no good reason for this sort of ignorance!!
Nigga,why are you always pulling sshit off your azz like a rretard.
An common ibadan village drunk is more intelligent than your ddumb azz.

Nobody is coveting anybody,you hook with what you like and is available to you whether Igbo ,Hausa or Yoruba. Igbo chics and guys don't go around fantasizing about Yoruba women and men. It's all in your mind because you have a warped mindset clogged with senseless tribal sentiments. One of my guy is married to a Yoruba chic who is by the way a nice person but before that he mostly dated Igbo chics. And one thing is common with these Igbo women that marry Yoruba guys, 99.9% of them grew up in lagos which make them available to the Yoruba guys to see but their male counterparts rarely marry Yoruba women.
Now,I am not saying Yoruba girls are not desirable but it's a common knowledge in Lagos that Igbo girls are very pretty. I know because I have been around your people for more that ten years. A lot of us have dated Yoruba women in our early twenties but it's not our ideal marriage partner. Most Igbo guys who grew up in Lagos will say the same but a Yoruba guy won't mind to wife Igbo chic in a heartbeat which is good because we have more women than men.

Our dissolve to stay with our women doesn't mean we are not open minded but we prefer our women because they are beautiful,which Yoruba guys can attest to. Also our marriages survives because of the the kind of women we breed in Igbo land.

What is this one saying?

Ritchiee:
I have severally signed the petition....

So have I! I didn't just sign it...I stamped it! With my seal

_{~ Laudate dominum omnes gentes...}

@profshymex, they've removed our topic,, da hell just when I was about to sign, they deleted it....na wa