₦airaland Forum

Nothing will come out of it. It's not the first time

slawormiir:
Damnnn niggarrrr
Too bad.....

I think we all go gather money take buy aeroplane....

Make the aeroplane dey carry us batch by batch commot from the country

Is it Fulani herdsmen killing people in Ebonyi or it's communal boundary fight between settlements in Benue and Ebonyi?

Chinese customs officers have made the world’s biggest seizure of human organs in history this morning, a total of 7221 joysticks of African origin hidden in a refrigerated freight container.

Acting on information from an anonymous informer, Chinese officers found the organs in 36 boxes labelled as plantains (cooking bananas) inside a refrigerated container on a ship harboured in the Shanghai Port.

Chinese General Administration of Customs spokesman, Li Wu, says an increasingly large number of armed groups in Africa use organ trafficking to finance themselves, making such seizures predictable.

“These organs are common commodities now, but they were certainly harvested in unsanitary conditions or contaminated at some point, so we can’t let them out on the Chinese market.”

Mr. Li says the organs were shipped from Lagos in Nigeria but may have only transited through that country and could possibly originate from elsewhere in Africa.

“We know that joysticks from Lybia and Sudan fetch a higher price than those from other African war zones, but can’t presume of their origin before the end of the investigation.”


The Chinese General Administration of Customs says similar seizures may become more common over the next few years as armed groups in Africa turn to organ trafficking to finance their military operations.
Human joysticks were seized in nine cases since 2002, but today’s find represents more than four times the amount seized by customs officers over the past 18 years.

Describing the organ’s value as high as illegal drugs, he said that “specimens of this size” usually fetched around $160,000 each on the black market, and its total value was more than $1.15 billion.

The ship’s crew, four Nigerians, two Malians and two Cameronese are being detained for interrogation, but no charges have yet been filed against them.



https://worldnewsdailyreport.com/chinese-authorities-seize-over-7200-human-joysticks-on-a-cargo-ship-from-nigeria/

This is the real burger guys. Agege bread with akara. That imported stuff from America won’t survive here.

Nuzo1:
Ol boy, this is by no means near a good news.

Serious countries left extractive industry centuries ago. Migrated to industrial production, then hitech production. But here we are still talking about selling raw cocoa for almost free.

You export a raw bag of cocoa at N20,000. White man refines it at the cost of N10,000. Sells the byproducts (cocoa drink, chocolate etc) at N200,000.

White man makes N170,000 profit from your N20,000 years of sweat.

Extractive production impoverishs a nation.

As a matter of urgency, we must learn to add value to our raw materials, be it gold, diamond, crude oil or cash crops like cocoa and cotton.

Correct! Ayade has set up a chocolate plant to process the cocoa beans. I am surprised this quantity of coacoa was available for export. The state needs more processing plants.

Is Miyetti Allah afraid of ESN? They seem to be losing voice in the East

shadowmancer:
The ones in Nigeria are not even up to that. It is a fact that all the fulanis in West Africa are approximated to be 8million, a fraction of which don't have that domineering mentality but the rest of them from their jihad base in Futa-Toro believes West Africa is their inheritance. Lost people with who have forgotten where they came from in India and Arabia.

The correct word is to deamalgamate and not to divide. Nigeria was forged into a fake existence by a British called Frederick Lugard and the name was suggested to him by his girlriend called Flora Shaw. Your ethnic group or tribe has been existing on their ancestral for thousands of years before the British and Fulani Arabs came to mess every thing up, and the former ensured power reside with the latter so as to keep the native blacks perpetually underdeveloped which is what have been happening ever since they gave you guys that flag independent. All the greedy bastards from the middle belt to the South only care about their pockets while remaining blind to the grand scheme of events but they will all perish one day as they continue to ignorantly compromise the economy and wellbeing of their people thinking they are playing politics whereas its all to the course of the jihadists in govt.


Don't mind that ignoramus, he's most likely a fulani mongrel disguised as a southerners here to distract and cause confusion by stirring up battle between real southerners.If you're not a fulani mongrel, who made you one of their many pigheaded spokesmen here on Nairaland for you to know what they are mostly concerned about ?

Even the British and French that colonized many parts of Africa cannot make such a delusional claim as you pigheaded fulanis continue to do. All the conquered lands taken by the Romans in Europe, does it belong to them today? You people are just sick and high on cow dung. Europeans that brought westernism to West Africa are not making claim to our ancestral lands, it is some landless fulanis arabs and their black arab mongrels that are not even up to a half of all the Ijaw nation who are making claim. You have not even consolidate the weakening emirate structure your oligarch set up to subjugate the genuine natives of the northern regions, it is Ilorin, a city so ancient than all the whole of Arabia you're making claim to, all just because British-made Nigeria allows you and your landless pigheaded paymaster the opportunity to dream of completing the failed task Assman rapist Dan fodio.

Meaning? And so what ? You people love committing trash talks just to confuse yourself. Are you saying your landless fulani mongrels who never rent house or do things every normal humans does, should not be checked out of their host communities when they insist on committing crime against their people of their host communities as is the reality from then till date ? By the way, other tribes have integrated with each other all across this expired mere geographic expression called Nijeryia and none of the go about murdering, raping, ransoming, poisoning, terrorising, discriminating against everyone like you parasitic mongrels do in the north and also in the lands of your host communities, all in the name of jihad at all forms.

All of you here on Nairaland are just a bunch of silly fulani pigheads whom your paymasters consider to be the smartest brains at speeding confusion and disinformation. Trying to appeal to the Easterners while throwing condemning Westerners. You are not smart at all, the only thing you mongrels are smarter than is the pigs your bloodsucking religion hates so much. May 200 porks from a virgin pig fall on you and your evil paymasters using money stolen from out lands to sponsor islamism in West Africa. All of you taqqiya-using mongrels shall meet your doom soon as your plans continue to fail.

***


Ofcourse the point you made is absolutely a good one. What some of you southerners still don't get is that, anything these pigheads jihadist do is always strategically done to be only advantageous to the emirate north and always in disfavour of the southern economy. 80% of what Abuja rakes in from national revenue comes from the voluminous trades and commerce between east and west which is 20 times even more than the trading between the whole north and each of the southern regions of East and West respectively, so logically a sane government would have built a railway system that connects East and West since decided ago because thats where most IGR is been extracted from tax and various others needless impositions of levies and VATs but because these jihadists pigheads knew their days are numbered, they are using loaned money and funds borrowed from all over the world in the name of fixing crashed and failing so-called country in the names of the indigenous natives to build their fulanis empire that will crash before their next generation of bedbugs. Connecting railways from the south to north so that unchecked amount of heir vampiric race can swarm in to our ancestral lands in hordes to cause more damage. It is obviously a very a plan that anyone can see through.


Hey fulani mongrel, before you and your fellow bedbugs type any more nonsense here on Nairaland, to distract readers, thinking you are causing confusion, first point everyone here where your ancestral land is, yes in the African continent? Where is it ? If you can do that, then we will consider you as humans and not the animals you all continue to prove yourselvrs to be, by murdering natives all across the nation just to inspire fear. You are all cowards with no brain. Your population all over west africa isn't up up to a half of Bayelsa and yet you think you're fierce. Why not declare war once and for all and stop playing shadow games.

Every indigenous people are natives to their ancestral lands, and these ancestral lands belongs to various tribes of different ethnic group, and not to Nijeriya to which got expired in 2014, the only exception are you landless fulani black arab pigheads. Where is your ancestral land? Every one has, where is yours?

And dont you dare point to any region in the north because it is not your ancestral land, your pigheaded forefathers used jihad to supplant the original natives of those lands by using deceit and craftiness to destabilize their kingdoms, you ruined them by giving their ignorant tribal people a reason to rebel against the traditional monarchs of the once beautiful tribal society. Your pigheaded groundhitter labelled them Hausawa (bastards) and imposed arab political structure on them (emirate system). You know deep down that you landless arab fulanis and all the mongrelized descendants which you are one of, have your days numbered and that is why you are so scared of the deamalgamation of this expired mere geographic entity which your taqqiya-using pigheaded terrorists love to call Nijeriya. Why are you scared of the peaceful disintegration of fulageria ?

Is it not because you know no it will bring an end to all your scheming and manipulations which you have conveniently used to make them hate one another while using federal laws and policys to subjugate them, rendering them underdeveloped as it goes in line with jihad mission of the fulanis pighead sardauna who stated the resources of the infidel of the south should be used to sustain the emirate system imposed on the conquered people of the north, just as it favors the British too. You people don't know the kind of fire you're all blowing, better talk sense to your pidheaded masters before it is too late.


Nigeria cannot be better for as long as some landless elements continue to delude themselves that the resources of the south must be use to sustain the emirate system of the north. Believes corruption should reign for as long as the negative effects only affects the indeginious natives which is in line with the course of jihad.

Pighead, what's your concern as a fulani mongrel with the liberation matters of the south? Where is your ancestral land to begin with, where is your ancestral land in Africa you member of a landless parasitic pigrace of nomads who are always attempting to wipe out indigenous people out of their ancestral land as justified in your blood soaked religion of the miyetti-allah pigs. What's your concern with Ganiyu Adamu the half-Tapa, half-Fulani carpenter whom your paymasters discovered and gave instructions on how to render OPC from a non-violent group that was set up to defend the interest of the SouthWest to a violent one which earned the group the banning OBJ pronounced on them as Fulani oligarch of the north told him to do, and he did when he declared any OPC shoot at sight and many Yorubas who are members were murdered by the fulani controlled police force. The same Ganiyu Adamu who effectively infilitrated OPC and divided them into faction, went about killing innocent Hausa hustlers who the fulani have decieved to commit abomination acts that goes against the spiritual traditions of their host communities in order provoke crisis which they conveniently called tribal clashes. The same Ganiyu Adamu who is the Aare-ona-kakanfo is now been careful about this current agitations from various groups who are expressing their displeasure on how landless fulani black arabs are killing their people and you're inserting your pighead in a matter that doesn't concern you. Typing confusing words just to confuse readers and plant narrative for people to discuss a non-existig quarrel among Ganiyu Adamu and Sunday Igboho. Landless black arab mongrel, try again.


Nice try. Fulani black arab mongrels are not a tribe, fulanis are aliens from outside Africa they ho invaded our peaceful West Africa lands with jihads after decieving the native inhabitants they only came to preach a pissful religion like the Europeans later did with Crazystianity. Fulanis may have their Peol/fulfude language but usually assimilated cultures of those tribes they have mingled with as part of their bedbuggish plan to do evil. Fulanis don't ancestral land in Africa, they dont have a distinct culture that defines a genuine African. Their photos indicates cultural elements stolen from various Bokwai tribes they labelled Hauzawa, the fulanis in Senegal and Ghana can be seen in photos with elements of cultural identity that are only linked to the indigenous natives of those areas so what the pigshit do you mean by referring to your landless jihadists as tribe ?

Apt responses. Great guy you are

Fahdiga:
So nice but did the locals asked you the reason why you have a cow as your president in your country

They asked why humans could be turned to cows by a cow.......

FFK is brought back solely to fight and denigrate Tinubu.

God forbid!!!! May APC or any other party not get someone like Buhari in this country again if it survives.

Gradually the end is here.......

What hope for the unemployed ? It will be a case of three generations in teaching service. Grandma/pa must ensure grand pikin join before s/he retires.

Both parties need to discuss and have amicable settlement. The love of money is the root of all evils. Greed and ego should be stemmed

If El-Rufai catch dem , dem go hear wie

Beautiful

Engr Seyi Basorun an IT and Cybersecurity expert has called on the authority that the current NIN registration exercise is not a solution to kidnapping, Bokoharam and other syndicate crimes. According to him “NIN registration is good but it is not the solution to kidnapping, Bokoharam and other syndicate crimes”. Bashorun was reacting to the recent comments made by NIMC which on Wednesday dismissed as fake, news that its data base had been breached by hackers. Its spokesman, Kayode Adegoke, said: “NIMC would like to assure the public that there have been no such breaches or incidents. Investigations on the alleged data dump were found to be non-existent in the National Identity Database”.

According to Engr Basorun, this issue actually showed that many of our leaders in the country do not have the right capabilities require for their roles. Chief of it all is decision making skillsets. NiMC recently made comments that their website crashed because they are not expecting the traffic that followed the NiN registration deadline announcement. The comment made mockery of Nimc as it is highly expected that average Nigerians will reach out to their website immediately to validate and gather more information concerning the registration process. What they failed to do is to immediately asked their domain host to increase their bandwidth throughput to accommodate the expected traffic. He further said.

Engr Basorun who is the Vice Chairman ICT section of the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, NIEEE, Lagos chapter made known his position during a WhatsApp group chat by saying “I’m also surprised about the trivial response given by NiMC to the allegation of finding their database in the darkweb. Apparently the spoke man or leader making the comments did not understand the context of the conversation. It was reported that the database is found to be on sale in the darkweb ecosystem for certain amount of money, nobody reported that breach has taken place yet. If this is true, its highly dangerous as it means that personal information of about 40 to 50 million Nigerians are in the wrong hands (imagine Russia or NK) and this has to be addressed immediately. It’s not something to wish away just like that, it can ridiculously open us up as a nation. What NiMC needs to assure us with is the information security and privacy controls that they have put in place to protect our private information. Again it shows how much capabilities we have with data handling and protection”.

According to him, “NIN registration is good but it is not the solution to kidnapping, Bokoharam and other syndicate crimes. Im sure we all remember the new vehicle plate number crime stopping story”.

“So most of those bandits have their own radio networks for internal communications. Im not sure NCC has thought about VoIP option. Simply the kidnappers will just switch to VoIP solutions like Skype and webex. They will start making use of international DiDs to perpetrate their acts and cover their paths nicely”.

He advised the government that, “solving a strategic problem requires a strategic approach. You need to start by identifying the root cause of the problem. As a nation the approach we are employing is to treat the symptoms not dealing with the RC. This will only bring a short term solution to the table in my opinion.” Engr Basorun made this contribution on a group WhatsApp of the NIEEE Lagos chapter.
https://engineersforum.com.ng/2020/12/25/nin-registration-is-not-the-solution-to-terrorism-and-syndicate-crimes-seyi-basorun/

Antoeni:
Abuja to Gombe which is about 9 hours is N2500
Abuja to Nsukka that is 6 hours is N11,500.

One uses air conditioning bus, the other uses golf with 12 people packed

The hustle is real

Where the 36,000 sitting in office before or are new recruits?

Global Peace And Development; People Should Be Allowed To Choose Their Value System – Adewale Bakare

Engr Adewale Bakare is a graduate of Electrical/Computer Engineering from Federal University of Technology, Minna with a Master of International Affairs and Diplomacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria .He plies his game in the world of IT and could simply be described as a genius who is now a Theorist Researcher using his IT background to break boundaries on previously unproven theories.

His areas of expertise include Diplomacy, Global Governance, International Financial and Trade Organizations, Multilateralism and Regimes, North-South Relations, Peace and Security, Political Economy, Poverty and Inequality, The Responsibility to Protect, United Nations Reform.

In 2017 he was a semi-finalist nominee in both “The Global Challenges Prize 2018: A New Shape for Remodeling Global Cooperation” and The Educators’ Challenge Prize 2019″ by Swedish Global Challenges Foundation.

In an encounter with Engineers’ Forum, Adewale Bakare took us to the unknown and remarkable world of a cerebral theorist, who has solutions to global problems.

You are a theorist and researcher; what does that mean?

As a theorist, I had studied world events from different perspectives for many years (1999-2020), made assumptions and connected all happenings within this period for a common causal phenomenon that would explain an expectable outcome to predict, analyse and mitigate against global risks that we are all faced today (such as threats of Nuclear Weapon, Pandemics, Extreme Poverty, Terrorism, Global Conflicts, Global Financial and Economic, and Migration crises). However, as a researcher, I had embarked on an academic journey of linking the network concept in Information and Communications Technology to the fields of International Relations and Global Governance for building back better the UN we need, and the future we want.

Currently, I am an Expert on Modelling Global Governance 2.0 and Educational Tools (https://acuns.org/adewale-bakare/) with a groundbreaking performance in transforming Multilateralism, UN System and International Relations into a People-centred Multilateralism, UN 2.0 System and Intercontinental Relations.

In theory, you unmasked the Multilateralism 2.0 Vision that was previously impossible from Web 2.0 metaphor during Changing Multilateralism: The EU as a Global-regional Actor in Security and Peace project(The EU-GRASP with Project ID: 225722 that was funded between 2009-2012 under FP7–SSH by European Union Commission). What is the Multilateralism 2.0 Vision about and what problems will it address?

The vision in reality is to put the rights of world’s people at the center of UN System and Operations for a sustainable and equitable world. This vision is expected to transform our present state-centric UN Decision and Action Taking into a people-and-region-centric, or Democratic UN 2.0 System for solving global challenges and addressing global catastrophic risks through inclusive global cooperation.

The concept of this theory is based on your knowledge of the working of Linux application. What prompted your theorizing of the application into the Multilateralism 2.0 Vision?

Because Linux is built from open source as everyone is free to contribute to the development of the Operating System. So I was inspired to update our present global governance system and institutions to be inclusive, transparent and accountable in the 21st century.

Before the Covid-19 global pandemic, you had already theorized a solution to it. Does that solution still hold in reality?

Yes, it does because we need global cooperation that is people-centred to stop the virus from spreading, to develop the vaccine and the cure if any.

Part of what the theory seeks to address is multiculturalism and racism and today the world is talking about “Black Life Matters”. Again how can the theory be situated to address this?

The Unified World Approach is built on the equality and survival of all human race with special recognition and respect for world civilizations. Hence be you black or white, we are but one humanity with freedom, dignity and respect. Because, we need each other to move the world forward in economy, peace and justice.

Has the UN come to terms with putting this theory to solving global problems?

The UN has acknowledged the need to listen to the whole world during the UN’s 75th anniversary for the UN we need and the future we want. To achieve this goal, the UN has launched the biggest world conversation in the 21st century for everyone to express how they want the world to be to reach Agenda 2030 and beyond.

You are a member of the Academic Council on the United Nations System, ACUNS and your theory was also recognized by the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS). What does this mean to you?

Good, its means a great victory for mankind that we, as human specie would survive difficult times that are ahead of us, only when we enhance global cooperation that is all-inclusive.

You received a recommendation from the Global Challenges Foundation Team to further the research work on remodelling global governance. What has been the outcome?

Yes, the recommendation as a semi-finalist in both global prize competitions encouraged me to further the research, to participate in the biggest world conversation at UN75.

How can this theory be applied to address the many challenges in the country (Nigeria) with frequent tensions occasioned by our diversities?

This theory can be applied only when people are allow to choose their forms of value system (economic, social and political system), allow unity of systems and give citizens the right for a referendum to either exit, or join a country or Union group in the future, instead of war. Something that is similar to the exit of Britain from the European Union.

Is there any research you are currently working on?

Yes, A Global Emergency for a People-centred Multilateralism: The Invocation of UN 2.0 System for Global Challenges at UN 75.

https://engineersforum.com.ng/2020/10/31/global-peace-and-development-people-should-be-allowed-to-choose-their-value-system-adewale-bakare/

Engr. Yetunde Adeobola Holloway is an Executive Director with the Special Committee for Rehabilitation of Public Schools in Lagos State ( a policy implementation agency of Lagos State, given the task of upgrading school infrastructure in the State).

She holds both a first degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Construction Management from the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

Yetunde has worked with the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) for 19 years and has broad experience as a Consultant, Supervising Engineer and Project Construction Manager on different projects in Nigeria and in the UK.

She is a member of several professional bodies including NSE, APWEN, WiE and WFEO where she is the Vice President and the current Chair of the WiE Committee of the WFEO and of the Federation of African Organisations (FAEO).

In our continued effort to serve you with the best, Engineers’ Forum brings to you an expert with versed experience in the Construction/Built Environment. She addresses several critical issues in the industry and also talks about her passion for service. Savour the wealth of information from our stable.

You are the Chairperson of the WiE Committee and an active member of APWEN and these bodies seem to be actively engaged in professional engineering developments among women.What is the place of women in engineering and has there ever been an existential threat to the survival of women in engineering profession?

Scientific and technological innovation is key to the achievement of sustainable development and progress of any society and is critical in addressing global challenges such as climate change, epidemics, and income inequality. Logically, there is an increasing demand for professionals in science, technology, engineeringand mathematics (STEM). Unfortunately, women who represent over 50% of the world population, are often underrepresented in these fields. For example, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics reports that women constitute less than 30% of scientific researchers worldwide, indicating that the number compared to the male counterpart is still very low. Women should have equal opportunities to contribute to the development of the society, in which they live and exist. Some people say but there are ‘’so many’’ women practising engineering and they are doing well but ‘’so many’’ is not a number compared to men. It is necessary to see actual numbers and point out disparities and their causes, with a view to improving the ratios.Our Committee is working on getting actual figures.

So, to answer your question directly- Women have an equal place with men in Engineering and in any other career that they choose. Talking about an existential threat, I would not call it that but there is what is called the’’ leaky pipeline’’. In studies around the world, it has been observed that at STEM undergraduate levels, the disparities between the male and female students are not too obvious but from graduation onwards, the “leaky pipeline’’ comes into play. The numbers reduce from grad school to research to the engineering workplace, the numbers whittle down, eventually leading to large disparities in the workplace.So,there is a threat to increased numbers of women in engineering, which the world needs. If action is not taken, the world will be wasting a large percent of its scientific and engineering potential and brain power.

Meanwhile, Female Engineers, under the auspices of APWEN have carriedout various interventions to encourage the girl child to study engineering and to bridge this gap. The CWiE is partnering with APWEN and other female engineering groups to see increased interests by girls, and increased numbers of female engineers. We are proponents of Gender Equality, which is SDG#5 and believe that achieving this will give the world a better and more sustainable future.

Years ago you served as the Chairman of the Lagos Branch of NSE and currently you are the Vice President of WFEO. What is WFEO all about and what is service to you?

The World Federation of Engineering Organisations, WFEO is an international non-governmental organisation to unite multidisciplinary engineering associations throughout the world..It has a national membership of over 100 engineering institutions globally and represents over 30 million engineers around the world.

The Federation was established to provide leadership to the engineering profession on numerous issues affecting the profession and the engineers globally. Apart from uniting the engineers, WFEO also fosters peace, socioeconomic security and sustainable development among all countries of the world, through the proper application of technology.

To me, service means bringing your passion into any given assignmentand doing your best to achieve outstanding results. Making sure you leave the space better than you met it. And very importantly, to give a part of you to those around you, by positively impacting them andbeing ready and willing to pass the baton to the next person when the time comes!

One major issue in the construction industry is the issue of building collapse. What is responsible for the incessant collapse we often experience and how can it be addressed?

It is unfortunate that Nigeria continues to witness incessant but avoidable cases of building collapses across the country. Some of these collapses are as a result of illegal expansion of existing structures. Others are due to lack of adherence to design specifications, failure to comply with building and environmental codes, failure to conduct soil investigation and provide adequate foundation for the structure, use of sub-standard materials, poor construction methodology and poor practices, using unqualified personnel( quacks) and also professional negligence/bad design. Another important factor, often overlooked is the most important stakeholders in the industry i.e. the client, whether private or public. He very often determines the what, who, why and the when

• Addressing all these factors will need collective action by all stakeholders by more robust enforcement policies, which the COUNCIL for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) is doing.

• The Lagos State Government, in particular,has commenced the enforcement of compulsory building insurance on owners of buildings across the State. The insurance companies will act as watchdogs, along with independent and certified consultants to endorse buildings.

• A safety institute where workers in construction can be trained and certified to standards has been established toprevent frequent cases of collapsed buildings in the state.

• Training and retraining of all cadres of personnel is needed.

• Stakeholders’ engagement with owners and occupiers and regulatory agency to ensure full understanding and buy-in of any policies (e.g. importance of soil reports and material testing, reasons for marking for demolition, proposed road levels etc) should be urgently pursued.

Seven professions of the Building Industry and their respective Regulatory Bodies, i.e. Architecture, Building, Engineering, Estate Surveying and Valuation, Quantity Surveying, Surveying, and Urban and Regional Planning came together to produce the National Building Codes of Nigeria (2006). Why are some professionals still relying on British and American codes despite the fact that we have our National Building Codes?

Nigerian National Building Codes evolved from International Building Codes. As you rightly pointed out, the first edition of the National Building Codes came into effect in 2006 through the contributions of various professional bodies. This document became a necessity when the Defunct National Council of Works and Housing, in 1987 directed that a National Building Code be evolved for Nigeria. The evolution of the National Building Codes therefore took some years; following standard practices, consultations and collaborations across the professional bodies in the built industry, before it was finally adopted and came to effect in 2006.

Various practitioners have continued to rely on the International National Building Codes for which they were trained. But effective from 2006, professionals adopted the Nigerian National Building Codes. In 2018, the National Building Codes was revised and has been released to the public.

There could be various reasons why some professionals still use foreign National Building Codes. Some professionals are using National Building Codes of the country where they were trained. As you know, many Nigerians were trained abroad and their education was based on the National Building Codes of those countries. Some of them returned home and continued to adopt those standards. The Influx of foreign contractors in the industry is also worth noting as some of them are inclined to their home National Building Codes due to lack of stringent rule to enforce adoption of Nigerian Building Codes. The other reasons, are lack of awareness as some of our professionals do not update themselves with the existing National Building Codes.

Perhaps the primary reason for the violation is absence of punitive measure against violators. We need strict implementation and enforcement of the building codes. I also will say there is need for all professional bodies in the sector to get the updated copy of the National Building Codes and ensure all their members have one at the point of their induction into the membership of their respective association.

The National Building Codes of Nigeria addresses sections in Pre-Design, Design, Construction and Post Construction stages. Your focus has been in Post Construction stage where maintenance or facility management comes to be. What is the level of facility management in Nigeria considering the often-poor maintenance culture?

Your assertion is not quite correct. I do a lot of work in pre-contract as well. Conceptualisation, planning etc are all within my purview.

Nigeria has a poor maintenance culture-a known fact. But Facility Management, FM is not just about maintenance- it is just a part of it. FM is a structured management system that essentially looks after all of the services that help a business or other organisation to do its work and varies from company to company, depending on size, complexity, functions and needs of the company. It is thus inclusive of maintenance services. It is a Sustainable management of space and people within the space.

Ideally, facility management services should be part of the building process (at some stage or handover at the least) as built and other documentation of the building to be used to manage it. Facility management in Nigeria is growing and developing.

The document also talked about use of non-professionals and quacks and use of untested products and materials. Why is enforcement a challenge in this regard?

Generally, enforcement of any laws in Nigeria is challenging but we must face the challenges squarely. In the built industry, we have many professionals with different roles, working together and each has their own professional council and association responsible for registration, training and also disciplinary measures where necessary. Each should be able to fish out quacks in their midst. I think adoption of stronger cross-professional collaborations between industry practitioners will enhance policy expansion and enforcement,.

Lagos State has a Material Testing Laboratory and professionals and practitioners are expected to invite them to carry out various tests (materials and process) during stages of construction. University of Lagos and Yaba College of Technology, as well as some private organisations have also been certified to carry out some of these tests. I suggested already that OWNERS need to be educated on this. We cannot give up.

One of the clauses of the National Building Codes is that: “There shall be established in all Federal, State and Local Government Urban Development Agencies, a Code Enforcement Division/Section/Unit in their Development Control Department.” I can’t confirm if this is done or how effective such agencies have been in Nigeria.

Despite economy downturn in the last 6 years, the government is committed to infrastructural developments and in doing so, it has to source for loans to achieve this. Do you think government is meeting up with these needs?

So far, the government has a long way to go to fill the infrastructure gap.Take the power sector, Nigeria as a country is endowed with large oil, gas, hydro and solar resources, we learnt recently that there is potential to generate 12,522 megawatts (MW) of electric power from existing plants,( but most days is only able to generate around 4,000 MW- plagued with nationwide system failures) which is insufficient for the burgeoning populations in the country . It is our prayer that the Siemens deal is wholly successful. One must acknowledge, however, that from power sector to rail modernization, aviation, oil and gas, road construction, and housing provision etc , there are various construction activities(and improvements) ongoing in these sectors of the economy, so there is some modicum of progress. But the infrastructural need is so huge and the resources are simply inadequate. Many Nigerians are also becoming skeptical of the increasing loan burden even though the projects are on ground.There is a need to rationalize on priority projects, to utilize these limited resources. Of course, this poses various political, regional and other considerations but it can be done.

It is essential for our government to begin to look at alternatives to loan arrangements to fund these huge infrastructural deficits. The opportunity in Nigeria’s infrastructure development is enormous. Other means such as Public Private Partnerships to complement the existing efforts can be examined more closely, but PPPs are notorious for taking time to reach agreements.

Nigeria has to begin to develop homegrown materials and funding mechanisms. I don’t think we can borrow our way into national development. It would be an anomaly.

I would perhaps suggest more transparency and probity in procurement methods and contract administration and possibly more effective stakeholders’ engagement to obtain majority buy-in of the citizenry.

Our capital funding in annual budget allocations seem to be suffocated by recurrent expenditures. How can we address this to ensure that the huge gap in infrastructural deficit is closed?

Nigeria’s infrastructure stock remains far below the 70% international benchmark and this has naturally raised concerns among many experts and the general populace alike. In 2019, the Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed was reported to have disclosed that the FG will need about 34 trillion Naira annually for the next 30 years to tackle Nigeria’s infrastructure challenges. That figure is mind boggling!

When we look at the reality and see that our revenue base continues to weaken as a result of our excessive reliance on one sector (oil and gas) of the economy, as well as increasing recurrent expenditure and concerns about our debt sustainability, there is no doubt that we need to think ‘’out of the box’’ to close the widening infrastructure deficit. We have to look at other alternatives as well as eliminating leakages in the system. Corruption is not our friend but a ’’frenenemy’’- a pretender. It appears to enrich but in reality, it impoverishes.

Many voices have also identified restructuring of our legislature at Federal and State levels to reduce recurrent expenditure.

In addition, a deliberate and strategic investment in local content as well as continuous capacity-building: personnel and materials must be vigorously pursued.

Planning is one of the keys to providing infrastructural needs for the teeming and expanding populace and that is based on data and statistics, which will aid projections and extrapolations

My suggestions-

Public financial management improvements

Increased participation and opportunities in the labor force for the youth, especially and including females (all cadres-leadership too)

Improved and aggressive macroeconomic management of the economy

Establishment of a strong institutional and regulatory framework in support of private sector activities and investments

Covid–19 disrupted activities in the construction industry globally. What has been the experience in Nigeria and what are the New Normal adopted?

COVID-19 has disrupted business activities all over the world and many livelihoods are affected even though some industries thrive during the period. Construction industry is one of those affected negatively. The need to maintain social distancing and also reduce number of workers on site per day has naturally slowed down construction activities. The (COVID-19) pandemic has thus impacted the ability of construction businesses around the globe to maintain operations and fulfil existing contractual obligations, slowed down the rate of construction and invoked the force majeure in many contracts. Locally, I see numerous fluctuation claims, due to the forex rates and the cost of imported materials. In summary, we are seeing substantial unplanned costs associated with projects. Unfortunately, the economic situation doesn’t favour increased costs.

There’s a need for a paradigm shift and for construction companies to do many things differently.The new normal demands that the industry needs to fast-track digital adoption and reinvent their relationship with third parties – clients, suppliers, subcontractors. Safety protocols should really be taken more seriously, risk analysis and management and the need to use technology has become more important. (WFH) Working from home, holding virtual meetings (concept, design etc) and use of phones and other devices for site inspection, monitoring and supervision are some of the immediate changes

Let’s take it farther, by 2050, where do you see the construction industry in Nigeria?

The Federal and State governments are quite aware of the UN SDGs, which are to be achieved by 2030which is another 10 years away and there are various intervention in progress .We must aim at meeting these 17Goals and 168 targets by all means and do even better.

Now that you have added another 20 years to this, making 30 years in total,I do think it will be very interesting to see, if God spares our lives till that time .Looking at the technology trends globally, by 2050, a lot of things would have changed and many more innovations and advancements will have been introduced into the construction industry. I foresee a Nigerian construction industry which will have embraced full automation with sustained, aggressive innovative, faster and more efficient techniques. I definitely expect modular construction and more of technology utilisation such as 3-D construction, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence being used to design, build and construct and all aspect of the industry. I expect that our climate change issues, circularisation of the economy and other issues to be history, by 2050.

There will definitely be more of globalisation, standardization, industrialization etc .I see a Nigeria where our youth will lead innovation and be front-runners in the construction industry. We have the potential which must be exploited fully. Our Nigerian youth need to be ‘’Futures Literate’’ in engineering, particularly because it empowers the imagination, enhances the ability to prepare, recover and invent as changes occur.The time to start is now!
https://engineersforum.com.ng/2020/12/13/we-need-strict-implementation-and-enforcement-of-the-national-building-codes-yetunde-holloway/

Engr Atinuke Wuraola Owolabi is the CEO of Wurvicat International Limited and founder of some NGOs active in empowering and uplifting lives. She is a graduate of electrical engineering from University of Ilorin, Nigeria and holds a Master in Engineering and Management of Coventry University, UK.

Her passion is to serve. Engineers’ Forum [/b]discovered a woman who uses her passion for engineering to change the lives of many.

[b]You cut teeth with some majors in the power industry, Shoreline Power (a subsidiary of ABB Electrical System) and Schneider Electric, before leaving to set up Wurvicat International limited. What is your assessment of the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry?

The industry is evolving gradually, but very slow. There is still a lot more to be done for the industry to play the critical role of being an enabler of national economic and technological growth.

As you know, the industry was privatized in 2013, broken down into mainly Gencos, Transco, the Discos, different regulatory bodies like NERC, NBET, etc., and the customers. Other players are managing different segments of the electricity value chain. It is only standard, just as in team development, for this new arrangement to go through formation, storming through to a stage where performance becomes a given. For me, I would say the industry is at the norming stage of its development. As we can see, blame trading is no longer as prevalent as it used to be. Different players along the industry value chain seem to understand their roles better and have learned to do their best within the industry constraints limit. While addressing constraints, the industry is still fretting with many restrictions ranging from regulatory, financing, governance, electricity pricing, and metering to human capacity development.

Several key issues need to be addressed. Investors need a guarantee of returns through a practical policy framework covering considerations such as the legal rights of shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders and their ability to obtain redress if their rights are violated. This framework will include the protection of stakeholders through regulation and requirements for full disclosure of risks.

The recent performance-based tariff adjustment is the right step in the right direction. However, the government and all industry stakeholders still need to do more to see the industry’s continuous positive development

The government needs additional legislation to provide as operating a business would be chaotic without predictable rules and regulations to follow. One party could easily take advantage of another party because it would be impossible to know how each party could or would act in any given situation, which necessitates the rule of law that provides essential stability, consistency, and certainty in a potentially volatile business environment. Guidelines should be in place for universally acceptable behaviours to ensure that organizations act predictably and responsibly. Many other factors impact how the company is controlled, managed, and held accountably, and many of these factors fall squarely in the government’s jurisdiction.

Critical is the power supply, coupled with inadequate power generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure. For the energy sector to be effective, energy bills should be based on the actual energy consumption, and likewise, customers must pay for used energy. To achieve this, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recommended Metering-the installation of prepaid meters for all customers, but as of today, there is no full compliance with this regulation. Further investments and commitment are still in want for energy generation and distribution assets.

Let’s have your views on the FG/Siemens deal

The FG/Siemens electrification road map for Nigeria is a commendable move by the federal government to modernize and increase the national grid’s operational capacity in phases from 7,000MW in phase 1 to 25,000MW phase 3. The initiative is expected to move Nigeria forward in its journey towards achieving the reliable and affordable electricity supply required for economic growth, industrialization, and poverty reduction.

My only advice to both the federal government and Siemens is to ensure that our local engineers and contractors are carried along and involved in the project implementation. I am confident that we have enough local competences to execute most of the project. I am looking forward to well above 90% involvement of local engineers and other critical personnel in the project execution.

All agreements to ensure steady power supply is fair as it is to deliver electricity to Nigerian businesses and homes and this extent, I will support this agreement. Statistics show that the country has more than 13,000MW of installed electricity generation capacity but only 7,500MW is available and less than 4,000MW is dispatched to the grid each day. This partnership with Siemens will modernise the existing network by understanding the challenges to proffer solutions before enlarging it until the country can produce and distribute 25,000MW. Several other critical agreements are still required. Let’s say we are at an infancy stage in our electricity industry development.

Over the years you have exhibited this passion to protect, project and engage female engineers at all times. Do you feel female engineers are facing an existential threat or being ignored?

I will say both. This is attributable to, one archaic societal believe that educating a female child is wasteful, as they would eventually be married off to become housewives. Two, that engineering practice is energy-intensive and it is a profession that does not fit the biological construct of women. These are beliefs that had been proven to be untrue over the years going by the different exploits of women in engineering practice in Nigeria and all over the world.

However, I will like to say that the situation and involvement of women in engineering in Nigeria and the world have improved over the years. For instance, the immediate past NSE Ikeja Branch is a lady, and we have had another lady chairman before her. I am the current technical secretary of the same branch. It is the same at the national exco level and other units across the country. So, one can say that the situation had improved from the way it was in the past, but more still has to be done to encourage women participation and involvement in engineering. I run an Engineering firm and I’ve never faced any threat. You have to believe in yourself.

More importantly, if you look at our girls’ enrollment ratio to boys in the STEM-related courses, the gap is getting closer year on year. This has been made possible by our women engineers’ involvement in various activities such as STEM-relating, encouraging, mentoring and coaching our young ladies on the need for them to embrace engineering as a profession, not to be discouraged by the long-held misconceptions about engineering practice and women.

By and large, there has been a lot of improvement in women’s participation in engineering practice over the years. We will like to see more of this improvement and personally, and I believe for a lot of our women in engineering, we remain committed to providing encouragement, mentoring, and coaching to our young ladies to embrace engineering and excel in the profession.

There’s no doubt that you’re also passionate about developing the engineering profession. You serve in the Executive Committee of NIEEE, NSE Ikeja Branch, APWEN etc. what propels you to serve?

Thank you. I must say that service to the people has always been in my DNA with all sense of modesty. This is mainly due to the kind of parental upbringing that I had along with my other siblings. So, I desire to contribute to my community and country’s development through the development of the engineering profession and institutions. You know engineering is key to national economic growth, productivity, and development. I considered it that whenever I join hands with other engineers in contributing to the profession’s growth, I am indirectly contributing to national growth and development. We all have to bear in mind that nation-building is our collective responsibility. The question I often ask myself is: If we don’t do it, who will?

You are involved in some NGOs to empower, mentor and uplift lives. Among these are Wurvicat Solar Foundation, Touch of Love and Lifting Hands Foundation etc. tell us what they are about?

I am very passionate about giving back to society! These foundations are meant to demonstrate my commitment to the disadvantaged in my community, inspire the young ones, care for our widows, and show love to those aged and abandoned.

Every capable citizen should be involved in voluntarily giving back to the society that would have a social and economic impact by integrating his/her financial resources and political support in addressing and solving environmental and societal problems to ensure improved lives and sustainable development.

All lives matter and our passion are to make lives predominantly female lives full of impact and meaningful.

Many people see you as a social butterfly that you are, where do you get the energy from to be everywhere to serve and then find time to play golf?

I dedicate all my achievements to God almighty, who gives me strength daily to keep going on. Much of my energy is from my late mother, who taught me and encouraged me never to stop in all my endeavours.

As a mother, wife and a career woman, how do you create a balance?

We have 24 hours in a day and God made it so. God himself rested and that means we must rest. Also, one of the greatest assets in every sphere is human capital so I build my team to keep going on even when I am not around.

I value family life; hence I deliberately create time for all aspects of my life and endeavours. It is all a matter of one’s priorities.

What future do you see for engineering practice and development in Nigeria?

The future is bright for engineering practice in Nigeria. Engineering is the bedrock of national development. It is a technological development that will give birth to sustainable economic growth. For this to happen, we have to focus more on local capacity building through training and retraining on the job. Our government needs to begin to trust our local engineers with serious engineering contracts. Patronize and encourage our people to patronize locally made goods. They are helping to build local capacity for technological and industrial growth, innovation, improve manufacturing capacity, wealth and job creation, social harmony, and sustainable national development.

The government had made some effort in that direction through executive order meant to promote local content in public procurement with science, engineering, and technology components. However, we are yet to see its implementation. Nigeria is a developing country with many green projects in the areas of infrastructure and energy development. So, the future is very bright for engineering practice in Nigeria. The earlier we hasten to the development of engineering as a nation, the earlier we can realize our national development objectives.

Engineering never stops, and we always must keep going to do better. Teamwork is a vital element for successful engineering. Strong cooperation allows us as engineers to adjust to changes, adapt to diversity, and increase productivity.
https://engineersforum.com.ng/2020/12/10/we-are-at-infancy-stage-in-electricity-industry-development-atinuke-owolabi/

It’s not everything that must be legislated. Somethings need COMMONSENSE!!

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammad Buhari, has approved the appointment of Engr Idowu Oyebanjo as the Chief Technical Officer for the FGN Power Company in charge of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) handling the Siemens' deal with Nigeria.
Oyebanjo broke the news today to colleagues and friends thanking God for it. He acknowledged that the appointment was based on merit having devoted life to writing and proffering solutions to the challenges in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI.

Oyebanjo announced “On this day, meritocracy prevailed even in the most doubtful of times.
Without knowing anyone, and without lobbying for any position, I received my second appointment as a government official purely on merit. The first was when I was recruited as a graduate trainee into NNPC some 18 years ago based on merit.

The journey towards this second appointment started from before the privatization of the electricity supply industry. I chose to focus on power systems.

I recognized that the pen is mightier than the sword. I wrote articles on power systems and my preoccupation was the Nigerian Power Sector. I kept my focus and stayed on course. Although people would joke that no one was reading, I knew someone out there was reading”.

Oyebanjo runs a personal blog nigerianpowersystem. where he shares his thoughts and opinions on the ongoings in the Power Sector. According to elated Oyebanjo,
“When my phone rang to intimate me about this appointment, reference was made to my articles 10 times” and the caller said, "It is now time to do all that you can and have written in your articles over the years".
Many of his professional colleagues agreed that Oyebanjo’s appointment is a well deserved one and a round peg in a round hole. According to Engr. Emmamuel Akinwole, a Past National Chairman of NIEEE, who exclaimed, “what an indefatigable commitment to chosen course.. what a vindication of one's belief! What a national call based on merit preached endlessly...?

What a challenge to put your ideas to practice? What a call to write your name and profession in gold in an international life-changing popular engagement and call ?”
He advised “As you step in to the appointment, make sure you continue to work as part of a team no matter the challenges, ensure you document and record most meetings and transactions, discuss extensively in and out and be ready to impact and learn from others, etc.”
Engr Idowu Oyebanjo has made several contributions through publications, submission of technical papers, work committees etc to finding solutions to the challenges in the sector.

He thanked all for staying tuned, for their readership, corrections, reviews and more and declared
“It's time to undertake this assignment of nation building in the power sector”. Oyebanjo is a UK chartered Power System Engineer with a bias in Power Systems Protection. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Lagos and Master from University of Manchester, UK. He has experience in the Management of Energy System and have worked in the Oil, Gas and Power Sectors of the Energy Industry which he considers a rare combination of talent.
https://engineersforum.com.ng/2020/11/12/fg-appoints-idowu-oyebanjo-cto-presidential-power-initiative-ppi-on-siemens-deal/

One Monday too many. Every time schools resume on Monday

The historian vintage Reno

This thing with Erica no start today

Nigeria has a huge population with weak and poor purchasing power. We steal and cause capital flight thereby shutting down businesses.

aminusodiq:
[s][/s]
Talking in the rubbish!!!


Wish u success in your future endeavor Kanye!!
Check my siggy for realistic pencil drawing

Love your drawings. Share on my Facebook page with your link

When they put up buildings in 7 days we clap. This is the result.

If you want to protest, protest. If you want to pray, pray. Protest and prayer cannot be mixed. Come out clean.