₦airaland Forum

I am waiting for Femi Fani-Kayode response

IDeyNL:
I was in the East recently and saw a lot of our Yoruba brothers and sister living happily. Also, any ipobians are doing business and living life in their SE region.

These Ipobians are not only in SW and north, they are also in many other countries. The same way Chinese, Indians and Europeans are in Lagos doing business, these IPOBs are also taking advantage of business opportunities like their foreign counterparts . Our Yoruba leasders need to stop this agbero menace in our region, also our skull mining activities.

The best is for us to split this country so that we can chase these IPOBs away.

You dey talk go here talk go there. Craze

Oh......money on the streets of Lagos and men cannot see

Blue Apple, the owner of Engineer’s Forum has a long term vision to institute an essay competition among engineering students in institutions of higher learning in the country. The mission is to harness the untapped potentials and groom our youths to develop capacity in research and technical paper/essay writing in line with global best standards.
In line with this mission, a NATIONAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE & TECH ESSAY COMPETITION tagged NESTEC 2019 is being organized by Blue Apple Limited.
The objectives are;
1. To unlock the untapped potentials among our youths in the field of engineering science
2. Promote research among engineering students
3. Encourage and develop capacity for technical paper and essay writing
4. Introduce the students into mainstream trending and advances in engineering science and technology
5. Create global opportunities for students to showcase their talents.
CALL FOR PAPER: Papers are invited from engineering and tech students on topics related to engineering fields. Participating students are to submit abstract of their work with not more than 200 words. Soft copies of abstract and accepted papers are to be forwarded to info@engineersforum.com.ng. Entry submission closes four (4) weeks to the date of event.
Prizes will be given to the three best paper presenters. For detailed information click the link below.
DATE: 14th November 2019
TIME: 10 am
VENUE: Sheraton Hotel &Towers, Ikeja, Lagos
For enquiries/sponsorship: 08029765356, 07059800939
PARTICIPATION: FREE



https://engineersforum.com.ng/2019/05/28/11858/

Amazing. Looking forward to reading some.

She was being looked for yet she had her wedding opposite police depot

It’s because we don’t have red color in our flag that’s why they placed us at the bottom

Evidence and information destroyed.

I saw Ameachi with Bible. I thought he’s repented

Don’t even know what to type. One thing is certain, Nigeria must restructure

The penacea for these killings is not education but population control. Every man should have two kids maximum. Where you have capacity, adopt the many almajiris roaming the streets. For as long as we marry four wives and born as many as possible the problem will persist. As a matter of fact religion which predominantly determines the way of life will continue to allow these killings to happen. After this, education will naturally close the gap.

When I saw Ocean and Oil, I know he’s from the sponsor of Hakeem Muri-Okunola. Kudos to ABT. Building tomorrow’s leaders today.

Next Level! These are people that will be given appointments.

I never really liked him because of his connection to the tin god of Lagos State. But he exhibits great knowledge of what is happening in government especially in Lagos state. He’s brilliant, coordination of ideas and speeches made me greatly admire him. He’s cool

China Has Brought Plants And Animals To The Moon To Cultivate For Its Future

EngineersforumJanuary 5, 2019 Electrical/Electronics 0
China’s Chang’e-4 spacecraft has brought plants and animals to the moon after successfully landing on the far side of the natural satellite of Earth yesterday.

As well as radiation monitoring and mineralogical experiments, Chang’e-4 probe contains potato seeds, silkworm eggs and arabidopsis seeds – plants related to cabbage and mustard that are commonly used by biologists as a model for how plants behave in different environments.

The seeds and eggs are kept in a small cylindrical tin and are expected to grow inside the 0.8L container.

The ‘lunar mini biosphere’ is part of Beijing’s biological studies in space as it plans to build a lunar base and eventually put people on the moon by 2036.

Researchers hope the potato and arabidopsis seeds will grow to blossom on the moon in 100 days, with the process captured on camera and transmitted to Earth, according to a previous report from Huanqiu.com citing Xinhua News Agency.

The silkworm eggs are also expected to hatch into larvae before growing into silkworm moths.

The 6.6lb (three kg) tin is made from a specially developed aluminium alloy. It is seven inches (18 cm) tall, with a diameter of six inches (16 cm) and a net volume of 1.4 pints (0.8 litres).

As well as seeds, it contains water, a nutrient solution, air and equipment including a small camera and data transmission system.

Astronauts have previously cultivated plants on the International Space Station. Rice and arabidopsis were also grown on China’s Tiangong-2 space lab.

Both of these experiments were conducted in low Earth orbit and under very different conditions.

Speaking to Xinhua last year, the chief designer of the ‘lunar mini biosphere’ Xie Gengxin called the experiment ‘significant’. Xie said it could herald a breakthrough for them to understand how humans might be able to survive on an alien planet.

Zhang Yuanxun, a director from China’s Deep-space Exploration Associated Research Centre, said the difficulties of the experiment was to control the temperatures and ensure energy supply for the ‘lunar mini biosphere’ in the ‘complicated’ environment on the moon.

The lunar day and night each lasts for 14 days, half of its orbit around Earth. The temperatures on its surface could range from the peak of 127°C (261°F) to lows of -173°C (-279°F).

To control the temperatures, scientists put insulating layers around the tin and built a mini air-conditioning system inside hoping it could provide a pleasant environment for the plants to grow.

https://engineersforum.com.ng/2019/01/05/china-has-brought-plants-and-animals-to-the-moon-to-cultivate-for-its-future/

Have you noticed that the media and government of the day have replaced the words terrorism and terrorists with insurgency and insurgents in their reportings.
While the world sees Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen as terrorist organizations, Nigerian government has chosen to called both as insurgents and bandits.
The terror unleashed by these terrorists in Kebbi, Katsina and Zamfara states are not threatening enough for government to class them as terror group. Recent reports indicate that they have a camp in Sokoto yet government continue to live in denial.

This blog has been consistently running for months now. However, it is time to start making money from it come 2019. Only serious digital marketer and person with verse experience on blog management should contact for discussion.
Visit the site and make your proposal www.engineersforum.com.ng

Effective Application Of Technology For National Development


It is generally averred that without research and innovation, it is difficult for any nation to progress economically to become self-sufficient in a competitive world of technology. This might have prompted the choice of the three-point agenda of the current administration to address the economy, corruption and insecurity challenges faced in Nigeria. These three elements which form the foundation of the nation’s development if adequately tackled would hasten the nation along the path of progress.


The indices reports released by both local and international bodies, however, give bleak outlooks in most of the key sectors. The reports released by the World Poverty Clock, Transparency International, Global Terrorism Index and National Bureau of Statistics on the unemployment rate, leave the nation in the abyss. What then are the challenges in addressing these issues despite concerted effort?

Economy, Insecurity and Corruption are inter-related and connected. They are currently being managed with the deployment of technology albeit half-heartedly. The advancement of any nation is not wholly dependent on how engaged the nation is in developing innovative technologies but how effective it is in the deployment of available technologies. In an attempt to draw a missing link to the nation’s development challenges, the ten richest nations of the world are x-rayed. The keyword in this article is “effective”.

Refer to the link for table showing the 10 richest countries.

Some of the richest nations of the world are not actively engaged in innovative technology and engineering science researches but they are considered as developed economies because of high GDP, top-notch tech infrastructure and a significant degree of industrialization.

A look at these richest countries shows that;

a. Only 4 of these countries have oil and gas (Qatar, Brunei, Kuwait and UAE)

b. 5 of the countries have little or no mineral resources (Singapore, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and Hong Kong)

c. 4 of the countries are in Europe (Luxembourg, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland)

d. 3 on the list are Arab nations (Qatar, Kuwait and UAE)

e. 3 are countries in the Far East (Singapore, Hong Kong and Brunei)

f. 2 are landlocked countries (Luxembourg and Switzerland)

g. 2 have high-density population (Singapore and Hong Kong)

These countries have and maintain good internal security systems. On the list of 31 World Safest Countries published by Independent.co.uk (June 2018 edition) are Singapore, Ireland, Switzerland and Norway. On corruption perception index, all the countries scored 63 and above on Transparency International Index except Kuwait with 39 points.

The richest countries have some peculiar features with no specific attributes except that they are nations that have effectively deployed technology for the advancement of their economies. Nigeria if added to the league of 10 richest countries will find itself among nations which qualify as rich in mineral resources with high population open to the Atlantic Ocean.

Nigeria is a nation that exhibits lassitude to technology. The citizens largely undermine technology for self-interest. The nation lacks the will to drive the technology wheel yet more than 70% of her challenges require technology to solve it. Nations are poor not for lack of engagement in advanced researches and contribution to global knowledge but because they failed to effectively utilize technology to plan and order their national life.

ECONOMY

Being able to determine our population is one of the first steps to an effective national economic planning. The nation has failed to accurately account for her population because it lacks the will to conduct an acceptable census with genuine figures. It depends on estimated population figures provided by external sources to run her economy.

Currently, the nation has multiple biometric management systems operated by different agencies and organizations that need to be harmonized. The bank captures Bank Verification Number, Federal Road Safety Corps; Driver’s License, Independent National Electoral Commission; Personal Voters’ Card, Telecom Operators; Subscriber Identification Module, Nigeria Immigration Service; International Passport, National Identity Management Commission; National Identity Card etc. Nigeria Identification Management Commission whose responsibility it is to manage the identity of every citizen has over the years shown lack of capacity.

The Federal Executive Council had approved the Identity Ecosystem to bring into full implementation the provisions of the NIMC Act 23, 2007, which include the enforcement of mandatory use of the National Identity Number by January 1, 2019. This will follow with the application of appropriate sanctions and penalties on defaulters as provided under Section 28 of the NIMC Act and Regulations.

The awareness to this implementation has not been created either has the public been sensitized on this very important national policy. The National eID card comes with fully integrated functions and convenience that will allow holders to use it for financial transactions even at ATM. With little or no information available to the public on this policy, this portends another failure in realizing the foundation for our national development.

SECURITY

The effective implementation of the National eID will curtail and or contain current insecurity challenges in the country. The Telecom operators who have a major role to play in this regards are still battling to register subscribers’ data in their systems. The Nigerian Communications Commission set up a 12-member committee to tackle the problems of improperly registered, unregistered and pre-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards in 2017. Among several successes, in November 2018, it was reported that NCC uncovered 88 illegal spots for SIM card registrations. The menace continues as the commission continues on her effort to cleanse the system. An end should be brought to this menace which keeps the nation in perpetual danger.

Again, nearly all our cities are without an expanded coverage and functional CCTV system to enhance surveillance and monitoring. The nation should deploy these technologies for our use as they are readily available.

CORRUPTION

Bank Verification Number: The banks have failed to completely capture Money Deposit customers’ data thereby encouraging and entrenching illicit financial transactions in the system. CBN recently reported that 25.7 million bank customers are yet to be enrolled on BVN as of June 30, 2018. The apex bank stated that 64 per cent or 46.1 million from 71.8 million active bank customers’ accounts have been linked to the BVN during the same period. With non-availability of National eID, BVN enrollment should be completed so as to address financial crimes in the system.

Treasury Single Account: Government decided to exempt 13 MDAs being government business entities on Treasury Single Account platform. These Profit Oriented Public Corporation/Business Enterprises of government are to pay their dividends into the TSA account. While this seems to be the only veritable means for Government Enterprise to operate, it leaves room for continuous abuse of public funds and resources. As reported recently, most of the business enterprises are yet to make remittance.
Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System (IPPIS):
IPPIS scheme is one of the government initiatives to curb corruption and improve human resource management activities from recruitment to separation. About 1.2 million workers are employed in about 950 MDAs. As of March 2018, it was reported that a total of 511 MDAs were captured under the IPPIS scheme with a total of 607,843 members of staff.

More than five years after its implementation, the enrollment process continues to drag on. The government recently warned that it agencies that are yet to be enrolled in the IPPIS may not be able to access their personnel budget from 2019.



As a nation, we hold a depository of brilliant people within and outside the shores contributing to global innovations and knowledge for the advancement of humanity. At the same time, we find it difficult to harness and interpret the abundance of such resources for the wellbeing of our nation

The nation must engage and effectively deploy technology to remove barriers to system efficiency with high-performance apps and utilities. Imagine a Nigeria whose citizens are accurately counted and identified. Imagine a Nigeria where all immigrants are properly documented. Imagine a Nigeria where the cities are monitored and made secure. It is only when such a Nigeria exist, that our economy will develop, insecurity will be contained and corruption addressed.
https://engineersforum.com.ng/2018/12/25/effective-application-of-technology-for-national-development/

Warship you are right

Complicating The Situations In The University System

You cannot fault Nigerians when it comes to acquiring knowledge. In the last 10 years, the National Universities Commission, NUC has approved over 50 universities. Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in a swoop in 2011 established 9 Federal Universities to create political balance in the distribution of Federal Universities. This could be seen as a good drive for knowledge as more Universities will give “qualified persons” the opportunity to fulfil their dreams for higher education. However, there are snags to this politically motivated decision which has continued to water down the quality of education in the country and impoverish the system.

Nigeria currently has 43 Federal Universities, 47 State Universities and 75 Private Universities. 165 Universities for a country with a population of over 190 million may not be significant. What should have been the more the merrier has turned to the more the suffering because of lack of forward and strategic thinking in the management of our resources.

On 2017 League Table of the Top 200 Universities in Africa, University of Ibadan was placed 18 after South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda universities. The University of Lagos was placed 29 while Obafemi Awolowo University was at 35th position. This may not be good enough in my opinion.

In 2018, University of Ibadan is placed 15, University of Nigeria 20, University of Lagos 23, Ahmadu Bello University 24, Obafemi Awolowo University 26, University of Ilorin 36, Covenant University 50, Landmark University 68, University of Benin 73, Federal University of Technology, Akure 76, Federal University of Technology, Mina 77, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta 85, Babcock University 95, Kwara State University 98, and University of Port Harcourt 100. The rating for the year seems to show a slight improvement over last year.

This year, FG again approved 6 more private universities. In the 8th Senate, the bills topping the list are those seeking the establishment of universities and polytechnics among others. Today, all government universities are grossly underfunded with decay infrastructure due to government ill-intervention efforts. Most universities are deficient in the number of academic staff. Most universities have less than the required number of professors in their employ. Most universities operate with obsolete teaching facilities. A few of the private universities are keeping up in terms of infrastructural provisions and academic excellence. No Nigerian university made it to the top 600 in the world in 2018. The highest Nigerian ranked university today, Covenant University, is a privately owned mission institution.

Now, with all the challenges facing the university education, the government is establishing more specialized universities to run courses that exist in or should be offered in some conventional universities. In August this year, the Federal Executive Council approved the establishment of Information and Communications Technology University of Nigeria. Likewise, the minister of transportation, Hon Rotimi Amaechi recently announced that the construction of Transportation University in Daura will commence soon. Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna has been upgraded to a university and has commenced session. The Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, in Delta has also commenced session. Maritime Academy, Oron, could have been upgraded to meet the extant needs of NMU. Nigerian Army University, Biu has commenced operations and I am still wondering what additional value or purpose it will serve that the Nigerian Defence Academy is not serving. If it is the insurgency in the north east that culminated the idea, then we may soon have Power University with the hope of addressing the power situation in the country, Forestry University to address issues of desertification, Environmental University to address issues of oil spillage and pollution, and possibly Carpentry University to be the first in the world to have such. Trust Nigerians we love to claim first in everything

As a matter of fact, Nigeria needs more Technical colleges that are well equipped to address the huge gap in vocational education and manpower development than we need the universities. We need well-equipped Polytechnics that will upscale technical and vocational skills than the many ill-equipped Universities. We have to end this fuss of putting up glorified post-primary institutions and call it universities just to score a cheap political point.

University is a centre of excellence for learning, research, innovation and development. It is a place where the very best are gathered and tasked to find solutions to human and societal needs. The advancement of any society depends on the products of research works in the ivory towers and how they are effectively deployed for the common good of the people.

The Nigerian society must change its orientation to what knowledge is and how it can be used to further the development of humanity. It is the mindset of the people that politicians usually latch on to formulate unsustainable policies. The government should concentrate on building what is on the ground and stop spreading lean resources that are needed to improve the infrastructure of existing universities. To play politics with education is to play politics with the future development of the country.

https://engineersforum.com.ng/2018/12/20/complicating-the-situations-in-the-university-system/

10 TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE STUDY PROGRAM
The need to learn and acquire knowledge is setting man on the path of self-discovery. With the desire for knowledge growing, more and more people are taking up the challenge of going back to earn degrees in a non-conventional school environment. Online study is becoming popular and in the near future more people will graduate from home or earn a second degree without having to attend the normal classes.
In our society, the challenge of online learning is peculiar largely due to poor infrastructure, yet many Nigerians are gaining admission to do online Masters program in foreign universities especially in Europe. Before you take the decision to go for online education, ensure the followings are in place.
1. Once you have decided to go for online program, set your finances right. Plan your fee ahead and know that you are paying in FOREX. If our local currency dips, it may affect your ability to meet your financial obligations.
2. Get a good laptop that will aid in your class work
3. Ensure you have a smart phone that will keep you updated on whatever information your Faculty Member will send to you.
4. Choose a network that is fast and dependable. Your location will determine this. If you can afford, have an alternative network to avoid downtime
5. Be ready to adjust your time especially if you are working. Most of your class work will be done in the night.
6. You must have your power back up to ensure your laptop, Wi-Fi, phone, power bank etc are in ready-to-use condition whenever there is power outage.
7. Make friends and get to know your classmates. Because of our passion for education, there is a possibility the guy on the next street is your online course mate in UK. Keep the interaction academic. It may help you if it is managed well.
8. The program is usually flexible. Decide how far you can go with a particular module. Don’t overload yourself and don’t equally play truancy.
9. Try as much as possible to meet up with your assignments. Excuses such as the network was down and there was outage, don’t go well. Obey the rules.
10. Choose a project that reflects our need and environment. The research work may help you tomorrow.

https://engineersforum.com.ng/2018/12/17/10-tips-for-a-successful-online-study-program/

Development Of Standards For Engineering Goods And Services In Nigeria


The desire to develop (formulate, adapt or adopt) standard is an intent by a profession to work within defined and agreed rules and guidelines for improved safety, product quality and service delivery. In our environment, there is a common belief we can thrive and profit more where there is no standard. Lack of standard undermines safety, product and service quality, cost and client’s satisfaction and may ultimately lead to death.


There are several organizations and bodies from different countries of the world bandying different standards. However, in all there is a convergent point to global standards. The European community has been able to harmonize its standards in practically all fields of endeavor and USA will naturally key in while independently setting a parallel and higher standards for herself. The Chinese have deployed enormous resources in recent years to develop standards which have aided in their quest to lead the world technologically.

The most important and generally accepted electrical engineering standard is that of International Electro -Technical Commission, IEC. Every country of the world is expected to domicile these standards. In doing so, the underline and basic element remains unchanged with only minor variation to meet the country’s environmental conditions, cultural and social needs. This is also applicable to other known standards in other engineering fields.

Apart from IEC, The International Bureau of Weights and Measures, BIPM is subscribed by nations of the world as well. Member countries are expected to establish the National Metrology Institute in their countries. NMI in every country handles basic elements of Time and Frequency, Mass, Electricity, Chemistry, Thermometry, Ionizing Radiation, Length and Photometry and Radiometry which are referenced to BIPM in France. Recently, scientists all over the world met in Versailles, France and voted to change the definition of a Kilogram at the General Conference on Weight and Measures, tying it to a universal constant in nature. The major reason for the change is that Big K has lost around 50 micrograms since it was created. Thus, Big K is not constant.

Our nation cannot develop without adequate engagement in standards development and enforcement. However, standard development is not the responsibility of Standards Organisation of Nigeria. SON only coordinates or facilitates such process for stakeholders and acts as a storehouse for standards. In Nigeria, standards are mostly adopted or adapted as the case may be. There is a continuous abdication of responsibility by the academia, professional bodies and stakeholders in this regards. Bodies, institutions etc who are concerned about safety, quality of product and services in a particular field and have found the need to address and uphold it are usually the initiators of the process. They will work with SON to produce an acceptable document. SON will forward it for inputs and convene stakeholders meetings. The document is worked on till final document agreeable to all is produced and adopted for the nation. The document is meant to be reviewed periodically.

The challenges of developing standards are enormous leaving us as a nation with little standards to work with. Standard development requires concerted efforts from stakeholders and the following amount to some of the reasons why it is a challenge;
Attitudinal; anything that will regulate our life, change our thinking and the way we do things are usually resisted. Standard is resisted by business persons, politicians, engineering personnel, quacks and everyone benefitting from the status quo. This attitude makes enforcement of standards difficult.

Documentation; development of standard is a product of research and documented experience. When field experiences are not documented, experts most time do not logically buttress their positions and draw conclusion on issue of standard. It is always, even more so, difficult to identify these experts who may sometime not affiliate with professional bodies. They carve a niche for themselves and do their works unnotice thus, ending up with many years of undocumented industrial and field experience. When issues on standard are discussed, they seem to be left out for comments and inputs. Documented field experience plays a major role in standard development.

Academic; there is an erroneous belief that the university professor is best suited to develop standard. The truth is the end user; the craftsman, technician, technologist and allied professionals make more inputs than any other. Field Reports are very important in standards development. However, we cannot ignore the work of subjecting these field experiences to scientific analysis and test to produce result which can stand up to close inspection as done by the academic. The academic must also have a tinge of field experience to enhance his work. There must be empirical evidence to support his results. This is grossly lacking and where the academic is needed most.

Funding; research requires funding but our attitude always indicate that it should be sacrificial and selfless. Funding can come from government, corporate organizations, NGOs, Institutions etc. Lack of funding is a threat to standards development.

Indigenous Technology; we must develop our technology, apply the standards so developed to it and gradually enlarge and expand it. When we import engineering equipment from different countries, they come with different technical standards of country of origin. This has made Nigeria a pool of technical standards without any. Engineering practice in Nigeria is in disarray, completely comatose by lack of standards and the many Original Equipment Manufacturers, OEM, from Asia, Europe and America will continue to dump their products here with their standards. Since standard is a global issue, we should align ourselves to Standards Development Organizations to produce standards that meets our needs.

Intellectual laxity; there seem to be intellectual laxity and lack of focus concerning this issue. Our institutions lack strong research base with poor interface structure with the manufacturing sector for a sustainable evolution and development of standards. This has encouraged intellectual laxity thereby negating standards as a panacea for national development. Government should address the many challenges beseeching our citadel of learning.

Wide spread and coordinated approach is needed to address this issue. Professional bodies should see standard development as a prerequisite function to its existence. The Nigerian Society of Engineers should review the requirements for the establishment of new Divisions and close ranks with Divisions that are not engaging in standards development. Standards development require the involvement of all cadres of engineering personnel and Divisions should be encouraged to adjust their membership criteria for inclusive capacity to accommodate all personnel so as to address the challenge of engineering standards in the country.

Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, whose responsibilities include regulating, monitoring and control of engineering practice should take special interest in sponsoring standards development otherwise it would have to continue to wait till these standards are ready for it to function effectively.

https://engineersforum.com.ng/2018/12/13/development-of-standards-for-engineering-goods-and-services-in-nigeria/

Kenekingisback:
Good write up

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Thanks

FASHOLA: WHY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CANNOT STAY ALOOF FROM CONSUMERS’ PREDICAMENTS ON POWER ISSUES

The recent comment attributed to the Honorable Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola that Nigerians should not blame government for their inability to have electricity at homes is bound to generate discourse. The minister while speaking at the December edition of the monthly Nextier Power Dialogue in Abuja said “there are problems without a doubt and we must deal with them. But let me remind you; all of the assets that the ministry of power used to control for power have been sold by the last administration before I came. And so, if you don’t have power, it is not the government’s problem. Let us be honest”. He continued: “The people who are operating the power sector – generation and distribution, are now privately-owned companies. I am here because I am concerned. If your telephone is not working, it is not the minister of communication that you go to. Let us be very clear.” The minister continued to enlighten further: “So, for those of you who want to weaponise electricity, face the businessmen who have taken it up. Let us be honest: if your bank over-charges you on interest, is it the minister of finance you go to? So let’s be clear. This is now a private business by an Act of parliament 2005.” He concluded by saying that: “my role is regulatory oversight and policy, but I have a problem which is the fact that I can’t see a problem and turn my back, so I’ m getting involved.”
To subject these statements credited to Mr Fashola to critical analysis may amount to a duty for millions of Nigerians who grope and groan in darkness hoping for when this long walk will lead to the end of the tunnel. However, let us get these facts in place and enlighten our readers on issue that should be of great interest. The electric power value chain stands on three legs; generation, transmission and distribution to deliver electricity to the consumers and the government have significant shares in Power utilities even though it is privatized.
Following the unbundling of NEPA which was saddled with the responsibility of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity for the country, 11 distributing companies, 6 generating companies and a transmission company emerged. The generating companies were sold to interested private operators with the Federal Government retaining 40% shares in it. The generating plants were equally disposed of especially the thermal plants while the hydro plants were concession.
To shore up generation capacity, the Federal Government in 2004 incorporated the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) as a private limited liability company with shareholding fully subscribed to the Federal, State and Local Government with a mandate to manage the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP). This basically involves addressing identified critical infrastructure in the electric power value chain. The NDPHC is adding about 4,774MW to the grid through its ten new thermal power plants on completion. Some of these plants have been commissioned and privatized while plan is afoot to sell off others to private operators.
While the minister mentioned generation and distribution as now privately-owned, he carefully ignored transmission the second leg in the chain that is managed by Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN wholly owned by the Federal Government.
According to NERC, “TCN’s licensed activities include: electricity transmission, system operation and electricity trading. It is responsible for evacuating electric power generated by the electricity generating companies (GenCos) and wheeling it to distribution companies (DisCos). It provides the vital transmission infrastructure between the GenCos and GenCos’ Feeder Sub-stations.”
The TCN has three components operational departments which include; Transmission Service Provider, (TSP), System Operations, (SO) and Market Operations (MO) working to stabilize the chain.
The third leg of the chain, the distribution companies is bedeviled with poor and obsolete network infrastructure. The first leg being generation companies also faced the same challenge of obsolete equipment when they took over beside other constraints. With 100% ownership in TCN and 40% ownership in DisCos, this leaves the government with enormous responsibilities in the sector. As reported by Sweet Crude Report, Nigeria’s national grid experienced a total of 190 systems collapse in nine years. In 2015, it recorded total lockdown dropped to 6 and 4 partial shutdowns. However, in 2016 the number shut up again to 22 total systems collapse and 6 partials. It dropped to 15 cases of total systems collapse and 9 partials meltdown in 2017. In 2018, cases of systems collapse have been recorded.
System collapse is a term used to describe the situation when all the power generating stations connected to the grid shut down at the same time or immediately one after the other, leaving the entire area supplied by the grid in blackout. This may happen because of human deliberate control action as part of normal operational schedule or automatically due to self-protective action occasioned by external happenings on the grid. It is common knowledge that the nation transmission infrastructure has been inadequate. However, government is making great efforts to revamp and improve the system with constant investment.

Beyond regulatory functions and policy formulation, Mr Fashola and his team cannot shirk on their responsibilities in a sector that has continued to lean on life support. To draw an analogy and equate the operational structure as obtained in power sector with that of telecommunication and banking sectors is quite unfortunate and this is an indication of the enormity of frustration the nation is experiencing in finding solutions to the problems despite continuous efforts to improve the sector. Millions of Nigerians are still not connected to the grid and those connected are receiving less than service expected of a sector that government has spent more than 1 trillion naira in bailout funds and investment since the sector was privatized.
The minister must understand that consumers will continue to knock at his door to complain about the poor service still being offered in the sector. As a regulator he must listen to the complaints and effect changes to the rules to regulate well for the betterment of the consumers. As a policy maker, he must listen so as to formulate policies that will salvage the sector. As one representing the interest of government shares in the sector, he must listen to the consumers so as to deliver qualitative service to the people. Government cannot decide to stay aloof from the predicaments of the consumers in the sector.
The minister should not see these complaints as blames or attacks, rather he should understand that consumers over the decades have shown patience and hope for improved service in the sector. The consumers expect Mr Babatunde Fashola who performed creditably well as governor of Lagos state to repeat same in his current duty and not alienate the people.

https://engineersforum.com.ng/2018/12/15/fashola-why-federal-government-can-not-stay-aloof-from-consumer-predicaments-on-power-issues/

Baby Jamiu

Nigerian Army University, Nigerian Police University, Nigerian Immigration University, Nigerian NDLEA University, Nigerian Civil Defense University, Nigerian Prison Service University, Nigerian Road Safety University, Nigerian Customs University.......... establishing a University is now a short cut to be seen as achieve something. Nobody is talking about job creation

Why didn’t he take advantage of the much talk about Awolowo free education of that time?

Thumb up

History curriculum: this will remain the most controversial and contentious document to ever produced in Nigeria. Nigeria is afraid of her chequered history.

PMB has hyper appetite for loans. The debt cycle the nation has been plunged into is disheartening. This man must go back to Daura.

See naija dey follow do sanction like America. Poorest country on earth