₦airaland Forum

Amhatu:
sendtodeji, you can reach me at : amhatup1@webafrica-global.com

Thanks.

Are you available on IM? We could carry on a live conversation on Y!IM or AIM.

I will email you my Y!IM.

Amhatu:
sendtodeji,
Something to Consider.

One of the best rendering station boards are

Tyan Thunder n4250QE S4985-SI (S4985G3NR-SI)

http://www.tyan.com/product_SKU_spec.aspx?ProductType=MB&pid=638&SKU=600000075


With a Tyan Thunder motherboard (4 of them, all Together made up of complete systems all AMD Opeteron Processors)


You can push out a high quality 1 hour reel at (NTSC & Pal standards) in less than a week)

For High Dynamic Range (Theater & Higher Ranges) may take 4 weeks maybe less or more depending on setup.

If Electricity is a problem you may consider a photovoltaic systems.

For Solar Electric information :
http://www.thesolarguide.com/solar-energy-systems/solar-photovoltaic-systems.aspx.

Goodday

P.S. If you decide to set it up I would be happy to work part-time for you build & test your setups as I do animation work.

Thanks for the suggestion. If you don't mind, drop me your email address. I will hit you up as soon as I've got something to get started. I'm building a scalable system. If it's lucrative enough a venture, I intend having a farm that's capable of rendering a 4 week job in 2 days. I know that's a lot of computing resource but it's achievable.

I was wondering if anyone knows of any Render Farm in Nigeria. I'm planning to setup one in the not-too-distant future. Is this a viable venture?

AjanleKoko:
^^
You're quite right, it is the employers that we should blame, coupled with the loose labour regulations in Nigeria.
Like I said, in a functional society, it should be illegal for Nigerian nationalities to earn expatriate benefits. That has nothing to do with bargaining power, but rather with a Nigerian national claiming expatriate benefits, such as tax protection.
In most MNCs in Nigeria nowadays, salaries are pretty much standardized. I know of oil and gas, and telecom. Nigerian 'repats' are hired based on their qualification and/or experience, not their location.

You see, I always wonder what went through the minds of our policymakers when they make policies like the one that grants tax protection to expatriates. Most of them won't accord foreign nationalities the same privilege in their own country! Also, it is logical for a Nigerian who has acquired a foreign nationality to claim the same benefits as the expatriates because of the fact that Nigerian immigration laws applies to him/her as well. Do you know that such people have to apply for Nigerian visas to enter the country? They might even require a Work Permit!

Anyway, you brought up another interesting issue on salary standardization. This is a subject that I am quite interested in because there's no publicly available source of data to determine salary structure in some industries in Nigeria. It will be nice if you or anyone else on these forum can give we 'repats' an idea of what obtains in telecoms and oil and gas.

To the statement in bold above, are you saying that MTN staffs working in similar capacities in different geographic areas are receiving the same remuneration?

@AjanleKoko

There are two fundamental issues raised by your post.

1. The problem is not with the "people" as you mentioned. It's rather with the employers. It's not the "people" that set the salary. Take for instance, the issue of foreign qualifications. Why should an employer favor someone with a foreign degree over someone with the same degree obtained from a University in Nigeria? The driver is the force of demand and supply. You know the drill.

2. How did "the huge disparities in wages between locals and expats" came to be? What do expats have that locals don't have in the first place? If expats who are non-Nigerians are paid certain remuneration, why shouldn't Nigerians who have the same level of experience and exposure as them be given the same treatment?

The blame is not on the "people want to earn huge wages, live in Ikoyi, be chaffeur-driven, etc, just because they came from 'abroad'". It is a totality of the mentality, cost of living and dynamics of the Nigerian society. It's also a function of negotiating power, i.e. how you sell yourself. It will be hard for you to find two people working the same job and being paid the same salary. There will always be disparity. It's one of the reasons why someone will leave one company for another. The same reason responsible for why someone might prefer a multinational company to a local company. All the "people" are asking for is to be treated fairly. If someone is hired by a company and is being offered a package that is more than what the locals are offered, then it's not that person's fault. The employer is to be held liable. That doesn't give us the right to castigate them or even hate them. It doesn't make them an inferior to other Nigerians. That is just my point!

Lastly, notice that I have the word "expatriate" in quote. The word is used in it's colloquial form, not necessarily representative of its dictionary meaning.

I'm all for going back home if the country and our people will welcome us with open arms. I'm beginning to see a trend where we seemed to be viewed as aliens by our own people! Some feel that we don't deserve being treated as "expatriate" since we are just "one of them".

Nice thread. I couldn't read all the postings but it shows we have a lot of pros in the house. I'm currently in telecoms but I have my hands full experimenting with VoIP. My specialty is Unix/Linux and Oracle Database / Applications. Some advice for aspiring telecom practitioners. Study and practice, practice, practice. Practice configuring possible scenarios on Cisco routers until you are confident. Same applies to aspiring Unix/Linux and Oracle DB Administrators. The barrier to hands-on learning has been reduced by the appearance of virtual machines. The only challenge in Nigeria is power availability. VMs are available for most of these things if you can't afford the physical devices in your lab.


http://www.ipflow.utc.fr/index.php/Cisco_7200_Simulator

God speed to us all.

OMG! I'm really surprised and excited at the same time at what I am discovering in NL lately. Even out of nothing our folks are still creating something. I've checked out some of the works done by you guys and I must say that it's really commendable. Has any of us ever tried to get some of this aired on TV? I'm sure some Private TV stations will be interested in airing some of them. That will be a big boost to the industry as well. Please, pardon my perceived ignorance in this part.

Also on rendering, what will also make much difference if you have a powerful equipment to render with. By this, I'm referring to a multi-processor system or clustered-computing architecture. While building a clustered-computing architecture isn't much of a big deal, at least for someone like me, the problem of power to run it still lingers. I think you guys should come together and form a cooperative entity to further your cause.

na2day!:
i agree with u dat they're not reliable but there are some basic things dat must be on ground, like power, last year i was in d country to do some freelance work for a friend, it was an harrowing experience, the money i spent on fuel for like 250hours, and to make matter worse, the generator breakin down while rendering, and i felt like cryin, O my GOD!

I can relate with your experience. The last time I was in Nigeria too, I worked a project that should ordinarily take me maximum of 5 hours to complete but took me 5 days! Generator doesn't cut it. I had to download software from the Internet during the process. No reliable Internet connection to do that. The connection kept timing out. It's really really bad.

melvi:
I think the truth of the matter is the reluctance of the educational system in this country to adopt computer and softwares as the way to go with professions especially in tertiary institutions.A lot of graduates now are realizing that getting a degree isn't just good enough to land a good job as a lot of companies are taking to softwares as it enables them work easier,faster and more efficiently.So imagine a school dropout who decides to learn a software and is excellent at it,who is the company gonna employ,the graduate that is computer illiterate or the individual that is a don in a software the company uses.
In terms of animation and 3d,there are no proper institutions where people can go and learn these things.In canada,there are a lot of film and animation schools even universities have these courses available.There are DVDs and ebooks readily available for purchase.I have heard of NIIT,I almost went there but I discovered they teach very little of what the softwares have to offer.I am not even sure they have ever heard of softwares like Topogun,or motionbuilder.I have learnt a lot on my own so if we start establishing animation companies or some of the foreign companies decide to set up here.I think that's a start.

You have actually taken the right approach, self-development. You now imagine what you could achieve if you had access to 24/7 power and reliable Internet. You won't need a training school neither will you need the DVDs. I can't imagine myself working without access to the Internet. It's like being locked up in a prison with no access to the world!

zPixel:
I don't think all this things are avialiable in kenya but they are doing better animation-wise compare to Nigeria.

Let's take a look at South africa, why do we think they're doing better than other african countries? i really don't know the answer.
I strongly believe the industry will grow in Nigeria, but for how long are we going to wait, another thing we should consider is a community for CG artists where we can all come together discuss and plan on how the industry can move forward and how we can help each other become better. It would really go a long way.

I have a possible theory for that question based on personal observation and experience. I will theorise that South Africa is achieving its feats because of the presence of non-black race in its population. This is in no way a condemnation of the black race. I have observed this also in predominantly black areas of America as well as in some offices with predominantly black employees. I haven't been able to put a finger on the particular reason but I'm thinking it has something to do with "order" as in orderliness or "process" as in having a laid down process for achieving things. The black race is smart, brilliant and talented. However, there's still a missing key ingredient that makes even those who are intellectually "lesser" (for lack of a better word) than us to achieve tremendous growth. I'm not supporting the concept of "the black race is cursed" either. It's definitely has to do with the way we approach things. Our way of thinking and acting. My theory could be quantified by the known fact that when a black man is relocated from his "natural habitat" into an habitat where he is greatly influenced by a non-black race, we tend to perform better and achieve better results. NIGERIANS ARE THE BEST IN EVERYTHING but ,

FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

Dear electronics enthusiasts,

First, let me start by saying that though I am a little bit electronics inclined, however, it's not currently my profession. That said, I just want to encourage us here to pursue challenges bigger than us. We've all seen what China and India are doing. The question is "what do we need to get to where they are in electronics". I have a thing against our academic institutions, a product of which most of us are. We are teachers who lack industry experience to impact real knowledge. That notwithstanding, I have seen people transcend that limitation through a process of "going beyond what was given". I have a feeling that most of us in this forum belong to that category. I was impressed to read another forum about people doing embedded programming here on Nairaland. We have to take our skills a level further to get noticed at the international level. The world is only waiting for us to "prove ourself". We should endeavor to participate in International competitions like this http://www.intel.com/cd/corporate/education/EMEA/ENG/ireland/266662.htm and others. To quote from the scriptures which says "The gift of a man maketh way for him , " Our gift is our skills. It's what will get us noticed locally and internationally. It's what will eventually put money in our pockets.

How about the establishment of an "Electronics Center of Excellence" in Nigeria which will be an institution for training budding electronics engineers and enthusiasts under the tutelage of the world's best. I'm just throwing the idea out for you folks to ruminate over and bring up ideas on how it can be actualized. One of the focus should be in making available the tools that are lacking for performance. The truth is that no one will come to your aid except you guys come together and speak with one voice. Instead of flying solo, you can all collaborate on a project. Funding will come if it's one that is viable. By viable, I mean that it solves a problem. Look around you and figure out the problems that companies around you are having. Come up with a prototype of the solution to the problem. Find a way to approach one of the companies to show case your prototype. I'm sure if they like it, they will fund it.

More grease to your elbows.

Nice tutorial about working with SMDs

http://poeth.com/smtmfg.htm

You are welcome. I'm certainly not a programmer. If I may ask, does your company have a budget for this solution you are seeking? If yes, then I will suggest that you consider investigating big names in the B/OSS software. Visit www.tmcnet.com. You should be able to find some on there. My assumption is that you are probably going low-cost / do-it-yourself in-house development route. Which is why I suggested something along the line of Asterisks that is Open Source.

I haven't implemented any billing software with Asterisk on SQL Server but I think it can be done. However, the solution will have to be first thoroughly tested before before being rolled out to production. The eventual solution might make use of ODBC connection layer to SQL Server. You could also talk to the vendors to see how they can help you customize the application to your SQL Server requirements.

How about that?

Starting with Java is not a bad idea either. If your interest lies in just developing business applications, then it suffices to start with Java. If you are tending towards systems programming, that is when C/C++ is unavoidable. I studied Computer Science at a Polytechnic. However, it is the personal interest and effort that paid off not what I was taught.

Also consider going wireless since most of your clients will have mobile devices. Contact me at sendtodeji@gmail.com if you need more details. I can't help you with ISP selection but I can help you with a strategy that will ensure a good ROI.

I don't know much about this piece of hardware but you possibly can interface it with an Asterisk Switch (VoIP). There are several billing/rating software that interface with Asterisks. It all depends on your potential implementation. If I understand your specific implementation, I might be able to provide specific information as well.

Good luck.

Hey guys,

I'm not a professional programmer but I sure can provide some insight. C++ is an OOP language. Before getting down to even writing codes, first seek to understand the basic OOP concepts. The trick to learning and mastering any programming language is practice! practice!! practice!!!. Get a good IDE or CLI-only compiler and make sure you write codes daily. Another good thing to do is to read other people's codes. There are tons of code snippets online that you could look through. These practice has a way of robbing off on you and boosting your competence level.

I used to be a software developer and loved every bit of the experience. However, I realized that I wouldn't want to continue in that line of trade for long. I thought I was alone in this state of mind until I met some other people who are leaving programming for administrative positions e.g. Network Admin, System Admin and Database Admin. I admit that programming is a habit that's difficult to shake off. I still write a few lines of codes here and there every week. I even still learn new languages! However, I don't see myself doing it full time as a profession.

If Lagosians will not mind, I will like to nominate Fashola as 2011 Presidential Candidate of the masses. Yes, there's a lot yet to be done but I prefer someone doing something to those not doing anything! If infrastructure development and maintenance is well addressed especially telecommunication, I will prefer relocating back and setting up my base in Lagos or wherever else is conducive. For my type of profession, I have the liberty to work remotely from any location as long as I have access to reliable Internet service that will allow VPN connectivity. Besides that, I will require a steady power supply to run the heavy equipments that drives my business without incurring exorbitant operating expenditure.

Bottom line, quality infrastructure creates viable business opportunities and avenue for foreign exchange besides oil. This is the reason why a country like India is the center of attraction for technology companies. The only thing standing in our way of achieving India's feat is telecommunication INFRASTRUCTURE and a government that knows what it's doing. With Google gradually gaining in-road into Africa, I foresee business opportunities in the areas of call center operations being outsourced to Nigeria. This is just one of many opportunities that we can tap into only if we could focus on developing the required enabling infrastructure. Give me reliable Internet (at a reasonable price, not like paying NGN 1 million per month for a T1 capacity o) and steady electricity, and I will be able to create job opportunities for people, even if it means retraining them. The good thing is that I am not alone in this mindset, there are many more who share the same opinion and can easily relate with me.

Please Lagosians, give Fashola to Nigeria in 2011 (or whenever the time comes).

I just received a shocking news from a colleague at work. He tried purchasing a British Airline ticket for his father and was not allow to do so by British Airline. He put a call across to BA and was told that he had to come in person with proper identification to pay for the ticket. This, I believe, is another fallout of our being listed as one of the "countries of interest".

Anyone else has similar experience lately? Please, share. Until I hear similar stories, I want to believe that this is an isolated incidence that cannot be generalized. By the way, my friend is a US-Nigerian Citizen.

To travel agents, have any of the airlines issued any new policies since the December 25, 2009 incidence?

The comments and attitude portrayed here shows the level to which Nigeria has degraded. We are quick to condemn the leadership when, in fact, we are the ones giving them the opportunity to treat us as if they can exist without us. I once put out a request for a Civil lawyer who can help defend against police brutality. I'm yet to get any response from our learned colleagues to the clarion call to help defend the helpless. We want things to change while at the same time we keep doing the same old silly things that we do. Yeah, no one wants to die, including me but we shouldn't just resign to a self-inflicted fate. The whole event was caught on tape yet the security refuses to release the tap. What is the whole purpose of security at that airport? I wish someone had a cell phone capable of recording the event and posting it on Youtube or CNN iReport has was done in the case of Uzoma. The international exposure given to her case made it to garner the attention that it has till today. It would have simply been swept under the carpet if the video had not publicly been revealed.

If we truly want things to change for the better in Nigeria, it's high time we start doing the right things. It's high time we start being reactive and proactive. Tomorrow, our government will come out and start asking people in diaspora to come and invest in the country. How will they listen to such calls when they know that brutality and oppression is the only they can look forward to? Nigeria is not owned by a single class of individuals. "We the people" make up the entity called Nigeria. However, we have willingly allowed ourselves to be violated by an uncultured and primitive few. People who, in a true society where things work by merit, will not even have a place!

Solution - Reformat

Yes, we can reformat Nigeria by reformatting every single apparatus in the country. A retired general can wreak havoc of this magnitude when he knows that he still has some boys who recognizes him in the barracks. How about infusing new blood into the entire military system? We retire everyone of them and bring in new ones who are well trained and cultured in the honorable profession of defense. That way, all the "kings that knew Joseph" will no longer exist in the barracks. How about having a law that bans any retired uniformed officer from using military personnel to oppress people? The punishment for violation should be capital or life imprisonment.

I truly love Nigeria but unfortunately, news like this make me want to disown my country of birth. In fact, I probably should be considering the possibility of retiring in Ghana or any other African country where human life is valued and respected. Let it be known that no one, I repeat, no one else can help us take what rightfully belongs to us except we do so ourselves. I have a post on how we can go about doing that.

God bless us all.

@Poster

First, invite the lecturer for lunch and have a man to man talk with him. Ask him if he will ever want such a bad thing to be done to his sister, wife or any other close female relation. If he is the unrepentant type, get proof of his activities.

If you cannot afford the spy gadgets, I can even send you some. Guys, which type will work best for this situation. The pen or the button-hole? People like that lecturer got to loose their job because they don't appreciate it. That will create opportunity for someone who appreciates the job to take over. A lot of washing and flushing needs to be done in our academic environments. Some people destroy other people's life just like that, all because they have one small power.

We have all been following the political seen in Nigeria for quite some time. Some trends are obvious in the way things are being done. It is observed that we are constantly recycling the same old leaders that brought Nigeria to its current economic and political chaos. The solution to our problem is a revolution. Revolution is a dreaded word which is often associated with blood letting. Every country that is making progress today has undergone a revolution at one time or the other. Ghana, to which we are loosing our industries and people, was revolutionized by Rawlings. However, a revolution does not have to involve blood shed.

The revolution that I am proposing is a  political one. PDP has come to be identified as a political party that can never mean well for Nigeria. Some folks came up with the idea of forming a Mega Party that will oppose PDP and snatch power away from them. The unfortunate thing, however, is that the folks that constitute the so-called Mega Party are still the same set of people with old ideologies of governance that can never get us anywhere.

We the new generation Nigerians who are progressive in thinking actually have to take over NOW! President Obama has laid a precedence and has shown us how powerful the votes of the youth and progressive-minded populace can be in winning an election against powerful money bags who think the seat and corridor of power can only be bought with their money. We can adopt the same strategy in winning back our Nigeria. This is the political revolution that I propose. The aim of this revolution is to make those old politicians irrelevant; to infuse new and progressive minded politicians and put them at key positions. We all know those people that mean well and are demonstrating their good intentions. We know the ones whose good intentions have not been allowed to flourish because they are being cutoff by the so-called "powers that be". This revolution is to tell them that though we might not be rich but yet we are still powerful. This revolution is to take back what rightly belongs to us as a nation. This revolution is to secure the future of Nigeria for us and the generations yet unborn. This revolution is to instill sanity into the polity. If necessary, this revolution is to instill fear into the minds of the "powers that be" to keep them in check and at bay because we the true Nigerians are in-charge. This revolution is to re-write the rules of political engagement.

The political entity that will result from this revolution will have no place for old-age politicians. In fact, their ideas are not relevant and as such are not welcome. In this entity, the choice of representatives and leadership will be by transparent and unanimous vote.

To this end, I am calling well-meaning Nigerian professionals to duty. We need to act now and act fast. We need to start gathering ourselves and organizing ourselves. We have to start immediately mobilizing resources to achieve our objective. What I'm proposing is definitely bigger than nairaland. However, it will be on record in the future that nairaland was the starting point. I'm putting this on here because I have come across the posts of many like-minded intelligent progressive thinkers on nairaland who feel that what they say doesn't really matter because the people concerned ain't really listening or paying attention. We can no longer fold our hands and do nothing. Our inaction is responsible for our fate. We have to act. Calling on all intelligent and progressive thinkers home and in diaspora to take this cause seriously and act now. I believe we far outnumber those stinking politicians that we have. There is a huge power and potential in our number only if we know how to harness it.

I will like to read our constructive criticisms on how best to approach this issue. Progressive thinkers, where and how do we go from here?

The question we should be asking is "Where is the money going to come from?" The reality hasn't yet dawn on these folks that oil is no longer what it used to be. Except if they plan on plunging the country further into debt by borrowing from World Bank / IMF to satisfy themselves at the citizen's expense. Only if people like Farouk Mutallab will be reasonable enough to pay these former leaders a visit at their houses, then will they identify with the pains and sufferings of Nigerians. It's only in Nigeria that leaders are only concerned about themselves and neglect the people whom they are supposed to lead and cater for. How about we all just leave the country for them and emigrate elsewhere? It seems that they are already telling us that we are irrelevant in the scheme of things. They can exist without us. Therefore, they don't need us to be leaders. They can lead the oil fields.

Shame! Shame !! Shame !!!

I was expecting to read someone mention that the western world is simply reaping the fruit of its labor. What we are experiencing in Nigeria is the result of the unholy matrimony aka amalgamation of three ideologically incompatible entities. One of the three (3) who should actually be the lesser of all is now calling the shots and dictating our fate. Whatever the conspirators thought they would achieve when they came up with the whole idea back then has hatched into fierce monster that is about to consume them and even take the work of their hands down the with it.

Intelligent people have spoken on this thread. The lasting solution to Nigeria's problem is what I will call "to thy tent o Israel". Let each ethnicity govern itself in his own country. Whichever ethnicity is in power is obviously an insult to the others. It amazed me to hear a northern cleric lay claim to Niger-Delta precious resource as "our oil". Can someone point one specific thing that the northerners bring to the table of the association called Nigeria? None that I can point to but I stand to be corrected. Yet, they claim that they are borne to rule even when they lack the wherewithal to do so.

What else do we expect from a nation whose leaders lack the basic knowledge of leadership? This is a reflection of what goes on everywhere in the country. Leadership is more involving than being at the top or in control. We are yet to realize that governance is dynamic and as such requires dynamic minds. Yet, we recycle leaders who want to apply the approach of '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s to modern day challenges. How do you expect a nation to advance technologically when the leadership is not technologically inclined? It's only people who appreciate things that will show interest in investing in such. That is evident in Governor Fashola's performance in Lagos State. We need more dynamic minds in order to move Nigeria forward and position the country where it rightly belongs.

We are hopeful that things will change for better in Nigeria but we are growing weary by the day. When shall we again see Nigeria in its glory and splendor. It's as if every time we take one step forward we take twenty steps backward. Nigeria, where do we go from here?

Food for thought.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1219655872942772550&hl=en

I even heard that they are finding it difficult to pay salaries now. I am one of the people who have been praying for something miraculous to happen in Nigeria. Oil has been a curse rather than a blessing for us in Nigeria. Before oil, we were doing just fine in Nigeria. Oil came and everybody just got greedy! I never for once dreamt that this day will come to reality this fast.

Brothers and sisters, this is the time for us to show our government that we matter. They've written us off for a long time. We were never relevant to them. Other governments take the welfare of its citizens as a high priority. Who cares in the Nigerian government?! Well, it's time for them to care. How? It's simple. They need foreign income which oil was providing but no longer does. Human capital, which they've hitherto neglected, can provide that. Let's reinvent India in Nigeria. We have all what it takes (except for poor infrastructure). The government has always been putting up a facade about inviting foreign investors to the country. You don't need to beg investors to come! They will come when they see something that attracts them! Did we beg the oil companies to come to Nigeria? Noooooo. They came because they saw something that they want. In the same way, they will come if they see something else that they want in Nigeria. Nigerians are smart and brilliant. We do great exploits all over the world. But at home, it's a different story.

Philip Emeagwali was talked about a future where technology will benefit us in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. That man always inspires me because he so much believes in his roots. You can read some of his writings on his web site (www.emeagwali.com) or check out some of his presentations on YouTube. I read a minister saying that it's time we get back to agriculture. That is a good thing. However, the future prosperity of Nigeria lies in Technology (tekinoloji)! We have to empower ourselves technologically in Nigeria. Let us ignore the government. I don't really know how I can express and explain this but it can be said in a thousand ways.

We each have to research how we can use technology to benefit ourselves. For instance, let's assume that I am a computer programmer and reside in Nigeria. It's possible for me to get a programming contract in the US and be paid in dollar! I'm certain that I will get paid as long as I do the job to specification and my client gets the result. We can't all be programmers but there are other things that could be done in similar fashion.

For the Yahoo boys, your act is no longer popular. Haven't you heard? The biggest scammer of all times, Bernie Madoff, has taken all the rich people's money! It's time to start doing the right thing. For how long do you think you can maintain your expensive lifestyle without a steady source of income? 'Yahoo' income is not steady. You've all got to get your acts together, seriously. I get all these crazy mails from you guys everyday that tells me how dumb some of you are. I can't stop wondering how some people fall for that crap! Anyway, a word is enough for the wise. My people, it's our time to shine. Let us put on our thinking caps.

Do you have a technology contract or project that you don't have resource(s) or technical knowledge to execute?

You can contact me for help. I am a system integrator/consultant with deep and vast knowledge in various technology projects. I will give you the leverage that you need and help you deliver your project in a timely manner while delivering the best quality that your money can buy.

I have access to a lot of resources and so I am well equipped for any task of any size. No project is too small or too big for me to handle. I will work with you on your terms based on an agreed upon MOU. My fees are very reasonable when compared with the quality of service that I deliver.

What I do

* Wired/Wireless Infrastructure Deployment (802.11x)
* Wireless Billing Platform Deployment (802.11x)
* Distributed Application deployment
* Equipment sourcing and purchase
* Call Center Solution with VoIP trunking and foreign DIDs
* Corporate IP PBX deployment with VoIP trunking (various protocols)
* Internet Technologies
* Software and Database Systems
* Surveillance and Access Control Systems integration
* e-Government MDG initiatives
* Technology Consulting and training

What I don't do

* I don't bid for contracts or projects
* I don't do contracts that are under-priced
* I don't work without advance part-payment (with balance due on delivery)
* I don't execute a project with my own funds
* Most times, I don't write proposals because I believe that is the job of another person (probably should already be on your staff)


You can contact me with your various project requirements.

Contact:

Email: sendtodeji@gmail.com
Phone: +1(919) 793-4844


You can also contact me if you have a potential project in view or you have an idea that you don't have a clear picture of on how to proceed or where to start from.

Thanks for taking the opportunity to read this.

- Adedeji

It's being a very long discussion. I just stumbled on it today (November 26th, 2008) and I was able to follow the discussion from when it started. As you might have guessed, I am also a product of the Polytechnic institution. I graduated in 2003 and completed my mandatory NYSC in 2004 before moving to the US in the same year. When I completed my ND, I had attempted to go to OAU to obtain a BSc. However, the prevalent admission politics stopped me from achieving that. I went back to the Polytechnic to complete my HND. Today, I am glad that I did. Some of my colleagues who had the patience and wherewithal to deal with the admission process got admitted a year after. Unfortunately, majority of them didn't graduate until 2007, 4 years after I completed my HND! Who has that time to waste?

I am currently pursuing a Masters in Information Technology with concentration in Telecommunications Management at a University in the US. One of the entry requirements for getting an admission for graduate studies is to first have your credentials evaluated by a Credential Evaluation agency like www.wes.com To my surprise, my HND evaluation came back as "Equivalent to a US 4 year BS degree". Now, someone else who comes from Nigeria to pursue a Masters degree over here who has a BSc from Nigeria will also get the same I evaluation that I got. The point is, the discrimination we are experiencing is an evil offspring of bad government educational policy. By the way, is the university becoming a cult system? How else can we explain the term "convocate"? I will prefer to define it as a University cult system for students who passed through a university educational system in Nigeria. If our dear friend HND-Holder was able to distinguish himself with Ph.D in Engineering, while should someone with inferiority complex and low self-esteem criticize him for passing through a Polytechnic? It's utter nonsense which I think should stop. I'm confident that it will eventually stop as we continue to have more and more Ph.Ds like HND-holder who are willing to stand up for the cause.

In the US, they also have a system of Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities. Some colleges award degrees up to BS. You achieve an Associate degree when you complete a 2 year course in a college, which is equivalent to our ND. Then you can proceed to the University to complete an additional 2 years to obtain a BS. You can enter directly to the university from year one to end but it's more expensive that way. That's why most people opt to college first and then transfer to a university to finish up. Putting that in perspective, I am for the idea of preserving the Polytechnic system for awarding ND as "mid-level manpower" producing institution. HND should be scraped and replaced with BS or cease to exist.

We are all a victim of a faulty system where some people just want to feel superior at someone else's expense even though everything about them says otherwise. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this crime. Yes, it's a crime. The system is so worse now that you can only gain admission to most universities only if you are willing to "buy" it. Some people will demand up to NGN 80,000 to offer you admission. What for? That's the reason why our university system keeps churning out mediocres. A director at a major oil company recently made a remark about the university system producing first-class graduates who don't even understand basic concepts of Geology. I was expecting the University community to put up a logical defense. The few responses I read in the Newspapers then was further disappointing. A lecturer from LASU wrote that there are not enough fund to carry out research. I think you can only get funds when an entity realizes the potentials of your research. The reality of the matter is, majority of our academicians are not keeping up with recent developments in their fields. They are relying on archaic knowledge and principles, further passing that on to their students. By the time the students graduate and get into the field, they soon discover that things are different from what they are thought.

I also have a thing against going from classroom to classroom to become a lecturer/professor. The crucial industrial experience element is missing! How can you teach a concept that you do not have a hands-on experience with like it should be thought? It's not possible! Let our professors go and compare their credentials with that of their foreign counterparts, they will realize that their foreign counterparts have industrial experience first before opting for the academics. That's the route that the Polytechnic system follows. Make no mistakes, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the Polytechnic system. The problem is the system in which it is being run. The Polytechnic system, if given its due recognition, is the system that will take us to the technological level that we put us at par with developed nations like the US and UK. What is killing us in Nigeria is the denial of our own ability. If we embrace home-grown technology and encourage people to be creative like it's done in countries like India, China and Japan, we would realize that we can compete favorably at all levels with those countries technology-wise. The lecturer at LASU claiming that they don't have funds and equipments to work with in order to perform meaningful research is very wrong in his argument. We want government to provide everything. An academic community should be able to improvise. What happened to reverse-engineering? If government is able to buy one of an equipment, I think the best thing should be for them to disassemble it and come up with a means of producing a similar technology and even refine it to make it better. This is what we can do with even the little resources that we have in that country. If a computer science professor is doing a research in clustered or grid computing and he is complaining about not having enough resources to perform a research, how about him putting up a Beowulf cluster with scraps from computer village and good old Linux OS?

I must confess to the person reading this that the knowledge and experience that I am using at work right now is a knowledge that I acquired while I was a student. It is easy for me to transfer that knowledge to any area of IT. I was trained on DOS, now I work on Linux and Unix. The transition was seamless and have even come to enjoy it more than Windows! One thing that I also have to say is that what you become after school is not a function of who taught you at school. It's not a function of being taught by a professor or a "Mister" (I wonder what that means). It's a function of who you are. Those people are not meant to be "all-knowing". There role is to guide your learning and answer your questions. That's another problem that we have in the Nigerian educational system. Our professors and "Misters" think their role is to exact their academic prowess by failing students. Well, I don't think that's what they should be doing. The government should institute a policy that will enable students too to evaluate their teachers. I can tell you that not all the "misters" that taught me knew so much about what they were teaching. In fact, most times, I get more confused after a lecture. Which is why at times, I prefer to skip some classes (little confession) because I am way ahead what the "mister" was going to teach. The "mister" is relying on solution from a lecture not to grade my work whereas I am giving him a practical approach which could be different from the book or lecture note solution. I can't tell you how many times I was bitten before I realize the truth. What's the point, what you become after school is not and will never be a function of what you were taught in school. It's more a function of who you are and what you can do with what you learnt in school.

I hope to some day retire from the industry to the classroom to teach after obtaining my Ph.D like HND-holder. The one and only place I would like that to happen is in Nigeria. I hope I will not be discriminated against by my academic colleagues too. If that happens, I will start a technology institute that will bring "real" people together to produce solutions that will affect our system. At this age in Nigeria, we should have our own home-made car. Someone attempted that recently but he was also sabotaged. We should have our own home made electronics. A lot of Nigerians are involved in the design and development of such things outside the country. I wonder why they can't do that within? Sabotage! As any one read the story of Jelani Aliyu, the guy that designed the GM next generation electric car? Has anyone heard about Emeagwali? Google this names and see what they are doing in diaspora. They are like you and I. Jelani Aliyu is also a Polytechnic product. He had the opportunity to go to a University both chose a Polytechnic instead. He wanted practical experience and the Polytechnic system suits his purpose and vision. Look what he's doing today.

I rest my case for today.

We will have a made in Nigerian car only when the government itself starts giving support to Nigerian entrepreneurs. I don't know if any of you read the story of a man who built a car from the ground up, including the engine. The man didn't get government support in Nigeria. Eventually, South African government decided to fund his project. That was when some people decided that he was a threat and stole all his designs and molds.

The government did nothing to assist the man who have made such a great leap. Instead, our own Nigerians criticized his efforts saying what he created was not standard enough to compete. The Indians that we talk about invest greatly in their human resources. I can tell you that we Nigerians are the most blessed and brilliant minds. There's saying that I love. It says "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". Unfortunately, we are wasting our brilliant minds. Our government relies on natural resources to fund its excesses instead of using the natural resources to develop the human resources. Nigeria has neglected its human resources and will suffer for it very soon, when demand for oil drops as a result of alternative energy sources.

Analysis of the Market Trend in Nigeria
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I have observed the market trend in the country and came to the conclusion that things are the way they are because people want CHEAP things! Yeah right, they can't afford it blah blah blah. At the end of the day, they end up paying more. Whenever I purchase electronics, I made sure I made my budget known to the seller in all honesty. I will tell him I want a durable product at whatever price that is reasonable. I made sure I don't haggle the price ridiculously low so as not to make the guy change his mind and do something I will regret. In all my encounters, I always end up with sellers who appreciate my honesty and I end up with just what I want. A solid business relationship is born out of such encounters.

Nigerian market is a buyer-driven market. Because the sellers are trying to meet buyers demands, they go all out to do anything that will make the prices attractive to the buyers, even if it means buying inferior items. Sometimes ago, I sent some flash drives home to be sold. These flash drives cost me $30+tax+shipping to buy in the US. When it arrived in Nigeria, people were offering =N=2500 for them. I was so frustrated that I asked them to sell at that price, not because I was happy with the offers, but because I wanted to prove a point. The other Computer Village flash drives that mine were compared with lasted only about 2 weeks! It was then they realized that they weren't the same product. Now they want my flash drives at any cost!

This trend applies to everything that's being sold in Nigeria right now. Nigerians want to buy a car that costs $8000 in the US for just N1.4 million naira. Ridiculous! They want a laptop that costs $600+tax+shipping for N80k. Ridiculous! C'mon guys, let's be realistic. It ain't gonna work! It keeps me wondering "where do these people buy from that makes them sell for such a ridiculously cheap prices?" I have since found an answer to that question and we are all witnesses to the consequences of buying CHEAP things. I am not saying all CHEAP things are bad, but I am saying you that you simply get "your money's worth".

TIPS TO AVOID BEING A VICTIM
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Next time you want to buy an item at Computer Village, you have to first be honest with yourself about the price. Do a price research online. Do the maths. Make sure it's a brand you've seen on the Internet. Try as much as possible to establish a long term business relationship with some trustworthy sellers and stop jumping from store to store. Make sure they will always take back your defective item and replace it in a whim. I used to have a chain of trustworthy sellers when I used to assemble PCs. I always get my "money's worth" and my customers always come back for more.

Conclusively, it seems to me that we all have a role to play in what's currently going on in the market. We will get durable products if are honest to ourself about the price. Put yourself in the sellers shoes. Don't assume he's buying at a bargain wholesale price. What if he is? He doesn't have to because of that, sell at a below-market-value price!


MY PROPOSAL
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If you want a good durable item, contact me @ sendtodeji@gmail.com. Let me know how much you are willing to pay for it. I will tell you where you can pick it up in Lagos or Ibadan. It might take up to 2 weeks before your order arrives in Nigeria. But patience isn't too much of a price to pay for good quality.

Great job guys,

You've helped me in solving a dilemma. I live in the US and sometimes send items home to sell. I need to be aware of prevailing market prices to be able to buy right so as to sell right.

This forum has provided me the opportunity. In return, if any of you guys need to buy anything, contact me and I will refer you to my sales agent or give you a pickup address where you can pickup and pay for the item. Let me know before hand how much you are willing to pay for the item. You can be rest assured that you will be getting your money's worth.

<b> ITEMS I HAVE FOR SALE </b>
<b><i> Laptops </i></b>

NEW ACER ASPIRE 5610-4730 1.73GHz Duo Core 1GB RAM 80GB RAM 15.4" LCD DL DVD+RW/CD+RW Windows Vista Home  - N140k
NEW ACER ASPIRE 5570-2609 1.59GHz Duo Core 1GB RAM 80GB RAM 15.4" LCD DL DVD+RW/CD+RW Windows Vista Home  - N145k
NEW ACER ASPIRE 5610-4610 1.86GHz Duo Core 2GB RAM 160GB RAM 15.4" LCD Webcam DL DVD+RW/CD+RW Windows Vista Home  - N170k
NEW ACER ASPIRE 5610-4537 1.73GHz Duo Core 1GB RAM 120GB RAM 15.4" LCD DL DVD+RW/CD+RW Windows Vista Home  - N150k

<b><i> Flash Drives </i></b>

2GB SanDisk Cruzer - $5600 (Original)

I will update list as time goes on. I'm putting up a page on my web site for people to go and check prices.



Thanks all and keep posting.