COVID-19: FG to support NAFDAC on vaccine research to meet global standard
• Stakeholders hinge growth on industry’s regulation
Despite the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria’s telecommunications and information services sectors remain the enablers of growth, with N2.3 trillion or 14.30 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution in the second quarter of 2020.
Data available to The Guardian show that the contribution of the sector translates to N2.272 trillion, up from N1.821 trillion in the first quarter of the year.
This, according to figures released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), indicates an increase of 31.43 per cent.
While the entire Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry recorded 17.83 per cent in the second quarter, the 14.30 per cent contribution of the telecoms sub-sector was unprecedented, far and above oil and gas, and other non-oil sectors’.
Checks showed that, in 2015, telecoms’ contribution to GDP stood at eight per cent and has grown significantly quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year to reach the current milestone of 14.30 per cent.
Meanwhile, industry stakeholders attributed the second quarter contribution of telecoms sector, which represents a leap from the 10.88 per cent in Q1 2020, to the sound regulatory environment enthroned by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The stakeholders, including the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria, (ATCON), Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators (ALTON), and the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), who spoke with The Guardian on the matter, commended the regulatory framework driving the digital frontiers in the last five years.
The ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, thanked all industry players for their resilience and consistency of purpose.
Adebayo hinged the growth on so many factors including the investor friendly policy and regulatory environment championed by the leadership of NCC, commitment of all stakeholders, consistent investment on network maintenance and expansion, and sacrifice by sector operators.
To sustain this growth, the ALTON Chairman said the country should continue to invest in network expansion and maintenance operations, access to foreign exchange to procure network critical equipment, consistency in policy and policy environment.
Adebayo said there should be access to spectrum and friendly policies around its allocation, assignment and cooperation between the stakeholders.
ATCON President, Olusola Teniola, said: “telecoms industry has remained bullish owing to the quality of leadership at the helm of affairs at the Commission.”
He added that NCC had become reference point in telecoms regulatory ecosystem in Africa and beyond.
In the same vein, President of National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMS) Adeolu Ogunbajo, said the proactive regulatory approach of Danbatta has helped made telecoms “the oxygen that keeps economic activities afloat during the lockdowns and consumers are appreciative of the fact that the Commission, working with its supervising Ministry, didn’t allow consumer to suffer serious disruption to quality of service and quality of experience.”
Checks showed that effective regulatory regime, backed by various initiatives of the Commission and efforts of the supervising Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy at addressing industry challenges, is providing the needed digital valves that have supported the economy from collapse, since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The increase in broadband penetration, Internet usage, number of access to telephone and several other initiatives by the Commission, especially in the areas of driving tech innovations, employment creation, promotion of digital inclusiveness, which are policy directions of NCC, an industry regulator, have, in the last five years, boosted the sector’s contribution to GDP.
These policy activities have also enhanced growth of digital-based activities across other sectors of economy increasing efficiency and effectiveness in economic operations.
Speaking recently at the Commission’s first virtual telecoms consumer parliament (VTCP), the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, noted that the NCC, ensured has always been innovative and proactive in its regulatory activities by ensuring that the economy remains afloat despite the restrictions occasioned by the pandemic.
Nigerian telecommunication space can be said to be evolving since the early 2000. A reference point to what telecommunication regulation ought to be in Africa, especially the Sub Saharan region. Having said that, the country isn’t yet there and lot has to be done. Since the arrival of GSM in the country, many telecom firms have either died, given up or evolved since the advent of GSM licencing. One of the hardest hits were the satellite communication firms. In the early days the country was heavily dependent on satellite technology for calls and internet connectivity. With all the inherent disadvantages saddled with this type of communication, telecommunication companies (Telcos) started an ambitious project of laying fibre optic cables across the country. This is in line with broadband masterplan of the country. This fibre project literally threw some satellite companies of balance or out of business leaving the infrastructure companies (Infracos) as the kings.
Though, few of these Satellite Service Providers evolved while some where innovative, one of the firms that have made tremendous impact whose footprints are visible in the telecommunication ecosystem is NETCOM AFRICA. Netcom can be described as an early bird in the Nigerian telecom space, not only being an early bird, the company has consistently shown adaptability and innovation in the space. Not only having the best worms as it is in case of early birds, figuratively, Netcom has brought world class solution and international expertise in a local space. This singular attribute has made NETCOM visible and their services commendable to clients and prospects.
On the transition of the company, Sean Hsu, Chief Executive Officer of NETCOM Africa said “The transition is a matter of economics, the margins on data are small, it’s around three to four percent and this is not sustainable. The cost of doing business is high and as an organization, for one to still stay afloat in a highly competitive market, there is a need for evolution. Let us look at this example; data sales need so much volume now compared to when we entered the market 14 years ago. The internet penetration in Nigeria is in major cities and the rural areas need satellite and they are not economically viable. But in managed services, you can make some decent margins. That is why we have to diversify, and in technology there is constant evolution. At the end of the day we have to look at costs, prices, and margins, and that is why we did a transition. When we started out, the culture in the company was like “we are fine, why change”, but today everyone in the company embraces change because we are trying to predict the future of business’, which is business intelligence, analytical intelligence, that is the future. Companies are beginning to come to terms that as they mature, they might not have that 10% profit or more, the profits would shrink because of the ever-evolving market, sophisticated customer base and competition especially in a stable environment.”
Speaking on the evolution of Netcom Africa, Charles Harrington, Vice President, Corporate Development & Marketing, NETCOM Africa speaks the evolution of NETCOM AFRICA. In his words he said “When Netcom entered the market 15 years ago, we were primarily an internet service provider with a focus on corporate clients. As time went on our customers’ demands for more solutions led us to expand our service offerings. Our focus has not shifted from the corporate market, but our area of expertise now lies in connectivity, managed services such as Office 365, Virtual servers using Azure and Amazon, infrastructure as a service, and IT Outsourcing. Our IT outsourcing in particular is one area that is gaining a lot of momentum. We take decided to look at the IT needs of firms and we offer to handle the day to day duties of a company’s IT staff allowing them to focus on their core competencies while we handle their technology. In addition to taking over the responsibilities, we also set a technology roadmap showing them where they are and where we want to bring them to.”
The Group Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Office of Netcom Africa, Yen Choi, speaks of the evolution of Netcom Africa these past years. He said “Well a lot has changed from how we started to the Nigerian information technology (IT) space. It was 2004 that Netcom Africa was established and we started with VSAT services, ours was one of the most innovative then, we came to the market with a different mind-set. We came with 1.2 meter antenna whereas others have antennas that are as large as 2.4 meters, when we came to the market, with the 1.2 meter antenna which was smaller and also revolutionary in the Nigerian IT market, it was also cheaper and more efficient than what was available then in the market. We grew in this space rapidly and our subscriber base increased. One of our ways of working was innovating, we constantly tried to innovated and that is what IT firms must understand, innovation is the key in this industry. We were one of the first companies to connect to the SAT 3 cable system. “
Yen added “This is an undersea cable that connects Europe to Nigeria. The benefits were that the capacity was large; this reduced the cost of internet and also latency. We were the first to offer SAT 3 services outside of Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL) of then which was a national carrier. We tried to pre-empt the fact that the country wouldn’t only be dependent on satellite services. Very shortly, we launched one of the first mobile broadband platforms, it was a device that is the size of an average mobile phone it is a PCMCIA card that can be inserted into the laptop. This device made customers to have access to SAT 3 bandwidth anywhere in Lagos. We called it “MyNetcom.” At that time, the competition was the fixed wireless and our solution was faster than the competitors who were offering to subscribers then about 100 kilobits per second. When we came into the market, we changed the conversation and we started offering services over 10,000 kilobits kB per second as of then.”
On Fibre Optics and telecom infrastructure, Yen said “that We began to roll out fiber across the city, we focused on exclusively on demanding business customers, and we started connecting them to the internet using fiber and microwave. These are high speed connections. Upon enjoying extremely reliable and high-speed connections. These customers not only wanting wanted the internet connection but they also wanted us to manage their IT operations. These customers not only wanted the internet connection but they also wanted us to manage their IT operations. We achieved ISO 9000 standardization and others. These are demonstration of our quality of service. We are the first and probably the only telecommunication company in Africa that has TL 9000 certification. This is a big milestone for us.”
As consumers are getting sophisticated, demanding world class services every day. Netcom Africa understood the need to be abreast and in tune with the realities, having evolved from data or high-speed internet service provider. The company took a great step by introducing Smart Home Solution into the country. This service is focused on bringing a bouquet of telecommunication and smart solution to facilities. In today’s world, buildings are going smart and tenants are becoming more sophisticated by demanding that buildings are connected with fiber optic cables, biometrics, VPN,access controls and security cameras, this is why we came up with the e-space. “We call ourselves the preferred service provider; we give tenants the flexibility to choose. We have a lot of partnerships globally for different solutions. We position ourselves to our clients as the trusted adviser. We work with a host of solutions providers and integrate it to suit the need of our clients. We try as much as possible to understand our clients and offer the best solutions. Netcom’s Smart Building Solutions connect, manage, and automate your building IT infrastructure. Downtime from IT infrastructure can lead to a huge loss in productivity and in turn affect the revenues. Global companies can lose precious time and money due to inefficient management of the IT infrastructure”, Yen opined.
As the world is tilting to cloud solution, NETCOM AFRICA understands the need to take Nigerian corporate organisation to secured cloud solution. As a world class company, security, encryption and support is their watchword over these years, Harrington expressed his view on this in a chat some time ago. “A couple of years ago companies would shudder to think that could put their servers in someone else’s server room or data center, and even worse to put it in the cloud! Today companies here in Nigeria are embracing the idea. At Netcom we offer data center colocation as well as VM’s. In addition, we now offer Amazon and Microsoft VM’s and we have in house experts to setup and manage these solutions for your company. With tons of data used today, what solutions do you have in the area of backup and recovery? One of our solutions for data backup and recovery is eVault. All companies should take data security seriously and it’s only after a disaster that some people think of it. Power outages, Hardware failures, ransomware and even human error are threats that could compromise your servers. We can custom tailor a data backup solution for whatever environment you have so that you can feel confident knowing your critical data and systems can be recovered in such an event. Network security, event monitoring and access are few of the solutions that you have in place.
“The move to the cloud is never easy, and it’s even scary for some! Change is something that we as humans fear the most, but we can all agree that with constant improving change is best. Part of the big change for data is moving it to the cloud and then try to make it easy as possible for our clients. We go in and look at all of the data need that they have and help develop a plan for what they need to move. You would be surprised at how much data they don’t actually need to move, or that’s been duplicated or simply unnecessary”, Charles added.
“Netcom has been in business since 2004 as one of the foremost internet service providers in Nigeria, and we try as much as to stay ahead of competition. We have over time deployed cutting edge infrastructure technology solutions such as VSAT, WIMAX, radio and as of today, fiber technology, as well as, managed IT solutions (Cloud PBX, ERP, CRM, SaaS, HaaSas and IT outsourced services. Now we can be seen as a front runner in the area of transformational IT solutions for business. We also try as much as possible to engage organizations and ensure that they lead their market space by been abreast of the rapid changes in IT innovations. This is one of our strengths. Through a team of our experts and in line with global best practices, we deliver transformational IT solutions. With a 24/7 dedicated support team, we can be said to be one of the best in the country. From our team of network engineers, system integrators, and application developers, we have been able to bring global best IT solutions to Nigerian firms”, Sean Hsu, CEO of NETCOM Africa concluded.
Anthony Nwosu
The transition is a matter of economics, the margins on data are small, it’s around three to four percent and this is not sustainable. The cost of doing business is high and as an organization, for one to still stay afloat in a highly competitive market, there is a need for evolution. Let us look at this example; data sales need so much volume now compared to when we entered the market 14 years ago. The internet penetration in Nigeria is in major cities and the rural areas need satellite and they are not economically viable
More awards have come the way of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta in recognition of the critical role the Commission has been playing in keeping Nigerians and businesses connected since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Two of the awards, ‘Human Rights Telecoms Defender’ for the EVC and ‘Human Rights Guard’ for the Commission, as a corporate entity, were presented by Wheel of Hope Human Rights Foundation (WHHRF), a frontline Nigerian Non-Governmental Organisation. The third award, ‘Icon of a Greater Nigeria’ was presented to the EVC by the Youth Coalition Against Corruption (YOCAC), a coalition of Nigerian youths from all walks of life.
Coincidentally, WHHRF and YOCAC adduced similar reasons for finding the EVC and Commission deserving of the recognitions.
Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikeckukwu Adinde, who received the awards on behalf of the EVC, appreciated the organisations for their gestures, noting that the three awards will serve as an encouragement to the Commission to continue to strengthen effective, fair and transparent regulation of the telecommunications industry.
“On behalf of the EVC and Chief Executive of NCC, we thank you for these recognitions. These latest awards will add to the long list of laurels in the NCC’s kitty. There are many initiatives by the Commission, to ensure increased connectivity, improved quality of service and consumer rights protection,” Adinde said while restating the NCC’s commitment to consumer-centric initiatives that promote digital inclusion and advance the digital economy vision of the government.
In his remarks, Chairman, WHHRF, Jide Abdulazeez, said the presentation of the two awards by the Foundation was in recognition of “the leading role the Commission has been playing in sustaining access to telecoms services throughout the period of the lockdown, following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.”
He added that the role of NCC in making the 112 Emergency Number available to Nigerians to report COVID-19-related cases and other emergencies; as well as its efforts in consistently protecting the rights and privileges of telecoms consumers, through effective resolutions of service-related complains, are part of the reasons for finding the Commission worthy of the awards.
In the same vein, the National Coordinator, YOCAC, Dahiru Umaru, said, “the Icon of Greater Nigeria Award conferred on the EVC is in recognition of his leadership qualities and achievements which have engendered quality regulatory supervision of the telecoms industry by ensuring that telecom consumers are not unduly shortchanged, especially during the critical stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
According to him, the Commission has been contributing immensely to the growth of the Nigerian economy by ensuring robust telecom infrastructure, making it possible for Nigerians to leverage social media and other digital platforms to ventilate their views against corrupt practices in order to ensure good governance in the country.
The General Manager of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Olajide Oduyoye has reacted to a television news story in which a man, named Godspower Osaze Ohamen, claimed that the brainbox of his Toyota Corolla Saloon car got missing within LASTMA premises after his arrest on Thursday, 20th August 2020.
Oduyoye explained that Ohamen failed to produce his Driver’s Licence for identification until he appeared on the television programme to reveal his identity, adding that in the process of arrest, the driver sprinkled a liquid substance on LASTMA men and recited incantations at the officials of the Agency.
He maintained that in a bid to verify the driver’s identity for issuance of a document charging him to Court, the LASTMA officials insisted that Osaze must produce his licence but he declined and opted to release his car keys before leaving the premises.
The General Manager stated that “the vehicle had to be towed into the premises of LASTMA because of Mr. Ohamen’s conduct before the arrest. After the vehicle was lowered from the tow truck, a joint inspection was carried out with our men before he locked his vehicle and delivered the keys in the presence of officers. All these procedures were captured on video by officials of the Agency”.
Speaking further, Oduyoye revealed that the accused showed up at LASTMA on Tuesday, 25th August, 2020, but officers insisted that his driver’s licence must be produced as earlier requested.
“The young man was again asked when he showed at LASTMA five days later to produce his driver’s licence; he simply stepped out and returned some minutes later to raise an alarm that his vehicle’s brainbox had been removed. It is surprising how he gained access into a vehicle that was locked and its keys were with the Agency”, Oduyoye said.
Disclosing that the incident has been reported to the Police, Oduyoye gave an assurance that the result of investigations into the matter will be made available to the public and affirmed that LASTMA will not be deterred from carrying out its mandate despite threats, intimidation or blackmail from some unruly members of the public.
The General Manager urged motorists to report any complaints about the Agency’s personnel through telephone numbers – 08129928503, 08129928490 or 08129928469 and advised members of the public to always obey the traffic laws of Lagos State to avoid the consequences of unruly conduct and possible prosecution.
I want to use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians for their prayers and well wishes while I was away for medical treatment . I am well now and fully recovered and had since returned back home, Nigeria.
On our way back, the Nigerian Airforce Flight encountered a violent clear air turbulence which was navigated safely and professionally by the Captain and crew of the Flight.
I want to commend and appreciate the courage and professionalism of the Captain and his crew, the wonderful gallant service men and women of the entire Nigerian Airforce for their dedication to duty and the quality of maintainance of its Fleet.
I recall hosting the private healthcare Providers earlier in the year and we had a very productive engagement where the issue of building the capacity of Nigeria health sector was the major focus, and funding was discovered to be the major challenge.
I therefore call on the healthcare providers to take the advantage of the Federal Government’s initiative through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines for the operation of NGN100 Billion Credit Support for the Healthcare Sector as was released recently contained in a circular dated March 25, 2020 to the Commercial Banks.
This will no doubt help in building and expanding the capacity of the Nigerian health sector and ultimately reduce medical trips and tourism outside the Country.
Once again, I thank our frontline workers, and all Nigerians for their steadfast as we navigate the challenges facing the entire world.
Aisha Muhammadu Buhari First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria
The Pan-Nigeria Economy Intervention Forum (PANEIF) ICT Stakeholders Taskforce has expressed gratitude to the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM for providing inspiring and sincere leadership which has led to the development of several policies that are accelerating the development of Nigeria’s Digital Sector.
PANEIF made it’s position known today during a virtual meeting with the Honourable Minister, Dr Pantami where the stakeholders presented its report of their last meeting to the Honourable minister which contains several recommendations to the Federal Government.
In his brief remarks, Dr Pantami commended PANEIF for putting up a comprehensive report and recommendations to the government, assuring them that under his leadership, everyone will be carried along in the journey to move the sector forward.
Dr Pantami said “ 17.8% Contribution of ICT to GDP and over 42% Broadband Penetration in Nigeria is a clear indication that the digital sector is moving forward”, adding that the sector is not only for the government to develop as it requires the contributions of all stakeholders on board.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has listed critical regulatory actions that have been taken by the Commission to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on quality of service (QoS) delivery by the networks to telecom consumers.
Danbatta enumerated the measures while speaking at the first edition of the Virtual Telecom Consumer Parliament (V-TCP) hosted by the Commission in Abuja on Friday, 21st August, 2020 with the theme: “Impact of Covid-19 on Telecoms Service Delivery.” The Telecom Consumer Parliament is NCC’s flagship forum for in-depth engagement with service providers to discuss issues of contemporary interest affecting consumers of telecom services in the country.
Citing an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) report, the EVC said with the pandemic, some telecom operators and platforms are reporting demand spike, especially in data usage and volume of calls, as high as 800 per cent since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Regardless of this, Danbatta said the Commission and the mobile network operators needed to play their roles in sustaining quality of service delivery and quality of experience by the consumers, who are critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector.
Danbatta said the NCC, in conjunction with the supervising Ministry developed e-platforms to handle all requests from the licensees to ensure that regulatory services are provided to sustain service delivery to subscribers.
He said the Commission also approved and encouraged resource sharing among network operators and secured Right of Passage (RoP) for all telecommunications companies and suppliers for easy movement during the lockdown. These measures enabled the operators to service their base stations and ensured seamless services for telecom consumers who increasingly relied on the networks during the pandemic.
Danbatta further stated that the NCC, working with the ministry is resolving the problem of high cost of Right of Way (RoW) with the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), adding that, through such engagements, the state governors have lent their support for a robust broadband infrastructure.
“The Commission is hopeful that with the reduction in RoW, which will automatically result in reduction in capital expenditure (CAPEX) by the network operators, telecom companies will sooner than later reciprocate the gesture by making their services more affordable to Nigerians,” he said.
According to Danbatta, regulatory efforts have also resulted in a Presidential approval directing Security Agencies to protect Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and telecom facilities as critical national assets. He said this has helped to safeguard telecom infrastructure for the greater role telecom has to play with the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Danbatta has strongly charged the service providers to constantly upgrade and expand their network capacity in order to deliver top-notch QoS to their consumers.
Earlier in a presentation, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Barrister Adeleke Adewolu showed the various Quality of Service (QoS) indicators for the second quarter of the year across the networks and how the consumer Quality of Experience compared with the parameters based on the voice of the consumer survey (VoxPop) conducted by the Commission. Speaking further, the ECSM highlighted the challenges facing operators, which impact negatively on quality of service to include fibre cuts, vandalism and theft of telecommunications site equipment.
A panel session of telecoms operators, who participated virtually in the TCP, was held and moderated by the Director, Consumer Affairs, NCC, Mr. Efosa Idehen. The panel session addressed issues of network capacity upgrade, change in consumer data consumption behavior, implementation of agreed Consumer Complaints and Service Level Agreement (CC/SLA), consumer education as well as general issues around quality of service and quality of experience by the over 192 million telecom consumers in the country.
In this interview, Favourite Ownuemene, the Chief Executive Officer of Bluebic, an indigenous Information Technology (IT) firm in Lagos with special emphasis on developing eLearning software and solutions talks about eLearning, challenges and the need to fund education sector in the country. Anthony Nwosu captured this in an exclusive interview.
Tell us about BlueBic as an IT firm?
BlueBic is an EdTech startup that builds software solutions that automate the tedious processes involved in running a school, giving school admins and teachers more time to focus on teaching. We strongly believe that the narrative in education ought to change and we are poised to make our own contribution towards this.
Over the years, you have demonstrated efficiency in development of e-learning software, what prompted this?
We noticed a need for an indigenous software product that is not just reliable, but also very easy to use. Giving our deep expertise at software development, we knew we were well-equipped to tackle this problem. This was the gap that we had in mind to fill. We saw the vacuum and we are building also capacity in that area.
What is the level of acceptance, do you think that Nigerian education institutions are open to deploying indigenous solutions?
The level of acceptance is growing rapidly as schools begin to appreciate the need for IT solutions that improves student outcomes, administrative efficiency, saves cost, and also creates a tech-savvy image for the school. Apart from e learning, our solution incorporates school management and all that has to do with day to day running of education facilities. We understood how human error can affect the optimization of many things in the school, we brought in automation.
You are one of the few IT firms that are deploying cloud-based software for learning, do you think that schools are ripe for this?
Yes, schools are more than ready for this. There are a few issues that affect a schools’ ability to deploy cloud-based School Management Software, and we have been, and continue to work very hard at mitigating against these issues. We have seen will to deploy these facilities in school. How are you dealing with challenges like Lack of computers and poor power supply? Most teachers today can afford or already own internet ready phones as Chinese smartphones can be bought for as little as $50, sometimes less. We have built our product from the ground up to be mobile-first. This ensures that our product can be used by schools with very few or no computers and does not require constant power supply as phones can be charged and used even when there is no power. Also, we know that cost of data in this part of the word can be prohibitive, we have built our product to use very little data. Records can also be viewed when offline. Finally, we conduct regular IT literacy training for employees of schools that use our product.
What are the challenges that you face doing this business in Nigeria?
Our biggest challenge has to do with the fact that the education sector is underfunded. A lot of school’s struggle to break even and this affects how much they’re willing to pay for services like ours. We must start funding the schools appropriately. Have you ever deployed in public schools; do you think that the government funded schools are open to such a technology? Yes, Govt. funded schools are open to deploying this technology, and we have deployed our product for a few. The challenge with deploying this for Govt. funded schools has less to do with their readiness and more to do with the long sales process and bureaucratic bottlenecks as there is usually a hierarchy of decision makers that all have to be convinced.
For a school to run an effective eLearning solution or platform like yours,there must be skills. What are you doing about this ?
Yes, it does. We, however, have put systems in place to ensure that teachers can be trained in a cost-effective manner. We strongly believe in capacity building; we have that in mind and that is the reason that we put forward training programs that would update teachers on the best practice. We are not the IT firm that dumps solutions on client, we incorporate training in our service delivery.
How can parents monitor their ward’s educational progress using BlueBic solution?
Parents get login access to the portal; via the portal they can monitor the performance of their wards and also pay their school fees.
As a stakeholder in the ICT space, what is your advice to the policymakers and government on how to deploy e-learning solutions this post COVID-19 era?
E-learning without the guidance of a teacher/instructor isn’t very efficient for the general population of students. My advice would be for the Govt. to focus on deploying e-learning solutions that are targeted not only at students, but also solutions that aid parents/guardians (or other adults) to play the role of a teacher in the learning process. Pertaining to our products and where we have deployed, the product is mostly developed in Nigeria. We have also deployed for schools in Uganda, Kenya, and Ghana.
Pertaining to our products and where we have deployed, the product is mostly developed in Nigeria. We have also deployed for schools in Uganda, Kenya, and Ghana.
The Director General/CEO of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh has commended the Nigerian Navy for the successful enforcement of the new anti-piracy law in Nigeria.
In a commendation letter to the Naval Headquarters, Dr Bashir noted the commendable achievements of the Nigerian Navy in the discharge of its responsibilities on security and other related matters. In this regard, he expressed the Agency’s appreciation on the high level of professionalism and expertise exhibited by the Nigerian Navy in its collaborative efforts with NIMASA especially in the enforcement of the Nigeria’s Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act 2019. It could be recalled that the Nigerian Navy recently secured a conviction for the first time under the new anti-piracy law of 3 of 9 accused persons involved in the hijack of an Equatorial Guinea flagged vessel, MV ELOBEY VI off Equatorial Guinea coast.
While assuring the Nigerian Navy of NIMASA’s continuous cooperation, the Director General further appreciated the Nigerian Navy for keeping with its traditions and ensuring safer maritime boundaries and internal waters to the benefit of the country and the international community.
The Community Policing efforts of the Nigeria Police Force have continued to receive commendable support from Governments, Corporate Bodies and Private Individuals as the Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni, today, 25th August, 2020 received three (3) operational vehicles donated by Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited to the Nigeria Police Force in support of ongoing efforts at repositioning the Force for optimal performance.
The vehicles, Innoson G12 Series, consisting of the Single Cabin Pick-up Truck MSI, Double Cabin Pick-up Truck MSII and the SUV MSIII were presented to the Nigeria Police Force by Mr. Jonas Maduabuchukwu Ojukwu on behalf of Chief (Dr) Innocent I. Chukwuma, OFR and Management of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited in furtherance of their Corporate Social Responsibility, community support and other efforts directed at making the country peaceful, safe and secure.
The IGP, represented by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Department of Operations, DIG Abdulmajid Ali, in his remarks, expressed his appreciation to Chief (Dr) Innocent I. Chukwuma, OFR and the Management of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited for their kind gesture towards the Force. He noted that with public support of this nature, the Nigeria Police Force will no doubt be able to meet its operational and infrastructural needs in combating crimes and criminality in the country. He enjoins other well-meaning individuals and corporate bodies to emulate the gesture.
DCP FRANK MBA FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER FORCE HEADQUARTERS ABUJA
