Author: premier radio premier radio

NAN-AE-11
Sensitisation
By Rukayat Adeyemi
Lagos, July 26, 2017 (NAN) A town planning expert, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, has called for a public sensitisation programme to educate town planning stakeholders about turning Lagos into a mega city.

Ayinde made the call at the maiden edition of the annual lecture series organised by the Centre for Planning Studies of the Lagos State University in Lagos on Wednesday.

The lecture was organised in conjunction with the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners.

Ayinde, in his lecture titled “Evolution of Lagos into a Modern Megacity: The Role of Effective Stakeholders Engagement’’, said that educating stakeholders in the town planning sector was vital in efforts to fulfil the megacity vision for Lagos.

He listed the stakeholders as trainers in the town planning profession, administrators and those market people who were illiterate but informed in the business of town planning.

He stressed that Lagos had undergone several changes over the years, adding that it was well-positioned to become a megacity.

Ayinde said that to achieve the desired megacity status for Lagos, “stakeholders in the town planning sector must be visionary in their approach’’.

According to him, being visionary should entail political, cultural and economic factors for urban space development.

“Town planners must envision themselves as problem solvers and administrators who should know what to give consideration to when planning.

“Those in the market place too should be exposed to the values of town planning through sensitisation.

“Awareness creation should be taken seriously for citizens to appreciate the values of town planning, while development plans should be favourably done to cater for the interests of poor or lowest income earners in the society,’’ he said.

In attempts to also turn Lagos into “Smart City’’, Ayinde underscored the need for stakeholders to use mutual education, effective communication, identification of all interests and openness as some of the tools.

“As the name suggests, town planning requires a lot of actions but we must plan the right way; from the general to the specifics, placing value on man.

“Human settlements are like living organisms; they grow and they also change,’’ he added.

Ayinde noted that the Lagos State Government and the City of Dubai had gone into a historic partnership to create the first Smart City in Africa.

He said that for the partnership to yield the expected results, regular power supply, security of lives and property and good road network must be in place.

He, however, urged the state government to invest in people through the promotion of small-scale businesses and the provision of affordable housing and education for the citizens. (NAN)
RUKY/AIB/OOK
============

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde and Dayo Komolafe

NAN-H-2

Award

By Rukayat Adeyemi

Lagos, July 26, 2017 (NAN) A 300 level student of Lagos State University (LASU), Pelumi Olugbenga, has been honoured as a Fellow, Hesselbein Global Academy of University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

LASU said in a statement on Wednesday that the fellowship was conferred on Olugbenga after a five-day summit on “Student Leadership and Civic Engagement’’ organised by the U.S. Varsity.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the student had earlier been named one of the five Africans to participate in the 2017 Hesselbein Global Leadership Summit.

To be selected as a Hesselbein International Scholar, the lucky students went through rigorous processes that included the submission of a Curriculum vitae and personal essays on challenges and achievements as a student leader.

Also, individual thoughts on leadership approaches and policies that can bring changes and innovative ideas on global development issues, community service, among others were also considered.

The five-day summit ended with the presentation of awards on July 25.

According to LASU, Olugbenga earned the honour upon the completion of his assignments and projects at the academy and was decorated with a medal by the University of Pittsburgh.

The award was presented by Dr Patrick Gallagher, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Pittsburgh.

Oluwagbenga, while in the academy, worked with Rise Against Hunger, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in New York.

According to the statement, the group is saddled with packaging thousands of meals to feed over 10,000 less privileged children across the world.

“In carrying out his civic engagement, Olugbenga worked with four other Hesselbein Fellows from other countries at the American Red Cross, Western Pennsylvania.

“They presented ideas that would help the American Red Cross go viral and be more effective in its operations.”

Meanwhile, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, Vice-Chancellor of LASU, on behalf of the University Management, Staff and Students has congratulated Olugbenga and wished him all the best in his future endeavours. (NAN)

RUKY/AIB/SOA

=============

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Oluwole Sogunle

NAN-H-88
Programme
By Stellamaris Ashinze
Lagos, July 25, 2017 (NAN) Authorities of the Caleb University, Imota in Lagos State, has entered into an educational exchange programme with a South Korean University to improve its entrepreneurship programme for students.

The university Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Daniel Aina, made the disclosure on Tuesday at a news briefing in Imota, near Ikorodu.

Aina said that the exchange programme would make students of the institution to become self-reliant on completion of their academic pursuit.

The vice-chancellor said that the institution had structured its academic activities in such a way that students would be introduced to value-based education under general studies in their first year to produce self-reliant graduates.

According to him, in the second year, the entrepreneur development is introduced to students, while leadership education will be introduced at the third and fourth year, irrespective of their core courses.

He said that the academic programmes were structured to prepare the students ahead of their graduation to enable them to contribute their quotas to the national development.

“Things can be done better if we join hands together with the government and non-governmental organisations to enhance the quality of our education,’’ he said.

Aina said that the institution management was already discussing with the Lagos State Ministry of Environment to conduct a environmental research on the Olusosun refuse dump site in Ojota.

He said that this was part of the institution’s contribution to the development of its immediate environment.

“The stench that usually emits from the dump site can be injurious to the health of residents and other people dwelling in that surrounding.

“The institution intends to carry out health analysis on the dump site to ascertain its health implication and advise the government on what to do.

“Since one of the core areas of specialisation of the university is environmental studies, it can do environmental impact, analysis and implication of the dump site on the environment,’’ Aina said.

He said that the university, while trying to complement the role of government, intended to attend to some special needs of communities in its neighbourhood. (NAN)
SKA/AIB/GOK
==========
Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Olagoke Olatoye

NAN-HE-1

Power

By Yunus Yusuf

Lagos, July 25, 2017 (NAN) The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) wheeled out 22,978 megawatts of electricity between  July 17 to July 23  against the 25,819 megawatts generated in the previous week.

Power generation dropped by 2,841 megawatts between the two periods.

The daily statistics of TCN operations obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator (SO), a section of the TCN, showed that power generation between July 17 and July 23 was taken by 11 distribution companies.

According to the statistics, the daily power generation during the period were 3,227mw,  3,504mw, 3,285mw, 3,656mw, 3,579mw, 2,898mw and 2,829mw, respectively.

However, the daily distribution to distribution companies (DISCOs) between July 10 and July 16 were 3,511mw, 3,973mw, 3,915mw, 3,947mw, 3,3511mm, 3,487mw and 3,475mw, respectively.

The TCN indicated that the national peak demand forecast stood at 19,100.00mw, of which 11,165.40mw was  the installed available capacity,  7,139.60mw was the available capacity, 7,000mw was current transmission capacity and network operational capacity of 5,500.00mw.

The peak generation ever attained in Nigeria was 5,074.7mw, while the maximum energy ever attained stood at 109,372.01mwh.

Mr Dada Thomas,  the President of Nigerian Gas Association, said that the nationwide shortage of available natural gas supply  was the most critical issue facing the Nigerian power sector.

Thomas said that his association, gas producers and investors in the country would be at ease if  the natural gas shortage was checked at least in the short term.

According to him, the shortfall in natural gas supply, has been further worsened by pipeline vandalism.

Thomas said the problem was impacting on cost-reflective electricity tariffs, unworkable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and over regulation of gas price.

He urged the Federal Government to take actions to resolve the problem  and other challenges that had made further investments unattractive for gas producers, processors, pipelines and transportation companies.

Thomas said that the shortages, being witnessed over the years, would be trivial to the massive economic and social disruptions in future “if we fail to act now“.

Prof. Barth Nnaji, a former Minister of Power, expressed deep concern about the future of Nigeria’s power sector.

Nnaji said the environment was not attractive for investment that would help address various challenges in the industry.

Nnaji said that foreign investors were not willing to invest in the sector because the Federal Government had not addressed major issues that would guarantee good returns on investment.

He said that many projects had been stalled due to financial constraints and tariff issues.

According to him, the tariff must also reflect exchange rate movements since “attachment of tariff to currency movements and adjustments must be done”.

“Tariff review will also help DISCOs to recover costs and pay for gas.”

Nnaji also said that lack of industry deregulation and absence of proper legislation had discouraged investment because “it is the only deregulation that will allow investors to consider investment in gas production and transportation.’’

NAN recalls that Mr Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, on July 5, said that the TCN would undertake 200 projects to improve power supply.

Fashola said at the Nigeria Energy Forum (NEF) in Lagos, that TCN was concentrating on completing the projects to ensure smooth transmission of energy to the national grid.

“Electricity is a very topical subject in the country; lack of it affects production, security, comfort and standard of education.

“If all of us will draw all energy needs from the grid, we will need over 13,000 Megawatts (MW), but unfortunately, the maximum we have from the grid is just 4,700MW,’’ Fashola said. (NAN)

YO/AIB/TA

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Tajudeen Atitebi

NAN-H-92

Innovation

By Chinyere Nwachukwu

Ota, Ogun, July 24, 2017 (NAN) Prof. Moses Obiazi, President, African Engineering Deans Council (AEDC),  says Africa needs well-educated citizens with skills underpinned by Science, Technology and Innovation to attain a high standard of living.

Obiazi made the remark on Monday at a news conference to herald the opening of the 3rd African Engineering Deans Council (AEDC) summit at the Covenant University.

The summit, which begins on Tuesday, will end on July 27.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit, will have the President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, who doubles as AU President, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo in attendance.

According to the council president, apart from science, technology and innovation, others like access to shelter, water, sanitation, energy, ICT and modern agriculture must be tackled to achieve increased productivity.

“To realise this, our African engineers must be fully involved; Africa must solve Africa’s problems.

“Currently, we do not have a specific policy framework to encourage and mobilise African engineers to collaborate in solving Africa’s infrastructure and developmental challenges.

“AEDC is, therefore, poised to work through the African Union (AU) to help foster collaboration and synergy in developing the technologies and skill manpower required to tackle Africa’s multiple infrastructural and developmental challenges.

“This will raise the bar of growth and advancement for the continent,’’ Obiazi said.

The Chairman, Global Engineering Deans Council, Prof. Peter Patrick, said Nigeria might not advance economically if it failed to encourage her graduates to be innovative.

Patrick said if the only thing Nigerian engineers did after graduating was to work for companies or migrate to other countries, Nigeria would never solve its economic challenges.

He said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the news conference,

“This is because, in addition to working for other companies or leave the country, they need to innovate and help create new companies and ideas at home in Nigeria.

“That is how the whole world is advancing economically and that is what Nigeria really needs to do.

“A very important ingredient in preparing universities and other engineering students is to teach them how to be innovative and create new companies, because that is where the jobs will come from.’’

The President, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Mr Kashim Ali, said that the council was working hard to bridge the gap between the academia and the industries.

He said this would help in improving skills among undergraduates of universities.

According to Ali, there is the need for government to also encourage indigenous industries in order to encourage economic growth.

He frowned at the rate of building collapse incidents in the country, saying that the development was becoming embarrassing to the council.

“Oftentimes, when these buildings fall, they blame it on the engineers, but no structural engineer is involved in the construction of such buildings.

“The actual causes responsible for these collapses are quackery and quacks, who claim to be engineers,” Ali said. (NAN)

CCN/AIB/DUA

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Dada Ahmed

NAN-H-76
Profit
By Abdulfatah Babatunde
Lagos, July 24, 2017 (NAN) Contrary to views that private universities are profit-oriented, Prof. Ayandiji Aina, Vice Chancellor, Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, says many private universities are not recording profit.
Aina said at a Forum organised by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that what many private universities generated from school fees could not cover their overhead costs.
“I cannot imagine any private university that can talk about profit.
“The idea is that with all the collections, even the highest-paying school fee university you can find around among the private universities, cannot fund beyond their overheads.
“So I do not know what they mean by profit orientation.
“For instance, some of the capital projects are in the region of almost N10 billion.
He gave an analogy of Caleb University, saying that for instance, “hostel and tuition is about N500, 000 and we have 2,000 students, you can multiply what you have, if everybody pays’’.
According to him, if everybody pays, it means you have less than N2 billion that you are expecting.
“The projects on campus are almost in the neighbourhood of about N20 billion. So, where is the profit?’’
Aina said that “people with the notion that private universities are making huge profits are either ill-informed or simply mischievous’’.
“I think those who have that notion are either not well-informed or they are just simply mischievous, like we have in some of the labour unions,’’ Aina said.
The vice chancellor, however, said that the category of people who could legitimately feel pained that tuition fees in private universities were unaffordable were civil servants, whose salaries, he described as `meagre’.
“If I work as a civil servant and my salary is N55, 000 I have a legitimate reason to feel bad that I cannot afford private university fees,’’ he noted. (NAN)
AIB/AJA/PIO
=============
(Edited by Adeleye Ajayi/Idonije Obakhedo)

NAN-H-31

Research

By Chinyere Nwachukwu

Lagos, July 24, 2017 (NAN) Students of Caleb University at Imota in Ikorodu, near Lagos, are currently doing a research to provide a lasting solution to the nerve-racking traffic in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

The Vice-Chancellor of Caleb University, Prof.  Daniel Aina, made the disclosure at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Lagos on Monday.

Aina said the university took up the research in compliance with the mission statement of the university to focus on environmental issues and commerce.

Lagos cited currently as Africa’s most populous city is notorious for its daily nerve-breaking traffic jams and poor road network.

According to Aina students in Caleb University, are also researching on ways of tackling issues of building collapse, regular occurrence in the city.

“As part of our research efforts in the institution, we are happy to say that there is a lot going on in this regard.

“There are already a lot of prototype projects that have been presented to professional bodies, many of which have won awards.’’

He said that there various challenges, affecting the daily lives of Lagos residents that the university was researching on.

“The university is frantically working on solutions to some of these challenges with a view to improving the standard of living of an average Nigerian.’’

The vice-chancellor said that science students in the institution were also doing research in Community and Public Health (CPH), in a bid to value the health of Lagos residents.

“In this regards, we had collaboration with the Lagos State Government about two years ago, when the government provided some funds to enable the university to conduct research on the CPH.

“Some researchers in the university carried out research around the Ikorodu-Imota area and discovered that there is proximity between pit toilets and boreholes in many areas.’’

The academic explained that such proximity posed serious danger to the source of drinking water in the area, for which solution needed to be proffered.

He said that the researchers came up with some findings that the university had submitted to the State Government.

The don said further that Caleb University had hosted a major international conference recently on issues relating to public health, which attracted scholars from Europe, America and some African countries.

He disclosed that some of the scholars, who attended the conference, did a tour of Lagos State to identify areas they could offer collaboration in public health management.

Aina noted that one of the scholars was particularly worried about a refuse dumping site at the Olusosun area of Ojota on the outskirts of Lagos.

“The Olusosun dump site attracted the scholar’s attention, who urged the university to carry out research on the site.

“He said there were some items that were dumped on the site that looked ordinary but had several negative medical implications.’’

According to the VC, the university is gradually working up to its mission of becoming an architectural hub for undergraduates in Nigeria.

He also spoke on the need to harmonise some course contents in the nation’s institutions of higher learning, especially the universities.

“If you come to Caleb University, you will not need to be told that environment and business studies are key to what we are doing here, apart from reading it on our academic brief.

“So, we are known for environment and business studies and that is why our architecture is flourishing.

“Our business programmes include economics, accounting and finance and that shows our bias.

“But of course, we are also coming up with our signature programmes like law and medicine, which we will run as elite programmes.’’

According to him, universities must be identified with a particular programme and beefed up with other courses.

He said that no university should be allowed to be a generalist institution, adding that in the U.S., a top university such as Harvard is known for business courses, while the MIT is known purely for technology programmes.

“I remember part of the emphasis at a conference we attended in Ethiopia sometime in 2012, which was sponsored by the African Union was how to ensure that universities specialised in specific programmes to be supported with other courses.

“I think the Federal Government is channelling this as it has directed all universities of technology in the country to de-emphasise going into business programmes.

“This move is a welcome development and a step in the right direction,’’ he stated.

Caleb University commenced academic activities with 141 students on Jan. 7, 2008 (NAN)

CCN/AIB/SN

==========

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Silas Nwoha

NAN-H-66
Programme
By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Lagos, July 24, 2017 (NAN) The Vice-Chancellor, Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, Prof. Daniel Aina, says the institution plans to begin the teaching of taxation as an additional course to its business programmes.

Aina disclosed this when he featured at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Monday in Lagos.

According to him, the strength and focus of the institution is basically in the area of architectural and business programmes.

He said that the essence was to train personnel that would be able to provide expertise skill in line with the Federal Government’s policy of diversifying the economy away from oil dependent revenue.

“Our latest addition, which is about taking off is B.Sc. in Taxation.

“The idea is that we want to train personnel that will be able to provide quality service in this area.

“You will discover now that a lot of emphasis is being placed on the development of Nigeria’s Inland Revenue in which a state like Lagos has done successfully.

“The Federal Government is creating the awareness on internally generated revenue through taxes and others.

“So, we developed curriculum for B.Sc. taxation to ensure that we have adequate manpower in this area, in such a way that it is not going to be an all comers affair,’’ Aina said.

The Vice-Chancellor said that Caleb University had been a major intervention in the area of commerce and environment.

“But of course, we categorise our programmes to opportunity and business and these are programmes are heavily patronised.

“We take pride in courses such as Architecture, Accounting, Economics and others because of the peculiar terrain of Lagos.

“We are also gradually moving towards setting up what we call the signature programmes.’’

According to him, the programmes are Medicine and Law schools.

“These are on the table right now,’’ Aina said. (NAN)
CCN/AIB/GY
==========

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Grace Yussuf

NAN-H-29

TETFUND

By Chinyere Nwachukwu

Lagos, July 24, 2017 (NAN) Prof. Daniel Aina,  a member of Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigeria, has advised the Federal Government to revisit the issue of extending Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) intervention to private universities.

Aina, who is the Vice-Chancellor, Caleb University, Imota in Lagos State, made the appeal while featuring on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Monday in Lagos.

According to him, it is only logical to extend the TETFUND grants to private universities too since their graduates also contribute their quota to national development.

“We are saying that we train our children for manpower development of the entire country, Africa and the world.

“So, if private entities are the ones that provide the funding that constitute TETFUND, why prevent any Nigerian, wherever they might have studied, from benefitting?’’

He said no private university was asking that TETFUND should be given to pay salaries or any overhead cost.

“If you go to other climes, for instance, you may want to ask why countries like Finland and Sweden are giving private universities in Nigeria grants to carry out researches on malaria.

“Are we going to administer these malaria drugs in Finland?

“So, why are Nigerian government and people finding it difficult to say TETFUND should, for instance, fund ICT deployment to enable every Nigerian to get access to the online facility provided for all universities from one single hub?’’

Aina said it was worrisome that the Federal Government did not consider private universities as part of the institutions that should benefit from TETFUND.

According to him, the entire universities in the country are working toward achieving a common goal.

“When you give out grants with intention to solving a common problem, be sure that such gesture has a way of paying back.

“Foreign governments or organisations who do not have anything to do with Nigeria and Africa donate money to private universities to do research for problems that are located here, which might not even be useful to them.

“This is because they know when you help people to carry out research and find solutions to human challenges, it will help their own system too,’’ the VC said.

According to him, the private universities are not asking that TETFUND should be given to neither pay salaries nor ask for money to construct hostels.

“All we ask is for TETFUND to make money available to us to set up state-of-the-art libraries, funds to encourage research that might come up with solutions to national challenges and therefore benefit humanity.’’

He said that the proposal to construct the 4th Mainland Bridge in Lagos was taking too long to materialise

This, according to him, is as a result of lack of push to execute the project.

Aina said that with little encouragement to universities “there are persons who can come up with architectural designs that will ease transportation challenges in the state”.

“There are scholars who can also carry out research on how to tackle the cases of building collapse in Lagos.’’

According to him, encouraging staff exchange programmes too is another key area where private universities can benefit from TETFUND intervention. (NAN)

CCN/AIB/TA

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Tajudeen Atitebi

NAN-H-31

Blind

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma/Kemi Ajayi

Lagos, July 22, 2017 (NAN) A septuagenarian and a visually impaired voter, Alhaji Muideen Onigbanjo, on Saturday decried the deplorable roads in Oshodi and its environs in Lagos State.

Onigbanjo, who defied the early morning rainfall to come out and vote, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that bad roads in Oshodi were enormous.

He called on the incoming chairman and councilors of the Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, to initiate strategies aimed at repairing the bad roads.

Onigbanjo, 79, said that many people were capitalising on the bad roads to criticise the government.

He said that many people had refused to vote because of the bad roads within the area.

Onigbanjo said he had encouraged many to vote so as to make a difference for the development of the area.

He said he defied the rain to come out and vote because people contesting the election were like his sons.

“I have been in politics for long before this condition and this ward –Afariogun – is my ward and I’m a member of Boladale zone.

“The contestants today happens to be my sons and that is why it is important for me to come out and vote today,’’ Onigbanjo said.

He also called on the Federal Government to care for the senior citizens in the country.

“I want the government to rescue the aged people, the government should come to our aid; the elderly must not be neglected.

“Government should care for the senior citizens by paying them a monthly allowance,’’ he added.

Meanwhile, another septuagenarian and partially blind, Bamidele Olupo, urged the Independent Electoral Commission to make election process easier for aged people.

Olupo, 75, who cast his ballot at polling unit 073 in the ward at Ikotun/Igando LCDA, told the NAN that simplifying the process would enable more aged people to vote.

“If not for the help of people around me, I won’t have been part of this exercise because of the stress of going out to find your polling centre and name during accreditation.

“My sight is very poor, but I still take it upon myself to exercise my civic right.

“But some old people do not have the means to go out and do the same.

“Though the voting process has improved a bit, there is still room for more improvement,’’ Olupo said. (NAN)

JNC/KOA/AIB/MEMO

=================

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Mike Mbonye