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What/who killed Charles Alaba Joseph?
More facts, less clue
Stories emanating from the ongoing coroner’s inquest into the death of former ATCON President, Charles Alaba Joseph, tell more than ordinary tales. Pathologists and lawyers have been trading questions and answers – and it may eventually stare all of us in the face that at least one of the several pathologists on parade may, after all, be a pathological liar.
Facts: The team of pathologists that the Inspector General of Police commissioned was actually paid 1.5 Million Naira by Intercontinental Bank to cover their professional fees. One Professor admitted receiving the fee for his professional job but he did not lead the team. The Professor who actually led the team of pathologists [second autopsy, that is] said he never received any fee from anybody. The original pathologist Professor who said he concluded – upon autopsy finding – that what killed Joseph was a bullet is still standing by his opinion while the second team which said Joseph’s death resulted from a “fall from a height” are still sorting themselves out of a few inconsistencies. If a bank actually paid for an autopsy which the IG commissioned, and the ‘professional fee’ did not get to those who performed the professional service, then the investigator may have yet more issues to investigate than what actually killed the engineer.
DIAGNOSES OF THE NIGERIA 4TH TELECOM SUMMIT
Delegates to the recent 4th telecom summit took on issues of Unified Licensing Regime, Technology Convergence, Universal Access (Rural Telephony), Quality-of-Service (QoS), Backbone Infrastructure, The Challenge of institutional funding and Interconnect debts in the industry.
At the end of the Summit, areas of consensus included several matters namely, that:
· Nigeria has the fastest growing telecommunication market in the world; the number one GSM country in West Africa; the number one Fixed Wireless Country in Africa; the most liberalised market in Africa; the best telecommunication regime in Africa with proper enabling laws and regulatory transparency;
· The recent and current trend in Nigerian Telecommunication Industry has been very eventful; and subscriber base has been expanding for all operators by all standards;
· With rapid expansion of subscriber base comes many challenges – especially in regard to QoS delivered to consumers;
· Unified Licensing is a proper approach to move from the current compartimentalized licensing regime and consequent market segmentation to a technology-neutral and service neutral Licensing regime, which is otherwise referred to as Converged Licensing regime;
· Under a Unified Licensing regime, multiple services such as mobile telephony, fixed telephony, internet, broadband, long distance services, etc can be made available by a single service provider;
· Therefore the Nigerian market and industry has a strong need for a robust regulatory framework and environment that provides the certainty of proactive industry regulation to match the dynamics of highly innovation oriented industry such as telecommunications;
· There is rapidly growing Technology Convergence which is blurring the traditional boundaries between telecom, datacom and Video/Broadcasting. Convergence is therefore upon us – leading to unified data, voice, video and multimedia communications; and poses a new set of regulatory challenge such as the case with VoIP;
· There will come a time when regulations by NBC and NCC may overlap. Under such a situation regulations may have to be merged into a converged law and regulatory platform;
· Nigeria bemoans acute telecommunication infrastructure lacuna in the area of: Telecommunications BACKBONE, steady supply of ELECTRICITY and penetration of RURAL AREAS;
· There is an urgent need to address the Backbone Infrastructure lacuna problem in Nigerian Telecom and speed of deployment as well as robust bandwidth capability would be the key for moving Nigeria to the next level;
· There is need to give incentive and opportunity to the private sector so that they can participate in the Backbone Infrastructure buildup effort for the nation;
· Without appropriate level of Backbone Infrastructure and electricity power supply Nigeria’s hope to participate in global Call center outsourcing and similar digital opportunity businesses will remain a pipe dream;
· Suggested incentive for the private sector participation in Backbone Infrastructure buildup effort (business) include drastic import duty reduction, tax-break provisions, financial interest rate reduction, pioneer status and similar provisions. Therefore the Industry shall have to continue to engage the government on this incentive issues;
· There should be a competition in the Backbone Infrastructure level of Telecommunication business;
· Eventual Backbone Infrastructure solution must include Fibre Backbone with SDH and WDM capacities and capabilities;
· Such Backbone Infrastructure may contain provisions for National and Regional routes/layers;
· It is desirable that Backbone infrastructure buildup effort be based on private-public partnership so that issues regarding right-of-way and construction permit can be easily resolved;
· Alongside Backbone Infrastructure buildup, we must also address LASTMILE Infrastructure challenge through concerted pursuit of Broadband Solutions – such as Wireless Broadband, BoPL, DSL and Fibre;
· Electricity Power Supply is considered to be the critical components of the Industry Infrastructure challenge in Nigeria. Therefore the Industry must continue to engage the government and the Power-Holding Company to improve Electricity Power Supply to substain the growth of the Industry. There must be regular power supply;
· Nigeria need evolve strategy for addressing the challenge of content creation – so as to move the us from the league of nation of downloaders to league of nation of uploaders. Such strategy shall include local content for web and equipment manufacturing;
· Ensuring as a matter of policy that all tertiary institutes have broadband access which should include training-the-trainers;
· All aspects of the industry is dynamic there should be education at all levels which should be on a continuous basis;
· The Local communities should be made to understand the commonwealth of infrastructure and their need to protect it;
· Strategies for Accelerating Broadband penetration in Nigeria must include Last-mile, Service and Backbone solutions based on Wireless, BoPL, DSL and Fiber;
· Desired government incentives for telecom and datacom buildup in Nigeria includes certainty of proactive regulation, finance and a duty-free policy for telecoms equipment importation is proposed – especially in regard to rural telephony projects;
· Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) should intensify studies to create opportunities for a SMART SUBSIDY regime to attract investors into rural telecoms service provision;
· Universal Access scheme is accepted as the proper strategy to reach rural communities with telecommunications services;
· Incentives shall have to be given to niche players in the telecommunications industry desiring to take such services to rural areas;
· Such incentives shall have to draw from the USF disbursing in the form of smart subsidy, operational subsidy and other facilitations;
· Operators in the industry are encouraged to share facilities.
In whose interest?
An Amendment to Communications Act 2003?
If what sources from within the Nigerian National Assembly are saying is anything to go by, the political hounds in Senate (who mooted the idea of an amendment to the new National Communications Act 2003 very early in the life of the current assembly) may be warming up to reviving the issue. In fact, what the sources say is that work is at advanced stage to bring the amendment, which has been clandestinely in the works, to light any moment from now.
The legislative proposal is to repeal a part of the Communications Act of 2003, which contains provisions authorizing creation of an independent Universal Service Provision Fund. It proposes to create a Universal Service Agency subject to control of the Ministry of Communications. It also plans a slipshod restructure of the NCC Board, to eliminate the post of Executive Vice Chairman, and redefine the powers and responsibilities of the Chief Executive of the Commission.
The move did not fly at its birth. Or so it seemed. Not only was it roundly condemned within the intelligentsia domain of the National Assembly and of the telecom industry, the draft was considered so shoddy its authors ducked. Analysts saw it as a sure way to a return to the pre-1999 years of Nigeria’s telecommunications experience as it would create new, less independent, more opaque institutional mechanisms to deal with telecommunications regulation, and universal service policies and programs.
One other development sent it quickly into the cooler: namely, the House of Representatives new-found preoccupation in probing the Pentascope deal at the time.
Although the senator who mentioned the issue in a discussion in Washington recently is not a member of the Senate Committee on Communications, it is almost clear that the motive (if the story is true) is not beyond the level of political jobbery. Analysts say the sponsors had known that the Universal Service Provision Fund was potentially sumptuous and they would create an octopus agency which would be staffed by their cronies so they would have a loot to feast on.
Perhaps the most sinister of all the provisions of the amendment act includes that which makes it “a criminal offense to provide universal access, universal service, or universal telecommunication service” [whatever all these mean!!!] without permission from the Agency due to be established by the legislation. Although it seems trivial at first glance that an Agency must result for the National Communications Act 2003, legal minds say this provision may in fact be an attempt to create a parallel telecommunications licensing process subject to control of the Ministry of Communications, and may also call into question the validity of existing telecommunications licenses issued by the NCC.
The Nigerian Society of Engineering Technicians
Will inaugurate its Lagos State Branch with a lecture on :
"Indices of Development: The Technician"
Venue National Engineering Centre, VI, Lagos
Date December 15, 2005
Time 10.00amYou Can't beat the Reach!
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TENDER FOR
e-LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT
A professional association concerned with the promotion of the Chemical Process Industry in Nigeria is interested in erecting an electronic-library. The proposed e-library is intended to be a Resource Center that will :
Ø Serve the entire individual and institutional membership of the organization as well as the workforce of its company members.
Ø Supplement and complement the training needs and development programmes of the body and of the institutional members.
Ø Support the e-learning curricula of the Nigerian Universities with programmes pertinent to the organisation’s mission.
Ø Collaborate with other similar bodies and Universities e-library sites.
The e-service envisaged to emanate from the project will provide:
Ø Vital support for research activities;
Ø Support for continuing professional development; and
Ø 24 by 7 access from online locations.
The content intends to cover several thousands of scholarly publications which will comprise :
e-books, e-journals, e-databases, Online Public Access Catalogues (OPAC), e-reference materials and digitized Historical Book Documents, Lecture Notes from reputable Departments of local and international universities in the captive disciplines, the organization’s Newsletters and journals, Conference Proceedings/Transcripts, Materials on Standards for Engineering Practice, Current Society News, etc.
The services, which will be predominantly online, should be web-based, user friendly, with integrated databases, secured back end programming and delivered via infra-structural facilities which includes, among others, internet connectivity.
The Online services should have facilities for Online registration, Users Online Search, Automatic Indexing of Documents, Book Cart, Document Delivery capabilities such as e-mail, printing, etc., Electronic publishing and Payment for Services (e-Commerce).
Interested developers may submit bids for this project within 3 weeks of the appearance of this advertisement.
The bids should include a Technical Proposal in one envelop comprising of :
1. Description of the Design of the Project in Phased Modules
2. Information Technology Equipment and Infra-Structural Requirements
3. The Implementation Schedule
and in the second envelop,
4. The Details of Projected Cost of the Modules.
The two envelops should be addresses to:
The Advertisers,
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with the name and contact address of the bidder clearly marked on the top left corner of each envelop and the letters “E-LIB BID” boldly marked at the bottom-left corner. No reference should be made of the bidder’s identity on the document within. However, a seven digit number of the bidder’s choosing should be clearly printed on each of the documents’ pages and in brackets next to the words “E-LIB BID” on the envelops.
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OPINION
The Net wants to be decentrally governed
by
Eric M. K Osiakwan
eric@afrispa.org
Given that the key philosophy and ideology behind the framing of the Internet is for it to be decentralize and global, the argument can be made that its form of governance (Internet Governance) must of necessity follow the same protocol. The Internet is by definition a highly decentralize network of computer networks globally communicating with each other using the Internet Protocol and Transmission Control Protocol (IP/TCP) as a standard, this means that the Net wants to be decentrally governed. However I see the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva and now in Tunis trying to either centrally control or govern the Internet – this can be defeatist.
The modeling of the Internet as opposed to the old telephone network is such that the former is highly decentralized and the intelligence of the network is at the edges of it whiles the later is a highly centralized network with the intelligence at the core; this is the big deferential between the two platforms. The deferential is not just an engineering error or an inanimate discovery but a deliberate human design that seeks to create a distributed yet extremely collaborative platform for scaling global communication and commerce. The shift was necessary because the historic order which centralized the intelligence at the center of the network and demanded control from same was not scalable in the long term and was actually breakable.
Hence in a simple way, the argument can be advanced that your level of governance of the Internet is commensurate to the “amount” of Network and Intelligence you contribute to the global common. The thinking here is a paradigm shift from, the Internet is something somewhere that we must connect to and since we connect to it then we must be part of the governance of it to, the Internet is our network (inter-network) and as we build, we contribute our intelligence and at the same time we advance the governance of same within the globally agreed order of “self policing”.
The framing of the Internet to be a highly decentralized networks with the intelligence at the edges reflects a change in the humans relations culture of the 20th century; in which it was clear that we needed not to be centralized to govern but that we could govern better in a “self governance” culture based on some code of conduct (for the machines that is IP/TCP). The decentralization phenomenon has an inherent logic that humans are unique and posse’s specificity and must be allowed to participate in the global culture so that if the intelligence is at the edges of the network then it means everyone has an opportunity to flourish based on his uniqueness and specialization in the intelligence practice.
Further more the democratizing effect of the Internet is a definition of the governance structure where humans have advanced to a point where “self governance” is better practiced taking into consideration the uniqueness, specificity and most importantly the need to innovate and invent. Innovation and invention is at the core of human civilization and so if we can’t create a society where both are advanced freely within an agreed framework then we are actually making an argument against human civilization. We all agree that the Internet is a positive platform for globalization so why are we trying to kill the uniqueness, innovation and inventiveness of same - that is what our current centralized approach to the Internet Governance debate means and I can see a lot of people pushing that front.
My proposal is for us to step back a second as we come to Tunis for the final stage of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and consider again not only our “centralized” approach but the quest to centralized the Internet and its governance. The engineering argument is “why fix it when it is not broken?” but I advance the argument that “why break it in an attempt to fix it?” If you may, let me advance the argument a bit further on the need for the intelligence to be at the edges – that is the best form of democracy.
Today, any technology that is working on the Internet is decentralized or what we call thin-client, centralized approaches don’t last too long on the platform because the inherent logic is defeatist. Talk about Yahoo, MSN, Skype, ICQ etc they are all extremely distributed and function better in that environment. Functionality on the Internet is best in a distributed environment. The Internet is the best practice of “distributed computing” and distributed computing is an exemplification of the human social system that builds on the compound ratio of individual intelligence.
The Internet is representative of an epistemic regime that advances social inclusion or what some call “inclusive capitalism” and that’s what the World Summit on Information Society is all about so why are we advancing in such a summit a centralized and or closed approach to the governance of the Internet? Inclusiveness is better advanced in a distributed environment than otherwise or else we would not be advancing an Information Society. Inclusive capitalism is predicated on the co-creative ability inherent is individualistic intelligence so in the school of co-creation, it is fair to meet your personal need if you can contribute (co-create) to the global commons in an agreed framework.
I can hear the Internet wanting to be decentrally governed and this is true of the current structure and order because we all agree that Internet Governance is a broad term and practiced in deferent forms and forums. For example; the Internet Engineering TaskForce (IETF) builds the protocols that run the Internet; Coordination of the unique identifiers is currently being handled in a multi-stakeholder Public / Private Partnership known as ICANN, etc. There are other forms of Internet Governance that are not addressed like issues related to cyber-crime, spam, child pornography, hate-oriented content, the high costs of bandwidth in developing countries etc. Where, when and who would address these issues that are taking an extreme toll on the global common.
Now the question is by centralizing and or controlling the approach to IG do we address those unaddressed issues or we actually create a platform for them to be totally ignored? The later is most possible because it is clear that we have different institutions and forums because not a single institution or forum can address all the issues. The argument can be made that inclusiveness is necessary and can best be served in a distributed environment with an agreed protocol rather than in a centralized one, so let me submit that as we advance the cause in Tunis, let’s be careful not to break the Internet in an attempt to fix it.
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THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY of ENGINEERS
(Ikeja Branch)
presents
A 4-DAY PRACTICAL WORKSHOP
on
SUSTAINABLE OPERATION / MAINTENANCE OF
TRANSFORMERS & GENERATORS - (SWITCHGEARS,
CIRCUIT BREAKERS, ELEGRICAL MOTORS AND PROTEGION RELAY SYSTEMS)
Date: 29th November – 2nd December, 2005
Time: 9.00a.m – 5.00p.m daily
Venue: Gateway Hotel, Ota, Ogun State.
Workshop Highlights
· Statistics of transformer failures in Nigeria and worldwide
· Transformer handling (including transportation, storage etc.)
· Operation and maintenance of circuit breakers, switchgears and relay systems.
· Faults detection and prevention Techniques.
· Over voltage and surge protection.
· High & medium voltage, switchgear specifications, selection and operation.
· Specifications, selection, standardization, design and construction of transformer.
· Specification / Installation and Maintenance of Generators and Diesel Engines (Planned and Preventives)
· Turbochargers I Superchargers common faults and Troubleshooting Guide.
· Different Safety and Protection of Electrical Motors
· Transformers Protection Relay Systems.
· Grounding /Earthing of Electrical and Electronics Installation Equipment (control rooms, commercial Building, large tanks/pipes of Inflammable fluids).
Who Should Attend
The workshop would be of benefit to Engineers. Technical managers operation/Maintenance personnel. Technologists and plant mangers working in the factories, Plants, Industrial Set-up, Banking and Insurance Industries, Maintenance Engineers from Oil/Gas Industries, Engineers from Federal/ State and Local Government/Non-Governmental Organisation, Telecommunications and Institutions.
Course Fees
N37,500.00 NSE - Member
N40,000.00 Non - Member
The fee covers the cost of workshop materials, executive bag, Lunch! refreshments each day, group photograph and souvenir
For Registration And Further Enquiries
Please Contact
isaacfemi@hotmail.com
isaacfemmy@yahoo.com
Tel: 0802 312 2216, 0803 4712781,08057930886,08023205289THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY of ENGINEERS
Presents
A 3 DAY WORKSHOP
on
Public-Private Partnership in
Public Infrastructure Procurement
and Management
Venue
Rockview Hotel
Plot 374, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja
Date
29th November – 1st December, 2005
Time
9:00a. m. – 5:00p. m. daily
Focus
The Workshop is designed to familiarize participants with the principles and primary methods of Public–Private Partnerships in public infrastructure procurement and management so as to enable them adapt to the reforms occasioned by the large scale adoption of the partnerships.
Who should Attend
Policy makers and implementers, Engineering and other professionals and employers of engineers at all levels in private and public service in all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Workshop Highlight
· Public – private partnerships: The Emerging option for public infrastructure procurement and management.
· Financing and cost recovery issues in public – private partnerships.
· Case studies of public-private partnership sector (covering all land, water and air modes).
· Case studies of public-private partnerships in Electrical power projects
· Case studies of public –private partnerships in Electrical power projects.
· Case studies of public-private partnerships in Telecommunications.
· Institutional issues Arising from public private partnerships
· Legal aspects of public-private partnerships
· Due process and public private partnership in Nigeria
· Implications of public-private partnerships on Engineering practice.
Course Fee:
Member - N30,000.00)
Non-Member - N40,000.00)
Exclusive of Taxes
Enquiries
e-mail: isaacfemi@hotmail.com
isaacfemmy@yahoo.com
Tel: 08023122216, 08034712781, 08057930886
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Received on Mon, 28 Nov 2005 01:03:50 -0500
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