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Women task female students on engineering

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Women task female students on engineering

Warri chapter of Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) has charged female secondary school students across the country to shake off the apathy of having in focus the study of engineering as their future professional career.

Giving the charge shortly after a career talk organised by the association for female secondary school students, Vice Chairman of the chapter, Mrs Nnoli Akpedeye, said engineering was a profession that could project them beyond their wildest dream. She said the career talk was aimed at encouraging young females to study enginee-ring, adding that, what we are trying to do is to ensure that a vacuum is not left after those of us in the practice have left the stage.

Akpedeye disclosed that the career talk was organized as part of the association’s technical projects for the year 2009 and advised the students not to be put off by the sciences, since sciences have definite answers, unlike the arts.

She further disclosed that a lot of projects that would improve their immediate environment had been put in place by the association, adding that a solar-powered borehole and waste management projects would be showcased at a seminar/exhibition of the association billed for tomorrow.

Akpedeye noted that APWEN was a division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and maintained that the 2009 seminar and exhibition of the association was targeted at all engineers, employers of engineers and people interested in the development of engineering.

Immortalising Professor Ayodele Awojobi By Tunde Fagbenle

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Immortalising Professor Ayodele Awojobi By Tunde Fagbenle

Way back in the 70s right up to the 80s, a fiery enigmatic genius bestrode our land like a Colossus. His name was Ayodele Awojobi.

He was in his 30s when he became a professor of engineering at the University of Lagos (Unilag), the youngest ever then, after a First Class B.Sc. from University of London and PhD from Imperial College, London, at the age of 28!
His engineering wizardry saw him singlehandedly converting the driving wheel of a motor vehicle from one side to another when Nigeria changed her road driving laws from left-hand to right-hand. He named it AUTONOV I. Then went further to design AUTONOV II, a bi-directional automobile that can be moved forward and backward without turning it round. Awojobi’s vehicle had two steering, four gears and three seats and, we are told, remain on display in the Unilag Mechanical engineering workshop.

But it is in his passion for and commitment to a better Nigeria that Awojobi towered above all. Like Tai Solarin, and Gani Fawehinmi – crusaders who gave their lives to the cause of a greater Nigeria and humanity as a whole, using all legitimate means (the law courts, protests on the streets) to demand for justice, human rights and good governance. And, as does happen to all those who want “to save the world”, Awojobi died in the process – in 1984 at age 47! Were he alive today, he would be 72.

But Nigeria, time and time again, proves she is not a country worth dying for. In other climes, the likes of Awojobi, Tai Solarin, Gani Fawehinmi, would have monuments erected in their names by the country they died for, national holidays would be enacted as America did for Martin Luther King Jr., national institutions and major streets would be named after them. No, not in Nigeria; those are reserved for the rogues in our midst, the vagabonds in power, as the equally great Fela Anikulapo-Kuti would call them. In their meanness of heart, after robbing the state coffers dry our leaders try to rob us of the memory of those who died for the country. Hence, till today, it remains a vain struggle to accord MKO Abiola the national recognition and honour due to him.

Last week, however, the peerless governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, once again rose up on the side of the people to give the late Prof. Awojobi, a deserved honour by erecting a statue of him at the Onike Roundabout, Yaba, Lagos, near the University of Lagos where he lectured, a university that has not found the grace to name anything on the campus after the late genius – not a block, not a road, not a department!

It is necessary to feel proud that your institution is now on the international map- Dr Olatunji

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It is necessary to feel proud that your institution is now on the international map- Dr Olatunji

ADDRESS OF THE NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS AT ITS 2009 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HOLDING AT ROCKVIEW HOTEL, ABUJA ON FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2009

Fathers in the Civil Engineering Profession
Distinguished Fellows and Members of NICE
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.0 INTRODUCTION
It gives me a great pleasure to welcome you to this special 2009 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of our great Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE) in the centre of unity. This meeting shall briefly review what the present administration has achieved in the past one year when I became the national Chairman in Lagos.
Today is special because history is being made again as I plan to retire earlier than our Constitution provides.

2.0 CONTINUOUS GROWTH OF NICE
It is necessary to feel proud that your institution is now on the international map. A great thanks to the courageous and visionary leadership of our umbrella body, the Nigerian Society of Engineer, and in particular, the unique leadership of Engr. Kashim Abdul Ali, FNSE, The 26TH President of our Great Society. Today, NICE is a member of the world Council of Civil Engineers, headquarters in Spain and has signed an Agreement of Cooperation with the world leaders in Engineering at the American Society of Engineers. Our Civil Engineers can now be recognized worldwide. This calls for more than mouthing. We must live up to the great expectation.

3.0 THE SECRETARIAT
Here is exactly where to start to measure up to other professional bodies, locally and internationally. We took a great step to appoint a Chartered Accountant to head the Secretariat, knowing fully well that financial handling is 50% of smooth administration. We also appointed a Senior Staff to handle the issue of professional development of Civil Engineers. These attempts solved the problem half way. We must still restructure our administration to move forward. The NSE restructuring has just provided us with an opportunity we must take advantage of if we must forge ahead as an institution right now.

NICE is not ripe, nor any of our Divisions really in NSE for a presidential system. I believe with the adoption of the new structure with district responsibilities, we shall move forward to another 25-30% to reach first class.

4.0 NICE PROPERTIES/NICE VENTURES ENGINEERING LTD
The entrepreneurship of some of our past leaders paid off in the purchase of our 3-Bedroom flat in Amawo- Odofin, which is still on lease and generating rent revenue. Council did look at the issue and reversed itself for us to continue the efforts, as others have continued in NSE. The New administration may look into that again, as funds generation has been a peculiar task. Paying of dues still does not come easily. We must advice an effective way of receiving huge sums owed by members, even looking only 3 years back.

5.0 TRAINING AND CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Institution definitely move forward in training and development by experimenting Mandatory Continuing Development Programme (MCPD) which was run successfully, especially with the Graduate and young professional Engineers. This has —— well with the NSE challenge to the Divisions/ Institutions and NICE shall fit in easily. No longer with any Division play with Continuing Professional Education of its members.

We also debut with the Distinguished Annual Civil Engineers lecture with Engr. Ganiyu Johnson, Special Adviser to Governor Fashola of Lagos State on Works and Infrastructure. It was a great outing.

Our plot of land at Ijanikina got a boost in its development with Engr. Johnson’s promise to personally coordinate the trio of Julius Berger Nig Ltd (50% share) and PW Ltd and others (20% share) to actualize the construction workers on site.

I implore the new administration to please work very hard in the implementation of these commitments

6.0 PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
The Institution enjoys good publicity in the print and electronic media to the Country, especially on channels TV and EKO FM/Lagos TV where the National Chairman and Deputy have appeared many times in Lagos. Our events are usually widely publicized regularly.

7.0 RELATIONSHIP WITH NSE
We had the best relationship with NSE so far since the Institution was set up in 2001. As I earlier reported, OUR NSE President, Engr. Kashim Ali, FNSE has been outstanding in his support to NICE. No wonder he is our number one awardee today. He has even gone a step further by beating the global economic recession and courageously moving our great NSE forward, especially Professional Development Issues. He really deserves our great commendations

8.0 CODES AND STANDARD OF PRACTICE.
Our Institution has set up standing committees for relevant Codes and Standards in all aspects of Civil Engineering and much progress was made this year in working with the NSE Presidential Committee. Civil/ Structural domesticated British code is set to be published before December this year.
Other groups are working on Highway, Water Supply and Timber Standards.

9.0 CHAPTERS OF NICE
No new chapter was inaugurated this year, rather efforts were centralized on ensuring the existing chapters did well. Of great note is JOS Chapter, one of the youngest, in the ICT Sector. It lunched and upgraded its website during the year, and reported regularly its activities, more than any chapter. The Pot Harcourt and Warri Chapter also continued their usual active roles, though with less reporting. Chapters must realize that unless their activities are reported effectively, the headquarters will not appreciate them.

10.0 THE INSTITUTIONS SCORE SHEET
Our Institution made giant strides this year. From now on, our newly upgraded website www. Icennigeria.org which provides new e-mail address for the secretariat and payment record online shall assist in making documentation and membership relationship a lot easier and more ICT compliant than in the past.

In fact, NICE is set to regain its lost glory in NSE Group Dynamics from this year on. The Hon. Secretary has details of the 2009 activities.

11.0 APPRECIATION
Finally, I wish to thank Almighty God for where we have moved NICE to strategically today. As I retire today in NICE for greater service to our umbrella Association, the NSE, I feel greatly fulfilled, and I know the incoming invigorated EXCO with restored lifelines shall aim at surpassing whatever records we have set in 2009

I would like to sincerely say that all members of EXCO and Council members who played great roles to move NICE to its present position.

May the Good Lord take all of you and NICE to Greater Glory.

Once again, I welcome you all to this great city of unity.

Thank you and God bless

Engr. Dr. T.M Olatunji, FNSE, FNICE, MASCE
National Chairman
October 7 , 2009

Branding by Association is the Single Most Powerful Idea in Personal Branding

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Branding by Association is the Single Most Powerful Idea in Personal Branding

by Dan Schawbel
When Katie Konrath, our Sunday Personal Branding blogger, wrote about being connected to important people can build your brand, I smiled. Possibly without knowing, she had touched on what I believe as the single most powerful and effective way to become more successful. I actually wanted to write a post about this a long time ago because I owe a lot of my success to this very important concept, which I call “branding by association.”

Branding by association explained
Here is how I define it:

Branding by association – Creating a linkage between two brands of unequal brand equity, to build upon the brand of lesser equity through association.

For instance, if you’re an up and coming NBA player and you get sponsored by Nike, your brand gets a boost because the brand of higher equity (Nike) is associated with your own, therefore you’re taken more seriously. Another example is an unknown author, whose book ends up in Oprah’s bookshelf, and is endorsed by Brad Pitt, P Diddy and Tim Ferriss (I know it’s random). With these powerful associations and recommendations, your book will more than likely hit bestseller lists, and since you wrote the book, you will become very successful and more well-known. If you review the definition above again, you’ll notice that this association is usually better for the lesser brand. That is not to say that Nike doesn’t benefit from having Tiger Woods or Oprah for recommending a high quality book that people enjoy.

Until you’re a “brand name,” you must try as much as possible to 4hourworkassociate yourself with people who are more successful than you and corporations that are well-known. When you go to a lot of corporate websites for startup companies, you’ll notice that they really push their press mentions and quotes from experts who endorse them on the front page. You’ll see CNN, The New York Times and other big names that you trust, so therefore you may trust this startup company in the same regard. It is a credibility and prestige thing as well.

What you’ll notice is that if you go to a Fortune 500 corproate website, you will rarely see these other brand names on their front page. The reason is because you’ve already heard of the company, and possibly trust them, so they don’t need that association. What the association does is connect you to something you’re familiar with, so then you can better connect to the company. In this way, branding becomes the “middle-man” of the equation.

Are you saying that I should become a leech?
Good question 😉 . You won’t get endorsements or recommendations if you don’t 1) stand out 2) display value 3) ask for them. Not everyone executes on all three, so they don’t build a bridge to that brand association. A leech or parasite is no the way to look at this either. The key is to figure out how you can form a mutual relationship, so you benefit off of each other. Don’t be a one-way street or people will catch onto it and not do business with you.

Who you surround yourself with can make or break your career
I’ve been preaching about how you should surround yourself with people who have complementary skills and similar interest to you for a while now. It’s not about the quantity or quality of people that you interact with. Instead, you want to pay attention to the people that will actually support you, and those you can deliver value to. If you can’t help someone whose more successful than you, then move to the next person. Learning takes place, when you’re around people that are better than you because it will push you harder and you’ll benefit from their connections, as well.

If you’re an entrepreneur and you surround yourself with people who are content in the status quo, then you’re doing yourself an injustice. If you’re a CEO and you aren’t trying to network and form partnerships with other CEO’s, then something is wrong as well. If you remember back to high school, then you’ll certainly recollect that there were the “popular” and “unpopular” groups. People sat at different tables in the cafeteria to reflect what “group” they belong to. Was it the athletes, the losers, whatever, it makes no difference. The most beautiful girls in school always sat around the “popular table” and if you just received group membership, it was because you were best friends with a current member, and by association you were “cool.” This same situation still exists when you’re older. If you go to a cocktail party with a highly influential person, let’s say Bill Clinton, then you’ll be viewed at or around his social status level.

Good things start to happen when you’re associated with strong brands.

The corporate brand you work for is keyCorporate and Personal Branding
After working for many large enterprises and small firms, I’ve made the conclusion that I’d rather sacrifice the quality of work (at first), for the recognizable brand name at first. At the beginning of your career, you must seek to attach yourself to a big brand name as soon as possible (upon your college graduation if you can). After going on many interviews years ago, employers kept paying attention to the brand names on my resume, as opposed to actual work experience at the smaller firms. Since I wasn’t a recognizable brand name, they reviewed my resume to find other names they trusted, and they saw Reebok, Lycos, LoJack and TechTarget, which were familiar.

It is harder to get into a large company than a smaller one even though there are more spots available, usually. The reason is because the reputation and brand equity of the larger companies demands more competition. It works the same way with consultants or consulting companies, who try as hard as they can to land the “big clients.” They do this because they want prospects to mentally say “if XYZ company uses them, then they must be good.” The association is a powerful force and the more brand names that are associated the easier it is to get new business and/or opportunities.

Large companies have an easier time with global expansion, acquiring new customers, getting their calls answered by the press, etc. If you’re in sales, working at let’s say IBM, it will be a much easier phone call than if you’re calling from a small unknown firm. The prospect already knows IBM, probably understands the product you’re trying to sell them and more. If you meet someone at a networking event or start talking to a girl or guy at a club and they ask you “so what do you do,” which is the most common question in these scenarios, and you mention a well-known company you work for, they will have more respect for you and it might peak their interest, relative to an unknown company.

Again, work for a brand name company as soon as you possibly can, as early in your career as possible (unless you’re an entrepreneur). When you’re young, you’ll need to rely on that brand name to save you from some ageism obstacles. Even if you only spend a few years there, you’ll be able to get your next job much easier!

How to associate yourself with other brandsbrandassoc
1. Create or join a media property. The easiest way to connect with other successful brands is to establish or join a media entity, such as your own blog, someone else’s blog or a traditional media website. Journalists don’t make much money, but they do have some of the most lucrative networks, which can bolster their own brands. You can do the same, by developing your own following through one or more sites. The media property allows you to promote other people, thus building their brands and ego’s.

2. Establish your own personal brand. When someone opens your email, would they recognize your brand name? If they haven’t heard of you, then they might not even read it because successful people receive hundreds of emails a day. By becoming known through your media property, the probability (especially if you target the right people) that they become familiar with who you are greatly increases.

3. Write down the names of brands whose association you would benefit from. Again, a targeted approach is important, but you’ll also want to list really big names, as a stretch goal. It will be easier to connect with people in your industry than random celebrities because you’ll have something in common (common ground).

4. Reach out proactively, giving value first. Many people don’t know how to network because of selfishness and by not understanding behavioral psychology. It’s all about “what’s in it for them,” not “me.” Most people will be taken by surprise, in a good way, if you do something for them first, before asking for anything in return. This might include doing some free consulting work for someone else or interviewing them for your blog.

5. Ask for an endorsement. You won’t get anything, for the most part, unless you ask for it. By being aggressive and asking for help, in the form of an endorsement, you’ll actually see results. An endorsement could be for your work, your blog, your event, or just about your expertise.

6. Use the endorsement to build your brand. People need to be able to locate the endorsement for it to matter. I recommend that your most prominent endorsements go on your main page and that the other ones are more targeted. For instance, if you threw an event and people commented about it, it should go in that section of your site. If you received an endorsement for your work at a company, then it should be positioned as a recommendation on LinkedIn. With permission, you should seek to use the logo or face of a corporate or personal brand because trademarks are powerful and they help bridge the association faster.

7. Leverage the last endorsement to get the next one. Building a profile throughout your career is key. To do this, start small and work your way up. It’s like getting an article published at a small media outlet and using that to get your next opportunity and so one. Once you hit the pinnacle of media sites, then life becomes even easier! It’s easier to get new endorsements when you have a track record, which is the reason why your first endorsement or job or client is the hardest to obtain.

8. Repeat this process, as you grow your own brand. What I’ve discussed here is continuous, if you want to grow your brand. Many of you won’t receive high regards from Donald Trump right now, but if you work hard enough over a long period of time and follow this principle of “brand by association,” you just may, and that would certainly change your life.

Dan Schawbel is the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm. He is the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules For Career Success (St. Martin’s Press) and the #1 international bestselling book, Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future (Kaplan Publishing), which combined have been translated into 15 languages.

SUSTAINABILITY OF EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE IN LAGOS STATE.

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SUSTAINABILITY OF EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE IN LAGOS STATE.

PROTOCOL

I feel highly honored to have been chosen to deliver today’s lecture titled “Sustainability of existing infrastructure in Lagos State”. Before going into the lecture, I wish to express my profound gratitude to His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), the Governor of Lagos State for his dynamic leadership and continuous support in the infrastructural development of the State despite several challenges including competing demands in other sectors over-time.

Some of these challenges we grapple with in order to provide enduring infrastructure in the State include:

  • Geographical location of the State with much of its land mass below the mean sea level, which makes it prone to flooding and other associated climatic factors.
  • Unhygienic practices of our people through indiscriminate dumping of refuse which hinder free flow of storm water along the drains and its consequential effect on roads.
  • Willful vandalisation of road furniture and public utilities.
  • Finance – funding of the various projects.

You will agree with me that regardless of whatever challenges, infrastructural development, in view of its social attribute, remains crucial in the well being of human society. Even if no provision is available for new infrastructure, the existing facilities should be sustained to enhance the living standard of the citizens. I want to quickly point out that for the purpose of this lecture and relevance to Civil Engineering practice, particularly, road development shall be considered in as much that several approaches were adopted at different times for different infrastructure by different administrations for the sustainability of existing infrastructure in Lagos State.

Lagos, one of the fastest growing cities in the World, had suffered great infrastructural decay over the years as a result of inadequate attention given to maintenance of the existing infrastructure. With this realization, His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) challenged my Ministry to come up with innovative approaches towards infrastructure renewal programme with a view to setting standards for enduring infrastructure.

I am glad to report that this challenge gave birth to the holistic approach which is presently been used to tackle road construction, maintenance and rehabilitation. It is simply a method whereby roads are zoned according to land use such as Central Business District (CBD) and others with identified road network within the zone treated holistically. In fact, through this approach, we have delivered considerable number of durable network of roads. Having achieved this, the next stage is the sustainability of the renewed (road) infrastructure, newly completed roads and the existing ones.

As for the existing infrastructure (road), the Lagos State Government has saddled some specific Ministries and its Agencies and Departments such as: Ministries of Works and Infrastructure (MW&I), Transportation (MOT), Public Works Corporation (PWC), Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Lagos State Electricity Board (LSEB) and Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) with the maintenance of roads and its furniture as thus:

MINISTRY/AGENCY /AUTHORITYRESPONSIBILITY
1.

a.

 

 

b.

 

c.

d.

Works and Infrastructure

Office of Infrastructure, Highways and Road Maintenance department.

Office of Works, Electrical Department.

Electricity Board

Public Works Corporation

 

Maintenance and rehabilitation of roads and drainage.(tertiary)

 

Maintenance of street lighting.

 

Maintenance of street lighting.

Maintenance and rehabilitation of roads within the state.

2.

 

Lagos Metropolitan (LAMATA)Maintenance and rehabilitation of metropolitan roads.
3.Lagos State Water Management Authority (LAWMA)Clearing of sand on road verges
4.TransportationMaintenance and Provision of road furniture.

 

In addition to these statutory roles, we also make use of the task force approach, where by maintenance teams are set up across the local Government areas to achieve defined kilometer stretch of roads to be maintained within specified period of weeks or days.

The sustainability of the newly completed and renewed infrastructure has taken different dimensions from the traditional method of charging the contractor(s) that constructed road(s) with the responsibility of maintaining such roads for a period of 6 months or 12 months after completion termed “the maintenance period” or “defect liability period”.

In the recent past, some roads were developed to High Street standards. These roads include: Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Adetokunbo Ademola, Victoria Island and Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikeja to mention a few. It is important to mention that these roads were constructed by different contractors. For their sustainability however, High Street Managers (different from the contractors that constructed the roads) were nominated to maintain these roads. The list of the high street managers with the respective roads they are to maintain are as highlighted below:

 

S/NHIGH STREET MANAGERSDESIGNATED ROADS
1.Tempool Nig. LimitedAjose Adeogun, Adetokunboh Ademola, Sanusi Fafunwa, V/Island.
2.Sparta Nig. LimitedAdeyemo Alakija street, Idowu Taylor street, V/ Island.
     3.Maintenance ConsultantsAkin Adesola street, V/Island, Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun.
     4.Davof Nig. LimitedAwolowo Road, Ikoyi.
     5.RSK Golden GrownAdeola Odeku street, V/Island.

 

Their responsibilities entailed:

  1. Maintenance and immediate repair of the street, traffic signal lights, Pavement and car parking facilities.

Ii.       Management of on – line car parks where available.

Iii         Management of daily waste collection and disposal along the designated high streets.

  1. Provision of CCTV within six (6) months of operation.
  2. Monitoring of traffic along the streets with the aid of CCTV.
  3. Provision of security along the roads through the use of CCTV and security patrol teams.
  • Provision of adequate alternate power source for the street lights, traffic signal lights and CCTV.

The duration of the agreement was put at five (5) years. The Managers of these projects are expected to source funds for financing the referred services. The Manager was also expected to operate for a two (2) year moratorium with legitimate cost for the services during the period. The Manager was to retain 60% while the Employer i.e the State Government shall retain 40% of the net profit accrued as revenue from the venture after the moratorium.

Another method that was adopted in the maintenance and rehabilitation of roads in the State was termed the “Agency approach”. This approach entailed the division of the State to ten (10) zones; with each zone manned by a Contractor to achieve an all year round maintenance programme of selected roads.

The scope of work included:

  • Drainage clearing.
  • Patching of potholes.
  • Overlaying of the pavement.
  • Sectional rehabilitation of the selected roads.

The most recent of these approaches in the sustainability of newly completed infrastructure (roads) is the method where the Lagos State Government awards contract(s) for road maintenance to Contractor(s) that actually constructed them to ensure their proper and adequate maintenance for a period of 2 years after the retention period with agreed conditions and terms which shall be defined. The details of the work shall comprise of routine maintenance work reasonably, in order to preserve the existing road(s) Vis – a –Vis:

  • Regular inspection and monitoring of the road(s);
  • Clearing of drains, culverts and ducts and clearing of road verges;
  • Repair of damaged concrete drains, culverts, kerbs and other associated concrete structures.
  • Prompt maintenance of the road pavement
  • Control of road margins and walkways to mention a few of the scope.

Without prejudice, it is considered appropriate at this point to mention with a view to commend the support of the private sector to this Administrations in achieving its infrastructural development program, the Public Infrastructure Improvement Partnership Programme (PIIP) which was sometimes adopted to facilitate the provision of sustainable public Infrastructure through Public/Private partnership strategy. This initiative was classified as corporate social responsibility on the part of the contributors and has started yielding results especially on schools.

The Chairman, Fellow Engineers, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the sustainability of infrastructure in Lagos State has been very challenging in view of the human and natural problems burdened on the quest. Without doubt, the concerted efforts of the Engineers in the Ministry have also yielded appreciable results that are quite commendable. These efforts and the visionary leadership of His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) have put the State comfortably on its pedestal of excellence  to emulated by other States of the Federation as being currently experienced. I am confident that what is being witnessed today in terms of transformation and sustainability of existing infrastructure in Lagos State is a tip of the ice bag.

I thank you all for your attention.

Engr. Ganiyu Abiodun Johnson, FNSE, FNICE

Special Adviser on works & Infrastructure

 

EKO O NI BAJE O.

Electricity Harvested From Trees

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Researchers have figured out a way to plug into the power generated by trees.

Scientists have known for some time that plants can conduct electricity. In fact, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that plants can pack up to 200 millivolts of electrical power. A millivolt is one-thousandth of a volt.

And although the popular potato or lemon battery experiments have shown that an electrical current can be generated by creating a reaction between the food and two different metals, power is harvested from trees through a different mechanism.

“We specifically didn’t want to confuse this effect with the potato effect, so we used the same metal for both electrodes,” said Babak Parviz, a professor of electrical engineering at Washington University and co-author of the study.

After spending the summer surveying trees, the researchers discovered that big leaf maple trees generated a steady voltage of up to a few hundred millivolts. Powering a circuit, however, required a much higher voltage.

To extract electricity from trees and convert it into useful energy, researchers built a boost converter capable of picking up as little as a 20 millivolt output and storing it to produce a greater output. By hooking it up to a tree using electrodes, the custom-built device was able to generate an output voltage of 1.1 volts, enough to run low-power sensors.

The study will be published in an upcoming issue of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Transactions on Nanotechnology.

While Parviz admits that “tree power” isn’t as practical as, say, solar energy, he thinks the system could be scaled-up as a low-cost option for powering tree sensors that help detect environmental conditions or forest fires. Using the electronic output to keep track of a tree’s health is another possibility.

“Normal electronics are not going to run on the types of voltages and currents that we get out of a tree.” Parviz said. “As new generations of technology come online, I think it’s warranted to look back at what’s doable or what’s not doable in terms of a power source.” (Livescience)

To Be Exact Like an Engineer by Dare Babarinsa

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To Be Exact Like an Engineer by Dare Babarinsa

OLATUNJI Dare,world famous professor of Mass Communication, was my teacher He was one of the wonders of the great University of Lagos when we entered as freshmen in 1978. With his background in science and teaching,he overwhelmed us with his omnivorous appetite for knowledge.his catholic grasp of details, his insistence on exactness and his disdain for loose writing.

“Do not say a man is tall,”he would proclaim again and again. “Tell us how tall he is. Let us know whether he is five,six or seven feet tall.”

When you say a man is tall,that is your opinion.If you say he is six feet tall,then that is a fact. In news writing,you have to tell us how tall he is, Dare decreed. A tall man among the Pigmies of the Congo may just be five feet tall. He is certainly a very short man among the Masai of Kenya,among whom a six-footer is only an averagely tall man.

One of the first assignments he gave us was that we shouId write a feature essay on the giant water tank overlooking the landscape of the main campus of Unilag. Our essays were varied and colourful to say the least. We were not exactly member those good novels we read in secondary school and decided to inflict our teacher with our grasp of delicious English. He was appalled but not surprised.

We finally had our revenge. Dare lived as he was neat and clinical. His car, a Subaru,was always shining and well-kept. One day, he came to the class to teach us features writing. We were reviewing an essay in the Readers’ Digest magazine,a favourite of Dare.

“The Great Muskie is the greatest machine on earth.”Dare said in his inimitable magisterial voice. “It has the capacity of a battle-ship.It con-10.000 cars.”

One of our mates, perhaps from a sense of duty,knowing that Dare preferred us to be exact,raised his hand to signal that he would like to ask a ques-tion.
“Yes!” The great Dare beckoned to him.
“How many Subaru cars?”

Dare was only one of the great teachers we encountered in Unilag, During that era,we had the likes of Onuora Nwunelli, Ralph Akinfeleye,Delu their leader and our head of department,Professor Alfred Opubor

It is time our engineers revive their profession as Nigeria’s public space. As Dare would have said ,let the facts tell the story.

In Unilag, we listen to many Olympian pronouncements from those who believed in exactitude. We are not just talking of Mass Communication teachers, but especially engineers and journalists. I remember one public lecture given by the greay Chief ‘Tola Adeniyi (Aka Baba Saheed) at the Faculty of Arts auditorium.

“Nigeria’s an interlocking web of tyrannies,”Adeniyi proclaimed. We clapped and clapped though we did not know how to measure the web of tyrannies

Professor Ayodele Awojobi tried to solve that problem and every problem for us. If you have never met Awojobi you may never know what a genius looks like. He was always dressed in white shirts adorned with bow ties. His handsome, serious face always put the girls in a swoon. He was an engineering prodigy and we didn’t really like engineers, those boring, bookish lots who did not enjoy a joke and love to stay in the ugly looking concrete battlements of the Engineering faculty.

They had famous professors, but they were mostly bores. But who could ignore Awojobi, born to be great,with his penetrating gaze, his unforgettable diction, his unforgivable handsomeness? One day in 1980, he delivered a public lecture at the same auditorium where Adeniyi once held court.

“Nigeria has the stability of a bottle standing on its head,”he proclaimed. There he was, armed with a bottle of coke to prove it.

He, like Dare, loved to be exact. Many of Awojobi’s old students are still dominating the landscape now. Some of them are in politics like Otumba Gbenga Daniel, the govemor of Ogun State since 2003. Daniel is an engincer who trained under the wings of Awojobi and graduated to make exploits that would have made his mentor proud.

Politics is his vocation, enginccring his profession. Three weeks ago,he brought President Umar Musa-Yar’Adua,the least peripatetic President of the Republic since the unsmiling Major-General Muhammadu Buhari was in charge, to Abeokuta, the state capital, where he commnissioned the new multi-billion naira secretariat complex.

Daniel loves engineering monuments and he has devoted his tenure to build many of them. The new secretariat would stand as an enduring testament to the Daniel era, just like the Sagamu-Abeokuta express road, Olumo Rock tourist centre, the great stadia,the cargo international airport, the schools, hospitals, burgeoning Olokola Free Trade Zone and the roads.

Daniel loves to build roads. He is building new roads and commissioning completed ones regularly to reaffirm Ogun State as the preferred destination of new investors, especially foreigners. His counterpart in Ekiti State, Olusegun Oni, also an engineer trained at the Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile-Ife,is embarkibg on massive construction of roads, transforming the landscape and changing the economnic fortune of our fatherland.

Almost all governors are embarking on road construction and rehabilitation. I don’t think it is possible in the near future to finish constructing all the necessary roads. However,it is time we raise alarm about the state of our constructed roads before we worry about those that are not yet constructed.

During the Great Depression in the United States, President Franklin D.Roosevelt embarked on massive construction of new roads and super highways. His successors, especially Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower,also followed suit. Therefore, most of the super highways in America were built between 1930 and 1950. They are still standing.Europe,especially after the Second World War in 1945, also followed the same pattern.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo,as premier of the old Western Region until 1959,also decided to make engineering, especially as it pertains to road construction, accountable. A road constructed in the old West was expected to last at least for 15 to 25years before it is due for rehabilitation. The road between lle-Ife,Ondo and Ore,built by Sonel in 1969 by Governor Adeyinka Adebayo, is still standing almost intact despite poor maintenance.The old ljebu-Ode-Ibadan Road is still there as a monument to that era. Today, I know roads, espe-cially in Lagos State,that have not survived more than one raining season after they were commis-sioned.

It is time our engineers revive their profession as Nigeria’s public space. As Dare would have said, “let the facts tell the story.”

‘Building contractors are rendering quantity surveyors redundant’

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‘Building contractors are rendering quantity surveyors redundant’

Government is responsible for the protection of lives and property of citizens in the country. But a lot of damages have been done for a long time. This means that solution cannot come in one fall. It has to be gradual but it has to be consistent and it must be monitored. If laws are made and are not implemented…law is a kind of written document that could never talk on its own.

Every citizen has to be their brother’s keeper. By so doing we can save lives by reporting wherever we see quacks at work. If these quacks are the sufferers of the consequence of their work, nobody would be bothered but innocent persons are. You can see the efforts that we have made to ensure that the National Building Code is put in place. Code is the minimum standard that is desirable. Whoever falls short of that should be taken for it.

The National Assembly is working seriously with us in making sure that they pass the law that will enable the implementation of the National Building Code as drafted by us. We want them to expedite action. Construction is a team work of professionals. Are you saying all these professionals are not good? Most collapse cases are as a result of quackery in the sense that a trader that ought to be selling clothes in the market has taken over construction work without employing qualified and competent professionals.

Yes, you can go into it as a businessman, invest in it and employ capable hands to carry out the job. If you do that we wouldn’t be having incidence of building collapse here and there but most people go on their own and start building without any regulation. It has become an every Tom, Dick and Harry affair and that is where government should come in. The planning and regulatory arms of the government should make sure that they do proper monitoring, in the sense that whoever wants to build a house must have all the professionals on ground so that they have somebody that is accountable.

In most of these incidents in the recent past, there were no professionals involved. Wherever they are involved, it is at the design approval stage. You can see that the National Insurance Commission has been empowered in such a way that it would be able to monitor construction sites that are not more than two floors so they would be insured.

If insurance is there it will minimise the risk involved. What is the National Building Code all about? It is like the Bible and Quran of construction. It sets the minimum standards. For instance, if you want to build a two-storey structure, there are standards for what materials to be used. It is more or less a reference to all other international standard codes like we have the British standard. It spells out the quality of paint, the minimum quality of iron rods for whatever purpose and so on. Professionals that are to practice construction are also listed.

Any other person that goes to do anything contrary would violate the law. But this is Nigeria where laws are hardly obeyed. There are doubts that even with the code, compliance would be nil? We don’t joke with our work because we don’t have any other.

We want to make sure that construction is done properly. We are very strict in adherence to quality and standards. You can invest in building construction but you should carry along people that are specialists in that field. We are confident that if it is passed things will change. We know also that some buildings are quite old? Yes, buildings have their own life span too; the average life span of a building is between 50 and 60 years, depending on the construction or the standard. Just as the CofO has its life span, buildings also have.

They should be demolished and rebuilt but most of the buildings were not constructed properly. The average life span depends on the quality and the competence of who constructed the building. Buildings that are deficient would definitely not last long. And those who are guilty of this would not be around at the time of the collapse. That is the danger in it.

Due to lack of proper documentation, we have not seen 50-year buildings being deliberately demolished in this country as is the case in the advanced world. When buildings are completed, they should be labelled that this building expires on this date.




It should be written and pasted on the building so that even those that were not born when the building was constructed would always see that this building is going to expire at a certain age. That would save some lives. How would you describe the quality of housing estates that are springing up in Abuja? Well, those housing estates are 50-50 issue.

Most of those that parade themselves as real estate developers are business people who are not qualified and are cutting corners. If not for the efforts of the Department of Development Control, you would have seen a lot of shanties called housing estates. But it can still do more. Apart from working towards having the National Building Code, what else is NIQS doing for the construction industry? The roles of each professional in construction industry are complementary.

In our own case, we have what we call comparism of various alternative quality building rules. If you chose to do a mass housing project, you must mindful that mass housing means a public asset. Once it is transferred you have little control over them. For such property there is a lot of periodical maintenance which ought to be carried out. There are ones that are five years, 10 years and 20 years. The roofs are expected to be replaced every 10 years; the walls are to be re-painted every two years depending on the quality of the paint used. Everything has its expiry time and when they expire they are to be replaced. But they don’t do it here. What we are saying is that if professionals are involved, we know the kind of materials to produce for what kind of occupants.

In mass housing for instance, you don’t use blocks and paint them because rain washes the paint away and nobody is ready to repaint. In a situation like that you use bricks that would not need to be painted for whatever reason, either rain or sun effect. Though the brick wall might not be as beautiful as the painted wall, it lasts for longer years.

If you patronise professionals you would have value for your money but if you are running away from the professionals because of their charges you will later find out that our charges are minute compared to the money to waste as a result of failure to do it the right way.

High cost of building materials is one of the reasons people tend to cut corners and thereby build sub-standard houses. The inflationary trend affects all sectors of life. If you say the building materials are costly, you run away from the cost and put down death trap, which one is better? I don’t believe it is cost because we have a lot of alternative materials that can serve.

That is why we have a lot of abandoned projects everywhere? People don’t patronise quantity surveyors. They believe they can always call bricklayers without minding what they have in their purse. What are the functions of quantity surveyors in the construction process? We are the cost accountants and the cost planners of the construction industry.




In fact, if you want to build a house think of the quantity surveyor first before you think of any other professional. People don’t think about what happens after. If you buy a car that would be consuming 10 gallons of fuel per kilometre at a very cheap price, you have neglected the cost in use, which is the cost of running it.

So quantity surveyors should be contacted whenever you want to build a house in terms of what you have, what quality you want and how you run it as well as the kind of plan that you want. Quantity surveyors would be able to give you a guide as par the likely building that can be within your purse that can last very long without too much expenses. We don’t charge millions and we are there to render after use service.

by By Nathaniel Jonah

Nigerian Refineries Plagued by Inefficiency: Expert Calls for Urgent Privatization

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Nigerian Refineries Plagued by Inefficiency: Expert Calls for Urgent Privatization

Engr. Alexander O. Ogedegbe, has delivered a stark assessment of the industry’s historical decline and offered a clear path forward through privatization.

Speaking at the Nigerian Academy of Engineering’s induction ceremony for new fellows in 2009, Ogedegbe, a veteran engineer with extensive experience in the sector, detailed the systemic issues crippling the nation’s refineries and advocated for a decisive shift towards private ownership.

Ogedegbe, who participated intensively in the execution of Nigeria’s three refinery projects and served as Chief Executive of two, began by outlining the historical context of the refineries’ establishment.

“Exploration for crude petroleum oil in Nigeria first began in 1908,” he noted, “but serious and sustained efforts did not happen until Shell Darcy Petroleum Company commenced operations in 1935.” He traced the evolution from the Nigerian Petroleum Refining Company (NPRC) in 1960 to the eventual takeover by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), highlighting the pivotal shift from a commercially driven entity to a bureaucratic cost center.

“NPRC was allowed to continue to operate commercially and profitably, without any interference from government,” Ogedegbe recalled, contrasting it sharply with the later NNPC era. “Within a few years, the NPRC management’s commercial culture had been replaced with a more bureaucratic style of the NNPC management. In fact several management changes occurred within the first five years which fully entrenched the bureaucratic style and structure.”

The engineer meticulously detailed the construction of the Warri, Kaduna, and new Port Harcourt refineries, emphasizing the government’s initial rationale for investment. “The Federal Government financially buoyed by these large earnings from oil had embarked on a very large number of projects including a lron & Steel Industry, road and bridge construction projects, and two grassroots refinery projects,” he explained. He defended the government’s initial decision, stating, “I believe the Federal Government took the correct decisions at that time, to undertake the projects because; a) The investment and operating costs of any refinery project were too high for any local private company to undertake.”

However, Ogedegbe was critical of the government’s continued ownership and management. “It is a completely different matter to continue to own, manage and operate such strictly commercial assets as cost centres,” he asserted. “With the benefit of hind sight, the Federal Government should have divested all or majority of its equity to a competent private company at the earliest opportunity.”

His analysis of the refineries’ performance painted a grim picture of declining capacity utilization and operational inefficiency. “On the basis of the parameters described above I have reviewed the performance of the Nigerian Refineries from inception up till the recent times,” he stated. “Some of the results of my findings are presented in the attached Tables and Graphs. As a result of capacity underutilization, the yield, hence production efficiency also declined.” He presented data showing average capacity utilization for all NNPC refineries between 1997 and 2008 fluctuating wildly, often dipping below 30%.

Ogedegbe identified several key problems plaguing the refineries, including inadequate funding and autonomy. “From the inception of each of the NNPC Refineries, the Managing Director and his management team have faced serious perennial challenges in terms of: 1) Securing adequate Working Capital from the NNPC Corporate Headquarters. 2) Their autonomy to commit the required funds, as when necessary to procure chemicals, and catalysts, equipment spare parts, other plant consumables and sub-contract services from outside experts. 3) The bureaucratic process of approvals, which in some instances required as many as 27 signatures to get critical maintenance spend signed off.”

He also highlighted the detrimental effects of excessive political interference and a lack of proactive governance. “The ultimate driving force for any products manufacturing company is the profit motivation for the company and its shareholders,” he argued. “This crucial incentive which was quite noticeable in the NPRC slowly vanished when the NNPC took over the company. The NNPC Refineries became cost centres instead of a profit centres and were operated like Federal Government ministries.”

The engineer pointed to the critical issue of delayed turnaround maintenance (TAM) as a major contributor to equipment failures and unscheduled shutdowns. “Turnaround maintenance is normally recommended in the industry to be carried out after every 24-36 months of continuous operations,” he explained. “However, subsequent TAM’s were delayed for several years (up to 6 years in some cases). These delays have resulted in serious equipment wear and failures experienced on the run.”

Ogedegbe’s proposed solution was unequivocal: privatization, modeled after the successful privatization of Eleme Petrochemical Company Ltd. (EPCL). “In my humble opinion, the only solution that can bring a profitable outcome to the ownership as soon as possible,” he declared. “This is by no means a new suggestion, this is a successful precedent. That is why I am recommending what I will call the EPCL Privatization Model.”

He detailed EPCL’s transformation under Indorama’s ownership, noting the significant increase in production and efficiency. “Products sold after the first 3 months under private ownership was more than the quantity produced for the previous 28 months under the NNPC [Government] ownership,” he emphasized. He also pointed to the improvement in management policies and procedures, particularly the increased autonomy granted to the Managing Director. “The MD is allowed to spend as necessary to operate and maintain the plant. The approvals for major expenditures are obtained from the Chairman in Indonesia, by email and telephone.”

Ogedegbe concluded with a strong call to action, urging the government to resume the privatization process. “I therefore strongly recommend the use of this model for the privatization of all the Nigerian Refineries as soon as possible,” he stated. “I further recommend that as a minimum and in order to avoid the political interference that arose during the last privatisation exercise that at least the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries should be slated for simultaneous sale.”

He expressed confidence in the refineries’ potential for restoration, stating, “All the foreign experts and I who toured and inspected the plants for several days were convinced the PHRC could be restored back to full capacity utilization within 12 to 18 months after privatization.” His lecture served as a powerful reminder of the urgent need for reform in Nigeria’s critical petroleum sector, advocating for a shift towards private enterprise to unlock the refineries’ true potential.

Outage threatens multi-billion naira equipment at UCH

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The National President of Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, Dr. Ade Tade, on Thursday, urged the Federal Government to improve on power supply to specialists and teaching hospitals in the country.
He said poor power supply was threatening the multi-billion naira equipment supplied by VAMED to some hospitals.
Tade stated this during a facility tour of some state-of-the-art equipment installed at the University College Hospital by the Federal Government between 2002 and 2006 at a cost of about N1.3bn.
An Austrian firm, Vamed Engineering, was contracted by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration to install some modern equipment and upgrade new ones at the hospital and 14 other ones in the country for efficient service delivery.
Tade was told by a board member of the hospital, Dr. Babatunde Philips, that the major problem confronting the tertiary hospital, especially as it related to the effective use of the facility was epileptic power supply.
He urged the Federal Government to channel its resources into the generation of 60,000 megawatts instead of its current plans to generate 6,000 MW, arguing that the energy demand went beyond that capacity.
He said, “We are lucky to have one of our members as a board member here in UCH and he has educated us on the step UCH has taken. They want to bring in IPP. It is a pity that the Federal Government didn’t have that foresight.
“I an not referring to the current administration but the past government. They didn’t have foresight to know that power demands increases with population, with development.
“When European countries had this foresight, they started building nuclear power plants because those ones generate la arge quantity of power.
“We too should have had that foresight. If we didn’t build nuclear power plant, we should have built more power plants over time to cope with the demand for development.
“Now, they need to really work hard. Not this 6,000MW they are targeting. By the time they provide 6,000MW maybe we are already needing 50,000MW.
“So, they need to target something big and work towards it. That is how to solve this problem.”
Some of the facilities visited by the AGPMPN members were those at the Radiology Department; the Magnetic Resonance Imaging; the Intensive Care Unit; Cardiology Unit; the 36-room Private Suites of the hospital; and the Hematology Department; among others.
Tade expressed satisfaction with the facilities in the hospital, promising to collaborate with the foremost teaching hospital to ensure quality health care services in the country

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