Nigeria is first African country to head ITU’s Radio Council

Nigeria is first African country to head ITU’s Radio Council

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Nigeria has become the first African country to head the World Radio Communications (WRC) Council an arm of the 150 year old International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Festus Dauda of Nigeria has officially assumed duty as the Chairman of World Radio Communications (WRC) in Geneva, Swizerland. Dauda, becomes the first African to assume the exalted position in the 150 years of the Council. Nigeria had earlier in the week became the first African country to head the World Radio Communications (WRC) Council, an arm of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Engr. Festus Daudu, until his new appointment was Director Spectrum Administration at the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology. In his inaugural speech at the opening ceremony of the WRC 2015, at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Engr. Daudu said ‘‘I thank the Almighty God as well as the Government and people of Nigeria for making it possible for me to be the first African to chair the WRC Council.’’ He assured the gathering that he will do his utmost best to fulfil the mandate given to him as he promised to be fair and impartial in his dealings. He stressed that the conference was one of the most important conferences of the Union which will be examining a large number of important and sensitive issues ranging from mobile broadband communications, broadband satellite systems to emergency communications, disaster relief including issues relating to maritime and aeronautical communications, monitoring the environment and climate change, universal time and space among others. The conference is also expected to deal with issues covering a wide frequency range and concerning a wide variety of radio communication services. Engr. Daudu further assured that decisions which would be taken at the conference on Radio Regulations will be critical to the telecoms industry as well as promote connectivity which will directly affect the lives of citizens with important economic impacts on countries such as Nigeria.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com

The Punch’s Nigerian correspondent wins Pan-African Insurance award

The Punch’s Nigerian correspondent wins Pan-African Insurance award

Ms Nike Popoola of Nigeria’s Punch newspaper has won the Pan-African Reinsurance Journalist of the Year Award.
Mr Steve Mbogo from Kenya won the Best Re/Insurance Industry Feature Article while Mr Evans Boah-Mensah of Ghana’s Business and Financial Times newspaper was awarded Best Re/Insurance Industry Analysis and Commentary.

The winners of the Continental Reinsurance Pan-African Reinsurance Journalism Awards were announced by Mr Larrey Chetty, Media Secretary for the Seychelles Media Commission at an awards ceremony on Thursday in Mahe, Seychelles.

The inaugural Pan-African Re/Insurance Journalism Awards according to the organisers received close to 100 entries from French and English speaking journalists from across Africa.

Popoola won with her article titled “Battle of the wits: local, foreign firms jostle for reinsurance deals” in which she explored the challenges the sector faces as African reinsurers struggle to gain a bigger share of the business in their respective countries, which is largely given to foreign companies and how retention of premiums in local markets will boost GDP in African countries.

Mbogo’s winning story “From small acorns grow mighty oaks” explored micro insurance in Kenya, a form of cover that paves the way for the development of corporate insurance in the country.

“Life insurance growing through micro and risk schemes” was the winning commentary by Boah-Mensah.
Continental Reinsurance initiated the awards in 2015 to recognise and acknowledge the good work of media on the continent.
Journalists were required to demonstrate how their articles raised awareness and understanding of the re/insurance sector in Africa.

Dr Femi Oyetunji, Group MD / CEO of Continental Reinsurance Plc said: “The insurance and reinsurance sector has a valuable role to play in Africa’s economic growth and development. That’s why Continental Reinsurance is committed to developing and recognising the respected contribution of journalists in Africa.”

One of the members of the international judging panel Ms Léone Ouedraogo said: “As a journalist, to see your work recognised is one of the best feelings on earth. It was a privilege to be involved in this important initiative.”
The independent, international judging panel consisted of Professor Jonathan Grun, Mr Michael Wilson, Mr William Wallis, Ms Julia Graham, Mr Afif Ben Yedder and Ms Léone Ouedraogo.
“We are greatly honoured that we could rely on a high calibre judging panel comprised of well-respected media experts who dedicated their time to support Africa’s growth through journalistic efforts,” Dr Oyetunji stated.

from The Punch: April 22, 2016

Andela, Nigerian tech start-up, receives $24 million boost from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Andela, Nigerian tech start-up, receives $24 million boost from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Andela, a Nigerian start-up company based in Lagos and New York, has received a $24 million Series B funding round from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. This is the first leading investment by the initiative formed late last year after the birth of their first daughter. This development shows that Africa is well on its way to becoming the next tech hub following the shortage of developers in Silicon Valley. Since there is a shortage, Andela is in a good position to link the best coders in Africa to the global economy through its school.

Investors who participated in Andela’s first round of fund raising include: GV (formerly known as Google Venture), Twitter Investor Spark Capital, San Francisco–based Learn Capital and the Omidyar Network.

Andela is a startup coding school, which has brought a brand new approach to education on the African continent. Instead of charging students for a four-year degree before releasing them to a brutal economic environment characterised by high unemployment, Andela recruits intelligent, local talent through a rigorous testing and interview process and then pays each student each month, with benefits. As they progress through the programme and take on greater responsibility, Andela fellows are eligible for pay raises.

Many of the recruits are young men and women in their mid-twenties about to enter the job market. Many have not had any experience with coding or the world of technology beyond the use of a mobile phone. Andela’s business model centres on training these students to be proficient in software and web development, before making their talent available (while they are still in training) to companies around the world in need of engineering talent.

Andela currently has campuses in Nigeria and Kenya and plans to open a third office before the end of the year with this investment.

The Andela story

Andela launched on the 1st of September 2014, with six students selected from a developer boot camp, in the office building it currently occupies on Herbert Macaulay Road, not far from the famed Co-Creation Hub, an incubator at the centre of Nigeria’s tech revolution. Within two months, the start-up had outgrown the space and initiated the search for a larger office. On the 19th of December 2014, E tweeted a picture of two yellow-painted stretch bungalows: “Looking at this 2 acres property next to us with eyes of faith. #2015 #leggo #specialzone #yaba,” the tweet read, indicating the young company’s potential plans.

An eight-minute drive away from the company’s offices on Herbert Macaulay, Andela is putting the final touches on a new, 800-square-metre campus called Amity. The three-storey, cream-painted cube structure, which previously served as a teaching hospital as well as as administrative block for a university, stands out from the colony of residential buildings clustered around it. From the roof terrace there are breathtaking views of Yaba, stretching all the way to Lagos’ famous Third Mainland Bridge and the financial district in Marina. The 20-plus room Amity campus is designed to give fellows an aspirational feel. When I visited, there were still renovations going on around the Andela fellows hard at work in air-conditioned rooms full of shared work stations, Apple laptops and executive leather chairs.

The building also has a cafeteria on the ground floor courtyard, which offers fellows free lunches. Amity can accommodate 45 boarders to provide certain fellows with respite from the three hours of commuting that many face on a regular basis. “We want them to eat, think and sleep tech. That’s how we sieve out the lazy ones and those in it only for the money,” E said. He hopes that the close quarters but open vibe of the campus will help students to build connections that will grow the Lagos tech scene. “What we imagine is that people come here, they make friends, they find cool families for whatever they want to do for the next four years. And that the relationships that have a massive impact on the ecosystem for the next four years, five years are built here,” he said enthusiastically.

Author

Fumnanya Agbugah

Published

June 16, 2016

Six Nigerian women win Google competition

Six Nigerian women win Google competitionNigerian team of six ladies win Google competition

The Nigerian women who participated in the just concluded 2015 TechWomen programme are Desiree Craig, Olasimbo Sojinrin, Omolara Aladesanmi, Abiola Ilupeju, Abiola Amos and Mercy Sosanya.

Six Nigerian women have made the country proud again by winning the TechWomen 2015 Action Plan Pitch competition held at the Google Headquarters, Mountain View, California. The competition which involved teams from twenty (20) other countries from Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East was part of a 5-week TechWomen exchange program organized by the United States Department of State.

The "Action Plan" is an activity recently introduced to the programme to give the participants opportunity to collaborate on a joint project to give back to their community when they return to their respective home countries. Six winning teams were selected from twenty groups and awarded a seed grant of $2,500 each to execute the project. The Nigerian team took the first position with their Action Plan called “STEM in a box”. While presenting the award to the team on the 27th of October 2015, Toro Orero, Managing Partner, DraperDarkFlow said “The Nigerian team not only won at the panel, but also won the audience votes.”

The Nigerian women who participated in the just concluded 2015 TechWomen programme are Desiree Craig, Olasimbo Sojinrin, Omolara Aladesanmi, Abiola Ilupeju, Abiola Amos and Mercy Sosanya.

TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Launched in 2011, the programme brings emerging women leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East together with their professional counterparts in the United States for a mentorship and exchange program. TechWomen provides participants access to networks, resources, and knowledge which empowers the women to reach their full potential and become role models for women and girls in their communities.

During the five-week programme, participants engaged in project-based mentorships at leading companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley where they participated in professional development workshops and networking events. At the end of the four-week professional mentorship, the women traveled to Washington D.C. for targeted meetings and special events to conclude the programme.

"STEM in a Box" is a portable handy box customized to complement the delivery of science lessons in middle schools in Nigeria (JSS 1 to JSS 3). The box contains hands-on resources and tools to teach Basic Science and Technology. The primary target is schools in rural areas - to inspire interest and increase the enrollment of students into science classes in senior secondary school.

The Nigerian TechWomen will partner with schools, non-profit organizations and government entities to get the box to as many schools as possible.

 

Folarin Okunola

The Pulse

 

50 Nigerians make first class from Malaysian university

50 Nigerians make first class from Malaysian university

Of the 253 Nigerians who graduated in various academic disciplines at the 2015 convocation ceremony of the Linton University College Malaysia, 50 made first class honours, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund has said.

According to the Fund, 35 PTDF scholars were among the 253 Nigerians who graduated at the 2015 convocation ceremony which was done in collaboration with University of East London and Coventry University, United Kingdom.



The Fund, in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday said, “Altogether 50 Nigerian graduates distinguished themselves with first class honours degrees, among whom were 13 PTDF scholars who earned first class degrees in Software Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Business Management and Civil Engineering.”

The Acting High Commissioner of Nigeria to Malaysia, Mrs. Janet Odeka, according to the statement, said the unprecedented achievement of the Nigerian scholars in the university in Malaysia had contributed in creating a positive image for Nigerians living in the country.

She said, “I am really excited and grateful because this is the first time we are having such number of graduates who produced good results such as first class and second class upper. We have had students from Nigeria who were involved in criminal activities and other immoral acts, but for the first time we are celebrating something we should be proud of as Nigerians and I wish to appeal to Nigerians here that they should emulate what these graduands have done to attract a good name for Nigeria.”

The Executive Secretary, PTDF, Mr. Femi Ajayi, urged the graduands to take advantage of the opportunities that were opening up in Nigeria under a new administration to deploy their new skills and knowledge.

He said, “Rather than being skeptical about the future and apprehensive about job opportunities back home in Nigeria, you should be excited knowing that a new chapter has opened in Nigeria that provides the enabling environment for those who genuinely wish to make it in Nigeria.”

Ajayi said their areas of specialisation, which were engineering related, would serve as stepping stones for building bridges between opportunities and dreams.

He said, “This is something to be very proud of and excited about, particularly when you know the areas they specialise. We have high hopes for them. If you have people who have excelled, the thing to do is to deploy their knowledge in the right direction. Some will proceed for their masters and PhD and for those who want to work, we will link them up with available job opportunities in Nigeria.”

“With the kind of knowledge and experience they have here, I am hopeful that their skills and knowledge will be readily utilised in Nigeria and I will encourage them to go back home.”

 

Nigerian Student Builds Artificial Intelligence Robot

Amazing!! Rejected By Nigerian Universities, 24 Year Old Nigerian Student Builds Artificial Intelligence Robot

At 24, Nigerian student has made a name for himself in the ...circle as he builds an intelligence robot that solves puzzles. 

A Nigerian Software Engineering student, Bobai Ephraim Kato, has built a functional Artificial Intelligence robot as his final year project at the International College of Business and Technology (ICBT), Sri Lanka.

 Kato, a 24-year old from the Atyap tribe in Kaduna State, personally built the robot and developed the algorithm that enabled it solved the famous Rubik cube puzzle in a manner of minutes.  But it was not an easy journey to success because he had to deal with an unimpressed supervisor and a lot of failures in the course of the project.

 

Rejected by Nigerian universities

 After completing my secondary school in 2009, I wrote JAMB exams twice applying for Medicine Course in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, but I never got admitted. I also tried the university’s remedial school and still wasn’t admitted. I then decided to change my choice of university and applied to the Kaduna State University (KASU) where I was granted the admission to study medicine. Unfortunately, on the day of my course registration I wasn’t allowed to register because I had not passed English in WAEC. So I moved on to the KASU remedial school.

 It was during my remedial that I decided to try NIIT (National Institute of Information Technology) scholarship exams in which I emerged the second highest. The scholarship granted me a chance to return to computing. I then decided to leave the remedial school to register with NIIT to study software Engineering. After completing a year in NIIT my cousin decided to get me an admission in Sri Lanka Institute of Technology (SLIIT).

 

Going overseas and starting over

 I left NIIT and travelled down to Sri Lanka. When I got to Sri Lanka in 2012, I started University all over again. I completed my first semester in SLIIT but I wasn’t happy in the school because they focused more on IT (Information Tech) while I wanted software Engineering. I then decided to leave SLIIT to Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) which was affiliated to University of Westminster UK.

 So I then started university over again, I stayed in IIT for 2 years and I completed my diploma and advance diploma. My third year at IIT required that I take an internship for a year before I complete the fourth year.  

 But I couldn’t take an internship because of my visa status which clearly stated that I’m not allowed to work, paid or unpaid job. I then left IIT in 2014 to ICBT to complete my degree in software Engineering (2015 September 20th).

Accidental Project? 

 To be honest I didn’t plan to make the project this great. I didn’t know it will happen. I guess it’s safe to say that I randomly chose the idea for my final year project, it has nothing to do with my passion and future plans.

Though  I took a module called Artificial Intelligent System while studying in the university and that module was just so interesting, I learnt some few AI languages and I was able to do a mini project called WINE QUALITY TEST software which uses and Artificial Intelligence to determine the quality of a wine drink. This software used some data set for its prediction. I enjoyed the whole development process.

 Coming to my final year project we was all asked to do a software that uses AI (artificial intelligence) for predictions and solutions; that got me worried because I barely came up with an idea. So I decide to spend time making research and I came up with something.

 I proposed to do a robot that solves puzzles, I wasn’t sure what puzzles as I had a lot in mind but I final choose the Rubik cube puzzle.

I then decide to make further research on what tools to use and I found out that there are many tools out there that I can use for a robotic design.

Building the Robot in the midst of disappointment

I then started developing the algorithm to solve the Rubik cube. My supervisor was never impressed with the progress all he cared about was to see a robot working. I spent most of the time researching and he thought I wasn’t going to make it happen.

 I was able to create the algorithms that solves the puzzle. I created 16 different algorithms which served as set of skills for the robot. With these sets of skills, I used an artificial intelligence language called ‘R’ to develop a pattern for the robot to choose the best skills to solve the puzzle. So basically R was the AI part of my robot. It’s very easy to use. I also had a database where the new skills are saved. So the more the robot solves the cube the more intelligent it becomes.

I spent two nights building the robot and after completing the construction, I installed the software which serves as the brain into a memory card for testing.

 

My first 5 tests were a failure. The robot always shot a scanning error, and this was a week to my final submission. All I could do was pray. I didn’t know what to do again. I was confused and restless. I kept grinding and it finally started working. At that stage, the robot wasn’t intelligent enough and I had to train it to solve many puzzles to get more skills to save in the database.

 It was very hard for me because I can’t even solve the Rubik cube myself. The robot is smarter than me in that aspect.

Coming back to save Nigeria

My focus now is on Forensic computing, Cyber Security and Digital Investigation. This is the path I will love to follow for my career and education. I’m happy to return back to Nigeria as a Cyber Security and Digital forensic Tech.

If anything, that’s what Nigeria needs more. We need people who are savvy and sincere in Digital Investigation, Cyber Security and Forensic computing. The world today is bent on technology, the corruption in the world today is bent on it too.

I don’t get how a country will say they can’t locate the terrorist living in the country, and I don’t get how a country will say they don’t know the sponsors on this terrorist group. They make calls, they send emails, they use the internet for many reasons, they upload videos etc. Just one amongst this list is enough to get whoever is responsible. We only need savvy and honest people to do this.

Many Nigerians have useful skills, but money determines how, where and what we use it for. My heart is to return home. To be honest I don’t have a dream of staying in a foreign country. I must tell you something I hate the fact that my current status in my life is being a foreigner. I hate the feeling that I’m not in my own country.

So I’m on a fast track back to Nigeria. Many tell me that there isn’t opportunity in Nigeria. That’s very true but I will deal with it.

Bobai Ephraim Kato

 

Nigerian scientists discover two viruses

Two new viruses have been discovered in Nigeria by a team of scientists from Nigeria and the United States of America.

The scientists said the viruses discovered were related to rabies adding that the new viruses had some level of similarities to the virus responsible for cases of viral haemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2012.

The team said though the threat of these viruses to the population had not been confirmed, the discovery was a breakthrough that would help to diagnose yet-unknown fever cases in the country.

The Director, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, has also described the discovery as a major breakthrough for Nigerian scientists.

The team was led by a Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics, Dr. Christian Happi. Happi is the Director, African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Redeemer’s University, Mowe, Ogun State.

The scientists named the viruses Ekpoma virus-1 (EKV-1) and Ekpoma virus-2 (EKV-2), after the region in Edo State where they investigated cases of individuals that had the virus in them.

The study population consisted of men and women from all age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds living in and around Irrua, which is close to Ekpoma.

The discovery was published on Wednesday in an article titled ‘Discovery of Novel Rhabdoviruses in the Blood of Healthy Individuals from West Africa” in the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal.

The scientists said the discovery was possible through the use of the “next-generation sequencing,” a high-throughput method for sequencing DNA and RNA, which has the potential to transform virus discovery because it does not depend on culturing the pathogen or a prior knowledge of the pathogen’s nucleic acid sequence.

A part of the article read, “We used next-generation sequencing to identify RNA viruses present in the blood of patients with unexplained fever, as well as apparently healthy individuals in a peri-urban community in Nigeria. We found several well-characterised viruses in the blood of the febrile patients, including HIV-1, hepatitis B and C, as well as Lassa virus. We also discovered two novel rhabdoviruses in the blood of two apparently healthy (afebrile) females, which we named Ekpoma virus-1 and Ekpoma virus-2.

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“Our results suggest that such rhabdovirus infections could be common, and may not necessarily cause overt disease. The identification of viral nucleic acid sequences in apparently healthy individuals highlights the need for a broader understanding of all viruses infecting humans as we increase efforts to identify viruses causing human disease.”

In a telephone interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, Happi said, “This discovery points to the fact that the genomics for pathogen discovery platform that we have set up at Redeemer’s University is rapidly advancing health Sciences in Africa.”

He further said, “These two new viruses are also related to rabies, which is a very dangerous disease. The discovery also shows clearly that there are a lot of potentially dangerous viruses circulating around that science has not yet discovered and there is no diagnosis yet. Once we discovered these new viruses, we went to do proper diagnosis.

“We have not yet confirmed the threat to the population but what this means is that there are viruses which could be causing diseases outbreak in the country that we don’t know anything about. We could potentially have disease outbreak in the country due to viruses that we don’t know anything about.

“It’s important that the ministry of health should work with us to put in place a surveillance system so that we should be able to identify the pathogens that are responsible for some unknown causes of fever. Also, not only we would know the pathogens responsible for fever cases, but we should be able to discover new viruses that could be potential threat to the population.”

Nasidi said the viruses do not pose any immediate threat to the populace.

He said, “There is no potential threat to the country from these viruses for now. The federal ministry of health is giving this discovery serious attention and we commend the scientists and the group that worked with them. So, our government should listen to Nigerian scientists, we are now capable and competing with international counterparts. Before we didn’t have the capabilities, so this discovery is very significant for us.

“It means that we are putting in place in the country capabilities to be able, not only to detect diseases, but also to discover their causes; that is empowering our research centres. As I am talking to you, we are working on establishing our national reference laboratory that would be based in Abuja.”

Arukaino Umukoro, The Punch    

Nigerian IBM Chief Scientist heads Africa

Nigerian IBM Chief Scientist heads Africa

Osamuyimen T. (Uyi) Stewart

IBM Distinguished Engineer, & Chief Scientist, IBM Research - Africa

Nairobi, Kenya

Dr. Osamuyimen (Uyi) Stewart is an IBM Distinguished Engineer (one of IBM's top technical honors); and the chief scientist of IBM Research – Africa, focusing on technological innovations germane to the African Continent. He has 20 years experience in software and services research including speech interfaces, machine translation, natural language processing, mobile, and social computing.

In software development, he has led the implementation of real-world solutions used by millions of users. In the services industry, he was instrumental to the formation of IBM’s Services Innovation Lab, responsible for the technical strategy and program management involving 200 researchers across eight global labs. Furthermore, he is the co-founder of IBM Research – Africa: the first commercial research lab in the continent. In 2014, he was recognized by CNN's African Voices as one of 13 people who have shaken up the continent. He has also been named one of Africa's Top 50 Trailblazers by the Africa report magazine (August 2015) as "pioneers who will lead us to the Africa of tomorrow"

Dr. Stewart received his doctorate in 1998 from McGill University, Canada, for his work in generative syntax (published as an “Outstanding Dissertation in Linguistics”). He obtained a Master of Philosophy degree in 1991 from Cambridge University, England, after graduating with a First Class Honors from the University of Benin, Nigeria, in 1987.

Uyi has received numerous recognition for his work including IBM’s Outstanding Technical Achievement Award, along with other IBM Research Awards. He has also received the external Black Engineer of the Year Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution – Industry (2014, USA). He currently holds 9 patents and has authored over 50 publications in top journals and conferences. He is a passionate champion for "technological innovation in Africa for Africa" with interviews on CNN, BBC, CNBC, Al Jazeera, etc.

 IBM

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