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Why Nigeria Fares Poorly in Infrastructure Provisioning- Omisore
Senator Iyiola Alani Omisore, former deputy Governor of Osun State, has identified several factors why the Nigeria’s infrastructure development has not moved beyond the rhetoric.
Senator Omisore, a one time Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and who recently completed his doctor of philosophy degree in Infrastructure Finance with specialisation in Public Private Partnership from the prestigious International School of Management, Paris, was a guest speaker on Day 3 at the on-going 2016 African Engineering Conference, organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The occasion also served as the NSE’s Annual General Meeting and the UNESCO African Engineering Week.
In his presentation, titled, “Nigeria’s Infrastructure Deficit: Beyond The Limitation of Finance In Public Private Partnership and Project Procurement Options”, Dr. Omisore explained global perspectives to public private partnership (PPP) as best approach to infrastructural development, and the parochial factors militating against its successful implementation in Nigeria.
Hitherto, before PPP became the norm, it was the arrangement by which roads, railway, electricity and water services were provided, the world over.
Whereas, countries outside sub-regional Africa has had a major paradigm shift in public procurement, countries within the sub-regional African continent, Nigeria inclusive, are yet to avail themselves of the opportunities and advantages in the provisions of public services and utilities, as offered by the PPP model, for their peoples, thereby expanding the scope of their socio–economic developments.
“While it is recognised that the PPP model has been deployed to execute a few public projects in Nigeria, its utility value has been mostly felt in Lagos state where the authorities have partnered with private sectors for design, finance and management of public utilities. Even then, the projects involved are hardly ones that can recommend themselves to a sustainable management status under an ideal PPP model.
‘Outside of Lagos State, cursory survey of the infrastructure procurement by state governments is still largely tied to the old model of contract awards to private firms to execute a project designed and financed by governments. Thus, on the average, Nigeria has fared, rather poorly, especially in view of the country’s need for requisite infrastructure for nation’s potential developmental capacity”.
Speaking further, Dr Omisore submitted that “my intervention in the following submission is anchored on a very straight forward argument to the extent that, even with real needs and potential returns on investment by investors, inadequate provisions in the legal framework to sufficiently safeguard investors and financiers interest, may continue to constitute major road blocks for Nigeria at all levels of authorities in the country’s PPP drive for the much needed public procurement of utilities and services.
‘The critical point to be made here is that, though, there seems to be shortage of investable funds in the International Market, but Nigeria crisis seems compounded by the integrity profile of our legal framework for an ideal PPP model.
“In the final analysis, and without going into the details of the shortfalls in the legal framework, as has been identified in many studies, see, for instance, Essia and Yusuf, 2013, suffice to say, however, that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission [ICRC] Act of 2005, the Public Procurement Act 2007 regulations issued by ICRC governing the PPP process and various state laws as described in each State’s PPP policies falls short of necessary regulatory framework for proper implementation of PPP projects, most importantly with respect to dispute resolution during the tenor of the contract.
‘Yet, the apex bank should make concerted efforts to offer assistance to commercial and industrial banks to enable them offer financial skills required in PPP management”
In Nigeria, there is a misconception of the conceptual framework of public private partnership. PPP has become a generic term to describe plethora of contractual business relationships and management indices between governments [national, state and local, including their respective agencies] and private sector- that may be promoters and financing Institution, i.e. banks.
In some PPP model, project financiers [banks] may be part of contractual arrangement as investors, thereby part of the risk-sharing, with a view of participating in the accruing profit and also losses from such business undertakings.
It suffices, however, that this arrangement is not popular in ideal PPP model for public procurement, as some financial regulations preclude banks from getting involved in business ventures beyond their statutory function of managing public funds, committed to the procurement of public infrastructure.
Explaining some of the critical factors affecting successful implementation of PPP model, Dr. Omisore emphasised that “it is important that we do not gloss over the political and cultural issues that often constitute major disincentives to public procurement, via PPP arrangement.
“One of the issues is absence of political will on the part of an administration to see through the policies of a previous administration.
‘And because concessionaires are aware of a negative tendency by a new administration not to honour, to the lather, all the tenets of an arrangement by a departed administration, they are often inclined to speed up the commissioning of projects before the date of departure of a sitting administration, with avoidable increase in the cost of project.
Yet, except there is a determination that a PPP succeed, there are vested interests in a country, especially in a multi-faith and multi-ethnic country like Nigeria to ensure that the governments initiative to promote PPP as a policy fail.
“Public-private partnership projects often encounter serious resistance from labour unions, civil service employees and sundry socio-economic interest groups. Also, present is the negative understanding by the general public, borne out of ignorance, on the strategic importance of PPP in a nation’s socio-economic development. Whereas, PPP, are meant to be partnership contractual arrangement between the public and private sectors of the economy, in which responsibilities, risks and obligations, are to be shared by both sides in order to guarantee the greatest benefits to the public.
He concluded by expressing his regrets that “in Nigeria, a segment of the public service operators tend to see the private sector concessionaires as the enemies that would deprive them of their jobs, therefore, to be overcome at all cost.
‘And this is often achieved when some extant rules in the civil service are exhumed to advise the government on why all of a PPP undertaking, or some aspects of PPP project agreement should not be honoured, thereby leading to government unilaterally rebidding on contracts voluntarily entered.
‘Moreso, with a weak legal framework, under which concessionaires can be protected, the tendency is for the private sector operators, both from within and from outside of the country, to be wary of doing business with government. Thus, timely procurement of public utilities suffers and the socio-economic development and the country is the worst for it”, Dr Omisore emphasised.
The conference, held at the Tropicana Conference Centre, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, was themed, “Adequate, Reliable and Sustainable Energy in Africa”.
It was held between November 21st – 25th, 2016 in conjunction with the Federation of African Engineering Organisation (FAEO), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisations (UNESCO), and was attended by over 600 delegates from across the world.
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NAEC to Deploy Nuclear Science for Power Generation
Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), in collaboration with the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria is set to leverage nuclear science and technology to enhance electric power generation in Nigeria.
Prof Yusuf-Aminu Ahmed, chairman of NAEC, made this known during the 20th Anniversary Symposium of Nigeria’s first Nuclear Research Reactor-1 (NNR-1) in Zaria.
Prof Ahmed emphasised the accumulated expertise in nuclear power at the center, asserting Nigeria’s readiness to advance to the next stage of power generation through nuclear reactors. “We have utilised the reactor for research and development extensively, and now we are poised to employ it for electricity generation,” Mr Ahmed stated.
He further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has tasked the commission with contributing to Nigeria’s clean energy initiatives, with the nuclear energy programme set to play a significant role, and noted the signing of intergovernmental agreements with some vendors.
Sen. George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation, lauded the 20 years of safe operation of the nuclear research reactor as a testament to Nigeria’s commitment to the safe application of nuclear energy.
He underscored that the successful operation of the nuclear research reactor paved the way for considering a nuclear reactor for electricity generation, echoing President Tinubu’s advocacy for nuclear energy in Nigeria’s power sources.
In his remarks, Prof Sunday Jonah, director of the center, highlighted the event’s purpose of celebrating two decades of safe operation, maintenance, and utilisation of the NNR-1.
However, amidst the achievements celebrated, Prof Jonah expressed concern over a purported attempt by NAEC to wrest control of the center from the university through the proposed NAEC Bill 2022 and cautioned that such a move would contradict the original vision of the center’s establishment within universities, designed to foster a culture of research and development.
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INTERPOL Appoints Uche, Nigerian CP as Chairman, African Heads of Cybercrime Units
International Police Organization (INTERPOL), has appointed Ifeanyi Henry Uche, Nigerian Police Commissioner, as the chairman of the African heads of cybercrime units comprising heads of 54 countries.
Uche who is the Commissioner of Police in charge Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF -NCCC) is taking over from Ratjindua Tjivikua, head of Cybercrime of Namibia after his tenure expired.
Speaking at the closing of the Africa Working Group Meeting on Cybercrime on Friday, Uche said, “The high penetration rate of new technologies in Africa increasingly exposes the sub-regional cyberspace as potential targets for cybercriminals as most African countries still have low levels of commitment to cybersecurity.
“It is important that we join the operational sub groups created by INTERPOL to bolster our collective efficiency in the fight against cybercrime in the subregion.
He said, “Resource sharing, the level of information and intelligence among African law enforcement is still at its lowest ebb largely blamed on extant domestic laws.
“I advocate for the establishment of African Incident Response Mechanism and Cybersecurity Frameworks on a Police-to-Police basis to eliminate the bottlenecks impeding free flow of resources.
“We must leverage the INTERPOL NCB 1/247 communication network and existing capabilities with regard to sharing of classified intelligence.”
Uche said this should be done with “Establishment of Specialized Cybercrime Units, noting it is rather unfortunate that most African countries do not have a specialized Cybercrime Unit dedicated for the investigation of Cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime. I implore member states to under-study the Nigeria police model of the Nigeria police Force National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC).
“Investment in Technology, Infrastructure and Capacity building through a deliberate effort by member states to make the multi-million-dollar commitment in acquiring the much-needed technology and digital solution as a prelude to efficient cybercrime response and prevention. We must begin to look inwards by developing indigenous technologies to address our peculiar socio-cultural challenges.
“Legislative support to push the advocacy and lobby the governments to make and enforce robust cybersecurity laws and regulations that address cybercrime effectively. This includes laws on data protection, online privacy, electronic transactions, and cybercrime prevention.
“With the Fourth Industrial Revolution and emergence of Al and IOT, the undeniable reality is that the global cyberspace is undergoing profound and rapid changes given the penetration of new technologies and growing interconnection of the system.
“Though this evolution offers opportunities for innovations, diversification, and cost optimization, it also carries with it increased exposure to new and devastating risks of imminent cyber-attacks. These attacks permeate and affect the entire global digital ecosystem equally with no exception to geographic belts hence it affects businesses of all sizes both in public and private sectors in all regions at a breakneck speed.
“Cybercrime poses a significant threat to our societies, economies, and security”, he said. “it is imperative that we work together to address this growing challenge. As Chairman, I am committed to lead from the front, fostering the much-desired collaboration among our member Units to enhance our collective ability to prevent and investigate cyber crimes effectively in Africa.
“I consider this as a call to champion the enthronement of a new charter of technological renaissance and home-grown cybersecurity ethics in Africa and a paradigm shift from absolute dependence on external solutions to African nurtured technological initiatives, adaptive to our Socio-Political ecosystem.
In her remarks at the event, Hajia Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim, minister of State, Police Affairs, said, “The Government of Nigeria is fully committed to reforming our police force, recognizing that cybersecurity is an integral component of our national security agenda.
“We understand that a secure cyberspace is essential for our immediate and long-term development objectives. Therefore, we are dedicated to enhancing our cybersecurity capabilities, investing in the necessary resources, and fostering collaboration both domestically and internationally.
“Consistent with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President, we are working assiduously to move beyond mere conversations to working with key stakeholders to strengthen Nigeria’s cybersecurity legal and regulatory frameworks.
“We are working to enhance the provision of the requisite tools, equipment, and facilities to strengthen the cybersecurity architecture of the Nigeria Police Force, and we remain committed to regional and international cooperation mechanisms.”
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History as Nigeria Acquire First Cosmic Rays Detector in Africa
National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) said Nigeria has made history by becoming the first country in Africa to acquire a cosmic ray muon detector to aid climate change and atmospheric research.
The muon detector acquired by Nigeria for monitoring cosmic rays and space weather was built and designed by the Physics and Astronomy Department of Georgia State University (GSU), USA; Prof. Babatunde Rabiu, director of UN- African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (UN-ARCSSTEE), a research and development centre of NASRDA, disclosed.
He spoke at a symposium on Cosmic Rays and Space Weather was organised by UN-ARCSSTEE in collaboration with Georgia State University (GSU), USA in Abuja.
According to Prof Rabiu a cosmic ray is a natural radiation that is not ionized in the atmosphere. He added that cosmic rays vary in location, latitude, and altitude of location and can be modified when certain anthropogenic activities occur.
“More than ever, scientists are curious about predicting weather, and studying space weather, especially now that climate change is becoming obvious, which is the condition in outer space.
“Cosmic rays are everywhere and it has to do with the earth, and it is useful in studying the climate but is yet to be fully impacted because it is ongoing research.
“That is why we hope that with the measurements, we are taking with the muon detector, we will be able to have effective predictability of our climate system,’’ he said.
Rabiu, while speaking on space weather activities in Africa, said it dated back to 2004 with the distribution of manometers across Africa by donor agencies.
He said that although few countries in Africa had their Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, the continent needed more monitoring systems for space weather.
Prof. He Xiaochun, director of Physics, at GSU, USA, said the project was targeted at exploring living in space, understanding it, and its adaptation, and providing information for stakeholders to protect and make informed decisions.
Xiaochun explained that cosmic ray radiation, mostly proton particles, is produced far in deep space and gets into the solar system and produces cosmic ray showers in the earth’s upper atmosphere.
“We measure the shower particles at the surface of the earth and decode the state of the space and earth weather.
“One needs a network IP address to be able to share data and reconfigure the detector with remote access,” he said.
Dr Bonaventure Okere, director of the Centre for Basic Space Science and Astronomy, said that the facility would aid astronomy studies and enhance research and development in that area.
The symposium highlighted cosmic radiations, how it interacts with the atmosphere, and environments, the impact of climate change, and how such radiations could be studied and analysed using the cosmic rays muon detector.
The meeting also discussed the need for stakeholders to make informed decisions on the reduction of gas emissions and having clean air for sustainable human development.
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