Ced magazine february 2016 edition

FEBRUARY 2016

BUILDING

THE PRACTICE

N1000.00

Engr. Robbie James Owivry, FNICE, National Chairman of Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers speaks on the strategyfor building the practice

TARIFF RESISTANCE The recent increase in electricity tariff has received massive resistance from the masses, but government insists the tariff is necessary

Nigeria’s No. 1 Development Professional Journal

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4 | CED Magazine June 2014

Century 21 www.cedmagazineng.com Systems Comm. Ltd.

TECHNOLOGY reduced remarkably for yarns spun f r o m t r e a t e d f i b r e s. To t e s t biodegradation resistance, the samples were found to retain 60-62 per cent of their initial tensile strength after a 90day soil burial test in comparison to only 12 per cent for untreated fibre. A salinity-related degradation test showed the treated samples to retain 61-74 per cent of their initial tensile strength. On degradation tests under extreme acidic and alkaline conditions, treated samples retained as much as 60-80 per cent of their initial tensile strength.

Laboratory study and field experience also show a manifold increase in the longevity of the jute geotextiles that underwent the chemical treatment compared to their untreated counterparts. The cost of treatment was found to be about Rs 17 to Rs 19

per sq m of 700 g per sq m woven jute fabric. These figures are remarkably lower than the costs of alternative treatments currently under use.

Growing demand Demand of geotextiles in erosion control is likely to rise as engineering efforts focus on strengthening river training dikes in India and abroad.

Treated jute geotextiles manufactured from the process developed by the IIT Kharagpur team could be a sustainable and eco-friendly solution to the problem. The team is now looking forward to collaborators to assist in the commercial application of treated jute geotextiles in the construction industry.

Meet the researchers As lead researcher Prof Debasis Roy

points out, ´Chemically or biologically modified natural polymers are just baby steps in an effort towards sustainability in erosion control interventions.´ Being interdisciplinary in nature, the project also involves Prof Ramkrishna Sen from the Department of Biotechnology and Prof Basudam Adhikari from the Materials Science Centre. While Prof Adhikari conducted the research on development of jute geotextiles and a suitable processing technique for rubber coating of jute, Prof Sen refined the microbial treatment segment required to develop the jute geotextiles with sustainable bioprocess integration and optimisation.

To share your experience with an interesting construction material, write in at info@cedmagazineng.com

TARIFF RESISTANCE The recent increase in electricity tariff has received massive resistance from the masses, but governmentinsists the tariff is necessary

TECHNOLOGY

fixtures have been used. Rainwater harvesting has also been undertaken. installed. A lighting power density of 0.8 w per sq ft in common areas and office areas, 0.23 w per sq ft in parking areas and 0.2 w per sq ft in building external area has been maintained. Dedicated IBMS has been installed, which is a computer-based control system installed in buildings that controls and monitors the buildingÆs mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire systems and security systems. Besides, a fossil fuel-based thermal power dominated grid contributes to the reduction in emissions of pollutants, including GHG emissions. The project saved 19.2 per cent in energy costs over the mandated ASHRAE 90.1 baseline and has achieved three LEED points for energy and atmosphere credit.

Water preser vation: A sewage treatment plant (STP) has been used to recycle water for reuse in flushing and landscaping. It has made use of native species that consume less water and do not require a permanent irrigation system in case of landscaping.

Consuming less water in WCs and urinals helps reduce the water requirement of the building to the tune of 20 per cent. Water-efficient plumbing 50 | www.cedmagazineng.comFebruary 2016

Overcoming challenges: The green concept was challenging to professionals owing to a shortage of green products and vendors across the country. Importing products increases the project cost. Also, lack of experienced workforce is a major problem in India as there are several untrained service providers who lack the required expertise in green construction.

Some key challenges include ensuring compliance with local regulations, MoEF requirements, unexpected delays in the project and ensuring the project meets expectations both in quality and monetarily.

Cost and additional initiatives: A green Gold-rated building costs about 45 per cent higher than a conventional building. The payback period is two-tothree years with a reduction in operational costs. Some initiatives undertaken include the use of ecofriendly housekeeping chemicals for all the buildings; ver micomposting; implementation on ´e-waste´ and hazardous waste policy for commercial buildings; smart parking facilities within the campus; and a common portal for all the clients in the building for

communication.

Salient features S o i l p o l l u t i o n p r e ve n t i o n a n d sedimentation and erosion control: In the pre-construction and construction phase, site bar ricading, topsoil stockpiling, sprinkling of water on soil and washing of truck tyres; in the postconstruction phase, landscaping and sedimentation basin with screen filters.

1) Use of low-flow faucets and fixtures to reduce potable water consumption.

2) 100 per cent on-site treatment of wastewater to tertiary standards and reuse of water for gardening and flushing.

3) Use of CFC-free refrigerant water coolers, chillers.

4) Energy-efficiency with over deck insulation, wall insulation, use of low-e glass; efficient HVAC system design, measurement and verification by thirdparty energy auditors.

5) Construction waste management.

6) Use of recycled and regional materials for construction.

7) No smoking policy.

8) Use of low-emitting materials, adhesive, sealants and paints.

9) Thermal comfort design.

Quess Muraina Aderemi K. FNIQS, MRICS, RQS Principal Partner

31

PROFESSIONAL FOCUS BUILDING THE PRACTICE

10

Engr. Robbie James Owivry, FNSE, FNICE, the current National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE) told the CED Magazine team that lack of sincerity of purpose has been the cause of failure in implementation of the various master plans in the country.

37 A SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE NEW ELECTRICITY TARIFF IN NIGERIA Electricity as a commodity is produced worldwide following roughly the same process

7

DEVELOPING STORY

ON TO A GOOD STARD

MY MISSION IS TOTAL EMPOWERMENT Engr. (Mrs.) Funmilade Akingbagbohun, FNIMechE, MNSE, Chairman chapter, highlights some of her strategic plans for the members of the institute -

CED PROPERTY www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 3

TECHNOLOGY

u

EDITORIAL BOARD Kenneth Odusola-Stevenson Publisher/Managing Editor Onii Nwangwu-Stevenson Founding Editor-In-Chief

DILEMMA OF GOVERNANCE Nigeria: Buhari’s southern dilemma heating up

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING Kunle Odusola-Stevenson Executive Director, Business Dev., Strategy/Project Bayo Adebayo-Egbayelo Head, Special Projects

SAVING ON OIL FG saves N18.3bn in six weeks on Subsidy Removal POWERING THE MALL Largest mall in East Africa to get own electricity NEWSMAKERS REALLY TRUE ACHIEVEMENT

34

34 CED PROPERTY BUILDING SMART CITIES: THE SECURITY PERSPECTIVE Electronic security is the way to go in creating smart cities in Nigeria

Professor Mrs. Olubola Babalola has joined the league of pioneers in Africa, haven recently emerged as the first female professor of quantity survey in Africa

41 THE HAIER ROAD TO GROWTH

Customers always come first for this Chinese appliance maker - even as it continually reinvents itself and expands around the world.

MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Festus Njiwe Oseji, Assistant Manager Marketing & Business Development MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Nelson Tuedor, SNR Marketing & Business Dev. Executive Judith Ehirim, Marketing & Business Dev. Executive Patricia Ekeh Odochi, Marketing & Business Dev. Executive David Adesoji, Marketing & Business Dev. Executive Rachael Unuijiaga, Marketing & Business Dev. Executive EDITORIAL/BRAND DEVELOPMENT Temitayo Badewole Reporter/Researcher Afam Desmond Odusola-Stevenson Director, Brand Development & Strategy Ruth Amadi Special Correspondent ADMINISTRATIVE/BUSINESS SUPPORT Chinonye Ikebaku, IT/ICT Executive Susan Nwosu, HR/Accounts Tammy Renee Gabriel, Special Assistant to CEO Hope Nwaodor Secretary Cynthia Eze Admin/Office Assistant PRODUCTION/STUDIO Muyiwa Idowu, SNR Camera/Photography Fatai Obanoyen, Camera Operation Gafar Sokunbo, Visual Editor Felix Ojajuni, Transportation

34 UP FOR COMPLETION

ISSN116-074

US$ 300m Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda set to be opened in June

18 HIGHWAY INTERVIEW

34 ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Engr. (Dr.) Isa Usman Emoabino, FNSE, FNICE, FNIHE, National Chairman of Nigerian Institution of Highway Engineers (NIHE),speaks on the challenges of road construction in Nigeria and the role of the institute in mending the situation.

Construction of an international airport in Nigeria 25% complete 7 CREATING MORE ROOM

4 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

HIGHWAYS ON THE HEELS

A Century 21 Systems Comm. Ltd Publication Editorial/Advertising Office 14, Shofidiya Close, Off Ilesanmi Street, Masha, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria Tel: 234 1 774 3404 Mobile: 234 805 5243 516 E-mail: cedmagazine@gmail.com www.cedmagazineng.com Š Copyright All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any means, electronics, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the approval of acknowledgement of the publisher.

CONTROLLING EROSION Treated jute geotextiles manufactured from a process developed by IIT Kharagpur, which is yet to be commercialised, could be a sustainable solution to the problem of erosion.

I

n the modern construction world, the use of biomaterials is growing. These materials have reduced energy costs and acted as carbon sinks.

One such material is the bust fibre derived from jute. The commercial use of jute-based geotextile has been pervasive in preventing soil loss from embankments and exposed natural or cut slopes and instigating germination and vegetation growth on the slope face to prevent shallow mechanical instabilities. Jute textiles have also been used to cover plants to protect them against frost.

And the National Jute Board has been encouraging the use of geotextile for road construction for the past several years.

The advantages Jute geotextiles are natural variants of synthetic geotextiles based on manmade polymers. The purposes of geotextiles in erosion control are to prevent loss of soil particles from the

exposed surface of the slope, dissipate splashing energy, and prevent the development of excessive water pressure and exit velocity by draining off water across and along the slope face efficiently. These, in turn, help consolidate the soil without extraneous mechanical intervention.

Despite these advantages, geotextiles based on natural fibres like jute, find limited use in engineering projects because of their susceptibility to biological, chemical and physical deg ra da tio n . Severa l ch emica l treatments, based largely on coating and blending strategies, have been developed to improve the resistance of natural fibres to moisture and b i o d e g r a d a t i o n . H owe ve r, t h e processes are often complex and energy-intensive, and products are expensive and potentially toxic.

The research Researchers at IIT Kharag pur attempted to take on the challenge of

developing a chemical or biological process to make jute and other lignocellulosic fibres less hydrophilic and more degradation resistant largely using eco-friendly reagents without compromising on the ductility and flexibility of the fibres. They have developed processes to address this bottleneck by using inexpensive and eco-friendly reagents and processes.

They manufactured geotextiles from chemically or biologically modified jute fibres and evaluated their durability and strength in the laboratory and smallscale field applications.

Laboratory testing has exhibited improved resistance of jute fibres and fabric against biological, chemical, UV and moisture-related degradation.

Improved characteristics of chemically or biologically modified jute fibres, yarns or fabric were found to be owing to the alteration of fibre chemistry and development of a hydrophobic and degradation-resistant, cross-linked, non-leachable resin coating on the fibre surface.

The result Chemical treatment of jute fibres exhibited 75 per cent increase in tensile strength. Similarly, water absorption and equilibrium moisture content were www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 49

TECHNOLOGY procured material constitutes 73.06 per cent of the total cost of the materials used. Various recycled content materials like AAC blocks, PPC cement, glass, ready-mix concrete with fly-ash and structural steel with post-industrial and post-consumer recycled content have been used.

MINDFUL OF THE FUTURE Long Distance Concrete Pumping Real Estate Bill Approved

K

Raheja Corp's Mindspace Building No.1 in Navi Mumbai has made use of state-of-the-art technologies and recyclable materials to enhance its sustainable features.

Increasing urbanisation is leading to higher pollution levels, necessitating the responsibility to provide more green cover. In this context, SEZ is the next big wave for real estate in the coming years. Considering this, K Raheja Corp developed the Mindspace Building No. 1 located in the SEZ campus in the Airoli, Navi Mumbai, and the project has received the LEED Core and Shell GOLD rating from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Shabbir Kanchwala, Senior Vice President, K Raheja Corp, shares more on the green features of the project and the measures that lead to its sustainability.

successfully implemented. Measures have been taken to increase the thermal resistance of the building envelope, thereby reducing unwanted heat loss and heat gain from the outside. This, in turn, reduces the energy required for airconditioning. Insulation also improves thermal comfort in addition to reducing air-conditioning equipment sizes. Apart from the building envelopes, the central plant also uses an efficient chiller, with proper sizing contributing to optimum energy utilisation. These parameters have resulted in reduced electricity consumption. The tangible benefit is in the reduction of operating energy cost right from the start and during the entire life-cycle of the building. Intangible benefits like enhanced ventilation, better views and day lighting improve productivity.

Specs and benefits: The project was conceptualised as a state-of-the-art multi-storied, multiple occupancy green building. The total site area is 8,849.55 sq m and the building footprint area is 4,333.62 sq m, a total built-up area of 25,403.52 sq m. The building has parking space from the stilt floor to third floor and office space from the fourth floor to the eleventh floor. It has parking capacity with covered car parking and a provision for electrical car charging stations for battery-operated vehicles.

Environmentally safe and sound state-of-the-art technology has been

Utile materials: The building has extensively used local and regional materials with recycled content. The main intent is to increase demand for building products with incorporated recycled content materials, therefore reducing the impact resulting from the extraction of new materials. Using local materials also reduces the environmental impact resulting from their transportation and supports the local economy. The total recycled content in the material constitutes 20.43 per cent of the total cost of materials used in the project. Further, total locally

48 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

Landscaping, lighting and ventilation: The landscape has been designed based on local zoning open space requirement. The total landscape area is 4,392.27 sq ft; the area of mixed vegetation that includes trees and shrubs is 1,496 sq ft and the lawn area is 2,896 sq ft. The building faces the south; the orientation is designed in a way that the habitable office areas get more exposure to sunlight and minimal heat ingress into the office. Further, all the floor plans with the workstations layout have been modelled with VISUAL DOE 4.1 simulation software to check the daylight and views. Low emissivity glass with a high visual light transmittance, to get maximum daylight and avoid heat gain, has been used. A detailed sun path and shadow analysis was carried out at the design stage. The office areas are located in a way that they gain more daylight and the direct impact of sun rays is reduced, ultimately reducing solar heat gain into the building.

Energy efficaciousness: To reduce heat ingress, the roof and wall have been insulated and glazed with the use of low ´e´ glass. Water-cooled screw chillers have been installed with high coefficient of performance (COP) and eco-friendly refrigerant.

Air-handling units (AHUs), cooling towers, pumps and jet fans have variable frequency drives (VFD), modulated by centralised IBMS (integrated building manag ement system) with the installation variable air volumes inside office areas. The AHUs have been interlinked with the heat recovery units to reduce the cooling load on the chiller.

For better indoor air quality, use of demand control ventilation system with Co2 sensors, energy-efficient lighting with LEDs, flicker-free CFL bulbs and T5 fluorescent lights have been used.

Also, timer-based sensors have been

ON A LONG SCALE The recent surge in the tariff rates of electricity supply has spurred mixed reaction among the nation's citizenry

H

ow do you build on a collapsing foundation?

This question is poised so much in people's minds as the newly appointed minister of Works, Power and Housing, took the first bold stride in restoring the power sector. Though not so convincing to a large number of consumers, the increase in tariff rate is set to improve electricity supply and distribution. Different policies and reforms have gone under the bridge; yet changes are yet to be seen, therefore how should the consumers be confident of the aftermath of this increase?

As much as this tariff meets a considerable level of resistance from

Babatunde Raji Fashola, the current minister for the trio critical sectors has his job cut out for him, brewing from his successful tenure as Lagos State Governor. As Governor, he governed the affairs of multiple sectors and made a success overall; nonetheless, three sectors. Work would not be cumbersome with the right team on his board, and proper channeling of resources to the right place.

the public, the man that drives the sector is much believed in, and that

As much as this tariff meets a considerable level of resistance from the public, the man that drives the sector is much believed in, and that might suffice till the results of his actions begin to appear.

Power has to improve in Africa, and Nigeria has just set the mandate.

might suffice till the results of his actions begin to appear. Power has to improve in Africa, and Nigeria has just set the mandate.

Engineering has paved ways for economic prosperity in Nigeria till date, and the engineering body in Nigeria and its division has left no stone unturned in ensuring self empowerment and capacity building for its members. The Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineering (NIMechE), Lagos Chapter, Engr. (Mrs.) Funmilade Akingbagbohun, lead members to WAMCO Nigeria Plc factory for an empowerment and capacity building visit recently, and will be reflecting on the performance of the institute and professional engineers.

Highway engineering is set to take a complete turn for the best as professionals lead by the national Chairman, (NIHE) Engr. Usman Emaobina, describes the professionals' resolve to help strengthen highway constructions as “undissolving”.

History set a mark in January in the highest peak of engineering body in Nigeria (the Nigerian Society of Engineers), as Engr. Otis Anyaeji, FNSE took over the mantle of leadership and set development mandate for infrastructure through the NSE. Moving on to the attainment of greater heights in professionalism, a time and diligent quantity surveyor has joined the league of pioneers in Africa; recently emerging as the first female professor of quantity survey in Africa. Professor Olubola Babalola has achieved what many would tag as “far-fetching”, as the profession of quantity survey is not for mere men; thereby causing a revolution of the mind, especially for Nigerian women.

In this edition, the building of smart cities from the security perspective is extensively discussed as one of the nation's major challenges that has been hindering the dream of building smartly, and must be conquered.

We believe we are on a path to better days as professionalism is already setting the pace. www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 5

CONSUMER PRODUCT

NEWS UPDATE

The company also keeps in touch personally just in case the monitoring has missed some cause of dissatisfaction. The connection to customers has helped Haier migrate many people from their medium-value line of household appliances (the original Haier) to the more upscale Casarte brand. The phrase "the information is more valuable than the product" has already become a slogan throughout Haier.

"We're providing information to Chinese households," says Jiang Hanke, social media director for the water purification platform, "but we're also benefiting from these interactions.

They give us a better understanding of

users' needs. Users can see what the water-quality situation is in their communities and use that information to select filtration products that suit them best. Although we didn't set up the online resource with the direct goal of making sales, it has had that effect; sales in this still-young business have risen by a factor of four since we've introduced the online resource."

Zhang recognizes the high stakes that are involved in changes of such magnitude: "There will be an earthquake [within our company] if it is not properly handled." But he also believes it is the only course of action that will allow such a large company to succeed in an era when each new

ROADWORKS

ROAD REFUND Road Construction: Ogun Govt demands N100bn compensation from FG

T

he Ogun state government has said that the Federal Government is owing the state a whopping sum of N100bn being the cost so far expended on the construction of federal roads across the state.

Commissioner for works and Infrastructure in the state, Arch.

Olamilekan Adegbite disclosed this while featuring on a radio programme in Abeokuta last weekend.

Arch. Adegbite said the total expenditure submitted to the federal government was N200billion for all federal roads that were planned to be constructed.

“What we have submitted, I mean the 6 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

total expenditure on federal roads that

triumph leads to new problems. The goal of a large company, he says, is to "lose control step by step." In other words, Zhang believes that Haier isn't unique. Every major organization will have to learn how to maintain its identity, the quality of its products and service, and its customer relationships, while being prepared to give up everything else. Haier's role in this new world will be as a pathfinder: It's already the first leading global consumer manufacturing company from China.

Soon, if Zhang is once again correct, it will be the first company from anywhere with its distinctive, innovative form of management.

ogun state government intends to construct, when we finish the roads is in excess of N200billion, but what we have spent now and what we are asking for is just N100billion.

“But I don’t think the federal government has the money to pay every state. I think Lagos state has the highest pay from the FG in terms of the federal road constructed. What the FG is doing is a good start at least she should pay something reasonable.

“Before I came in as commissioner, there was a verification exercise in 2011 which of course dealt with the roads that was done in the past in part of the state, as at that time, what was ascertain then was about N4.5billion, that is yet to be paid and inclusive of this, the FG is to pay us N100billion.”

He assured that as soon as the money starts coming in from the government at the centre, the state government will plough it back on other road construction, adding that the governor was committed to making sure that all ongoing projects were completed before the expiration of his tenure.

The commissioner pointed out that the dividends drivable from the massive road construction works have begun to manifest in the state, noting that more investors both local and foreign are showing interest in doing business in the state.

OgunState Governor, Ibikunle Amosun www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 47

NEWS UPDATE

CONSUMER PRODUCTS

everywhere they operate - which is how the company ends up working with the best universities and research institutes in the world.

To provide talent for the ZZJYTs, Haier created an internal labor market.

Now the right number of employees with the right skills gravitate to the right organizational positions at the right time. Instead of offering its employees jobs, the company offers everyone a continuing series of opportunities to find jobs, considering the contributions they have already made. "The level of scrutiny takes some getting used to," says Fu Haining, the chairman of the LongLongigo group, which operates Haier retail stores in China. "In the beginning, it can be a little painful, because the culture of constant challenge can make you feel like what you've done, what you've achieved, isn't recognized. Later, you come to realize that this is what it takes to stay ahead in an extremely competitive market."

marketing, distribution, and service.

But then Haier broadened its platform to include many other R&D partners; for instance, it shares more than 20 water purification patents with Dow Chemical.

The result is a new level of proficiency that goes beyond anything Haier has done before. For example, the company now uses Internet access to Lei Yongfeng, director of R&D for the Tianzen (Heaven) air conditioner customize every product it sells in China, whether bought in a store or changes in the consumer market by online. Customers choose the color drawing on support and collaboration combinations, features (such as the from the others. number and layout of shelves in the This new Haier approach involves refrigerator), and ancillary design opening up the company to intensive elements (like the pattern of sparkles on collaboration not just with customers, a high-end appliance). Factories but with innovators around the world routinely make them to order. The including with competitors. "The process is not unlike choosing the platform helps us attract first-class accessories on a new car, except that resources," says Lei Yongfeng, the there tend to be more choices.

R&D director for PAC, Haier's air The Internet connection also makes conditioning platform. "It could be customers more likely to buy a water R&D resources based at a university or purifier - which is sold only by at a technology company. In the past, consultation. Haier reps are trained to our relationship with a supplier like An Internet-Based Platform look up the complex data on China's Mitsubishi might have consisted of us After its first three reinventions, Haier water problems, which vary by going to them and giving them the looked nothing like a conventional neighborhood, and to install the filters specs for a new air conditioning modern complex organization. Its that guard against that neighborhood's compressor. Now, they can see for culture - embracing rather than resisting mix of chemicals and pollutants. On its themselves what our customers are change, while holding true to its original website, which has an active consumerasking for. The direct view they get core principle of customer service to-consumer dialogue, the company makes them more responsive, which in leadership - is the most important asset posts water quality information for turn helps our innovation efforts." of the company today.

220,000 communities in China. "We Water purification is another But Zhang, in recent years, has want people to be able to find all their example of the increasing scope of questioned the ability of even this level water-related answers at Haier," says Qu Haier's collaboration. The company of innovation to succeed. Inspired by Guinan, the general manager of the entered the business through a joint the success of the latest wave of Haier water treatment company. venture with the Strauss Group, an Internet-based companies, he is Building on its success to date, the Israeli technology firm, which provided c u r r e n t l y l a u n ch i n g a f o u r t h company is now exploring partnerships the technology while Haier focused on reinvention, this one involving the with local communities to manage their Internet. This is known at water purification efforts Haier as the "networking community-wide. strategy." Even the ZZJYTs, The Internet has enabled the focal point of the previous the company to expand its wave's business model, are service diligence; it provides slated for dramatic change. intensive installation as part Zhang has proposed of any appliance sale (a rarity eliminating the current secondin China), and, using tier ZZJYTs, presently home to monitoring signals from the most of Haier's middle appliances, it conducts managers. The company would follow-up calls with instead become a collection of customers when the platforms, each able to adjust to Qu Guinan (left) and Jiang Hanke, two executives from the water purification program equipment is not working.

46 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

CREATING MORE ROOM Major highway in Ghana to be expanded in reconstruction plan

A

Major highway in Ghana is to be expanded in reconstruction plan due to start March 2016,Inusah Fuseini, Ghana's Roads Minister has announced.

However, the feasibility studies are underway to give the project backers a clear understanding of the entire cost for the road reconstruction.

The project will be executed on a public-private partnership model. The private partners will be given a concession period to amortize whatever investment will be made on the road. The survey is to determine the underground soil conditions and the road structural integrity.

The 19km 2-lane dual-carriageway,

Accra-Tema motorway will be constructed with 2m bituminous surface dressed shoulders and cementconcrete surfacing. The road project will forms an integral part of the National Route 1(N1) starting from Aflao (in the Volta Region) and ending at Elubo (in the Western Region). The project will as well link the Kotoka International Airport and Tema Port, Accra city and the Trans West African Highway (Abidjan-Lagos Corridor).

According to Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) the road can accommodate a total number of 65,200 vehicles per day (vpd), similar to 16% vehicles in the medium and heavy groups.

POSITIVE RANKING Kenyan capital ranked largest mall developer in sub-Saharan Africa

K

enya's capital Nairobi is the leading shopping mall developer in sub-Saharan Africa a survey by real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank has shown.

The Shop Africa 2016 report which is the first review of the retail market in sub-Saharan Africa revealed that Nairobi is

The project design comprises of provision of 2-lane service roads at both sides of the motorway with Asphaltic Concrete surfacing, replacement of existing 150mm reinforced concrete slabs with 200mm ones; provision of 200 - 300mm natural gravel sub-base on the service roads, provision of 200 - 300mm crushed rock base on the service roads. Currently, the condition of the road is generally fair, with deplorable sections in the outer lane of the Tema-Accra direction.

The Meridian Port Services (MPS) is the company behind the expansion project of the road. However, the Company has committed to source funding to ensure that construction of the motorway is added to the port expansion on the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) signed a deed for the commencement of work on the US$1.5bn Tema Port expansion project in June 2015. The Meridian Port Services (MPS), is one of the top container terminal operators in Africa.

MPS is also in a joint venture between GPHA, APM and BollorĂŠ Africa Logistics, as principal investors and leading container terminal operators in the world. The road project is scheduled to be completed in 4years time making Ghana a maritime hub and the most efficient one-stop port services centre in the region and the rest of Africa.

Besides taxes and social security contributions, the project is also expected to generate about 5,000 jobs for skilled professionals as well as unskilled labour. the top city with the largest shopping centre development with approximately 470,000 square metres of shopping centre space in the pipeline.

Currently, Nairobi has a mall space of 391,000 square metres which is represented by beautiful malls such as Sarit Centre, The Junction and Garden City which hugely cause the number one ranking. Two Rivers Mall in Runda and The Hub in Karen are also iconic malls that result to the rank though they

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CONSUMER PRODUCTS

NEWS UPDATE

POWER AFRICA Obama signs Power Africa initiative into law resident Barrack Obama has signed into law the Power Africa deal a move aimed at expanding electricity to millions of households in subSaharan Africa. This measure has been widely supported as it is a gamechanger in saving lives and accelerating growth on the continent.

The Electrify Africa Act leverages partnerships with the private sector in order to bring first-time electricity access to about 50 million people who

P

live in undeserved parts of Africa. The bill unanimously passed the House of Representatives and Senate.

The initiative is set to use a system of loan guarantees since no new US federal funds have been allocated for the project. The loan will be used to add 20,000 megawatts of electricity to the continent's grid by 2020.

The supporters of the bill argue that access to power is a fundamental development challenge long

opened recently.

"While Nairobi has had shopping centres since the 1980s, the current wave of development is creating modern malls that are setting new standards for the market in terms of size and quality," the report states.

International brands that have currently penetrated into the region include French retailer Carrefour who will be an anchor tenant at both Two Rivers and The Hub in Karen. Turkish fashion brand LC Waikiki will also enter

the Kenyan market with a store at Two Rivers.

"Major international retail groups have had an interest in the wider subSaharan region. Most international brands go into the region either through partnerships with local operators or franchise agreements. The variety of retailers seeking to expand their footprint in the region has helped the newly developed malls to absorb the high demand," the report indicates.

According to the report, the top five

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experienced in Africa and a boost to it will therefore rekindle economic growth and improve access to education and public health.

"It is a huge milestone for business start-ups that have to close at dark and for school children, who are often forced to study by dangerous, inefficient kerosene lamps," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce.

He added that too many families always end up relying on charcoal and other toxic fuel sources which emit fumes that lead to more deaths than the dreaded HIV/AIDS and malaria combined.

The law aims to build on a "Power Africa" initiative that Obama majorly promoted during a trip to Kenya in July.

It would see the investment of about $7bn in US funds, largely financed through the US Export-Import Bank, in a bid to create 30,000 megawatts of clean energy generation in Africa.

Senate Democrat Ben Cardin said through the plan, they can make even greater strides in addressing African energy poverty and promote inclusive economic g rowth for African communities and even those at home.

cities are Luanda in Angola which is second, Lagos in Nigeria has the third largest mall pipeline, and then Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and finally Maputo in Mozambique completes the top five hotspots for mall space development in sub-Saharan Africa.

These five are the large, fast-growing cities in economies that have seen rapid expansion and are the ones being targeted by investors in Africa.

company's close collaboration among R&D, marketing, and sales also works well in the U.S. market. For example, U.S.-based R&D engineers are required to talk directly to consumers in the design of new products, and their salary is linked to the sales results of the products they design.

Intimacy and Entrepreneurship In 2005, Zhang recognized that most of Haier's competitors in China were achieving acceptable levels of service responsiveness and that the company would once again have to reinvent its value proposition. He believed that Haier suffered from unnecessary time delays and guesswork about new product manufacturing volumes, which proved costly when it guessed wrong, and that could be reduced, if not completely avoided, by becoming more intimately aware of customer needs and wants. Employees would now have to get to know the customer better than they knew themselves, or, as Zhang put it, to "create zero distance with the customer."

Intimacy is a lot more complicated than responsiveness, and this third reinvention required employees to feel closer to their customers. Haier thus inverted its organizational structure into one based on self-organizing work units called ZZJYTs (an abbreviation for zi zhu jing ying ti, which translates to independent operating unit). Their three most critical functions marketing, design, and manufacturing were now supposed to work directly for customers. Instead of directing the employees who did that work, the ZZJYT managers became service providers to them, giving them the resources and guidance they needed to provide for customers. This minimized the decisions made at higher levels in the hierarchy, making the company more responsive to nascent market needs. Zhang went so far as to announce that this shift in organizational model would proceed even if revenues and profits showed signs of flagging, and even if it were necessary to use some of the returns from successful legacy offerings to

make it work.

The new structure proved successful, and the ZZJYTs are still the basic organizational unit at Haier. Each comprises a team of 10 to 20 people sometimes located in one place, other times virtual - who come from various functional roles and are brought together for a specific mission, and who are given profit and loss responsibility and accountability. They have their own independent accounting systems and complete autonomy in hiring and firing employees, setting internal rules about expenses and determining bonus distribution, and making almost any operational decision that typically would be made by an independent functional organization.

Haier organizes its ZZJYTs in three tiers. First-tier ZZJYTs have the task of directly facing the market, understanding customer needs, and providing customers with the right products. Second-tier ZZJYTs are responsible for supporting the first-tier ones, providing them with the resources and the guidance they need.

Third-tier ZZJYT managers are the business division managers or functional managers who set corporate strategies and direction for the whole group. A typical first-tier ZZJYT is composed of sales, R&D, marketing, and finance people. Ever yone, whatever their function, is expected to talk to consumers regularly.

To Zhang and others at Haier, this organization design represents an explicit effort to avoid being disrupted by technological change. They wanted to make sure that top management would heed early warning signals of disruption, especially those that came from internal staff, and adjust to new realities rapidly and painlessly. Thus, at Haier, the time of information flow between the customer (the top) and coordination (the bottom) is minimized. Because R&D and marketing people work in the same ZZJYTs, they meet frequently, particularly when new products are considered. Salespeople keep in close touch with customers, so they can

estimate the order numbers with a smaller variance than if they were relying only upon forecasts. Once the products are ready for shipment, they go first to the waiting-list clients, and only afterward to retail outlets. This way, Haier keeps inventories low, which saves storage costs and working capital.

The ZZJYTs are not permanently assigned to a particular product or role.

Instead, they are formed through internal competition; participants must apply to work on projects that appeal to them. Winners are chosen on the basis of the quality of their product or service ideas, the attractiveness of their business model, and the feasibility of their go-to-market planning. When Haier made the strategic choice to launch a three-door refrigerator, for example, it invited its employees to compete for the role of leading this initiative by submitting business plans and business models explaining how such a product could best succeed. The company's $1.5 billion three-door refrigerator business is now led by the winner of that competition, 38-year-old Pu Xiankai. He was selected, despite his relative youth, because he described the product in an imaginative way. Once appointed to this position, it was incumbent upon him to select a team and to find manufacturers and marketers within Haier to produce and sell his products. Today, he oversees what Haier calls a "community of interest," that is, people throughout the company, and external partners along a value chain, who have made a commitment to help his team.

The activities of all the ZZJYTs are linked by internal contracts. For example, if the three-door ZZJYT needs market research data about a certain region of China, it entertains proposals from the several marketing ZZJYTs that provide such services, as well as looking outside Haier. The ZZJYT leaders also know that they cannot develop all the cutting-edge technologies they need in-house.

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publicly smash them to bits with sledgehammers. They all knew he could have sold them, or given them as political favors to local officials. But the message was clear. Never again would the Qingdao Home Appliance Company sell products it could not be proud of. Instead, it would build appliances that solved problems for its customers - the first problem being the unreliability and poor quality of refrigerators in China.

Soon after, in 1985, the company reestablished itself as a joint venture with the German manufacturing company Liebherr, thus gaining access to advanced technologies. It changed its name to Qingdao-Liebherr to evoke the prestige and quality of German manufacturing. In 1992, it solidified this association by renaming itself Haier, a name the company kept even when the joint venture ended. Haier, a simplified Chinese transliteration of the second part of the German Liebherr, was chosen in part because it was easy to remember and euphonic in both Chinese and English.

As part of the company's first reinvention, a number of mutually reinforcing, granular management choices provided guidelines for day-today practice that made change easier to accept. To improve quality, for example, Zhang set out to foster a mind-set oriented toward performance and accountability. He borrowed routines a n d p r a c t i c e s f o r c o n t i nu o u s improvement from the quality movement - which was then, in the mid1980s, first becoming visible in industries outside Japan. Zhang also linked pay to performance in a manner previously unseen in the Chinese market, through a system called "Overall Every Control and Clear" (OEC). Every day, workers tracked quality results using paper and pencil, and their wages were tied directly to the outcomes. This gave the company a simple means of establishing goals and controlling achievement for "everything, everyone, and every day," and a way to encourage employees to constantly challenge their previous 44 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

performance.

For the next 30 years, the operational capability of OEC gave Haier what behavioral experts George Kohlrieser, Susan Goldsworthy, and Duncan Coombe call a "secure base" on which to build bold change. For example, the company managed logistics with a zerodefects focus, resulting in very low inventory, short delivery times, and low working capital. In the years that followed, as new business models were introduced, the disciplined mind-set of OEC was never abandoned. Instead, it was scaled up to meet ever more ambitious goals. Workers grew accustomed to taking small steps that added up to great results.

The Niche Innovator In the late 1990s, a farmer in the Chinese countryside complained to Haier that his washing machine was full of dirt and was not functioning well.

The local distributor sent a technician to the farmer's house, where he discovered that the farmer had been using the washing machine not to wash clothes but to clean sweet potatoes. At this time, agricultural markets had been permitted to open in China, and cleaner vegetables commanded higher prices.

The repair technician reported immediately to Haier's headquarters about this practice, which was growing increasingly common in the region.

Inspired, the company soon released a vegetable washing machine, designed to accommodate the extra grime and soil of the tubers.

Around the same time, Haier's researchers observed that unlike Western consumers, many Chinese people hand-washed their underclothes every day at home. They found it more hygienic and socially discreet to wash these separate from other clothes and away from public washing machines. In response to this consumer need, Haier launched a small, low-energy washing machine called the Little Prodigy that could easily fit into a small, crowded urban apartment. The machine became extremely popular, among, for example, families with newborn children.

These episodes represented the start of the second reinvention at Haier: a new form of customer-responsive innovation. This was timely, because quality was no longer a great differentiator in China; other companies had caught up. Zhang built upon the company's hard-won workforce discipline, and the accompanying perfor mance-pay relationship, to link employees directly to customers. To break down the "invisible walls," as he called them, between functions, Zhang assigned teams made up of members of different functional departments to specific projects. He avoided the conflicts of a matrix structure by introducing "market chains" (based on the value-chain concepts of Michael Porter), in which it was possible for all individuals at Haier, no matter what their role, to trace their actions directly to the marketplace. These market chains replaced functional silos as the key organizational unit.

This was also the phase in which Zhang began building Haier into a global company. He approached this challenge by adopting Mao Zedong's strategy of "occupying the rural areas to encircle the city," gaining strength first with niche products for sectors where there were few competitors. The company took full advantage of its customer-responsive innovation capability to do this. In 1997, recognizing the needs of college students in dormitory rooms, it launched mini-refrigerators in the United States. It followed with wine refrigerators in 2004. And then, during the 2000s, Haier parlayed that success into becoming a mainstream producer of appliances for the U.S. market.

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, Haier sold extra-large washing machines designed for heavy robes.

Key to all this growth was Haier's behind-the-scenes customer-centric operations system. Rapid innovation based on consumer demand - as with the Tianzun air conditioners released in 2014 - has become routine, because all departments work in parallel. The

ON TO A GOOD START

demand that the government challenges NSE with cost engineering (i.e. planning, scheduling, estimating and control) of Engr. Otis Tabugbo Anyaeji, FNSE, FAEng, President of Nigerian Society of engineering projects”.

Engineers (NSE), Presented a paper titled, “Missing Link in Nigeria's Development: For Real Estate & Land Use Insufficient Engineers in the Policy Space”, to the Vice President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, GCON at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

–“…With Nigeria's population at over 170m and its land mass below 1m sq km, land is certainly scarce. Government ought to have started a deliberate plan for vertical city development. This will throw up urban engineering challenges for solutions for adequate housing, By transportation, Festus Oseji water supply, sanitation, e l e c t r i c p owe r s u p p l y, telecommunications, environmental protection, using local resources”.

And to effectively Bridging the African Desert Engr. Otis said “…Government efforts in taming the desert and promoting greening should be commended and encouraged. We request that NSE-TAD be co-opted to the Federal Government's Council on the Great Green Belt and Committee on the Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline”.

For Engineers in Government he added that “…In Nigeria, the public office selection and appointment pattern he leadership of Nigerian Society of opportunity to extensively discuss the has shown a deliberate and conscious Engineers (NSE), led by Engr. Otis relevance of engineering to nation scheme to keep Engineers out of the Tabugbo Anyaeji, FNSE, FAEng, building, as well as present NSE's public policy spaces in both the executive President of Nigerian Society of position on key national issues to the and legislative arms of government. We Engineers (NSE), pay curtsey call to the Presidency. hope to change this”.

Vice President of Federal Republic of Power being essential to the The meeting started with the national growth and requires effective Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osibajo, GCON at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The visit in introductions of the newly elected management of the agencies in wh i ch m o st m em b ers o f N S E executives members of NSE and past charge, Engr. Otis said “Your nationwide referred to as the right step in president of NSE, before Engr. Anyaeji Excellency would note that since the right direction, is a necessity at this delved straight into making the commencement of NERC an Engineer time. Firstly, as the executive of NSE just presentation he had prepared and titled, has not occupied the seat of Chairman. came on board and secondly, to “Missing Link in Nigeria's Development: The continued poor performance of the familiarize with the current government, Insufficient Engineers in the Policy sector is strongly linked to this. “The so as to pave way for effective Space”. The Presentation elaborately Society has in her Open Letter to Mr. contributions of NSE members to the dwelt on cogent topics such as President published in the national dailies various planned developmental agenda Engineering Economics, Industrial on Tuesday February 2 & Wednesday Engineering and Governance in Nigeria, February 3, 2016 respectively, prayed His for the country.

P r o j e c t F i n a n c i n g , P o w e r , Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, The official visit to the Vice President Industrialization, Codes & Standards, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, which took place Cost Engineering, Infrastr ucture FNSE, to mandate that the new Board of recently, was a welcome development. Assessment & Reporting, Real Estate & NERC to take over from the last Board President of the Nigerian Society of Land Use, Bridging, Greening & Energy whose tenure elapsed on December 22, Engineers, Engr. Otis Anyaeji, FNSE, Harvest from African Deserts, Engineers 2015, is composed of ENGINEERS designated as suggested above. The NSE FAEng, led a 17- man strong delegation in Government, etc.

President presented copies of the on an official visit to Nigeria's seat of In specific terms, the NSE President aforementioned publication and power, the Presidential Villa, Abuja; said, amongst other things that Cost specifically, to the office of the Vice Engineering, “…On national capital respectively also made a request for Vice President of the Federation, Prof, Yemi expenditure, engineering projects President to assist in any capacity to bring sustainable change in the power sector Osinbajo, GCON. account for over 90% of costs. We through a properly constituted NERC. The NSE President who sought an

T

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igerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE) Lagos chapter visited FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc factory in Lagos recently. Engr. (Mrs.) Funmilade Akingbagbohun, FNIMechE, MNSE, Chairman chapter, highlights some of her strategic plans for the members of the institute - excerpt

By Festus OSEJI What are your plans as the newly i n a u g u r a t e d Chair man of (NIMechE) Lagos State Chapter?

CONSUMER PRODUCT My plans are numerous; one of them is to empower engineers, most especially our members. I have tagged my tenure which is meant to last for two years as "empower ment" and I mean empowerment in every area of life and facet of growth. The empowerment plans start from the secondary schools, so that the secondary school students will understand what engineering means, because whether you like it or not engineering is the bed rock of any nation that wants to develop infrastructure wise,

Engr. (Mrs.) Funmilade Akingbagbohun

MY MISSION IS TOTAL

EMPOWERMENT Mechanical engineers wherever we are we need to be innovative, creative, imaginative, and be part of the nation building.

economically and in other areas of development.

So we are starting with the young ones to sanitize, educate, encourage and guide them to make a good career choice in engineering. It will also entail teaching them to know and understand what is engineering, what it takes to be an engineer and the criteria and basic requirement to be an engineer.

The plan has started as we have already had career talks in some secondary schools in Lagos State namely; Jubril Martins Memorial School, Home Science Secondary School to mention but few. In addition, we also have plans to encourage undergraduates studying engineering in o u r va r i o u s U n i ve r s i t i e s a n d Polytechnics. The reason for this is because we discovered that there is huge gap between the classroom and the industry. The classroom lessons are basically theoretical without the core practical experience. So within the next two years, we will be having quarterly workshops for the undergraduates, to expose them to the practical aspect of the mechanical engineering, while they are still in school.

In these workshops we will engage sound resource persons, an expert in the industry to give them practical training and workshop. The first one of these training and workshops is coming up soon. The plan is for us to sustain these training and workshops for the next two years and beyond.

Other part of the plans for the next two years is Graduate Internship Programme (GIP), this is for our graduates members to learn and keep abreast with the industry practice while they wait for their NYSC programme.

To actualize this objective, we are already talking to big organizations, both indigenous companies like Dangote Sugar, and multinational organizations in the oil and gas sector.

We have already secured contracts with some of these organizations to engage the graduates on the Graduate Internship Programme (GIP), and within the period of the programme the organizations will pay them some

of its products. The second, in the 1990s, was the adoption of consumerresponsive innovation, starting with (but not limited to) products for particular customer needs. The third, which took place in the 2000s, was the reorganization into a bottom-up structure, in which self-managing teams led decision making. The fourth, going on today, is the reinvention of Haier as a truly Internet-based company, open to the world in a way that few other companies have attempted, let alone realized.

Zhang did not develop this management approach on his own.

From the beginning, he displayed a fervent curiosity about management and high performance, and he studied the work of leading scholars and o b s e r ve r s, e s p e c i a l l y e m i n e n t management writer Peter Drucker. He took from Drucker, for example, the idea that the purpose of a business is not making money, in itself, but attracting and meeting the needs of customers. If a customer wins by gaining a better product or service, then everyone else should win as well, including the organization's shareholders through increased profits, and the employees through increased income. A visit to Qingdao with Zhang and his associates can take the form of a management seminar; visitors are subjected to relentless questioning on management innovations that might be of interest to Haier. Zhang often takes his own notes, and he frequently applies the concepts to Haier - first in small experiments, and then rolled out through the company.

Building a Quality Brand Haier, founded in the 1930s, was nearing bankruptcy in the early 1980s, when Zhang brought it back to life. At that time, demand for appliances was slowing down in the West after 35 years of growth. Looking to recoup, Western manufacturers cast covetous eyes on China's emerging market. Most Chinese families lacked basic home appliances, and the offerings from local manufacturers did not meet basic

Haier is reinventing itself as a truly Internet-based company. standards for quality or consumer appeal. With their strong brands and relatively sophisticated technology (the automatic refrigerator icemaker and microwave oven had recently been introduced), overseas manufacturers believed that they would have an easy time in cities like Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai.

But Chinese domestic firms fiercely defended their home markets by drastically reducing prices. Most of the foreign competitors, and quite a few of the emerging Chinese manufacturers as well, could not compete. General Electric chose not to enter the China market at all because it foresaw the price war. One of the Chinese companies that won this round was the Qingdao Home Appliance Company, a small collective enterprise that had made various electronic devices, including washing machines, but had recently

A refrigerator from the early 1980s, when Zhang became managing director

settled on refrigerators. It had changed its name repeatedly over the years, but had always been located in Qingdao, a port in the Shandong province of northeastern China, midway between Beijing and Shanghai.

The appetite for refrigerators was so strong in China that Haier sold just about everything it produced. The Chinese consumer in those days expected poor quality and was prepared to have any new product repaired almost immediately. Nonetheless, the company was moribund. Its production line delivered only 80 units per month, including many that didn't work. The factory was so run-down that workers had to be told not to relieve themselves on the floor, and they burned parts of the walls for heat. After three managing directors resigned in rapid succession, a 35-year-old deputy manager in the company named Zhang Ruimin was asked to find a replacement. He found no acceptable candidates, and reluctantly took up the challenge himself. But this appointment turned out to be fortuitous. Zhang was a visionary who saw that a middle class would emerge in China, a public interested not just in refrigerators, but in high-quality, branded, innovative products - made in China, but as good as or better than their Western-made counterparts.

Soon after Zhang took the role of managing director, a customer wrote a letter to the factory complaining about a faulty refrigerator. This led Zhang to one of the most famous episodes of his career. "I called people from quality control down to the warehouse with me," Zhang later recalled. "We had just over 400 refrigerators in the warehouse.

We inspected them one by one. If they had any problem whatsoever, we pulled them out. We ended up pulling out 76 problem fridges. I had to change the perception [of our quality]: If products left the factory, they should be first rate."

Zhang had his incredulous employees line up those 76 defective refrigerators in the street outside the factory and

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CONSUMER PRODUCT consumer needs; the years, that meant management of bringing new levels complicated distribution of quality and networks, a skill honed in reliability to the complex Chinese Chinese products. market; and a high level of Later, it involved e x e c u t i o n a b i l i t y, increasingly including the automation sophisticated forms of factories to deliver of customization products to consumer and new types of specification. (See services. Through "Haier's Capabilities its simplicity and System," below.) These c o n t i nu i t y, t h i s attributes have served it principle has given 路Source: Strategy That Delivers, by Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi with Art Kleiner (forthcoming from Harvard Business Press, 2016) especially well in China, all employees a allowing Haier to reliable compass outcompete more experienced with which to make decisions, even in appliance companies such as Whirlpool out of the value-priced and niche the face of disruptive market challenges and Maytag in that country. In fact, appliance domain to compete directly such as new technologies or new Haier's prowess - and particularly its with top-of-the-line appliances from competitors. emphasis on "what we can do and who more established companies. It has To accomplish its goal, Haier has we are" rather than on "what we sell and accomplished this by being a consistently cultivated and rewarded how we make money" - shows the kind consistently coherent and capable high-quality talent; the company has of capabilities needed by companies company: staying true to its core been a magnet for many of China's that were founded in emerging identity as a company dedicated to m o s t c a p a b l e e n g i n e e r s a n d economies if they are to succeed in the solving problems for consumers, while businesspeople. This approach is continually reinventing itself with global sphere. especially noteworthy within China's imagination and verve. cultural and social context. In a country Haier's Capabilities System that was just beginning to emerge from Haier is one of 12 companies that were studied Customer Service Leadership a Maoist mind-set when Zhang took the closely in a Strategy& research project on Much of the credit for Haier's success helm, the idea that success depended on accrues directly to Zhang Ruimin, the distinctive capabilities and coherence. c o m p a n y ' s C E O s i n c e 1 9 8 4 . the entrepreneurial effor ts of Value Proposition: Haier's "way to play" in individuals, recognized for their the market (its value proposition) has gradually Throughout the 30 years of his tenure, differences and rewarded for their broadened since Zhang Ruimin became CEO his sharp focus on customer service achievements, was relatively unfamiliar. in the mid-1980s. The company first took the leadership has given the company Haier has thus invested a great deal, role of a category leader, maintaining top consistency even as it propels Haier especially for a Chinese company, in market share because of its reputation for through dramatic changes. Zhang was training its employees and demanding quality in China. Then it became a customizer the leader who proposed that Haier innovative ideas. (adapting its products to customer demands) should never see itself as just a Despite the success it has achieved, and a solutions provider (helping consumers manufacturer of products, but instead and its willingness to stick to one core manage issues like water quality and home as a provider of solutions to its value proposition (and one CEO) since design). Haier now sells not just home customers' problems. In the earliest the 1980s, the company has never appliances but related services, adapted to become complacent. Zhang established consumer demand in China, and, increasingly, early on that changes would be a way of other markets. Haier delivers its way to play by life, not soon-to-be-completed excelling at four differentiating capabilities. episodes that must be traversed. "The Haier is now the fastest-growing provider of appliances in the world.

Since 2011, it has held the largest worldwide market share in white goods.

With its upscale brands in China, such as Casarte, and its growing presence in the United States, Europe, and Japan, this US$38 billion company has moved 42 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

Zhang Ruimin, CEO and chairman of Haier

only thing that we know is that we know nothing," he says. "If you don't overcome yourself, you will be overcome by others."

Indeed, Haier has reinvented itself at least four times. The first reinvention, in the 1980s, was the decision to differentiate the company by the quality

stipend.

The ultimate goal is for them to acquire wider knowledge, practical experience and exposure in the industry. Some of them may through the programme get employment. This is mainly for the graduate members of the Institute.

While for the corporate members, we have set aside plans to organize training and workshop for them as well.

This workshop is to keep them abreast w i t h t h e c u r r e n t m e ch a n i s m , technological requirement in the industry and methodology of practice obtainable outside the shore of this country. Particularly, we discovered that most engineers don't have good communication skill; they lack good presentation skill and management.

Those are the areas we are looking at to sanitize and sensitize our corporate members to improve on.

We have also put in international training for our corporate members, this is to ensure they get the necessary information they need to work like their counterpart outside the country, because we know that the local training might not be sufficient for them. The first one of such international programme which is on 'Quality Control' will be coming up soon sometime in April and in Germany.

In addition to the plans, we have what is called Elders Forum. This is to bring the senior ones in the industry together, those that have seen it all in every facet of the profession to share with the younger engineers their knowledge, success story and the challenges faced in the cause of their practice of the

We have also put in international training for our corporate members, this is to ensure they get the necessary information they need to work like their counterpart outside the country, because we know that the local training might not be sufficient for them. The first one of such international programme which is on 'Quality Control' will be coming up soon sometime in April and in Germany.

Mechanical engineers are the bed rock of all engineering and also the bed rock for nation building. My view is that mechanical engineers are lacking behind in the scheme of things in this nation and there is great need for change. It is the image we project that will make the nation recognize our existence and importance in the development plans of the country. That are some of the things we tend to do at the national level and also at the state chapter level. profession. Those are some of the plans and programme we have for our members, empowerment in all facets of human life.

The Industrial visit to FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, why this visit?

This is one of the empowerment programme set out for our corporate members. We want them to move out and interact with people in other organizations. We also encourage the younger engineers to join on the visit train, so as to expose them too in the industry practice and operations. With such visit one could gather relevant information for job opportunity, even contract opportunity as well. Part of the plans for the industrial visit is to ensure we learn from different area of mechanical engineering in various i n d u s t r i e s. Fo r i n s t a n c e , t h e FrieslandCampina Wamco visit is for us to know about production, while other subsequent visit will be to an oil and gas company. We want to expose them in all aspect of mechanical engineering in various sectors, so that they can learn and increase their knowledge and experience in the industry.

Yo u r v i e w o n t h e s t a t e o f mechanical engineering practice generally in Nigeria?

The state of mechanical engineering practice in Nigeria is not very satisfactory that is why we as a chapter

are putting together all these plans to ensure there is improvement in practice and recognition.

Mechanical engineers are the bed rock of all engineering and also the bed rock for nation building. My view is that mechanical engineers are lacking behind in the scheme of things in this nation and there is great need for change. It is the image we project that will make the nation recognize our existence and importance in the development plans of the country. That are some of the things we tend to do at the national level and also at the state chapter level. The nation require our impacts in nation building, so from the national level there is need for proper image projection and presentation to actualize the desired goals and objectives of the institution at large.

The nation needs us and we have to make ourselves available at all time for nation building.

Engineering and economic development of nations; what is your take on this?

My view is that mechanical engineers wherever we are we need to be innovative, creative, imaginative, and be part of the nation building. A nation is moving forward its mechanical engineering, so because we are versatile for instance; we cannot drive an automobile without the mechanical engineers, use an air conditioner or refrigerator without the mechanical engineers, even the bridges that are being constructed by the civil engineers cannot be completed without the input of a mechanical engineers, who ascertain the strength of the materials required for the projects to be built. So the importance of mechanical engineers in nation's economic development cannot be overemphasized. So there should be clarion call for all mechanical engineers to rise to the occasion in nation building in Nigeria.

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This chapter started some years back and I am the forth Chairman and the first female C h a i r m a n a s we l l . T h e Institution started when some group of mechanical engineers felt Lagos state should have a chapter and that was about 8 years ag o. T he pioneer Chairman was Engr. Ayo Fanimokun, FNSE, FNIMechE, followed by Engr. ( D r . ) J u b r i l A d e y e m o, FNIMechE and Engr. Amos Komolafe, FNIMechE, who happened to be the Immediate Past Chairman, before I became the Chairman on December 2015. The chapter has been growing in the last few years, we are dynamic and we are always ready to make a difference in all we do.

Engr. Otis Anyaeji becoming the national president of NSE is a good thing and I am so happy and excited about it. His presidency will be encouraging to all our members at large, because the last mechanical engineer that was inaugurated as president of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) was Engr. (Dr.) E. J. S. Uujamhan, FNSE, which is over eighteen years ago. facility, staffs and even the customers as well. It is wonderful and every young engineer will desire to work in an environment like this because of the safety measures in place.

You as the first female Chairman of this great Institute; how do you feel and what do you want to do Engr. (Mrs.) Funmilade Akingbagbohun differently from all engineering practice and Friesland predecessors?

I am happy to be the first female Wamco safety programmes?

Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of In engineering practice for an engineer, Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE) tolerant limit and values are very key Lagos state chapter, but I feel there is and important. It is one of the aspects going to be lots of more challenges for of engineering I encourage people to me as a female because that means I practice that is HSE (Health, Safety & must be ready to sacrifice and make a Environment). The institution will have huge difference from what every other to go in partnership with the safety person has done and I pray that God professionals to ensure that the safety will give me the strength, ability and of any mechanism we are working on is wisdom to do more than what others sure.

I am very impressed with the safety has done as Chairman of the Institute.

It is a very challenging position, because measure put in place here by the I have been encouraging female management of FrieslandCampina engineers over time and I kept Wamco Nigeria Plc; it goes to show encouraging those female mechanical how the management values their engineers to come forward and be dynamic. I have over the years discovered that lots of female shy away from engineering leaving it for the men.

I am very impressed with the safety So my view and believe is that we should measure put in place here by the do it together, because everyone has a management of FrieslandCampina Wamco role to play for the institution and the Nigeria Plc; it goes to show how the development of engineering in our management values their facility, staffs country.

and even the customers as well.

Your view on safety measures in 12 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

Recently, Engr. Otis Oliver T. Anyaeji was inaugurated as National President of Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), what is your take on this?

Engr. Otis Oliver T. Anyaeji, FNSE, FNIMechE, was elected president of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), when I was the national membership secretary of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE). He becoming the national president of NSE is a good thing and I am so happy and excited about it. His presidency will be encouraging to all our members at large, because the last mechanical engineer that was inaugurated as president of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) was Engr. (Dr.) E. J. S. Uujamhan, FNSE, which is over eighteen years ago.

Now that our member is to lead the society this time around, we're so elated about it.

Engr. Otis as we all know is an encyclopedia and an authority in engineering profession in Nigeria, so there is no doubt about his capability, he will surely move NSE forward and will make huge difference in terms of development in the profession and the nation at large. I encourage all members of NIMechE nationwide to support him.

Personally, on behalf of NIMechE Lagos state chapter, we congratulate him, we are proud of him and strongly behind him to succeed. I wish him well.

THE HAIER ROAD TO GROWTH Customers always come first for this Chinese appliance maker - even as it continually reinvents itself and expands around the world.

S

tart with 30 million responses on drawbacks. It is an obelisk-like device your QZone, Tencent, and other with a small wind tunnel that draws air social media platforms - all to a through it from the room where it is simple question: "What do you want in positioned. It has an Internet air conditioning?" Then pay attention connection, so consumers can use their to the more than 670,000 people who smartphones to warm or cool the room take part in the online conversation that while on their way home. Some follows. You're bound to come up with consumers probably knew they wanted something cool - or, more precisely, that feature, but they didn't know that "cool, not cold." This concept, drawn they wanted to see the circle's light shift from online responses, became the from red to blue as their air quality tagline for the Tianzun ("Heaven"), improved. Once they saw that Haier's advanced household heater/air happening, they were hooked. The conditioner/air purifier, released in product is targeted directly at a 2014. Many Asian consumers don't like consumer segment that no other the chilling effect of conventional company, in the West or the East, has temperature control. They'd much recognized, and that could end up being prefer to be "cool, not cold." But there's more to the concept than temperature. Air from most such devices in China is dry and dusty. The machines themselves are too noisy, or too likely to spread disease (bacteria live in air conditioning systems). Moreover, the machines look - well, like air conditioners.

The Tianzun doesn't h a v e a n y o f t h o s e Tianzun air conditioner (at left), introduced in 2014

much bigger than a niche.

By building cooling machines based on this in-depth and multilayered approach to consumer insight, Haier is following its own core principle: "customer service leadership," or the necessity to shape the future by giving customers what they want most (but may not have yet realized they can ask for). Even the decision to use the phrase "cool, not cold" in its Chinese advertising campaign reflects this principle. These are the words that customers use themselves, as opposed to a slogan dreamed up by a marketing professional.

Just as unconventional was the crossfunctional nature of the appliance's launch. While the marketing staff digested the insights gained from Haier's online customer interactions, manufacturing was already considering what they would mean for production, procurement was speaking directly to suppliers about sourcing feasibilities, and after-sales service was developing plans for follow-through. Because they worked closely together from the start, managers from all these functions were moving forward in concert, addressing possible disconnects as they arose. This allowed products to go to market as soon as they were designed and developed, instead of waiting for each department to throw its work "over the wall" to the next one. Meanwhile, representatives of each company function conducted conversations directly with customers, thereby adding a responsive new dimension to the company's consumer insight capabilities.

Haier's rapid introduction of the Tianzun air conditioner is typical of the company's track record since the late 1990s. The company i s k n ow n f o r s e ve r a l distinctive capabilities: a precise understanding of consumer needs, especially in China and other emerging markets; the ability to rapidly innovate new types of appliances that meet those www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 41

NEWSMAKER ENERGY

WATER

REALLY TRUE ACHIEVEMENT Professor Mrs. Olubola Babalola has joined the league of pioneers in Africa, haven recently emerged as the first female professor of quantity survey in Africa

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o pay more for a product or service is bad but to pay less is worse; is a popular truism. By implication, this means that there is always an optimum cost for any product or service. This is the essence of the quantity surveying profession as far as construction projects are concerned. In Nigeria, this profession is not overrated especially for the women folks. It is often said that lot of women run away from construction related professions because of the rigors it entails.

However, the few ones who are able to take the bull by the horn have found optimal satisfaction therein.

Quantity Surveying as a course of study 40 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

has been in existence for over many decades, but it was solely dominated by males because it has been perceived that the built environment are for men as it entails construction of all sorts. Since the inception of quantity surveying as a profession it has been solely dominated by men but Mrs. Mercy Iyortyer broke the jinx recently by emerging as the first female president of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors. As the 23rd National President of the Institution and the first female president of the same, she reverenced God and the support of her fellow members.

Mrs. Iyortyer while speaking with CED

Magazine on the recent achievement of a fellow practitioner describes the recent elevation of Professor Mrs. Olubola Babalola as a laudable achievement in the industry and that she will be a source of inspiration to other profession women.

In an exclusive chat with CED Magazine, Professor Mrs. Olubola Babalola who has joined the league of pioneers in Africa, has recently emerged as the first female professor of quantity survey in Africa, as the Obafemi Awolowo University has set the pace once more.

Upon her emergence as the first female professor of quantity survey in Africa, she acknowledges God as the source of her inspiration and strength, and that there was no regret of any sort. She also added that the honour was not an anticipated one, it just came unexpected.

Speaking further on quantity survey as a profession, she never wanted to study quantity survey as a course because she never knew that such course existed, but she ended up studying the course because it is a rewarding profession, many people are of the believe that quantity surveying is meant for men only, but the current professor made it clear that no gender is an exception even though she was the only female in her class during her university days, that the profession has lots of opportunities like working in the ministry, owning your own firm, being a lecturer and lots more notwithstanding the public perception of the profession.

The newly emerged professor of quantity survey also added that she and her colleagues have been going to secondary schools to enlighten young student about the career course in quantity survey and the built environment in general, as they are the accountants in the construction industry.

She also advised other women in the profession to be steadfast and dedicated to their profession because there is surely reward for hard work.

While speaking on the importance of quantity surveyors in the construction, Professor Mrs. Babalola said that “quantity surveyors render services in the cost management procurement of all capital projects, not only on housing sector. Our relevance to national economy cannot be overemphasized. We are the accountant in the construction industry; we simply draw the line between correct budgeting and overspending. We play the advisory role to project executors. The field of quantity surveying in Nigeria is witnessing a new revolution as women are beginning to take the mantle of leadership�. www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 13

STATE OF THEENERGY NATION

COVER OIL ANDFEATURE GAS REPORT

T

he new tariff system that took effect from the 1st of February, 2016 has met with a strong discontent from the general public. Despite the superior argument, as it seems, by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Discos to justify the hike, most consumers refused to accept the new tariff order, insisting that operators should first provide meters and improve electricity supply before any form of tariff increase.

Can they really be blamed?

Over the years, we have had different reforms and policies in the power sector and still the changes are yet to be seen; therefore these protests cannot out rightly be ruled out, as it was clearly manifested in a number of litigations across the country.

In a keynote address at a 3-day retreat on Nigerian Pension Industry Strategy Implementation Roadmap held in Abuja recently, the Minister for Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola confirmed that several litigations were instituted to halt the tariff review, and advised judges handling commercial disputes to refrain from granting injunctive orders that could stop a business, obviously referring to the nation's power sector.

He acknowledged that private ownership of public assets is complex, and sometimes misunderstood transactions that some people view with suspicion. He went on further to add that some of the perception that inf luences this misconception, complexities and suspicion arises when the public begins to question why they should start paying for services that the government renders for free or at a certain subsidy. Analytically, he placed the cost of self-generation of power at between N48 to N70 per kilowatt – hour, which is way higher than the payment of electricity tariff.

However, from the consumers' end, the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) protested that there was no substantial comprehension in the Discos' consultation, and that the 14 | www.cedmagazineng.comFebruary 2016

TARIFF

The recent increase in electricity tariff has received massive resistance from the masses, but government insists the tariff is necessary NERC should not have gone ahead with the rates review despite the court case against the exercise.

It could be quite shocking that tariff review in terms of increase could be coming at such a time as this, when the country is currently experiencing major economic challenges that has adversely affected the purchasing power of Nigerian workers; some might argue

that the provision of electricity services has not been impressive over the years, while others might see this review as a means to an end of interrupted power supply.

Engr. Seun Faluyi, MD/CEO, Offshore Dimensions Limited, opined that the tariff review should be channeled towards improving the enabling environment for investment.

will cause a distorted view of the power sector reform in Nigeria in the wider electricity supply industry. This has potential impact on the governmentnationally and internationally.

NERC - Better late than never NERC whose primary function is the protection of the consumers has left the matter till the end of its statutory 5-year tenure in office. This looks as if intentionally calculated to cause chaos in the system and therefore perpetuate the elongation of their term or services.

Only time will tell! More than that, the increased tariffs came at a time when the regulator has been involved in the scandal of over bloated and outlandish severance payments to its commissioners which is currently under investigation by the National Assembly.

With most consumers having no meters to ensure that they pay for what they have used, the possibility of a looming sack of workers in the Banking sector, and the fact that the benefits of privatisation since November 2013 is yet to be felt in terms of availability of supply, this increase in tariff came, saw, and conquered Nigerians

By Idowu Oyebanjo NEWS UPDATE

NSE AT THE VILLA Continued from page 9

In response to the presentation of Engr. Anyaeji, the Vice President Prof.

Osibajo, thanked NSE for the visit and joked that from the Presentation, he could gather that Engineers make perfect Economists, perfect Accountants, perfect Politicians and even perfect Lawyers. He added humorously: “…but we must not forget that God is a God of Justice who operates with a legal mind”.

Prof. Osinbajo, however, acknowledged that there was no doubt at all about the importance of engineering in the governance of any nation, if that nation is focused on genuine development. He went further to say that “…But I must emphasize that, as is with other professions, I have my reservation about the quality of engineering education in our country today. We must lay emphasis on the way we teach engineering in tertiary institutions today; we need to go back and look at the

curriculum. “The capacity to think critically and solve problems is not to be assumed because one is an Engineer.

Creativity must be emphasized in the curriculum because once training is defective; there will be problem with the practice”.

The Vice President said that the document presented will be accorded thorough study by the respective departments after which he will be advised appropriately. He promised to do justice to the requests made; for example, he said he would immediately direct that the Minister of Environment be briefed on the proposal for collaboration on NSE-TAD (NSE - Taming African Deserts).

The NSE delegation included the Deputy President, Engr. Adekunle Mokuolu, FNSE, Past President Engr.

Ibrahim K. Inuwa, OFR, FNSE, FAEng, Past President Engr. Charles Mbanefo, FNSE, Past President Engr.

Habu Gumel, OON, FNSE, FAEng, Past President & President of COREN, Engr. Kashim Ali, FNSE, mni, Past President Engr. Mustafa Shehu, FNSE, Immediate Past President Engr.

Ademola Olorunfemi, FNSE, former Head of Service of the Federation, Engr. Ebele Okeke, CFR, FNSE, Vice President Engr. Mrs. Margaret Oguntala, FNSE, Vice President Engr.

Giandomenico Massari, FNSE, EXCO Member Engr. Olatunde Akinyeye, FNSE, EXCO Member Engr. Dr. Edith Ishidi, FNSE, EXCO Member Engr. Mrs. Aishatu Umar, FNSE, Executive Secretary Engr. Olusola Obadimu, MNSE, Ag. Director, Professional Development, Engr.

Ovens Ehimatie, MNSE and Head, Media & Publications, Mr. Abdulkadir Aliyu.

www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 39

COVER FEATURE ENERGY

STATE OF THE NATION

to improve in their customer engagement obligations.

Customer-friendly initiatives like this will make consumers experience better customer service.

The Weaknesses NERC misled and disgraced the nation A significant portion for the charges paid by consumers is the cost for losses.

Therefore one expects that the baseline values to be used would be determined as accurately as possible.

However, in arriving at the charging methodology used for the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO), NERC got it all wrong. Baseline levels of losses were wrongly deter mined leading to over/under estimation of charges to consumers. This is what happens when you put square pegs in round holes - Try hard as you may, it won't fit. How long do we want to experience policy somersaults before we hear the cry of power system engineers that electricity is not a commodity like in economics?

Someone who lacks understanding of power systems was responsible and accepted on behalf of the nation the baseline levels, ruined the image of the nation, and extorted consumers for many years. NERC is culpable in this national embarrassment as Lawyers and economists will never be in position to regulate electricity business.

They do not understand power systems (and rightly so), and do not understand the reports provided by consultants who carry out studies for them anyway - Can we say again that to 38 | www.cedmagazineng.com February2016

realise appreciable development in NESI today, there is an urgent need to put technocrats in charge of regulation.

Copying industrialised economies in their models of power system regulation is not bad in itself, but doing so without knowing why they do things is foolhardy! They already have stable electricity for decades so they can afford Lawyers and Economists to toy with their power industry plus they have consultants who were formerly technocrats in the industry in the many decades leading up to the privatisation of the electricity supply industry. Their situation is different from Nigeria that i believe is going to witness the rebuilding of her network. Apart from this, there are thousands of experienced practitioners in their power industry who work with the distribution and transmission network operators who will challenge and contribute to the regulatory objectives set by the economic regulators in these countries.

Again, there is a shortage of relevant skills in NESI to provide this check and balance.

NERC & Policy Somersaults NERC realised too little too late. After waking up from its slumber, NERC suddenly realized consumers have been milked dry for over 5 years, removed this element of the tariff (losses) and that disrupted the serenity of the system which made Discos to declare a force majeure with the potential to truncate the privatisation process.

This kind of policy somersault send

wrong signals and drive away investors.

NERC & the government need to provide a clear message of assurance to Discos that there is no plan to truncate the on-going power sector reform.

This must be supported by a form of guarantee that will be enough to make Discos to begin investing in the network. At the minute, they are not!

Distribution Companies (Discos) presented fresh baseline values for losses The new administration took immediate action to set matters right by asking the Discos to submit their own fresh calculations of baseline loss levels and power flow studies were carried out.

The pertinent questions are: Who validates the accuracy? Same regulator?

Same consultants? There is an urgent need to make available the methodology used by the Discos in arriving at their values and their cost profiles. Also, NERC needs to request each Disco to publish its strategy for loss reduction while it continues to monitor (year-on-year) actual reduction in estimated losses. It is highly likely that if the fresh baseline values have been wrongly determined, then we will keep going round in circles and there is a potential for under/over estimation of charges to consumers forcing a return to status quo ante.

This has to be avoided. The likelihood is high because to determine losses, each distributor would have to have accurate data about consumers and their metered consumption, transformers, lines, cables, substations, network demand, network imbalance (NPS causes network losses), power factor, system operation and control.

The subject is fairly complex, and certainly beyond the understanding of the general engineer apart from Power System Engineers who know their onions.

There is an urgent need to establish the basis for assumptions on electricity costs that is consistent with the overall power sector reform road map by ensuring that Discos develop a robust and accurate means of measuring and reporting distribution network losses. Also, discrepancies in reported losses by Discos

RESISTANCE Senate President, Bukola Saraki with the Labour Leaders

This he explained by saying, if the increase in tariff rates can be used judiciously to improve power supply and availability, investors will be attracted and it will boost the country's economic outlook. He however added that unless the reason behind reviewing the tariff rate is tailored towards creating an enabling environment for investment with the ultimate goal of boosting our economy, it would not be worth the while.

He also believes that when there is skill in production, the price will come down eventually.

TPL. Bunmi Ajayi, a veteran town planner however pledges his support to the protest, stating that every consumer should be liable to pay for what they use. The agreement was for the NERC and the operators to deliver meters before the eighteen months, and review the tariff systems, not the other way

round.

“They should have made their calculations properly before making such assertions. When they have excelled in the delivery and provision of meters to all and sundry, they can then present any form of review”.

In the same vein, Engr. Lasebikan, a Former President of the Federation of

Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works

Construction Industry, describes the new tariff rate as a big jump. “At an increase of between 48-100%, it is too high, let them put some percentage of increase at first, and see the performance as to what will be done with the money. If after then, there is a need to increase further, it can be justified,. They should put into consideration that the economy is a bit down at the moment”.

As consumers battle NERC and the Discos over the review, a financial report of the sector's operation prepared by NERC showed a huge debt of N187billion caused by an early 2015 regulatory decision, which include a freeze on the tariff of Discos to the R2 consumers, collection loss removal, and non-adherence of market sanctity.

The content of the report indicates further that the choice sustaining the country's privatized electricity supply market or allowing it to revert back to government management would solely be based on how stakeholders manage the new condition.

The Multi-Year tariff Order (MYTO) framework, which produced the new electricity tariff, seeks to entrench costreflectivity in the production and distribution of electricity distribution in the country. As such, it can be regarded as the guiding charter for the power industry if properly managed.

The MYTO is said to take into cognizance changes in cer tain fundamentals, such as generation capacity, foreign exchange, gas prices and volumes as well as inflation rates.

The Minister for power, works and housing Babatunde Raji Fashola recently stated that tariffs are about prices, and if price of the raw materials for power generation, such as gas, power plants, spare parts and even labor has gone up, we should not then expect the price of the finished product to remain the same.

This, however does not seem to answer the question of quenching the fueling resistance of Nigerians to the new tariff regime, as the public's argument centers of inadequate metering.

Although, it has been said that barely www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 15

STATE OF THE NATION

COVER OIL ANDFEATURE GAS REPORT

24 hours after the commencement of the new tariff regime, customers experienced relief when the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) disclosed that for the first time, the country generated about 5,074 nd megawatts of electricity on the 2 of February, 2016, as opposed to the previous peak generation of 4883.9MW achieved on November 23, 2015, and the highest maximum daily energ y wheeled nationwide of 109,372MWH same day, as opposed to the previous highest maximum daily energ y wheeled nationwide of 107,143.32MWH recorded on January 26, 2016.

Tpl. Moses Olubunmi Ajayi Engr. Seun Faluyi According to the Managing Director, NEW ELECTRICITY TARIFFS FOR RESIDENTIAL CONSUMERS System/Marketing Operation of TCN, 2015 (R2) 2016 (R2) 2017 (R2) Mr. Dipak Sarma, this DISCOS 14.70 24.30 24.30 i s a g l i n t o f a n Abuja assurance of an end to Benin – Single phase 14.82 24.08 31.27 stranded power supply.

- Three phase 14.82 24.45 34.40 Facts and figures 16.44 27.13 30.93 s e e m t o b e Enugu overshadowing the - Three phase 34.28 public resistance to this 16.11 23.09 24.97 new tariff system, but Ibadan 16.75 26.93 29.81 can we say that the Jos c o n s u m e r s w e r e Kaduna – Single phase 17.00 26.37 27.40 adequately prepared - Three phase 28.05 32.33 for this great jump in 16.01 20.26 22.50 tariff rate, especially Kano – Single phase when faith in the sector - Three phase 26.41 29.61 has dwindled over the Ikeja - Single phase 13.21 21.30 21.10 years?

- Three phase 21.80 21.73 Wo u l d t h e government listen to Port Harcourt 15.09 24.91 30.23 the outcry of the Eko - Single phase 15.63 24.00 22.34 consumers and - Three phase 25.79 28.39 channel the revenue to be gotten into creating Yola - Single phase 15.63 24.00 22.34 a n e n a b l i n g - Three phase 25.79 28.39 environment for investment truly, or at first, double their efforts to attain all deliverables for the increase?

Facts and figures seem to be overshadowing the public Nonetheless, the new tariff regime resistance to this new tariff system, but can we say that the has taken off, and despite the protests consumers were adequately prepared for this great jump in and litigations, the stakeholders and participants in the electricity value chain tariff rate, especially when faith in the sector has dwindled over should build on the recent the years? improvement in power supply to justify the increment.

16 | www.cedmagazine.com February 2016

A SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE NEW ELECTRICITY TARIFF IN NIGERIA

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he Nigerian Electricity Regulator y Commission (NERC) has finally succumbed to pressure from investors in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) to increase the tariff regime in the absence of steady power supply and at a time of economic downturn. Consumers, org anised labour and affected stakeholders have expressed dissatisfaction. As painful as this may appear, it is suffice to examine the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats inherent in the increased tariff structure planned for the 1st of February 2016.

The Strengths Gover nment's Responsiveness and Support In every regulated electricity business, the price of electricity as a commodity needs to be cost-reflective. This among other requirements means that price must cover the cost of efficient delivery of electricity through the value chain.

Before now, the price or electricity tariff in Nigeria is one of the lowest in the world and one of the lowest in West

Africa.

Electricity as a commodity is produced worldwide following roughly the same process so cost should within reasonable limits be reflective and comparable. The usual dilemma in a regulated business is the requirement for government, by means of the regulator, to seek to be fair to all stakeholders especially consumers, while maintaining a fair profit margin for investors. This is generally a conflicting role. However, the government showed leadership in trying to accede to the plight of the investors by setting new guidelines that will enable increased availability of supply albeit with increase in tariffs to large consumers.

Most Nigerians are exempted from the increased tariffs The increased tariff regime exempts consumers in the R1 and R2 categories who make up the larg est number of residential consumers (albeit for six months only) whose consumption of electricity is strictly for non-commercial, but regular day-to-day home use. Most homes, and therefore the bulk of workers and

citizens, are therefore unaffected for now. However, it must be stated that consumers who engage in commercial activities either in their residence or in a separate facility along with industrial consumers who consume a significant amount of electricity (high end users) have been directly targeted by the increased tariffs.

Estimated bill & Fixed charges to be history Abolition of fixed rate that is charged consumers whether electricity is consumed or not is a welcomed development. This of course varies from place-to-place but it is about 750 Naira on the average. Also, Discos have been mandated to meter all customers so that consumers will only pay for electricity they have used. Consumers can technically insist on settling payments only if they have meters.

Estimated billing should become history!!!

This of course will force all distributors to aggressively pursue the metering issue (if NERC performs its duty). It is a blessing in disguise as estimated bills through the hitherto dubious estimate regime forced most consumers into the illegal theft of electricity in conveyance. This has fostered large scale corruption in the power sector from consumers to staff of electricity companies who collude to short change their employers. This move is expected to block the massive leakage in electricity described as commercial and collection losses.

A more customer-friendly dispute resolution strategy.

In the meanwhile, there will continue to be disputes over electricity bills. The good news is that the dispute resolution process has been revised to be more customer-friendly and consumers need to be aware of this. Unlike before where the consumer is expected to continue to pay both disputed and future bills whilst the dispute resolution process is ongoing, the new dispute resolution mechanism allows the consumer to continue to use electricity until the resolution of contested electricity bill.

So they cannot be disconnected unfairly. This will force the distributors www.cedmagazine.com February 2016 | 37

ENGINEERING A & A

OIL AND GAS REPORT

had been released by the regulatory agency, beginning with the one posted on January 1 this year, which confirmed the stoppage of petrol subsidy and showed an over recovery of N1.4 per litre of PMS. Other templates were posted on January 11 and January 20, as well as on February 6 and February 11, while their over recoveries were N4.7, N7.49, N10.5, and N16.06 per litre, respectively.

Therefore, on the average, the over recovery for PMS since January 1 this year is N9.23 per litre.

According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, about 40 million litres of petrol are being consumed daily in the country.

When multiplied by the average over recovery on the product and the number of days (January 1 to February 12), the result shows that the government must have made extra cash of N15.88bn from the sale of petrol alone since the halt of subsidy on the commodity.

In the case of kerosene, findings by our correspondent showed that an average over recovery of N10.25 was made by the Federal Government on every litre of HHK sold since January 23, when subsidy was officially removed on the product.

So far, about four updated templates have been posted by the PPPRA for kerosene. They were posted on January 23, January 30, February 11 and February 12, 2016, while their over recoveries per litre were N10.72, N6.3, N12.51 and 36 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

N11.47, respectively.

According to the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the NNPC, Nigeria consumes about 11 million litres of kerosene daily.

By multiplying the average over recovery on HHK with the volume consumed daily, it shows that about N2.4bn has been saved by the government since subsidy on kerosene was officially removed on January 23 this year.

The NNPC is the major importer of kerosene in the country, as most marketers have yet to venture into the business due to the fact that the HHK market was only deregulated recently by the government.

The summation of the amounts saved on both PMS and HHK shows that the Federal Government must have recovered over N18.3bn on the products since they were officially deregulated.

On how an over recovery is arrived at, taking a look at the recent template posted on February 12, the PPPRA stated that the Expected Open Market Price for PMS was N71.27 per litre, whereas the retail price was N86.50 per litre in non-NNPC filling stations.

The summation of the amounts saved on both PMS and HHK shows that the Federal Government must have recovered over N18.3bn on the products since they were officially deregulated.

Petrol price is N86 per litre at fillings stations run by the NNPC. While the EOMP is the actual cost of the commodity, the difference between it and the retail price as sold at filling stations is the over or under recovery. But since the halt in subsidy payment, the government has been making over recoveries on both PMS and HHK. The EOMP is the summation of the landing cost of the commodity and the subtotal margins like bridging fund, transporters' cost, dealers' charge, admin charge etc.

The February 12 PMS template puts the commodity's price plus freight cost per litre at N52.11; lightering expenses, N2.02; Nigerian Ports Authority fee, N0.36; jetty throughput charge, N0.6; and storage charge, N2.

Others under the distribution margins are retailers' cost, N5; transporters' charge, N3.05; dealers' fee, N1.95; bridging fund, N4; marine transport average, N0.15; and admin ch arge, N0.15.

When summed up, an EOMP of about N71.27 was obtained, in contrast to a retail price of N86.5, leaving an over recovery of N15.23.

Officials at the PPPRA as well as those at the NNPC explained to our correspondent that the over recoveries from both PMS and HHK would be saved by the government and used to fund future subsidies if the need arose.

When asked to speak on the extra amount being paid by consumers for the commodities, the Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, NNPC, Mr. Bello Rabiu, told our correspondent that the negative subsidy would be remitted to the Petroleum Support Fund in line with the PPPRA guidelines.

"The savings under such a regime could be domiciled in the PSF as a buffer to fund future subsidies (if any) that may arise during high oil price regime or invested by the industry in supply and distribution efficiency improvement projects such as the decongestion of the Apapa area, Single Point Monitoring in Port Harcourt and Warri, complimentary rail services, inland waterways, etc," he said.

Culled from Punch

www.natafamdavidconsulting.com www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 17

HIGHWAYINTERVIEW OIL AND GAS REPORT

Engr. (Dr.) Isa Usman Emoabino, FNSE, FNICE, FNIHE, National Chairman of Nigerian Institution of Highway Engineers (NIHE), in this exclusive interview with the CED Magazine team, speaks on the challenges of road construction in Nigeria and the role of the institute in mending the situation.

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ED Magazine: As the National Chair man of the Nigerian Institution of Highway Engineers (NIHE), briefly tell us the background history of the institute and the role it's playing to ensure that highway construction in Nigeria is at its best?

Emoabino: Nigerian Institution of Highway Engineers (NIHE) is just two years old, and is a division of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE). It came on board in realization of the collapse of our road sector, and a pressing need to fix it. It was formed by engineering professionals working in that field and we are fully ready to help the government get back in track as regards the road sector. We have identified over the years, the issue of having to separate the policy aspect from the execution, and we believe the government will understand this soon. Again, the NIHE has a linkage with the International Road Federation which is a worldwide family of road engineers and a d m i n i s t r a t o r s. T h r o u g h t h i s organization, our members have gotten experience over the years and we are ready to develop capacity in that sector, and we are also ready to do a lot for government to get the sector in its proper place.

CED Magazine: In ter ms of

management structure, expansion and standard operational efficiency, what is available at the NIHE? Emoabino: Nigerian Institution of Highway Engineers has a secretariat at the Engineering Centre in Abuja. I am the Chairman of the Institute and we have a Vice Chairman and other relevant officers in hierarchical order.

We organize a lot of workshops, and have international affiliation with the International Road Federation and a collaboration agreement with the Malaysian Road Authority. We have gotten ourselves involved with international best practices, and continually seek for ways to better our members and the institute at large.

CED Ma gazine: Some major Nigerian roads easily break down, despite the huge budget allocated to their construction, could this be as a result of design, mode of construction or professionalism involved?

Emoabino: Roads don't break down because of designs. Most of the roads in Nigeria have been built more than 30 years ago, and most of them have outlived their usefulness. All we are only trying to do is to maintain these roads.

In any case, the major reason for breakdown of roads is the lack of maintenance or poor maintenance. In addition to maintenance, challenges may also be caused by having insufficient funding in terms of road infrastructure.

CED Magazine: What are the parameters for designing a road network?

Emoabino: One major parameter for designing a road has to do with the traffic load in the location, determining whether there is a need to build a

particular kind of design in the location.

The geo-technical investigation has to be carried out and also the environment impact assessment, to determine what effects your activities might leave behind. In terms of design, there are so many softwares that are readily accessible and available. A major challenge that we have is that most Nigerian roads are not really designed before they are awarded. During the past administration, the FG council came up with a regulation that unless a road network has a ready-made design, contract will not be awarded. That was because the road contracts were just being awarded for haphazard reasons.

In engineering circle, that is very wrong.

You should have a complete design, analysis and road traffic studies before any contract can be awarded for road construction.

CED Magazine: Looking at the government's participation and involvement after these awards of road contracts, how would you rate government supervision?

Emoabino: Well, the government supervises certain road projects after the contract has been awarded. A consulting company is usually employed on the government's behalf to do the supervision, or they use an inhouse engineer from the relevant ministry. Some road contracts have been handled in this manner, and that encourages the professionals. However, a lot of these road contracts are being implemented without consultants on site. This should cease to happen, as there is always a dire need for resourceful hands to do proper monitoring so that the best can be achieved.

CED Magazine:

How readily

HIGHWAYS ON 18 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

POWERING THE MALL Largest mall in East Africa to get own electricity

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he Largest mall in East Africa that is under construction in Kenya-Two Rivers mall will get its own electricity thanks to investment firm Centum that has pledged to construct solar and diesel power plants that will generate 12MW of electricity to provide power to the mall.

Centum secured a license from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to generate and supply electricity at the mixed-use commercial development that encompasses a mega shopping mall, hotel, office blocks and

apartments.

Centum Chief Executive Mr. James Mworia said that the development is anticipated to produce two megawatts of solar energy and generate 10MW of diesel power in addition to tapping electricity supply from the national grid.

"We currently have three sources of power and the blended cost should meet at Kenya Power's rates for consumers," said Mr Mworia.

Centum was among nine other companies that received licenses from the energy regulator last year. Indian

GHANA AIRPORT GETS A BOOST AfDB boosts construction of new terminal at Kotoka International Airport in Ghana fDB boosts construction of approved a $120 million corporate loan newThe construction of new to finance Ghana Airports Company terminal at Kotoka International Limited's (GACL) capital investment Airport in Ghana has received a major programme.

The loan is expected to help in the boost after the African Development construction of a new terminal at Bank (AfDB) announced that it had Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Ghana capital Accra, and the rehabilitation of other airports managed by GACL including the Kumasi, Tamale, Ho and Wa Airports.

AfDB said in a statement that the total loan for the project is $ 400 million which will be financed with corporate loans from AfDB and other development financial

A

cement manufacturer Cemtech also got a license from ERC to build a 30MW coal power plant in West Pokot.

The other power generation plans that are in the pipeline include Orpower22's 35 MW geothermal plant in Menengai basin, Sosian Energy (35 MW) and Quantum Power East Africa (35 MW) all in the same area. Construction of these projects will commence this year.

The development will be constructed in phases; the first phase of the project includes construction of a mega shopping mall whose space has been booked by first entry global firms making their emergence into Kenya.

The anchor tenant of the mall will be a French retailer, Carrefour, together with other companies like LC Wakiki which is a Turkish luxury clothing line and Virgin Active, a platinum health club founded by the English billionaire Richard Branson.

Two Rivers mall is a real estate project that is designed to host the largest shopping mall in the region. It is yet to be the largest mall in East and Central Africa, covering an area of 1.2 million square feet (excluding parking space for 3,000 vehicles) and will have 220 shops.

The development is expected to generate US$25m in annual rental income. institutions as well as commercial banks.

The construction of new terminal at Kotoka International Airport in Ghana is expected to create an estimated 1600 jobs comprising of temporary and permanent ones.

The Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda seeks to rehabilitate and expand infrastructural facilities especially in the transport sector.

At the sector level, the programme falls in line with the priorities identified in the National Airport System Plan 2014.

Founded in 1964, the African Development Bank has continued to play a major financial role in Africa. It has supported completed and ongoing infrastructure development across the continent.. www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 35

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UP FOR COMPLETION US$ 300m Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda set to be opened in June

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he multi-million Kigali Convention centre in Rwanda's capital is set to be officially opened in June this year; this is according to Ultimate Concepts Limited (UCL) who owns the project.

Kigali Convention Centre which is anticipated to be a hub of a lot of services in East African Community will further host the 27th African Union Summit and this will be its maiden major event, several other events have also been scheduled to take place at the convention centre.

The Executive Chairperson of UCL, Eng. Didier Sagashya confirmed the reports and said that the construction project which is valued at US 300m will be fully operational as from June this year.

He further said that the building will entail a five start hotel consisting of 292 rooms, several meeting rooms, an office park and a conference hall that can host up to 2,500 people.

"We are working very hard, 24 hours a day to complete the project, we will be doing final touches but construction works currently stands at 70 per cent complete. The centre will be operation by June 2016," Sagashya said.

The Convention Centre is owned by UCL, a joint venture between the Government of Rwanda through the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) and Prime Holdings Ltd as well as private investors, including Crystal Ventures Ltd and Rwanda Investment Group (RIG).

This mega development will help boost the tourism industry in the country.

Designers and Manufacturers of the Ultimax brand of professional stands, rigging and accessories.

Ultimate Concepts Limited is a custom manufacturer in steel and timber for bespoke products for clients.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK Construction of an international airport in Nigeria 25% complete

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he construction work on the MKO Abiola International Airport in Nigeri at, Ido Osun in Osun State, Nigeria is at 25% complete. Wemimo Adebajo, the Consultant Engineer to the state ?government on the project 34 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

announced during his inspection tour at the project site. He added that when the project is fully completed, it will be ranked among airports with the longest runways in Nigeria.

The present site of the MKO Abiola International Airport is the first place where aviation activities took place in West Africa. The West African Frontier Force was lifted from the Ido-Osun aerodrome, which is the present site of the MKO international Airport project during the World War II, since then the conscious effort by the state to make it the best in Nigeria if not in Africa.

The government has so far spent about US$13.56m part of the US$55.24m revised total cost of the project.

The 3.5km airport runway will be laid with 500mm asphalt while 12.3m will be excavated and re-filled with laterite.

However, both sides of the runway will be equipped with water pipes which will be the first of its kind in Nigeria. The runway will also be equipped with facilities that will make emergency firefighting readily available near the runway in case of any emergency landing or fire outbreaks.

According to the present Federal Government policy, the federal government is required to provide 50% of the total cost of constructing the airport. Meanwhile, the project contractors are working on site maintenance to ensure that when work resumes there won't be any case of deterioration of the huge work that had already been done here.

Presently, the Control Tower of four floors is at third floor nearing completion while the terminal building built to the foundation, the airport fire station has reached the roofing stage.

The runaway, itself will cover a total of about 60% of the total cost of any airport project. Currently, lots of work has already been done on the runway including the 8 streams in the path of the runway. However, excavation has become vital for the construction of covets box for the stream water to flow unhindered under the runway.

available are construction materials, and how effective are they in strengthening the span of a road?

Emoabino: From the Sahara in the north to the Coastline, Nigeria is a blessed country, and I would say there are so many useful construction materials for highway construction in all parts of Nigeria. The reason behind my opinion that a qualified consultant needs to be on site for proper supervision of the road construction is to know the quality of the construction materials that can be approved. It is necessary to use highly qualified professionals for the monitoring and supervision because it ultimately affects the quality of the road constructed.

CED Magazine: Do you think that road users are contributing to the failure of our roads, and in what way?

Emoabino: The road without being used will of course last longer. There are still some roads that were constructed before independence, during the colonial days. Some of those roads were built on a light traffic density which made it last longer. Therefore, a high density of traffic on a road will definitely affect the serviceability of that road. So, the users definitely have an effect on the life span of the road, especially when they go against the design limit of the road. Some users place high axial loads on the road; all kinds of goods loaded unto heavy trucks ply these same roads. For instance, when they were to install transformers for energy delivery in the Northern part of the country, we had to place a road to carry all the equipments in trucks well above the normal tonnage of the road. When you have excess axial luggage on a road, that road is bound to fail.

CED Magazine: How does a highway

need to perform periodic, regular and specific maintenance on them per time.

There is always a sign that a road has started failing; therefore if you have a well articulated maintenance scheme, that has the required funding, our roads will not be getting to be in a bad state, as to needing rehabilitation or reconstruction.

Engr. (Dr.) Isa Usman Emoabino

engineer strengthen a road that has failed already?

Emoabino: This has to do with maintenance, and there are so many stages to look at when it comes to maintenance. Some of our roads are not even due for maintenance because they have out rightly collapsed, they need rehabilitation or reconstruction.

Reconstruction refers to building it up as new, while rehabilitation means finding a way to make the road accessible. A road that is handed over after construction today is also due for maintenance today. There are things to be constantly put in place to ensure that a road is as serviceable as it needs to be.

Roads don't just fail overnight; you

The economy of Nigeria can only be driven when there are good road networks accessible to the agricultural producers and manufacturers of goods and services.

CED Magazine: How would you appraise the highway sector as of now?

Emoabino: Well, I think the present administration of President Mohammadu Buhari, GCFR, seems focused on general engineering infrastructure, and I believe that he is also focused on the highway construction, because if you look at the draft of the national budget being presented, he has over N400bn being allocated to power, roads and housing, it is highly commendable. However, we don't have the exact facts and figures as to what percentage will go to each of these sectors. Professionally speaking, I think more than 70% should go to the highways because we need to quickly recover our failing highways as that would drive our economy. The economy of Nigeria can only be driven when there are good road networks accessible to the agricultural producers and manufacturers of goods and services. So we believe that the government is on the track giving up to N450bn to these 3 sectors, taking into cognisance that the past administration only allocated N13bn for highway and that was definitely too little, as the sector was already owing contractors a very huge amount. This is how bad it has been and we believe that this present government is ready to address the issue and will begin to plan how to place funds into this sector.

CED Magazine: What are the effects

THE HEELS

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HIGHWAYINTERVIEW OIL AND GAS REPORT

contracts without genuine intentions, the government award contracts to firms with th e a g reemen t o f p ayin g installmentally, and after the first phase of payment, they back out totally, thereby abandoning the project at hand and that is why we have lots of uncompleted projects across the country.

of government policies on excellent project delivery of road construction projects on highway engineering companies?

Emoabino: Well, the professionals in the highway sector have been fighting this battle for a long time. As it is today, the design, supervision, construction, maintenance falls within the purview of the federal ministry of works which has now become the federal ministry of power, works and housing. We believe that is not correct. Issues of policy should be separate from execution. The ministry should be a form of regulator and policy guide to the executor, and we have tried incessantly to make the government understand that we need to have federal roads authority that will be at off from the normally bureaucracy of the ministry, and can quickly and directly address issues as they come up within the sector. We also need to have national roads funds which will make funds available for quick intervention in terms of maintenance. These are some of the things we believe that the government needs to put in place to get the road sector activated for the use of all of us.

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We also need to have national roads funds which will make funds available for quick intervention in terms of maintenance. These are some of the things we believe that the government needs to put in place to get the road sector activated for the use of all of us.

CED Magazine: Would you say roads and infrastructure are our life savers for a thriving economy?

Emoabino: Yes, it is roads and infrastructure that will create the kind of economy we want. It is not the economy that creates infrastructure. It is infrastructures that creates and boost a good economy.

For instance, if you have a farmer that has made a very good harvest, and needs to transport them to the market.

If he doesn't have access to a good road, his produce will perish, and how does that affect our economy? It kills

the economy little by little. For you to h a v e a b o o m i n g e c o n o m y, infrastructure has to be put in place.

CED Magazine: Finally, give us a brief account of your professional career and history of Eco-Systems Consult Limited?

Emoabino: I hold a bachelors' degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and progressed to have my masters' degree in the same course from Ahmadu Bello University and a Doctorate degree from a reputable University in the United Kingdom. Before I started EcoSystems Consult, I had initially worked with an Italian company; but after a while I decided to go further my studies, and attain a second degree. In furtherance to that, I started EcoSystems Consult Limited based on the need for engineers to begin to carve a niche for themselves in the construction industry. We have highly knowledgeable and educated engineers and our goal is to endeavor to become the best in engineering consultancy in Nigeria.

As a civil engineer, what can you say are the major causes of building collapse in Nigeria? And how can the errors be corrected?

There are several problems resulting to building collapse and it's so amazing.

Firstly, we look at it from the angle of competence and who is implementing the construction process. However, most individual parade themselves as engineers without any formal training, they don't have the pre-requisite knowledge about building, which eventually leads to building collapse. Secondly, there is a very slim chance of a bungalow building to collapse, except if that structure is erected in a swampy area. Furthermore a qualified engineer knows the kind of soil that is suitable for a particular structure.

Another aspect, is the concrete used in the construction work, there are different concrete for different types of building.

Most projects are expensive while others are cheaper, because of the magnitude of the building.

The construction materials are also responsible for building collapse. Most construction experts do not adequately test their materials before they embark on the building proper, likewise the owners of the prospective building. I think that using expensive materials in building is not a waste of resources. Therefore using incompetent hands to implement building construction will always result to building collapse.

Construction materials also play a vital role in building collapse; it is an obligation of the government to make sure engineers in Nigeria have uniform code of practice in their profession in respect to the quality of material to be used in building.

In view of the above, the Lagos State building control agency saddled with the duty of monitoring building sites are not consistent in carrying out their jobs and the town planning authority's job is

mainly to approve build plans and drawings, the agency in charge of monitoring of building construction because of sharp practices do not carry out their job well. My take is that government at various levels should ensure things are done according to the ethics of the profession and with the fear of God. What do you intend to do about quackery in the construction industry as the chairman of NICE? We are proud to say that in all the building collapse in Nigeria, that none can be attributed to any qualified and fully registered civil engineer in the country.

The Engineers Regulatory and Monitoring (ERM), are visit building sites to monitor project, the idea is to make sure that things are done by the right people. Unless people are arrested and put behind bars, they would not stop the criminal act of fake and quack attitude in the construction industry. The directive from COREN is that whenever the monitoring teams are embarking on the monitoring process, there should be the presence of a police officer to help enforce compliance. By this the quack can be arrested, because without the security agents stopping the quackery will be difficult. T he various level of government has to be actively involved to help curb the issue of quackery in the industry. I will sensitize the public not to use quack personnel in their projects,

because of the loss of lives and properties through building collapse.

What are your future plans for the Institute having attained the highest level of leadership in this profession?

I will continue to participate in the activities of the Institution in advisory capacity, even when my tenure expires.

Finally, what can say could be the better Strategies for Implementation of National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan in Nigeria?

Whether its master plan, king's plan or God's own plan, we know very well that things happen when there is adequate planning. Planning is the beginning of any positive action that will be taken by mankind as a whole. But the planning coming into fusion has always been our challenge in this part of the world. As a matter of facts, in Nigeria we have over one thousand and one plans, but implementation of the plans is the problem. Over the years in spite of all these plans, we are neither here nor there.

Then you ask yourself what is responsible? It is lack of sincerity of purpose to implement those plans. And the sincerity of purpose in question has a lots of things attached to it.

Firstly, reluctance of government to implements the contents of the plans.

There is a saying that "government is a continuum" why do things happen positively in the United State and here is different thing all together. We have to enact laws to back the plans. And that is where the issue of sincerity of purpose comes in.

So lack of continuity in our government is also part of the problems.

For instance hardly will you see abandoned projects in United State, reasons is because of continuity of government irrespective of the political party in power.

It's the government that has the answer to the issue of the implementation, it lie solely in the shoulder of the government.

We as professionals will only make an appeal to the government to do the right thing for the benefit of all the citizens. My take on this is that for the master plans to work the government has to make a drastic resolve to implement its content.

Engr. Robbie James Owivry, www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 33

DEVELOPING STORY PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEW OIL AND GAS REPORT Arc. Musa Sada, Minister of Mines & Steel

God now that we have been able to form a number of student chapters, and we also invite them to our conferences to come interact with senior engineers so that they can be prepared for what is outside the school walls when they graduate.

What are your missions for Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers?

At the inception of my tenure, we needed to have a secretariat, and a workshop; but all I inherited was a landed property which I believe will be developed. Right now, we are operating from a rented apartment, but then going by the antecedence of other professional bodies in the country, it wouldn't be out of place to have a befitting secretariat.

I look at our senior colleagues in the profession, and these people have put in quite a lot into the development of the profession and practice; but most unfortunately, if you are not close to them you will not know who they are. When they pass on, their knowledge, achievements and efforts goes down the drain, so I intend to institutionalize a "who-is-who" in civil engineering in Nigeria" project. This will capture our veterans in the profession, and their activities. It will be renewed periodically as everyone cannot be captured at once.

My predecessor initiated a reach out to other civil engineering bodies across the world; we are affiliated with the American Society of Civil Engineers, World Council of Civil Engineers, and for the past couple of years, we have been attending their conference. The aim is to tap from the resources and experience of world acclaimed civil engineers. We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Society of Civil Engineers which gives us access to their publications, among other relevant materials, which will be in collective interests of both societies.

Professionally, could you state in specific ter ms some of your achievement?

I started my professional career about twenty-five years ago with an indigenous construction company and while at the company, I supervised the construction of Frankids Family Leisure Park in Festac 32 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

I look at our senior colleagues in the profession, and these people have put in quite a lot into the development of the profession and practice; but most unfortunately, if you are not close to them you will not know who they are. When they pass on, their knowledge, achievements and efforts goes down the drain, so I intend to institutionalize a "who-is-who" in civil engineering in Nigeria" project. This will capture our veterans in the profession, and their activities.

Town; I was also the project engineer of the company Adisco Nigeria Limited, aside that there are so many other project that I have done, in the most recent past I have worked with Home Agende Nig. Limited, the contractors that built the Lagos State House of Assembly Chambers, and I was the principle engineer in charge of the supervision of the project.

I am the managing director of Famous Construction Company; we have done quite a whole lot of jobs, notable amongst the numerous jobs are: The Eko Hotel Fire Station at Eko Hotels & Suites in Victoria Island, Frankids Family Leisure Park in Festac Town, The British Airways Building on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive in Ikoyi, Construction of a Six - Storey Block of 17 Luxurious Flats (Florence Court) in Lekki, Construction of the New Lagos State House of Assembly Chamber and the 7 - Storey, L - Shape Block of Offices for the Honourable Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly in Alausa, Lagos. Presently am embarking on a twenty-four housing unit at Jakande in Lekki axis. Those are some of the jobs delivered successfully over the years in practice.

I want you to speak on engineering and economic prosperity of Nations, especially in the constr uction industry. What is your take on this?

Engineering and economic prosperity of nations are like siblings, if there is harmonious relationship between the various professionals in the country, certainly there will be prosperity in the

nation. However, economic prosperity attracts infrastructural development, and it transcends to a viable economy. Many investors want to set up factories, but this is not possible because of the epileptic power supply and bad road network, they are constrained to using generator sets, which reduces productivity. Because the primary aim of setting up a business is to make profit. Therefore without adequate and constant power supply the economy cannot grow, because many industries cannot function properly without power supply. Infrastructural development is also a spring board for economic growth in any nation.

Procurement has been a challenge to engineers and the built environment, what are your views and strategies to overcome these challenges?

In business the first thing that readily come to mind is financial capacity, there is a common adage that says "money answereth all things" this is not an exception in business.

Over the years, government award contracts to indigenous construction firms, but the bad eggs among us lavish the money without carrying out the job and this becomes a major challenge to the government who are dishing out the money. As a result of these challenges, the government had to set up a procurement bureau that regulates the contracts awarded to firms. The bureau serves as checks and balances, to know if the firm that is awarded a contract can deliver adequately. The essence of this bureau is for the purpose of accountability and to also curb corruption and sharp practices.

S i r, s p e a k o n i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l development in Nigeria, and your advice to the present government?

There are so many abandoned projects in Nigeria, what is your take on this?

The major challenge facing the infrastructure development sector can be viewed from two ways - firstly, there are people in infrastructural business that ordinarily should not be in that business.

Most times unprofessional firms or individuals are awarded contracts to handle which is absolutely wrong.

Secondly, most times government award

Engr. Mustapha K. Lusty, Managing Director, Kontz Engineering Services, describes electronic security as the way to go in creating smart cities in Nigeria.

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rbanization is a word that has lingered on the lips of so many Nigerians, and invariably has had significant effects on the development of our nation till present. However, urbanization goes beyond building beautiful houses and better roads as the need for building smartly with automated security is becoming very pertinent.

A lot of security companies have taken a major step in advancing the provision of security services by adopting the automated security system; not leaving behind the significance of physical

security.

According to Engineer K. Lusty, his firm, Kontz Engineering Services approaches security from the side of engineering, and are able to deploy services to make the environment much safer. They specialize in equipment security, using them to enhance physical security to achieve better results. With products ranging from smart home solutions to smart office solutions to smart city solutions, there is absolutely no stressing about what goes on where and when. The apartment/facility owner gets alerts when there is any form of breach in security. “Automating everywhere in your facility takes the worry off you in terms of property security, there are switchless

BUILDING SMART CITIES SECURITY PERSPECTIVE Electronic security is the way to go in creating smart cities in Nigeria.

or keyless doors that only need recognition to allow entry; so it would be difficult for any random intruder to invade".

In terms of equipments, Kontz Engineering Services deals in different levels of access controls which include car operation controls, forensics, biometrics, car management solutions, scanning solutions, and a lot of advanced solutions that have been deployed for services in the Aviation, Banking and Oil & Gas industry. They have also engaged in some level of city surveillance deployment in some parts of Nigeria, and can therefore be referred to as an end-toend solution for security equipments.

As much as these advanced solutions are readily available for Nigeria, operators within the security market still express displeasure in the hostility of the Nigerian Environment to new technology. It is also a price competitive market, and not quality driven; therefore for security companies only selling quality products, it might be quite challenging. However, times are changing, as a lot of people are looking to get valued products for their money these days. Apart from the hostile www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

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market environment challenge, affordability and government policies are not as favorable as operators would like it to be.

Engineer Mustapha K. Lusty suggested a rebate be given on security equipments instead of putting tariffs, to encourage operators to stay in business.

"Security solutions are perceived to be for the elites and highbrows, and not expected to be affordable; this is totally wrong. Security should be made available for all; that is the smartest way to start building smart cities in Nigeria.

These advanced technological solutions will ease a lot of the government's headaches on solving crimes, securing lives and properties; and it is a joyful thing that it is gradually being accepted, but we are still not giving the feasibility of this smart cities building idea a thriving chance.

As much as we have conceived the idea, and we might have the necessary funding to kick start it, do we have the maintenance plans in place to make it continually work? A lot of companies involved in the electronic security business do not have the requisite Engr. Mustapha K. Lusty, M D, Kontz Engineering knowledge of maintenance of these equipments, and that we need to address projects, especially security related; first, before we embark on deploying because it is a sad thing that our equipments for building smartly. It is a professionals get invited outside this m u s t f o r e v e r y h o m e o r nation to handle projects and our own apartment/building/environment in a government does not believe in us smart nation to have automated security; enough to get us involved in its own therefore, the required knowledge of projects. We need to stop shifting base for security solutions must also be foreigners", Engr. K. Lusty expressed his concerns. disseminated.

It is quite sad that as a nation, we do not Until professionals are being seen for have city surveillance. These things can be whom they are, given the necessities they done.

According to him, the task can be require, and penalized for their failures, we might not be able to achieve the results of building smart homes and invariably smart cities in Nigeria. Let's start filtering the security industry. We also need to make sure that automated security is available and affordable, especially to the average Nigerian.

"The Nigerian government has to begin to look inward and start employing the services of its indigenous professionals for the execution of technological Street Video Surveilance Camera 22 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEW

assigned to local government council, a n d l e t e a ch c o u n c i l h a n d l e surveillance for its areas, and at the end, it will all be synchronized. We can then have regional, state and federal surveillance solutions, and that will ultimately help to curtail crime rates and protect lives and property. We should also have a credible automated national ID card so that the nation can be smart in all its operations via all ministries.

Security is not an option for developing nations; it's a necessity.

With the current security challenges facing us as a nation, we should be addressing pre-intervention security solutions. Does our national security operative have a way of screening people who are miles away from them?

Why are they not wearing body cameras? What kind of results are we expecting from the use of body cameras? For a fact, if our national security operatives would use body cameras, the essence should be to be proactive enough to protect lives and properties, and archive necessary information for later use.

Also on population planning, when we employ the use of an electronic identification; at the start, there will be challenges, but it will be improved upon as we keep using the system. The effect of this is that you would not need to keep doing census, as the data is already in place. Every second a child is born, it reflects on your central collating system.

Having a central collating system also helps the physical security system keep track of crimes committed and penalties inflicted.

Security has to be made affordable for every Nigerian. The king of Dubai who promised to make Dubai a world tourist centre in ten years, was able to achieve his aim in seven years because he put a major focus on security of the place. Security in Nigeria will attract investors from all over the globe, and our economy will experience the positive impacts.

We, as a nation have the capacity to provide the appropriate security solutions for a smarter Nigeria, the way to go about it is to keep conceiving the idea, and also start actualizing them NOW!!!

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ongratulations on your election as the current Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), how do you feel achieving this feat?

All thanks to God who made it possible for me. The journey didn't start overnight; I have passed through every rank and file of the Institution, undergoing tutelage at every point in time. I have also been the Editor-in-Chief of the Institution's news print, Executive Secretary of the Institution, National Vice-Chairman and then the National Deputy Chairman. All these positions have prepared me for the position of the National Chairman, and I see it as an opportunity to implement all the ideas I have had since I was a junior officer in the Institution.

What drives you to lead the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE)?

It started a long time ago. As a young engineer, after my graduation, there were things I expected to see in the profession, but most of them were not readily available. I needed some sort of directions because while in school, we were being mentored by the lecturers; but then I expected that when you are out of school, an avenue should exist to guide you, because Civil Engineering is a

multifaceted profession, for instance; there is construction and consultancy, highways and transportation, water and waste waters, structures, etc. with all these various arms, you need to be guided.

At a point, I conceived an idea of a need to institute a society that will take care of the needs of our young and upcoming engineers, by and large I was introduced to the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), but I didn't particularly get that fulfillment I longed for, until I found out the divisions under the NSE. I started with NSE Ikeja branch under

the Chairmanship of Engr. Kunle Adebajo, whose methods were very appreciable to a very reasonable extent. It was then I started interacting with people in my own field of engineering and got to find out about the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE).

You know, If you are not in charge, you can only make recommendations and when those recommendations are not on the priority list of those in charge, it gets flunked out. So it was a dream, until I took over the helm of affairs. But we thank

BUILDING THE PRACTICE Engr. Robbie James Owivry, FNSE, FNICE, the current National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE). hails from Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State and graduated with a Bachelor of Science, Bsc ( Hons ) degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Ibadan in 1990. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers, a Corporate and Council member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, a professionally registered engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and also has membership of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) , National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) in the United States of America as well as the World Council of Civil Engineers (WCCE ). Engr. Owivry is a versatile engineer with proven practical structural design, field construction / supervision and project appraisal cum management experience spanning 25 years of resourceful expertise.

In this exclusive interview with Engr. Owivry, he told the CED Magazine team that lack of sincerity of purpose has been the cause of failure in implementation of the various master plans in the country.

By Festus Oseji and Nelson Tuedor

Engineering and economic prosperity of nations are like siblings, if there is harmonious relationship between the various professionals in the country, certainly there will be prosperity in the nation.

Engr. Robbie James Owivry, www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 31

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business and practice of engineering.

As much as infrastructure in Nigeria is concerned, investment and financial institutions including the African Development Bank have been complaining about the lack of capacity for preparatory studies on the part of Nigerian/African Consultants for Development Projects. To counter that, the current President also promised to organize training courses on project preparation, and feasibility studies, in association with the African Development Bank and the Bank of Industry. This will ultimately aid the economic diversification that Nigeria, as a nation out rightly demands at this time. The NSE will work with likeminded individuals and firms to get the government to appreciate that industrialization drives both infrastructure and agriculture. There is a dire need for the government to understand that adequate and reliable infrastructure cannot be achieved and profitable without attaining a critical level of in-country manufacturing.

"We shall continue to urge the government to go the way of industrialization as the route to self reliance, holding unto the motto: "Anything you must consume, you must produce".

With two engineers in the executive council of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, the Nigerian Society of Engineers will rework its international affairs activities to mirror more accurately the statutory mandate areas of the WFEO. It will continue to support the secretariat of the Federation of African Organization of Engineers, the office of the Women in Engineering (WIE), Committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and participate actively in the affairs of the West African Federation of Engineering Organization (WAFEO)".

To promote development, reduce poverty, achieve solutions on climate change, mitigation and adoptions, and cope with natural disasters and other requirements of the sustainable development goals, Nigeria will keeps 30 | www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016

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SAVINGS ON OIL FG saves N18.3bn in six weeks on Subsidy Removal

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L-R: Mrs. Anyaeji, NSE President, Engr. Otis Anyaeji, immediate past president, Engr. Isaac Olorunfemi

needing valuable engineers. It is therefore the responsibility of the government and professional bodies around the globe to determine on a planning basis, the number and needs of engineering personnel in a country.

Engr. Otis Anyaeji stated that the NSE will establish a bureau for engineering manpower planning in 2016 which will cater for advising the Nigerian government accurately on the need and numbers of engineering personnel needed per time.

The maiden edition of the Nigerian Infrastructural report which was unveiled in November 2015, after being

worked on between October 2014 and October 2015, will be pursued to institutionalization in 2017. The 2015 report would produce an action plan for advocacy for appropriate funding for requisite improvements of various infrastructures, and promotion of laws necessary to be enacted.

The society under this new administration has spelt out a lot to offer Nigerians in ter ms of infrastructure in partnership with the government and relevant financial institutions; we therefore urge these bodies to partner with the NSE to realize these ideals faster and within

L-R: Mrs. Anyaeji, NSE President, Engr. Otis Anyaeji, immediate past president, Engr. Isaac Olorunfemi

DILEMMA OF GOVERNANCE Nigeria: Buhari’s southern dilemma heating up

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ith a cluster of hotly-contested election re-runs coming up and low oil prices squeezing budgets, the next six months will be pivotal for the Nigerian government.

There are few moments in which being the president of Nigeria is easy, but over the next six months, Muhammadu Buhari is likely to face some of his toughest tests yet. How his administration deals with these issues could define the government’s relationship with the country over the next four years.

The two major challenges coming to a head in the near future are clear to see. On the economic front, low oil prices are squeezing the government budget and undermining the country’s economic prospects. Meanwhile, on the political front, tensions in the Niger Delta and South East continue to simmer as the local economy continues to contract and could heat up further as election re-runs are held over the next few months.

What is less clear, however, is how far these two matters could interact with one another to produce an even more troubling mix.

Replaying the polls The most imminent hurdles facing Nigeria are the elections that need to be

re-held after a significant cluster of results from April 2015 were annulled.

These polls – most of which are in the south of the country – are required to be repeated in the coming months after the original elections were deemed to be fraught with irregularities and violence.

Given how much there is at stake, serious divisions could arise once again, and the presence of militant groups that have been dormant since 2009 could be a significant factor.

Re-run polls completed just this month in Bayelsa, a state in the Niger Delta, point to these risks. In these recent elections, ‘former’ militants openly took

President Mohammadu Buhari

he Federal Gover nment's savings as a result of the removal of subsidy on both petr ol and ker osene ar e growing daily, Between January 1 and February 12 this year, an interval of about six weeks, the Federal Government made over N18.3bn as savings from the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit and House Hold Kerosene.

The government officially stopped subsidy on PMS, popularly known as petrol, on January 1, 2016, while on January 23 this year, it also ended the subsidy regime on kerosene, according to the pricing templates for both commodities obtained from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.

The PPPRA is the agency of the Federal Government that fixes and regulates the prices of the white products, PMS and HHK, as well as other refined petroleum products across the country.

It unveiled its revised PMS template on January 1, 2016 while that of HHK was posted on January 23, a development that showed that the Federal Government now makes extra cash daily from every litre of petrol and kerosene sold across the country.

The PPPRA occasionally updates the templates for both commodities to reflect fluctuations in the global prices of crude oil.

An analysis of the various updated templates so far released by the agency after they were revised showed that the Federal Government had raked in over N18.3bn in six weeks.

For instance, in the recent template for PMS, which was posted on the PPPRA website on February 12, the government made a cash recovery of N15.23 on every litre of petrol sold in the country.

On petrol alone, about six templates Continued on page 36

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OIL AND GAS REPORT

sides and became enforcers for the two major parties in what became a violent contest – the number of fatalities is still being debated. The political tension was such that members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on one side and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the other both routinely lobbed accusations of bias at the security services and electoral commission.

The process of setting the remaining polls is still somewhat unpredictable. For instance, earlier this week the Supreme Court made a surprise verdict as it overruled successive lower court judgements and decided to uphold the original outcome of the Rivers state contest, restoring the PDP’s Nyesom Wike as governor. However, for many of the election re-runs, the need for a redo has been locked in with National Assembly and State Assembly elections to be conducted in February and March, and sensitive governorship polls likely to fall in June.

Many of these will be closely fought, but a few that will present particular challenges include: the two Senate races in Abia state, which is presently the site of many of the agitations calling for independence for Biafra; the possible rerun of the governorship election in the oil-rich southern state of Akwa Ibom; and the national assembly polls in which the PDP former Senate President David Mark faces an intense contest in Benue South.

Most of these elections are being framed as a test for the newly-inaugurated Electoral Commission (INEC), which has already been criticised over its conduct of elections in Kogi and Bayelsa.

But the polls will also be a serious test of credibility for federal and state governments as well as security services amidst a rising sense of insecurity.

Economic Ordeals If these challenges were not enough, they are also happening in the context of significant economic travails. Low oil prices are cutting away at government budgets; the Central Bank of Nigeria recently announced that non-oil revenues fell from $10.5 billion in 2014 to $4.4 billion in 2015; and personal interviews with oil executives suggest they are looking to cut their staff budgets in half, 24

www.cedmagazineng.com January 2016

w h e t h e r by m a k i n g l a r g e - s c a l e redundancies or slashing salaries.

These economic impacts are not unrelated to the discontentment in the Niger Delta and the growing calls for Biafran independence. While tagged as a ‘south east’ movement, recent protests around the issue of Biafra have highlighted a capacity to bring out crowds across the Niger Delta and even as far afield as Lagos.

The protests are particularly worrying because their central driving force at present is Radio Biafra (broadcast from the UK), which has a virulently antinorthern message. However, a common theme of the movement seems to be the pool of frustrated youth who have seen their economic opportunities, which were slender to begin with, evaporate more recently.

Indeed, the channelling of development and patronage funds to the Niger Delta have contracted at a pace every bit as breath-taking as the collapse in oil prices. Federal allocations to state governments in the region are down by more than 50% in some cases, while agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) are facing a budget cut of around 75%. This is part of a picture that is reflected nationally, but the scale of the drop in the delta states is also magnified by certain ‘multipliers’, such as the fact that the oil industry employers currently shedding jobs are also by far the biggest taxpayers.

Added to these worrying trends, the region has also experienced some other more exceptional economic hits. For example, the Federal Government now appears intent on cancelling the building of a new maritime university, a plan conceived by the previous administration.

It had been budgeted to cost some $340 million and was to be located in the home town of Government Tompolo, a prominent ‘ex-militant’ who is now facing charges of corruption. The day after charges were filed against Tompolo, two major oil pipelines were blown up and other facilities were attacked amidst claims and counter claims over precisely who was responsible.

A pivotal moment This brew of challenges facing Nigeria is extraordinarily complicated, but some of

these tests can also be seen as opportunities.

For example, if INEC and the security services are able to conduct fair elections in difficult states, the effects could be significant. Better governance remains at the core of improving prospects in the Niger Delta and this cannot be achieved without polls that see increased participation from rural communities and middle-classes. This latter group has typically had little confidence in the elections and tended to stay away from them. Although there is not long to go before elections, exceeding the public’s low expectations could set local democratisation on a more positive trajectory.

In a broader sense, the current situation is also a crucial moment for the Federal Government to communicate that it is not abandoning the mission of development in the Niger Delta.

Promising public commitments have been made on items such as oil spill cleanups in high-profile areas such as Ogoni.

But amidst cutbacks and clampdowns, it is important that these words are converted into action.

Some of the quickest interventions will likely need to come down established channels. This means the recent appointment of a new Managing Director at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will come under additional spotlight. In her first few weeks, the new MD has highlighted better g o v e r n a n c e , t r a n s p a r e n c y, a n d engagement with civil society as being crucial to turning around an institution notorious for patronage and corruption.

With few other ready levers, the NDDC’s conduct will be vital to how the Federal Government engages with the region and it is now time for the NNDC to put its money where its mouth is.

Last year, Nigeria navigated a difficult crossroads in the 2015 elections. In the first six months of this year, the country is at another such crossroads, this time centred on the Niger Delta and South East. The path Buhari takes will affect the whole country and could define the rest of his term.

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tis Anayeji, current President, Nigerian Society of Engineers described engineering as the driving force for change, and a synonym for development; a mantra the country recently overwhelming voted for, at his inauguration as the 30th President of the Society earlier in the year.

Reiterating the Duke of Edinburgh who said Engineers held the key to the future of humanity and its continuity on the planet, he proclaimed that Nigeria, especially can only recover any sort of viability through engineering.

Success in today's practice of engineering can only be achieved by the right influx of personnel with the appropriate body of academic and skills knowledge. It is the Society's duty to help these personnel guide and protect the application of knowledge and skills to solve the problem of humanity in ethical, safe, economic, healthy, and environmentally friendly manner.

The current President described engineering as key to over 95% of the activities of the public sector of the economy, as engineering infrastructure economics, engineering industrial

economics and engineering agricultural economics are critical for planning and managing an economy.

On industrial engineering and governance in Nigeria, Engr. Anyaeji describes the Nigerian Society of Engineers as one that should use its industrial and system engineering institute in its unique position to assist the various levels of government in Nigeria with analysis and design of governance policy structures, to achieve the right balance and adequate manning levels among professional, technocratic, and political classes at the highest policy levels.

According to him, the public perception of COREN being the only

avenue for engineering practice over the years is a distortion of the correct engineering practice situation, which ought to comprise in addition to consulting engineering, engineering contracting, manufacturing, engineering services, maintenance, fabrication and repair and vendoring of engineering machinery equipments and materials. He also stated that COREN has begun the job of licensing firms in these areas and engineers are encouraged to establish enterprises that are focused in these practice areas. He therefore promised that the Society will keep making regulations and refining them in the various areas of engineering, so as to sustain sanity in the

ANYAEJI'S MANDATE FOR DEVELOPMENT Success in today's practice of engineering can only be achieved by the right influx of personnel with the appropriate body of academic and skills knowledge.

Chris Newsom is an analyst based in Nigeria and a programmes advisor to Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN).

L-R: Mrs. Anyaeji, NSE President, Engr. Otis Anyaeji, immediate past president, Engr. Isaac Olorunfemi www.cedmagazineng.com February 2016 | 29