Boundless Magazine Volume 4

Volume 4

Business

Lagos Business School now amongst Top

Nigeria and Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

2%

A big deal?

Globally

Okauru Ifueko Omoigui

Educating the Unemployed

Nigeria: We have a problem

A Nation is only as Good

as its Schools

Key Trends in Education and Skills Development Improving Education Outcomes Through Student

Information System

Here is how LSETF is supporting

Small Businesses, Training &

Putting Unemployed Youths to Work in Lagos State

LOAN SCHEME

LAGOS INNOVATES

EMPLOYABILITY PROGRAMME

Visit any local government close to you or www.lsetf.ng for more information

Follow/engage us on

/lsetf

Contents Editorial

Strategy & Operations Nigeria: We have a problem

6

8

Technology & Innovation

Interview

42

Lagos Business School among Top 2% Globally

Executive Agenda

Improving Education Outcomes Through Student Information System

20

48

The Future of Work and Industrialization

Economy

People & Organisation Key Trends in Education and Skills Development

14

10 The Total Value of Education

26 A Nation is as Good as its Schools

Cover Story

Nigeria and Africa Continental Free Trade Area: A big deal?

54

Sports

World Cup: No African Progress since 1990

58

Health

32

Educating the Unemployed

If you know better, you will do better.

64

Events

68

Volume 4 Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief Marie-Therese Phido

Junior Editor Ruona Phido

Visual Designer Ifeoluwa Sopeju

Photo graphy Bobo Iso

Cover Photo Credit Bobo Iso

Editorial Board Chairman Osten Olorunsola

Vice Chairman Catherine Bickersteth

Members Gbayode Somuyiwa Jacklyn Awobayikun Usen Udoh Stella Ojekwe Marie-Therese Phido Address Office Apartments No. 8 Rasheed Alaba Williams, Off Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1 Lagos, Nigeria

Boundless is a thematic magazine inspired by our motto... Businesses are Boundless.

Our Bi-monthly editions have a variety of captivating themes laced with articles focused on trending business and general interest issues. www.boundless.ng

Marie-Therese Phido mariephido Marie Phido Marie-Therese Phido

Editorial

T

he theme for this edition of BOUNDLESS is Education.

Education is the bedrock of society, it is an integral element to the development of a nation.

It is a vital investment for human and economic growth and is influenced by the environment within which it exists.

Despite the inherent importance of education to nation building and development, the education sector of Nigeria is still of global concern. In a recent statement made by Bill Gates, Founder, Microsoft, he noted that although Nigeria is a great nation which has tremendous potential and resources, it will not be able to grow and develop as it should, if there is no immediate call to action and investment in the education sector of the country.

Despite the fact that the sector is challenged, there are organisations/bodies that are working tirelessly to reshape this narrative and add value to the Nigerian economy. Some of which are the Lagos Business School and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.

We engaged Dr. Enase Okonedo, Dean, Lagos Business School who gave insights into the Lagos Business School’s (LBS) journey, its achievements and milestones from conception till date. She explained how LBS has grown exponentially from a school which started in a living room in Victoria Island, to the topmost business school in Nigeria which has trained thousands of managers to a globally accredited and internationally recognised business school ranking amongst the top 2% of business schools in the world.

In our cover story, Mrs Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, Chairman, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund gives us an insight into the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), which was set up in 2016 based on a campaign promise by Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor, Lagos State to reduce the level of unemployment in Lagos.

She talks about the journey, initiatives and tremendous impact the Fund, has had in empowering the Nigerian youth and reducing the level of unemployment in Nigeria by equipping unemployed individuals with vocational and technical skills.

EDITORIAL

This edition also covers other interesting and informative articles written by seasoned experts. Titi Agbede, in her article, “Nigeria: We have a Problem” talks about the fact that the average Nigerian child is fast losing his/her roots and knowledge of the Nigerian culture and the need to educate them on the rich history of the nation.

Dotun Adegbite, in his article, “A Nation is only as Good as its Schools”, examines the decay in the public school sector and the urgent need to fix public education in Nigeria. Ebunoluwa Bolodeoku’s article, “Key trends in Education and Skills Development” examines the highlights from the 2018 Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) and notes the need to apply these trends in order to allow for the development of the Nigerian educational sector.

Genevieve Mbama, tells us about how technology plays a huge role in improving education systems in her article, “Improving Education Outcomes through Student Information System”.

I appreciate you taking time to read this edition and I am sure you will find it very enlightening, educative and entertaining.

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Nigeria:

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

We Have A Problem

By Titi Adewusi

W

atching children of middle class parents play 9ijakids, a Nigerian Citizenship Game, made it glaring that there is a major gap in our children’s education.

Photo Credit: Pexels

8

The same game played by children from less privileged backgrounds revealed a different result. For those that could read, they fared significantly better in the game. They knew how many states there are in Nigeria and the capital of Nigeria. These kids also displayed a strong level of resilience.

They didn’t give up easily when they encountered difficult questions and

were eager to keep trying to play the game till they got it right and got high scores. Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb said “the most certain way to succeed is to just try one more time.”

Many Nigerian children think the favourite sports of Nigerians is karate.

Many also do not know the current President of Nigeria nor the governor of Lagos State, which would be asking for too much.

As parents, we need to ask ourselves some difficult questions. Are we providing the right foundation for our children to be leaders of Nigeria of the future? Are we doing a bit too much for them thereby crippling important character traits such as

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world (Nigeria).

Nelson Mandela

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

Our kids are becoming coconuts - black on the outside but completely white on the inside. drive, determination, perseverance and the can do attitude? Are we imbibing the notion that anything about Nigeria is not worth learning about or bothering about?

Today, my kids go to a school with a mix of British and Nigerian curriculum. I question the Nigerian part though, because they barely touch the surface of creating a deep wealth of knowledge and pride in being Nigerian. Though living in Nigeria, our kids are becoming coconuts – black on the outside but completely white on the inside.

Our kids would more readily name more states in America than they can in Nigeria.

They know all major landmarks in London, America, Paris and South Africa but have never been to Olumo Rock or heard of Yankari Games Reserve. They know all the Presidents of America but maybe only 1 or 2 past Nigerian Presidents. They learn about King Henry VIII but never heard of Queen Amina of Zaria or King Jaja of Opobo.

My sister lives in Dubai and teaches at a British International School. It was interesting to note that Arabic is compulsory for everyone till Year 9 and not only that, they also learn a lot about UAE and Dubai. So I am always surprised when I meet children who live and school in Nigeria (both nationals and foreigners) who because they go to schools with what they call “purely” British/American curriculum, are taught completely nothing about Nigerian history, culture, and not one Nigerian language.

We cannot undo the mistakes of the past but we should start now to entrench our children in our culture and instill a sense of pride in being Nigerian. Our children are the future leaders of tomorrow. How can they lead a country they are ashamed of or have been taught to despise? As a parent, what do you say and do to make your children proud to be Nigerians? Do you tell only the bad narrative about our great country? Do you make it seem like nothing good can come out of Nigeria?

Do you throw away the baby with the bath water?

Let’s change our narrative.

Proudly 9ija!!!

Titi Adewusi is the Vice President of 9ijakids.com, an edutech company that develop fun and educational learning games for children on B&HAVE (Bible, Heritage, Academics, Values and Entrepreneurship). tsquare0601@yahoo.com

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STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

Photo Credit: GESF

10

Key Trends in Education and Skills Development

Highlights from The Global Education & Skills Forum (GESF) 2018

By Ebunoluwa Bolodeoku

T

he Global Education & Skills Forum (GESF), an annual event, is the world’s foremost gathering of leaders and practitioners from the public, private and social sectors, addressing the challenges of education, employment and equality.

In its sixth year, the 2018 forum focused on and revolved around the theme “How do we prepare young people for the world of 2030 & beyond?” and those in attendance discussed and sought solutions to achieving education, equity and employment for all. Through numerous talks, classes, debates, and meetings; delegates considered what we need to teach our children and how we need to prepare them for the future.

How do we prepare young people for the world of 2030 & beyond?

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

The following are the key highlights shared from GESF (2018): A new wave of technology is closer than we think The emerging role of technology in education headlined the forum - from virtual and augmented reality, to blockchain, artificial intelligence and robotics.

On the Plenary stage, Blippar founder Ambarish Mitra showed us cutting-edge technology that will change the way we see our world, while MIT’s Iyad Rahwan asked delegates to rethink the ethics of handing over human decision-making to artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, in the “Tomorrow” emerging EdTech conference, some of the world’s most exciting startups pitched their own ideas for the future of education, with the winners of the inaugural Next Billion Prize showing us technology’s power to give a voice to the voiceless.

The world is not investing enough in education World leaders at the forum urged the international community to prioritize partnerships with the Developing World and commit to more funding for education and skills. In the words of Global Partnership for Education Board of Directors Chair Julia Gillard: “If you ever want a dollar to have an impact, you need to look at that whole pool of the international flows and domestic financing”.

There is a risk that the emerging economies fall behind on education Experts and political leaders from emerging economies in South America, India, Africa and the Middle East and North Africa spoke of the state of education in their countries. Some warned that new technology and automation are rapidly reshaping the world of work, and that developing States must invest in the education and skills of their workforce to compete in the world of 2030.

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STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

Photo Credit: GESF

The skills we need are changing

Teachers can empower their students – and beat “Fake News”

Our world’s climate is changing – and education can help

3 2 1

12

A key trend from many speakers was the need to prioritise so-called “human skills” in curricula and classrooms. Speakers from educators to executives all emphasized the importance of critical thinking, problemsolving, collaboration, creativity and empathy.

As former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said, education must encourage “young people to become creative thinkers, not just pass the exams”. But robots won’t replace teachers. In a series of Masterclasses over the two days of the forum, the top-10 finalists for the Global Teacher Prize showed us that there’s no one path to becoming a good teacher – and that a great teacher cannot be automated.

The rise of populism and the backlash against globalisation was an important focus of our conference. In his plenary address, celebrated historian Simon Schama warned of the danger of the “glamorization of ignorance” and the promotion of “gut-feelings” over available scientific evidence. Many speakers argued that education’s response should be a focus on global values and on empowering students with vital critical-thinking skills to combat the rise of “fake news”.

Our conference heard of the existential threat posed by climate change – and why climate literacy is a vital skill for the world of 2030. That was a message powerfully delivered on the plenary stage by Nobel laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore in the GESF 2018 Address, who asked delegates: “Must we change, can we change – will we change?”

4

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

In this article, I have decided to share the highlights from the largest forum of educators in the world with the hope that this will be an impetus for readers who have any interest in the development of the Nigerian Educational sector to go back to the drawing board. It is clear given these key trends that we have some way to go and conversations Our forum was privileged to hear the stories have to be had at the various levels which of extraordinary individuals whose education must now translate into key, deliberate helped them to overcome incredible and measurable action steps with a view adversity. In the words of former child soldier to developing a framework for education Mohamed Sidibay: “When I learnt how to development that is very much aligned read and write I felt powerful.” with the world view and the future. After all, what is the point of education that does But GESF also gave us an important reminder not translate to employability and relevant of the violence that affects so many schools skills development. Every stakeholder must around the world. We heard the harrowing recommit to the actualization of the muchtestimony of three survivors of the Florida required changes in the Nigerian education Parkland high school shooting, as well as sector. an important rallying call from teachers in conflict zones across the world for governments to ensure the safety of schools.

Education can help disadvantaged students defy the odds – and rebuild lives shattered by violence

5

Teachers matter

Everyone remembers their favourite teacher, and every one of our delegates had a story to tell about the teacher who changed their life – and why education matters to them.

Among them were superstar celebrities, actors and sports personalities, including actresses Priyanka Chopra and Charlize Theron; champion Formula One Driver Lewis Hamilton; Olympic medallist Mo Farah; and lauded singer Jennifer Hudson.

But most importantly, they included the teachers who are at the heart of GESF. In the words of Global Teacher Prize 2018 winner Andria Zafirakou: “I’ve just spent the most amazing few days meeting the most phenomenal teachers and they have come from all over the world. I am celebrating this win with you – and all our teachers back home.”

When I learnt how to read and write I felt powerful.

Mohamed Sidibay, former child soldier

Ebunoluwa Bolodeoku is a Strategy and Operations expert. She holds a B.Sc Economics from the University of Lagos and an M.Sc Finance & Management from the Cranfield School of Management, United Kingdom. ebolodeoku@gmail.com

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STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

The Total

Value of Education 14

in Nigeria

By Oye Atilade BSc, MSc, MBA, PMP

Photo Credit: Unsplash

V

alue is created when material changes are derived as a result of a program. Total value, or total return on investment (TROI), measures the total social, economic, and environmental value stakeholders, the people and organisations that affect or are affected by the program, experience through changes in their lives. An account of the total value created by a program or system is a story about these changes.

Education is defined as the process of giving and receiving systematic instruction especially in a school or university setting (Google). Wikipedia states that education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Any experience that has a formative effect on the way we think, feel or act is educational. So education is designed to change its stakeholders and create value for them.

Education can be formal or informal. Formal education is imparted through formal institutions according to a predetermined curriculum. This does not mean that education stops when we graduate. Indeed, education is life-long as we are constantly learning, acquiring knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits throughout our lives. Informal education occurs through conversation, pursuing one’s interests and experience.

Human capital is the sum total of the education and learning, formal and informal, that produces the knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and behaviours of an individual.

Human Capital Theory states that investing in education results in higher incomes and productivity by increasing knowledge, skills and ways of analysing problems. Studies show that the distribution of personal incomes in society is strongly related to the level of education people have, and

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

that formal school is a contributing factor to the skills of an individual and therefore, the human capital of the nation. The quality of human resources is directly related to individual earnings, productivity and economic growth.

As of 2016, Nigeria had an estimated population of 186 million, the largest in Africa, seventh largest in the world, and home to one of the largest youth populations in the world (44% under 15 and 60% under 24). The United Nations anticipates that Nigeria will become the third largest country in the world by 2050 with 399 million people and with the potential to emerge as a major global economy. But education is critical to this growth.

Nigeria’s education system has three sectors: basic education (9 years), senior secondary education (3 years), and tertiary education (4 - 6 years). The tertiary level consists of universities and non-universities, such as polytechnics and colleges of education, which offer opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and vocational or technical education.

But the quality of education in Nigeria is one of the poorest in Africa and government spending is one of the lowest. Learning outcomes result in gaps in basic literacy and numeracy skills. A 2015 World Bank report using Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER), the World Bank’s global platform for benchmarking education systems, reveals that as of July 2017, Nigeria had the most out of school children of any country in the world: 10.5 million. This is equivalent to 1 in every 3 children who should be in school not in school. Indonesia with a similar population size and income level had only 2 percent of primary school children out of school. If the 10.5 million children were to complete primary education and enter the labor market, $6 billion will be added to the GDP.

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STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

Nigeria’s Education System Postgraduate Diploma Degree

University (1 - 3 years)

Bachelor Degree

Professional Diploma

University (4 - 6 years)

Polytechnics (1 - 1.5 years)

“But the quality of education in Nigeria is one of the poorest in Africa and government spending is one of the lowest.”

Higher National Diploma

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Nigeria Certificate of Education

Polytechnics (1 - 2 years)

College of Education (3 years)

National Diploma, National Innovation Diploma

Advanced National Technical / Business Certificate

Polytechnics (1 - 2 years)

Technical Colleges

Secondary School Certificate

National Technical / Business / Vocational Certificate

Senior Secondary School (3 years)

Vocational / Technical College (1 - 3 years)

Junior Secondary Certificate Junior Secondary School (3 years) Primary School (6 years)

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

The stakeholders of our education system include, parents / guardians whose socioeconomic status and feelings about the importance of education affect whether the children go to school and how seriously they take it; students as the direct beneficiaries; teachers who educate; schools and the administration, the quality of which are affected by public policy; the private sector, who run some schools and hire the graduates; the NGOs & Missionaries who

also run some schools; the media, who can influence public policy; and of course, the government whose educational policies affect the quality of education across the nation, and who reap the rewards of higher productivity and tax from a more educated workforce. All stakeholders have to work together to make the education system work and deliver the quality that is necessary and relevant for the growth of the nation.

Stakeholders of Nigeria’s Education System

School Administration The Government

Teachers

Students

Nigeria’s Education System

Parents / Guardians

The Private Sector

NGOs, Missionaries The Media

“All stakeholders have to work together to deliver quality...”

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STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

In the United States, one standard deviation increase in mathematics performance at the end of high school, translates into 12% higher annual earnings, while estimates of the average value of an additional year of school average 7–10%.

Similar returns are seen in the United Kingdom. The total value of education in developing nations is even higher. Results from 5 African countries, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, and Tanzania, show that there are higher economic returns to the quality of education.

More schooling means higher lifetime incomes, which increases with work experience.

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Education produces learning which produces creativity.

Creativity solves problems, improves lives, and changes our world for the better.

Creativity correlates with intelligence; academic, social and emotional success; the development of skills; and higher processing skills, executive functions, necessary and valuable for the future. A society with a high percentage of university graduates has greater health and civic participation.

Education reduces poverty, as educated people tend to find higher paying jobs; it promotes health, as children of educated mothers have a 50% higher chance of surviving past age 5, minimises malnutrition rates

Nigeria needs a national learning assessment system to standardise education programs across all schools in the country, both private and non-private. and reduces the incidence of HIV/AIDS infections.

Developing countries could gain up to $90 billion a year if girls receive the same education as boys.

Education also helps the environment. Educated people tend to change lifestyles and behaviour harmful to the environment, like using energy and water more efficiently, recycling waste, and purifying water.

Educated farmers tend to be more creative in solving challenges like water

Photo Credit: Unsplash

shortages and other soil and climate challenges.

Building cognitive, socioeconomic, and technical skills are critical to realising the socio-economic development potential of the country. To reap the total value of education we have to make the right and sustained investment in education. We need to pay attention to the competencies and quality of teachers, the educational facilities, early childhood development and the

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

assessment initiatives, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), to help benchmark its education to world standards and help its citizens and the country remain competitive on the global stage.

culture. We need to invest early and in relevant skills like problem-solving, learning, communication, social, creative and technology skills.

Nigeria needs a national learning assessment system to standardise education programs across all schools in the country, both private and non-private. This will help ensure that all students get at least the same level of quality education. Nigeria also needs to participate in international student

All stakeholders have to be involved. Parents and guardians should provide quality parenting and insist on effective service delivery from educational institutions. Those who own and run schools like NGOs and Missionaries need to ensure that the curriculum meets local, national and international standards.

The private sector should provide services like on the job training, work with education providers to ensure programs are aligned with their needs, and engage in a national dialogue on education. The media should take an active role in promoting, supporting and calling out public policy and schools that are doing well and those that are not. With so many private educational facilities in the country, public-private partnerships (PPP) are critical but the government needs to play a strong regulatory role over all.

What society values, society will invest in. If society values education, it will invest in education, and wages and productivity will increase, resulting in higher economic

growth and development.

If society does not value education, it will not invest in education, and the country will not grow.

If the government does not take immediate steps to reform our education system, then the government does not appreciate the total value of education to the socioeconomic well-being of the nation. Which means that the government, therefore, does not appreciate education. We need the government to see, understand and appreciate the big picture. Investing in education is not an option.

As with any program or system, the time honoured qualities of honesty, integrity, hard work, perseverance, creativity and creating value are the foundational hallmarks for sustained growth and success in education.

Oye Atilade is a Total Value Consultant. She has over 20 years experience in Technology, Health, Finance and Retail, across Nigeria, the UK and the US. She holds a BSc from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria; an MSc from the London School of Economics, UK; and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA. Email: oatilade@ gmail.com; Twitter: @oyeatilade, @ arabalelimited; Mobile: +234 (0) 816 082 0196 .

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TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

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Photo Credit: Unsplash

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Improving Education Outcomes Through

Student Information System

By Genevieve Mbama

The availability and accessibility of student Information is a critical success factor in optimizing targeted outcomes in educational institutions. The limited existence or lack thereof impedes the ability to effectively manage the educational life cycle of students, planning and decision making towards growth, quality of delivery and efficient allocation & utilization of resources.

I

n this knowledge and information age; Data is everything! The value of data is unlocked when it is analysed and transformed to information for decision making. Since education is central to human capital development in any nation, it behoves the Government

(at all levels) and private sector to work in tandem to ensure the delivery of high quality education to achieve targeted outcomes.

In what I may describe as the Constituent Power Reinforcing Loop (Diagram 1), (an interplay of forces that includes Education, Knowledge & Information with Technology as the foundation and enabler);

Education breeds knowledge, knowledge is power and knowledge in information age resides in the information which must be available and accessible ubiquitously and leveraged by users, researchers and policy makers to improve education. No nation can thrive and be competitive where any one or more of the four forces are missing.

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TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

the government to prioritise education over physical infrastructure although none should be mutually exclusive.

Education

Power Information

Knowledge Technology

Diagram 1: Constituent Power Reinforcing Loop.

Source: Novedad Insights & Solutions Ltd

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This was alluded to during the recent meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Bill Gates, Philanthropist and Founder of Microsoft Corporation & Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; to discuss on “Role of human capital investment in supporting

Photo Credit: Pexels

pro-poor and economic growth agenda�. Bill Gates tasked Nigerian leaders to sincerely invest in not just infrastructural development but also invest in human capital development.

Since education is the foundation for human capital development, it behoves

Growth and technology seem to be always in accompaniment of each other. Whenever and wherever you find one lacking you can also be sure that the other would not be there. This can be said about the domain of education as well. My experience in helping Educational institutions and Education Ministries & Government Agencies across Sub-Saharan Africa to leverage technology and innovation to optimize education outcomes has been revealing and provides insight on how and why the quality of education differs among countries.

One thing stood out; the level of technology maturity determines the availability and accessibility of the student information; and

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

grades and academic progression; maintaining records of absences and attendance; handling of award for grades, credit & exam scores and postgraduation contact with alumni. SIMS has transformed school management and can optimize school administration by assisting

in determining the aims of the school, formulating strategic plans, distributing resources, and, tracking & monitoring student life cycle & experience, evaluating teacher/lecturer performance as well as organizational success. Sometime in 2012, I had the opportunity to engage consultatively with

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Education

Delivery

Student Re

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Serv

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Alumni Management

St ud M ent an Lif ag e C em yc en le t

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Stud

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Student Information Management

D Fu eliv lfi er lm y en & t Research Management

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Program Management

Development

The Application comprises standard features that include prospective enquiry handling, recruitment, handling the admissions process; enrolling new students and storing teaching option choices; handling examinations, assessments, marks and

Photo Credit: Pexels

Ad

student information is pivotal to effective educational planning, delivery, policies and decision making; the consequence of which is the quality of education.

This is where Student Information Management System (SIMS) comes in (see Diagram 2). SIMS is a software Application to manage student data and all day to day operations and administration of schools such as kindergarten, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions including vocational school. It primarily supports the management of the student life cycle from enrolment to exit/graduation and as members of the alumni network to enable continuous interaction and information exchange. From government’s perspective, the SIMS is a student-level data collection system that allows the MDAs (Ministries, Departments & Agencies), collect and analyze more accurate and comprehensive information about students to meet federal and state reporting requirements, and to inform policy and programmatic decisions.

Diagram 2: Student Information Management System Component Model/ Processes.

Source: Novedad Insights & Solutions Ltd

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SALES & MARKETS

Photo Credit: Pexels

24

one of the Universities in West Africa that had just received a grant from an International Development Funding Agency for the purpose of deploying technology to transform the University operations, which included among other things the establishment of the Student Information Management System (SIMS).

I engaged with the Registrar to obtain information about the university’s operations that would help in designing the appropriate solution and road map for deployment; but what surprised me was when he said, “If the funding Agency had not specifically tied the funds to the technology deployment, I would rather the funds be channeled to other more

important projects”. I sought to know what the “other more important projects” were; he reeled out a couple of projects he thought were important but were still focused on building the University’s physical infrastructure. I explained to him that while physical infrastructure is important, however funding allocation should not be to the detriment of a technology solution that will drive efficiency and effectiveness of education service delivery, hence quality.

Without belittling the importance of the “other projects”, I took time to put him on enquiry with a goal to get him to have deeper insight and appreciation of

the criticality of the Student (or School) Information Management System. I asked the questions, which I believe every educational institution and education policy maker needs to consider as part of developing the system of education delivery.

1. How are you able to track the student life cycle from enrolment to graduation and after graduation as an alumni to optimize the Student experience both in and out of school?

2. What information about students do you use in planning, policy making, program/course/ curriculum development and decisions making to ensure the high quality of

SALES & MARKETS

Technology is the bedrock of information and knowledge. the delivery of education and continuing education to the students and alumni network and other third parties respectively?

3. How do you ensure efficient delivery of services and support to the students?

4. What is the experience of the students in having ready access to their academic results and performance as at when needed?

5. How are you able to leverage student information to maintain strong alumni network and engagement?

While his response showed these processes exist in some way, however, they were largely manually driven and paper based with lots of files and documents that were either poorly stored, very difficult to locate and may often get missing or damaged. A major weakness was that there was no centralized platform and single source of truth for student information, this was

because data generated were fragmented, in silos and in different formats (manual papers & files, electronic etc).

It was clear the University planned and delivered in “Blind� (that is; with very little information and unable to rely on available data because of the difficulty in accessing it). Gradually it sank in; and he realized the enormous challenges and why it had not been easy to achieve the school’s mandate. The impact on student life, experience and quality of education cannot be over-emphasized.

At the Ministry & Government Agency levels, where policy making, laws and regulations are established and monitored the challenge is higher because it requires an integrated education information system to track and monitor the educational life cycle of its constituents from kindergarten through tertiary education; without which it is pretty difficult to plan, issue effective education policies, laws and regulations and monitor same.

It goes without saying, that technology is the bedrock of information and knowledge. Therefore, to deliver the mandate and achieve targeted outcomes, it is imperative that educational institutions, education policy makers and regulators develop effective and efficient systems and infrastructure that support a harmonized and timely collection, processing, dissemination of student data and supports planning and decision making towards an efficient utilization of resources to improve quality of education and reduce education inequalities.

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Genevieve Mbama is a Digital Technology & Innovation Solution Specialist; Economic Inclusion Advocate, Blogger and Writer. She holds a B.Sc Economics & Statistics, from the University of Benin and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management.

PEOPLE & ORGANISATIONS

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Photo Credit: Pexels

PEOPLE & ORGANISATIONS

A Nation

Good Schools is only as

as its

By Dotun Adegbite

H

uman capacity development is a very important measure of a nation’s seriousness in preparing for the future; and the pipeline by which a nation stimulates and develops its latent human potential is education. This is why we should all be quite concerned that Nigeria is facing a crisis in its educational sector with several key statistics in the red and on the decline. According to UNICEF, 40% of Nigerian children aged 6-11 do not attend primary school and about 4.7 million children of primary school age are not in school. The ratio of teacher per pupil is as bad as 1-to-100 in some cases while facilities are in various stages of disrepair and inadequacy. Practitioners and activists are arguing for a state of emergency in the sector to draw attention to its decay and hopefully generate momentum for its redemption.

From stories of unemployable graduates from public schools to complaints from parents of students of private schools, every stakeholder has a tale to share.

While these problems seem to have just materialized, they have been decades in the making. Can we do anything to stem the tide of decay or are we doomed forever? First, let us consider how things got this way.

How did we get here?

M

any have explored that obvious question – how did we get here? There is no shortage of answers – inconsistency in government policy, poor funding, lack of regulation, underqualified and underresourced academic staff, lack of critical facilities and amenities, undue privatisation and so on.

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PEOPLE & ORGANISATIONS

Your pride for your country should not come after your country becomes great.

Photo Credit: Unsplash

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There have been workshops sponsored by government, aid agencies and private individuals to find solutions and one recurrent theme is to pass on increased ownership or management of education to the private sector. As well intentioned as this seems, it is worth taking caution and re-examination given the track record of the large majority of existing private institutions. Of course, there are exceptions of a few recent success stories at the tertiary level.

Up to the 1990s, it was pretty standard that nearly every high school student in Nigeria would be educated at a government-funded university. Most high school age children attended federal or state-government owned schools while a few rich kids went private. By the 2000s this had been reversed at the secondary school level where 9-10 year olds were enrolled in private secondary schools most of which

operated in environments lacking key facilities such as well-equipped laboratories or sport facilities. Parents were drawn in simply on the promise of better teachers and instructors to aid their wards pass their O’ level examinations.

But the seeds of the decline were already sown even in the nineties when most of those public high school students had come through private primary schools.

We should have known that the factors responsible for the public primary schools being unable to meet the requirements of parents (including the primary school teachers who had school age children), would eventually get to the high schools and then the universities. If we’re going to get education right, the strongest argument would be that we have to fix our public schools, from primary school all the way to the universities.

Why we must fix public education in Nigeria

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egardless of how many successes a few private universities record, the bulk of the nation’s future human capital will be trained in the four walls of our public schools. This has always been the case and will continue in the foreseeable future.

Even in developed countries, public schools provide the bulk of students with access to education especially at the primary and high school levels. In the US, only ten percent of children in grades PreK-12 attend private schools and this number is declining. The proportion of children educated by independent schools in the UK is 6.5%, the rest attend publicly funded schools.

Nearly every Nigerian above thirty years old was publicly educated from secondary school to university levels at the expense of the state.

This group has now lost confidence in those same institutions and have placed their wards at private schools which many times are not as good as the public schools were in their heydays.

Whatever policy direction we take as a country we must be able to provide

PEOPLE & ORGANISATIONS

access to good education to children under 15 years of age who account for about 45 per cent of the country’s population. We must lay the foundation and give them the tools to maximize their potentials and become fully contributing members of the society. In a nation with our poverty levels, we must find ways for the public education system to run at acceptable if not best standards to produce a capable and enlightened workforce and citizenry.

Are private schools the solution?

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n most environments private schools are a complement to the established public school system and meant to be an option available to better-off families. They are not a replacement to the entire public school system. In Nigeria today, the norm seems to be that private schools are the only option for parents who can pay more money

and live above the poverty line. Unfortunately, a large number of these private schools are poorly organized, under-resourced and struggle to provide properly trained teachers and instructors. This is due to a poor policy and regulatory environment in the nation’s private education sector. In the Pre-school and primary school space, it seems schools are at liberty to make up their own curriculum.

There are schools running American, British, Montessori, Nigerian with a bit of British; and even American-Montessori curriculum with Singapore mathematics syllabus! They may not have any license to confirm this curriculum but can administer it to hundreds of our children. In contrast, to open a day-care centre in Canada that caters to not more than five children, you have to be licensed according to detailed requirements, restrictions, staff qualifications, health and safety as spelt out in the country’s Child Care Act and other guidelines.

Can it be done?

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he easy answer is that it is being done elsewhere. When a country finally finds the much needed impetus to invest big in overhauling the quality of its educational system for future competitiveness; it will find a way to start reversing the decay.

Rwanda has famously started reversing the trends in this sector following its reform efforts. It had signed up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Education-For-All (EFA) goals for universal enrolment and decided to take them seriously. The government rolled out a new educational policy of free nine-year basic education to all children through primary school and three years of general secondary education.

Children who reach the end of this are entitled to a further three years either in Teacher Training College, General Secondary or in Technical and Vocational Education.

Nearly every Nigerian above thirty years old was publicly educated from secondary school to university levels at the expense of the state

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The government then executed ruthlessly by allocating 19% of the budget to education (60% of which was spent on primary and secondary schools).

Schools were provided with qualified teachers, electricity, computers and internet facilities. Publishers were hired to supply a book for every subject to students across the country . Teachers were paid a bonus, free laptops were provided to public school children and a school-feeding program was initiated. Their evolving public school system has had the unintended consequence of several private schools finding themselves unable to compete with some closing down.

The bulk of our population will be educated in the public school system and the quality of education for those privately educated will depend on effectiveness of the regulatory environment and the public sector benchmark they’re up against.

We must take up the challenge in this generation of fixing the public school system whatever it takes, and strengthening the policy and regulatory environment for the private schools especially at the delicate primary and secondary school levels.

Getting started in Nigeria

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he future of Nigeria is in its young ones and the means of enabling them to get the tools, learning and exposure to prepare them for being contributing members of society is the educational system.

Dotun Adegbite holds the CFA Charter, an MBA and an Engineering Bachelor’s Degree. dotunadegbite@gmail.com

PEOPLE & ORGANISATIONS

The future of Nigeria is in its young ones and the means of enabling them to get the tools, learning and exposure...is the educational system.

Photo Credit: Pexels

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COVER STORY

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Photo Credit: Bobo Iso

COVER STORY

Educating the Unemployed Ifueko Omoigui Okauru Chairman, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF)

Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), and Member of the Order of the Niger (MON). Appointed Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), a champion of Tax Reform at Federal and State level throughout her tenure and honoured for collecting tax revenue of N2.2 trillion in 2009, an unprecedented amount in the history of tax administration in Nigeria is without a doubt a woman of substance. Before becoming FIRS boss, she was the Chief Responsibility Officer of Restral Limited, a leadership management services company she founded in 1996. She is an erstwhile Partner of Arthur Andersen now split into KPMG Professional Services and Accenture. In her new role as Chairman of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), she talks to Boundless Magazine about how Lagos State is training and educating its citizenry on vocational entrepreneurship.

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COVER STORY

Can you give a brief synopsis regarding the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), its mandate and why it was established.

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Let me first talk about history.

This was an idea of His Excellency the Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, even before he became Governor. It was birth out of a concern about the number of unemployed youths in Lagos State. He felt there was a clear need to address the problem of unemployment, because this would determine the future of the state and the country. It was a campaign promise and therefore after being sworn in as Governor, it was one of the very first things that he put into place.

He sent a bill, which was eventually passed into a law, which is now called the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund Law 2016.

The Fund is aimed at providing financial support to residents of Lagos state to tackle unemployment through job and wealth creation. That is what the law says, but in regards to financial support it can be direct or indirect. As a Fund, the Governor committed to give us over N6 billion every year as seed funding, with a total of N25 billion over a four year period. The Fund is

Photo Credit: Lagos State Government

also not just about providing funding, it is about creating an enabling environment so that those who want to access funds, not just from us can do that if they want to, or those who want to succeed in their sectors.

The LSETF was inaugurated on March 3, 2016 with a 10 man board and one of the first things we felt we needed to do was to be clear that we set a very good tone, being the pioneer board but more importantly

COVER STORY

we felt that if we did not have a very clear plan of action it would be very easy to derail.

I must commend the board members, we actually spend a lot of time thinking through the strategies, and what our mission and vision should be.

even know that opportunities exist. Our mission is to enable Lagos residents realise their aspirations by providing leverage and access to finance. We also insist that businesses in Lagos should be patronized.

Our vision as a Fund is to create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for all Lagos residents. Some people do not have access, some do not

What are LSETF’s key focus areas especially as it relates to sustainability and employability?

Our vision as a fund is to create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for all Lagos residents.

Photo Credit: Bobo Iso

We like to focus not on employability alone which is a mandate but also on sustainability. This is because what is important is that whatever we are doing outlives the tenure of the Governor and me as Chairman, because ultimately it is really about Lagos residents and that’s why for us these kinds of interviews are very welcome to keep on reiterating to the people of Lagos State that it is really for them. Letting them own the programme and be part of it, going beyond dependence on Lagos State Government.

For example we have new partners, we now have Local Governments who are coming to us to provide money and we match where we can and work with their citizens within their states.

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COVER STORY

We also have individuals, the likes of Wale Raji that created the Wale Raji Foundation who has identified his community and we support them. We want people to realise that this is a fund that has been put in place to provide a platform that they can take advantage of. We want people to realise that at the end of the day the fact that we have unemployment in our mist is a collective problem and not just the fault of the Lagos Government and the more we can create employment for each and everyone of us that are in need, the more secure, prosperous and hopeful our environment is.

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For us sustainability is therefore beyond us, it is about people realizing that it is an idea that has to stay.

Photo Credit: Bobo Iso

We want people to feel they are part of the programme.

Because the more we have people who believe in the programme, even if I am not here, those are the people that will continue the programme. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for example, having listened to what we are doing put together $1 million and we are matching it with $3 million, which is a 1-3 ratio and together we work

on creating employment opportunities and employable programmes for 6 different sectors.

In terms of strategy, we have four strategic plans that are driving us as a board. The first strategy is Entrepreneurship. This entails providing support to entrepreneurs to create tangible jobs across the state and in that line for example we have a goal to create

We want people to realise that this is a fund that has been put in place to provide a platform that they can take advantage of.

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300,000 direct and 600,000 indirect jobs. We have the MSE loan programme which aims to create affordable access to funding for small businesses to grow, expand, create wealth and put people to work. The loan scheme attracts only 5% interest in comparison to other microfinance organisations that accrue a 5% interest a month and banks 20%, we charge only 5% in a whole year. It is a deliberate low cost finance option to enable people build their businesses and not spend time paying the bank, but spend time growing their businesses and creating employment.

Our second strategy is Employability. We aim to facilitate individual employability through upscaling and job placement. Our work with the UNDP gives a sense of what our employability is all about. We have for example the Lagos State Employability Support Project (LSEP) which is jointly funded by the LSETF and the UNDP which is designed to help tackle the unemployment problem amongst the youth by helping them gain requisite knowledge and skills through vocational training and subsequently helping them to get job placements.

The aim of this particular programme is to train 10,000 young people over a two year period and enable them gain skills in six sectors:

Photo Credit: Bobo Iso

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Manufacturing, Hospitality, Entertainment, Construction, Health and Garment Making.

As at the end of March 2018, we have trained 763 students of which 659 have been certified. We emphasize training not just for certification, but skill. We emphasise on skill certification because we believe there should be

a certification in a trade, for example if you are a plumber, you should have a certification in plumbing.

The training is free, infact to encourage people from all parts of Lagos to attend the training we pay a stipend for transportation. We have currently placed above 101 students out of which 75 have been engaged while 26 have declined placement

COVER STORY

offers. We found out that the sectors that have the highest request are garment making and hospitality. We encourage people who have funding to work with us because funding is a limitation to how much more we can do. Just like UNDP has partnered with us, we encourage corporate donors to partner with us as well.

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The third strategy we have is Interventions. This involves facilitating the enhancement of the operating environment and conditions for Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSME’S). For example, we have the Lagos Innovates Programme. This is a series of programmes designed for the benefit of technology

The training is free, infact to encourage people from all parts of Lagos to attend the training we pay a stipend for transportation. and innovation driven startups. We have chosen that niche by providing access to high quality infrastructure, learning capital and networks. When

we talk about access to capital it might not be our money, but we help support hubs. We are creating and supporting hubs who are providing an enabling environment that allows others to come and see what they are doing. For example, FCMB has supported what we call a �hackathon�. A hackathon is when there is a series of different people and different ideas and in the course of it, the winner is given the money to develop an app. Another intervention we have done is to give a loan at a very low interest rate to a market maker, a hub that wanted to expand and just by expanding the hub will create the opportunities for different businesses to

Photo Credit: Bobo Iso

COVER STORY

come in which may not have office space, but once you get in there you have a table, a chair, the internet that will enable you do your work etc.

Our fourth strategy is Promotion. This is an area that we have started, but in terms of progression there is still a lot more we can do. Promotion is boosting entrepreneurship and linkages to international domestic stakeholders.

For example, writing to the Executive Governor to put an Executive order in place for those who have businesses in Lagos or we create a platform that will help promote your business.

How successful has the loan programme been and what are they key lessons that have enabled its success? How easy is it to access loans through the programme?

The loans are easy to access in the sense that it is open to everyone. When talking about access to loans, our values come into play, they influence the kinds of programmes we have. Our values are TRACE III. T is for Transparency, to be open, fair and equitable. R - stands for Result oriented, focused on delivery and desired outcomes. AC - stands for

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Photo Credit: Bobo Iso

Accountability, periodically inform and give updates to our stakeholders. E – stands for Enabling a catalyst for a conducive environment to make businesses thrive and unleash their potential, I stands for Integrity Principled, Ethical And Honest, the other I stands for Inclusiveness, meaning nobody left behind and the last I being Innovation which means questioning the status quo and always striving to be better than we are.

We have 3 routes to access the loans.

The first route is that you apply directly to the website, you don’t need to know anybody just apply. There is an independent process supporting the application process, all applications get to Pricewaterhouse (PWC) and they go through a scoring system and based on the scoring system it comes to us. We also have business development providers particularly for the SME’s where they don’t just look at the score, they actually visit people who have qualified and they gain the scoring. It is based on your scoring, that

COVER STORY

Photo Credit: LSETF

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determines whether the loan gets approved or not. There are certain assessment criteria’s, if for example you have just started a business and you have made some profit that can show results, you are going to get a higher score than someone that is just starting. There were some discrepancies’ when it came to scoring and we tried to address it. For example we set aside funds specially dedicated to the youth, this is because at a point in time when we realized that a majority of people that were getting the funds were a higher age bracket, we decided to deliberately focus on the youth.

How well known are LSETF’s initiatives, are there plans for increased and sustained communication and messaging to its various stakeholders?

We have to keep on talking and communicating. We have spread our message on social media, but not everybody is there. We also have 20 liaison officers in each of the Local Governments and one of the mandates that we have given them is to raise awareness within their terrains.

Last year we went round all the stakeholder offices, doing stakeholder communications and telling them all about the loans.

Interview by Ruona Phido Ruona is a Business Analyst and a Communications, Media and Society graduate from the University of Leicester. rphido@elevato.com.ng

KPMG Kicks off Childhood Literacy Initiative in Nigeria Over 1,000 Pupils Receive Brand New Books with KPMG’s KFFL Initiative KPMG in Nigeria has donated over 4,000 brand new books to 1,215 Lagos state primary school pupils as part of the launch of its KPMG Family for Literacy (KFFL) program in Nigeria. The program kicked off on the 8th of May in Lagos state’s St. Jude primary school and continued on the 9th with visits to St. Mary primary school and St. Mary Convent primary schools in CMS Lagos.

KPMG’s KFFL program combats childhood illiteracy by providing books to children from low-income families.

This program directly addresses the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal No 4, focused on improving quality education. Since its inception in 2008, KFFL has distributed over 4 million new books to low-income children in over 100 communities across the United States. KFFL translates across borders having spread through KPMG’s global network to India, Mexico, South Africa, Zambia, the U.K., Kenya, Canada and China.

The KFFL Nigeria launch event at St. Jude primary school kicked off with remarks by KPMG’s Global Head of Citizenship, Lord Michael Hastings. According to Lord Hastings, “KFFL creates a unique way for KPMG partners and professionals along with spouses, family members, and alumni to support the firm’s commitment towards enhancing literacy. They do this by taking books to classrooms, reading to and tutoring children, and giving books for children to take home.”

KPMG Nigeria Senior partner and Chairman, KPMG Africa, Kunle Elebute said, “Research shows that the most significant barrier to childhood literacy is a lack of access to books. At KPMG, we understand that literacy is the basic foundation that can help open up new worlds in an individual’s life.”

The program is intended to reach many more schools and thousands of pupils from low income homes in the next few years, with the next round scheduled to hold in the second half of this year.

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INTERVIEW

Lagos Business School among

Top 2% Globally

Enase Okonedo, the Dean of the Lagos Business School, sat down with Boundless Magazine, to discuss the advent, growth and impact that the Lagos Business School has had in Nigeria and Africa.

When and why was the Lagos Business School (LBS) started?

Lagos Business School was birth in 1991 and it was to meet what was perceived as a need at that point in the professional development of managers. At the time LBS began there were several institutions that were targeted towards training public servants, as far as I am aware there was only one institution devoted to training private sector managers and what used

to happen at that time was that a lot of organisations sent their managers abroad if they wanted something practical for the managers. Managers travelled out of the country to get the knowledge. But you must understand that the practice of management is contextual, therefore if you go to any of the more developed countries and you learn about management it may be a problem. LBS came up at that point in time to fill this gap and to be able to train managers that could function effectively in this environment.

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INTERVIEW

Can you share the major milestones of LBS over the years, from conception till date and how do you believe it has impacted the Nigerian business environment?

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We started in 1991, when we began we started as a Centre for Professional Studies with very short seminars.

In 1992 we launched our Executive Programmes and the very first Executive Programme we had was the Chief Executive Programme (CEP). Sometimes, people wonder why we started at the top. This is because LBS is not only about developing managers to be able to be well functioning managers it is also about the development of a professional, that is the human person. Therefore, there are certain qualities that go with that as well.

Our reason for embarking on the journey was because we needed to become a University in order to enable us run our own degree programmes.

We are not only giving the knowledge but also trying to instill the values and the attributes that are there.

In order to get people to change or imbibe certain values, if we trained a person that is a Junior Manager or a Middle Level Manager, they might get back and find out that they cannot function.

With the philosophy that good leadership engenders good followership, we decided to start from the very top. After the Chief Executive Programme (CEP) the public saw the impact we were making and their interest enabled us develop other programmes. For the first 11 years of our existence, we operated as a

With the philosophy that good followership engenders good leadership, we decided to start from the very top.

business school. We became a University in 2002. It was LBS that birthed Pan African University that is now named Pan Atlantic University, I believe that was a major milestone.

Our reason for embarking on the journey was because we needed to become a University in order to enable us run our own degree programmes. We had already tried to get a license as a private University in the mid 90’s but we were not successful. In 2002, our application was accepted, that was also a major milestone because many years before that, we had run a Masters programme in IESE, Barcelona. We have very strong ties with them as they were very instrumental to us in the early years. We started with the full time MBA, today we have the Executive MBA (EMBA) and the Modular Executive MBA (EMBA).

INTERVIEW

Another major milestone is the African Agenda. For the first 17 years of our existence we were very much focused on developing competent and socially responsible managers for Nigeria. However, for the past decade, we started rethinking the focus on Nigeria. Nigeria is a very large market with the largest population in Africa and an equally large proportion of managers. There was a turn in the global economy that started to make Africa a bit more attractive to foreign investors and multinational companies. We came to a conclusion that there will be a need for well-seasoned and trained managers as it suggested that there will be a huge talent mobility across Africa. Therefore we then thought that if you want to prepare people to meet the needs of Africa, there was a need for an African Agenda, which is focused on developing managers not only for Nigeria but for Africa and the world.

Lastly another major milestone for us at LBS is our ranking. For the past 11 years we have been ranked

by Financial Times London as a top provider of open enrollment education, we were first ranked in 2007 and that was mind blowing.

Last year we also got two major global accreditations, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and

Association of MBAs (AMBA) which we are very proud of.

To show you how significant this is, it is only 5% of the Schools in the world that are AACSB accredited and of all 5% the graduate schools globally are only 2%. For AMBA only 2% of the world’s top schools are accredited by this body. .

LBS has received international recognition over the years such as the Financial Times Ranking, Association to Advance Collegiate has it been able to Schools of Business achieve this feat?

(AACSB), Association I will say our success can be of MBAs (AMBA) to attributed to the constant name a few. Very few benchmarking of ourselves Business Schools in against top global schools the world have these in the world, our committed team and a focus as to not accreditations, for a School located in the forgetting who we are and what we are trying to do. heart of Africa, how Our focus is very much Africa, we expect to surpass the top business schools around the world in our knowledge of doing business in Africa. This

Our focus is very much Africa, we expect to surpass the top business schools around the world in our knowledge of doing business in Africa

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INTERVIEW

can only be achieved through dedicated staff and focus on our missional imperative. It has not been an easy feat. Our founders played a key role, and I believe the success can also be attributed to our very dedicated members of staff. Having dedicated staff who key into the vision of what LBS is trying to achieve in the society has been phenomenal.

Why should a participant seeking business and management education come to LBS instead of going abroad?

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As I mentioned earlier, we have been internationally recognised. We are globally ranked, by the Financial Times and accredited by the AACSB and AMBA. We know a lot of Nigerians like going to School abroad. This could be as a result of the perception that everything foreign is good. A way of demonstrating that what we offer is good and that there is no need to go abroad was to enter into the rankings.

With the belief that if we are ranked amongst top Schools in the world that will bring the recognition of our quality.

Nigeria is an emerging market, LBS is now recognized

Nigeria is a very large market with the largest population in Africa and an equally large population of managers. and accredited internationally, and in some way has to compete with business schools in developed markets and countries. Do you feel this puts LBS at a disadvantage?

I don’t think being in Nigeria and Africa has put us at a disadvantage at all. The competitive advantage that LBS has is in our practical knowledge of doing business in Africa.

We have the largest amount of African case studies, which other schools are just starting to develop. The case study method is our main pethadogy and that’s the way we have always taught in the school.

Although despite this, there are several challenges we have encountered over

the years as a result of us operating in Nigeria which other schools in developed countries do not have to face. We have to deal with issues such as infrastructure, an applicant pool that sometimes is not up to the quality we desire, challenge of getting top global faculty to come down to Nigeria because sometimes Nigeria is not considered the most attractive place to come to.

Interview by Ruona Phido Ruona is a Business Analyst and a Communications, Media and Society graduate from the University of Leicester. rphido@elevato.com.ng

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Photo Credit: Unsplash

EXECUTIVE AGENDA

Photo Credit: Facebook

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The Future of Work and Industrialization Speech by former Ghanaian President, His Excellency, Dr. John Dramani Mahama at the Knowledge Event 3 of the 2018 Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank in Busan, South Korea.

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EXECUTIVE AGENDA

eads of Delegations Ministers of State Governors of the AfDB Special Invited Guests Ladies and Gentlemen

This Knowledge Session is basically asking the very simple but very difficult to answer question: how do we tackle the looming unemployment situation the African continent is faced with?

That is all the topic for this morning, ‘Work and Industrialisation’ is about.

Yes, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is looming. Africa faces the disadvantage of not having really navigated the 2nd and 3rd industrial revolutions and yet has to contend with the 4th, with all its attendant innovations of science and technology digital technology, artificial intelligence, robotics and all the advanced inventions we are seeing today.

All these must be viewed in the light of the ever-expanding youth bulge in Africa. With a rapidly expanding population, Africa has a reservoir of labour for production, and yet, this rapidly expanding population remains Africa’s greatest security threat, if we are not able to harness it into sustainable jobs for the future.

Africa will be two billion people by 2050.

Nigeria alone would be about 300 million people by 2050. My country, Ghana would have a population of about 50 million people by 2050.

While looking at creating more decent jobs, we must continue our efforts to slow the population growth rate by ensuring a one hundred percent education of girl children and also empowering our women to have greater control of their reproductive rights.

This should include access to family planning services, including the right to determine how many children they would want to have.

Africa will be two billion people by 2050. Nigeria alone would be about 300 million people by 2050.

At the same time, Africa has huge potential.

As President Adesina loudly proclaims, Africa has 65% of the world’s remaining arable land.

Africa also possesses some of the richest natural resources in the world. Surely with such advantages, Africa must be guaranteed a future of work and happiness.

Alas! If there is any continent in which the Malthusian theory of population is becoming a stark reality, then it is Africa. Population is growing geometrically, and resources, production, jobs are growing arithmetically.

Let me share some statistics, which together with the ideas shared by the World Bank President, the Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea and Dr. Adesina on Wednesday, should put this morning’s conversation into perspective.

1. Available statistics indicate an average of 12 million African youth joining the already saturated workforce every year.

2. We are also told that, out of this number (12 million), only about 30% are able to find decent employment.

3. Only 30% because the qualifying 12 million are either low in skills sets, or have mismatching skills.

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EXECUTIVE AGENDA

Photo Credit: Facebook

4. The remaining 70% of the 12 million are often left unemployed.

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5. Let me also refer you to a recent AfDB data which said in a 2016 publication on ‘Jobs for Youth in Africa’ that, of the almost 420 million youths aged between 15 and 35 in Africa, one third are unemployed and discouraged.

6. Another group, also one third of the 420 million are what the AfDB describes as vulnerably employed in the informal, low productivity and low-wage sectors.

7. Of Africa’s unemployed youth, more than 70% live in rural areas and the female youth in particular face stronger challenges.

How then do we convert the burgeoning youthful population of the continent into a democratic dividend? We have over the years discussed and formulated various policies to ostensibly create jobs for our people. Indeed, in various meetings, suggestions and solutions have been proposed.

Africa does have huge potentials.

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Smart Tech Agriculture and a comparative advantage in Agro-processing

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Huge opportunities in the area of the Digital Economy and service industry

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Development of light industries and expanding to heavy manufacturing industries

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Value addition- through refining and processing of our raw natural resources among others.

Available statistics indicate an average of 12 million African youth joining the already saturated workforce every year.

EXECUTIVE AGENDA

Colonial attitude to work: We inherited an attitude to work from our colonial masters that glorifies white colour manpower and denigrates employment that requires use of manual skills.

Graduates from all levels of the education ladder are therefore first and foremost seeking employment in the public sector or the formal private sector.

All our children take a first shot at entering university.

It is only when they are unable to gain entrance that they consider entering the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector. So, the general impression of the TVET sector is that it is for drop outs.

I agree with the synopsis for this morning’s discussion that “today, employers face a shortage of critically needed skills and competencies.

Africa faces an urgent need to transform its education models in order prepare for a future that is already upon the continent.”

First and foremost, we must achieve economic acceleration in order to throw up more sustainable jobs as the economy expands.

African countries must grow above 8% per annum if we are to keep ahead of our population growth rate.

There is a mismatch between our educational systems

African countries must grow above 8% per annum if we are to keep ahead of our population growth rate. and the needs of industry and the world of work. We must realign the focus of our educational programmes in other for our young people to be developed and ready for the future we are in.

Science and Technology education offers our continent some of the best opportunities yet, and should be one of the key drivers for tackling unemployment.

But that is eluding us because we are graduating many in disciplines where employment opportunities are limited due to saturation.

In the area of technical skills and middle level manpower in the science and engineering space, we are rather churning out much fewer numbers. These are the areas where the new jobs are evolving.

During my days as President, I often spoke about the misalignment of our educational curriculum and the fact that industry today, and in fact employers, do not need the high number of graduates in the humanities that our institutions are churning out.

After a number of meetings with large scale employers, recruitment agencies, young entrepreneurs who themselves could not get colleagues with the right set of skills to join them, I asked the Ministry of Education to liaise with other collaborating Ministries to organise a technical session to evaluate the skills industry needs.

That Session, which brought academia and industry together in 2014 came up with a number of recommendations, and agreed that our country, Ghana, does not need the high turn-out of MBA graduates, Historians, Literary Experts etc., but rather what we need are technically biased graduates.

Among many others, the outcome of that consultative session led to a renewed effort towards improving Technical and Vocational Education and Training through infrastructure upgrading of the various Technical Institutions. It was instructive to hear one business owner say, “labour is highly mobile now, I

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EXECUTIVE AGENDA

don’t want to invest in skills upscaling for new staff only to have them lured away by more attractive remuneration in rival businesses.”

The future of work in Africa is not the mass industrial employment model. It will be based on small and medium enterprises, run by young well trained entrepreneurs, who absorb innovation and take advantage of the new technologies to achieve efficiency in what they do.

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Governments have a role to play. With the difficulty of securing start-up capital, we launched a Youth Enterprise Support (YES) Initiative with a seed capital of Gh¢10 million. In the first pilot, two thousand and forty-eight (2,048) business applications were received from young entrepreneurs. Three hundred and sixty-five (365) applicants qualified to the

Africa needs highproductivity jobs at an average of about 18 million per year until 2035 to absorb the new entrants in the labour force. final stage and were invited to the Presidency to receive up to GH¢50,000 each in financial support, depending on one’s business.

This is an initiative that was also piloted in Nigeria and other countries and which we have to encourage because there are many young people with brilliant and profitable ideas but will not get the required support from the normal banking system.

Photo Credit: Facebook

Recently, Professor Emmanuel Nnadozie, Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation, noted at a Forum in Accra that, “Africa needs high-productivity jobs at an average of about 18 million per year until 2035 to absorb the new entrants in the labour force.”

Can we attain that?

Yes, we can if we refocus the education of our young ones and ones yet unborn to align with the new global demands. We are talking smart infrastructure, we are discussing the use of smart technology on our farms, we are looking at how to build an effective digital economy that provides huge opportunities for entrepreneurship and businesses that serve the world from Africa.

ECONOMY

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Photo Credit: Pexels

ECONOMY

Nigeria and Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

A big deal?

By Mayowa Amoo

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he AfCFTA Agreement states clearly the objective of AfCFTA: to create a single market for goods, services, facilitated by movement of persons in order to deepen the economic integration of Africa. This piece discusses the origins of AfCFTA, its inherent benefits and challenges, Nigeria’s stance

Photo Credit: ACFTA

and in conclusion, further work needed to secure economic self determination for our people.

One of the key principles of the AfCFTA is that the existing Regional Economic Communities (RECs) will serve as building blocks for AfCFTA. Tariffs will be eliminated on 90% of goods traded between and amongst African countries.

This should translate to lower

prices, higher volumes and higher GDP for the continent.

The balance 10% of goods represents sensitive products that are expected to be liberalised over a longer time period or be permanently on the exclusion list.

At the 10th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU on the launch of the AfCFTA held in March 2018, there were three (3) legal instruments requiring

ECONOMY

signature of members so as to birth the AfCFTA – the AfCFTA Consolidated Text, the Kigali Declaration and Free Movement Protocol.

Nigeria was absent and did not execute any of these instruments. We should have been there and signed at least one of the instruments especially because signature does not equal ratification.

up. The AfCFTA once it becomes effective after at least twenty two (22) member states would have ratified the Agreement, will cover a market of 1.2 billion people and a GDP of US$2.5 trillion assuming all 55 member countries signed up – whereby it would be the world’s largest free trade area by number of

A cursory view of the Heads-of-State (or their representatives) present indicates that every regional African power was there and signed at least one of the instruments: South Africa signed the Kigali Declaration, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire and Mauritius signed the Consolidated Text. Kenya signed all three and has ratified alongside Ghana. It is likely that our action would be relationally damaging (and make subsequent demands and negotiations difficult), despite our size as the largest market on the continent.

“Nigeria, like other member states, will only finally ratify the Agreement in accordance with our constitutional procedures.

participating countries, since the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Agriculture and manufacturing, two areas of relative strength in Nigeria, should benefit the most from AfCFTA, hence shifting the country and the continent away from capital intensive, job-limited, extractive

Nigeria, like other member states, will only finally ratify the Agreement in accordance with our constitutional procedures.

It is important to note that, as with all such agreements, member states post ratification can withdraw after five (5) years if they so choose – effectively a 5-year trial period.

There are compelling reasons for Nigeria to sign

Photo Credit: Pexels

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ECONOMY

Photo Credit: Pexels

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sectors towards more labour intensive and price-stable industrialisation. MSMEs will have the opportunity to scale their businesses regionally and then eventually globally especially through supply chain of different industrial value chains. For instance within South Africa Development Community (SADC), Botswana feeds the SA car industry leather while Lesotho provides fabric for seats of cars.

Private businesses, traders and consumers must lead the initiative across the continent. The challenge of infrastructure required to create the gateways like air, sea, roads and rail networks must be overcome through private sector co-leadership with government. For instance, it is not impossible for an aggregation of the

“Private businesses, traders and consumers must lead the initiative across the continent.” wealthiest 55 individuals on the continent to commit to funding and building road and rail networks from say Cape Town to Casablanca and from Nairobi to Dakar in exchange for bragging rights and other monetary concessions from relevant governments through the instrumentality of the AU. The Nigeria Labour Congress is reported to perceive AfCFTA as a “renewed, extremely dangerous and radioactive neo-liberal policy

initiative.” This hard line position forms part of why Nigeria pulled away from signing the Agreement.

NLC’s position may be misguided as it may not have the benefit of receiving orientation on AfCFTA’s costs and benefits for Nigeria. In terms of cost to member states, UNCTAD projects that US$4.1 billion may be lost tax income. However, UNCTAD also makes clear that in the long run there will be gains amounting to US$16.1 billion.

ECONOMY

The Nigeria Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN), the government agency for trade matters in Nigeria, is clear about the benefits of AfCFTA when it says that “This (AfCFTA) will boost job creation through increased intra African trade and expand market access for Nigeria’s exporters of goods and services, covering a market of over a billion Africans with a combined GDP of US$2.5 trillion.” It is thus difficult to accept the possibility of Nigeria not giving assent to the AfCFTA Agreement post the ongoing national sensitisation.

The fear of loss of tax income by governments is real.

However, tariff elimination is going to be gradual over a period of between five (5) and fifteen (15) years. Notwithstanding, it is irrefutable that the more advanced African economies are in a position

Photo Credit: Pexels

of strength to tap into the impending benefits of AfCFTA. To assuage the genuine fears of smaller economies, subject to them fulfilling certain verifiable economic parameters, it would be useful for the AfCFTA Secretariat to lead the charge for establishment of a Continental Stabilisation Fund to be seeded by the top 10 economies of the continent with a view to leveraging the fund to support the growth and development of smaller economies and hence avoid protectionism by these latter countries.

advancing and led by Afreximbank with a view to establishing a pan African Payment and Settlement Platform.

AfCFTA is a fulfilment of the dream of pan Africanist, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah.

Yet, Africa must not be in denial of the need to strengthen its monitoring and enforcement of rule of origin provisions and severe punishment of offenders that may seek to source goods from other parts of the world, bring them into Africa and repackage them for duty-free intra Africa export. All in all – way to go Africa – at a time when Europe and the US African financial institutions are pulling the drawbridge, must also lead global collaborative efforts to secure we are reaching out and aiming high together as and cover the estimated sister partners working for a annual trade finance gap brighter future. Chapeau! of about US$120 billion per annum. Domestication of payment, settlement Mayowa Amoo is an investment and electronic financial banker based in Lagos. communications is already

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World Cup: SPORTS

No African progress since 1990

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John Andah is a sports journalist and Senior Assistant Editor with Concise News Global.

Photo Credit: Google

A

SPORTS

wave of optimism is travelling through the minds of many Nigerians that the Super Eagles and other Russia 2018-bound African teams would make a bold statement at the Mount Everest of football, the FIFA World Cup. Thirty-two countries, including five from the continent, would vie for the trophy from June 14 to July 15.

And head coach of the Eagles Gernot Rohr believes the three-time African champions are equipped with a mix of youthful and experienced players that can stun the world in Vladimir Putin’s country.

Nigeria will compete alongside two-time world champions Argentina; Croatia, who finished third at the 1998 tournament; and debutants Iceland in Group D. “This is a difficult group, but I think we can spring a surprise,” Rohr had said after the draw.

However, history shows that no team from the continent has progressed beyond the quarter-finals since 1990. That’s 28 years ago.

Prior to Italia ’90, African teams could not advance beyond the second round.

Cameroon did at the aforementioned tournament and the world’s attention focused on the continent as the Indomitable Lions defeated the world champions at the time, Argentina, and narrowly lost to England in the quarterfinals.

Cameroon’s heroics remain one of the most memorable moments in World Cup history. It left scores of Africans in euphoria.

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SPORTS

Photo Credit: Google Standing (L-R): Uche Okechukwu, Samson Siasia, Augustine Eguavoen, Finidi George, Chidi N’Wanu, Peter Rufai Squatting (L-R): Late Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amunike, Sunday Oliseh, Ben Iroha, Daniel ‘The Bull’ Amokachi

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It is, however, worthy to note that the Super Eagles were Africa’s best representatives at two successive World Cups; as they were the only team from the continent to reach the second round in USA ‘94 and France ‘98 Hopes were, therefore, rife that teams from the continent could go a step further at the USA ‘94 tournament. But Nigeria could not replicate the feat of their centralAfrican neigbours as they narrowly lost to eventual finalists Italy in the second round.

It is, however, worthy to note that the Super Eagles were Africa’s best representatives

at two successive World Cups; as they were the only team from the continent to reach the second round in USA ‘94 and France ‘98.

After experiencing drawbacks at the last two editions, Senegal made Africans smile again by equaling Cameroon’s quarter-final record at the 2002 tournament in Korea and Japan.

Inspired by Khalilou Fadiga, El Hadji Diouf and Papa Bouba Diop, the Lions of Teranga produced a sterling performance to beat defending champions France in the opening match.

Their giant-killing run took them all the way to the quarter-finals where they narrowly lost in extra time to another tournament surprisepackage Turkey.

SPORTS

Then came the 2010 tournament in South Africa, where the Black Stars of Ghana all but reached the semis. The Ghanaians were seconds away from becoming the first African country to finally progress beyond the quarter-finals, but for Asamoah Gyan’s penalty that skimmed the crossbar. The South Americans then ended the hopes of Africa by winning a truly extraordinary match 4-2 on penalties.

Despite their heartbreaking elimination, Africans celebrated Ghana for their spirited showing.

In Brazil 2014, aside Nigeria and Algeria, who recorded a win and draw to reach the Round of 16 after finishing

second in their respective groups, the remaining three African representatives were eliminated in the group stage. Like in South Africa, seven-time representatives Cameroon lost all their matches, conceding nine goals and scoring just one in the process of a dismal outing.

It was dejavu for Cote d’Ivoire as they failed to progress beyond the group stages in their third straight appearance at the mundial.

As for Ghana, who were seconds away from breaking the semi-final jinx in 2010, they begun their campaign on a rough note; conceding the tournament’s fastest goal and a stoppage-time goal to lose 2-1 to the United States.

But the Black Stars produced a strong showing against the eventual winners, Germany, with a two-all draw.

Overall, the continent presented five representatives, played 17

Despite their heartbreaking elimination, Africans celebrated Ghana for their spirited showing.

Photo Credit:Unsplash

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SPORTS

matches, won only two, lost 11 and shared the spoils on two occasions.

So, why have African teams failed to reach the last four at the FIFA World Cup? There are different lines of thought that may be responsible for this. One is the recurring decimal of rift between players and football administrators over nonpayment of appearance fees and bonuses.

Former World and European Player of the Year Liberia’s George Weah had blamed leaders of African football federations for the continent’s woes.

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“Former players govern European football while those without passion or knowledge of the game rule in Africa. Footballers rather than officials should travel business class on flights because they are the ones going to play,” Weah said in an interview with the UK Guardian before the last tournament.

Weah’s assertion was given credence in Brazil as Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria had issues with their players over appearance fees and bonuses during the tournament.

Togo went on strike over bonus money at 2006 tournament in Germany and the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) was forced to intervene.

Ghanian players boycotted training in protest at not receiving their allowances, the country’s government flew $3m (£1.8m) in cash to Brazil to salvage the row.

The football governing body had to step in again eight years later. The other line of thought is what some pundits perceive to be African players’ lack of commitment when in their countries’ colours.

In a similar vein, Nigerian players refused to train ahead of their Round of 16 showdown with France over fears they would not receive bonus payments from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The country’s President at the time, Goodluck Jonathan, had to step in.

There was a related issue with Cameroon, whose players refused to board their plane to South America because of a row over appearance fees. They arrived a day later than scheduled. Wait a minute, a flip through history shows the issue is not new.

Former England international John Barnes, who featured in Mexico ‘86 and Italia ‘90 finals, told Supersport that Africans must show the same desire and discipline when playing for their country as they do when playing for European clubs.

However, former Nigerian captain and coach, who featured in USA ‘94 and France ‘98 finals, Sunday Oliseh takes a rather different stand.

He believes the row over bonuses was not enough to

“We have done it; we have concluded negotiations and come to an agreement with the team with regards to bonuses, allowances and share of income from FIFA for the 2018 World Cup.

SPORTS

judge the players’ non-commitment to their national team.

“We have the quality. But what we need is a solution so that everyone is satisfied before the tournament starts. It’s going to be better for everyone if we don’t have to talk about off the pitch issues. Personally I find it very painful,” he had said after the tournament in Brazil.

The Super Eagles, Nigeria

To this end, the NFF has penned an agreement with Nigerian players over earnings during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“We have done it; we have concluded negotiations and come to an agreement with the team with regards to bonuses, allowances and share of income from FIFA for the 2018 World Cup,” said NFF vicepresident Shehu Dikko.

The Lions of The Atlas, Morroco

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Captain of the side, Mikel Obi, said it was the first time such an agreement was reached.

With this development, it is hoped the country’s football authorities and the players would carry out their duties in Russia without rancor as the need to reach a new height at the World Cup, after 28 years, cannot be overemphasised.

The Pharoahs, Egypt

The Eagles of Carthage, Tunisia

Photo Credit: Google

“We also agreed on preparation, such as how much players will be paid for the friendly matches, including how and when the monies would be paid. We are very happy and excited with this development,” Mikel said in November.

The Lions of Teranga, Senegal

HEALTH

“If you know better, you will do better’’ 64

Dr. Clara Onuigbo writes about the need for health education. She says we all regardless of age, social standing or level of education need health education. Sadly, a big gap exists in Nigeria as far as health information is concerned and this might be the reason we are having challenges with the populace as far as health is concerned.

Photo Credit: Unsplash

H

HEALTH

ealth Education is a profession of educating people about health.

Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health, as well as sexual and reproductive health education.

• Perhaps if we taught children early enough the signs of depression, so they can identify it and seek help we will have fewer teenage suicides.

Health Education can be defined as the principle by which individuals and groups of people learn to behave in a manner conducive to the promotion, maintenance or restoration of health. - Wikipedia

The secrecy and shame that comes with medical challenges will be removed.

The entire populace needs health education.

Parents need to know the signs and symptoms of addiction and depression.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health Education as comprising of consciously constructed opportunities for learning involving some form of communication designed to improve health, literacy, including improving knowledge and developing life skills which are conducive to individual and community health.

The communities need to be taught. We need to unlearn some of the wrong ideas handed over by tradition and beliefs.

One thing is clear and consistent in these definitions. There must be a deliberate, intentional effort to impart knowledge and skill. It most be effectively communicated to the target audience.

A big gap exists in Nigeria as far as health information is concerned and this might be the reason we are having challenges with the populace as far as health is concerned.

• Perhaps if we taught the teenagers about addiction and drug dependence before they are exposed to drugs, they will make better choices.

• Perhaps if the child was given appropriate sexuality education and the right to privacy and dignity, the sexual predators and pedophiles will not take advantage of them.

• Perhaps if we as a people were taught from childhood not to victimize or stigmatize people with medical challenges, all patients will have a better deal.

Government needs a planned, well articulated compulsory health education program in primary and secondary education. It must be detailed, relevant and practical and not necessarily culminating in certification.

Religious organizations have a role to play.... health education can be included in the Christian Sunday School and the Koranic/ Arabic lesson for Muslims.

“The slogan “if you know better, you will do better” is so real as far as health education and informed choices are concerned.

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HEALTH

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Where are the community health workers? Where are the sanitation inspectors?

Where are the health educators? What happened to the health enlightenment jingles we heard on the radio and TV in earlier years?

proper infant and child care.

The education system needs to come up with a robust health education curriculum at least at the UBE level. So that before the end of the first 12 or 6 years of basic education, the average Nigerian child is equipped with information that will enable him live a healthy life.

People need to be taught the proper way to treat those with health challenges.

To achieve this, professional health educators have to be employed and engaged in our primary and post primary schools. Our government has numerous programs on health. But they have not recorded as much success because of improper information dissemination.

Proper sexuality and reproductive health information will save a lot of families from misery. People need to be taught about HIV/ AIDS and prevention.

A more robust budget for health education should be encouraged at all levels of government.

Government should also partner with pharmaceutical companies and NGOs. Proper informed lifestyle choices will not only prevent diseases but improve the quality of life.

The slogan “if you know better, you will do better� is so real as far as health education and informed choices are concerned.

People need to be taught the benefits of immunization for instance.

People need to know why female genital mutilation is bad.

People need to be given a superior knowledge or argument to make then do away with harmful traditional practices like child marriage or female genital mutilation.

People need to be taught about safe and healthy maternal practices and

Dr. Clara Onuigbo is a Medical Practitioner. chiloby@yahoo.com

Photo Credit: Unsplash

A big gap exists in Nigeria as far as health information is concerned and this might be the reason we are having challenges with the populace as far as health is concerned.

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Events

ko o k n i y

By Iro

GTBank holds 2018 Edition of

Food and Drink Fair

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rom the promise of mouth-watering delicacies to the pleasures of wine tasting, the 2018 GTBank Food and Drink Fair surpassed the expectations of a lot of people who attended the event.

Guests at the 2018 GTBank Food and Drink Fair.

The three-day event brought together dozens of small businesses in Nigeria’s food sector, more than 12 internationally renowned chefs and food experts, with over 133 food vendors and thousands of ‘foodies’.

The event which was organised

by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc featured a series of Master Classes in the business of food and drink whilst treating attendees to a host of live cooking demonstrations by international and indigenous chefs.

The Cake Virtuoso, Elizabeth Solaru demonstrating how to properly level a cake with the use of an architectural equipment called the leveller.

Chef Imoteda, an alumnus of Le Cordon Bleu and co-owner of Eko Street Eat, demonstrating “the art of plating” while cooking Banga soup with canapes.

Picture Credits: GTBank

EVENTS

Lagos Bridal Fashion Week Debuts

T

he Lagos Bridal Fashion Week (LBFW), the first of its kind! A fashion event that hosted brides and grooms to-be, bridal stylists, designers, buyers and other stake-holders in the wedding industry under one roof.

The three-day event organised by Call Her Classic Fashion agency, aims to cater to the needs of weddings and showcase the latest in bridal fashion by indigenous designers,

with some international presentation. And this adds another feather to the progressive Nigerian fashion industry. The event featured master classes by professionals in the industry like (Mai Atafo, Yemi Osunkoya of Kosibah, Black Opal, Yinka Alli, to mention a few) to speak on topical issues like; picking the right wedding dress, to hosting a makeup session.

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A view of the cenetrestage.

Executive Governor of Ogun State, Governor Ibikunle Amosun shares pleasantries with Dele Momodu of Ovation and other dignitaries at the event.

Picture Credits: LBFW

Patrick Ayanski

EVENTS

Diamond Bank’s

TechFest 2018 Debuts

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he 2018 TechFest organised by Diamond Bank Plc held on the 15th & 16th of May 2018.

The event was used as an opportunity to bring together a community of likeminded individuals who are passionate about sharing ideas and new innovative ways to improve the Nigerian Tech scene.

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The event featured panel discussions from personalities making waves in their various professions. Every day, there are new advancements in technology that cut across all facets of our being. Be it in healthcare/ pharmaceuticals, transportation or business and TechFest served as a catalyst to emphasize the importance of collaborations and partnerships among entrepreneurs and willing investors.

The winner of the startup pitch competition ‘Battle of the Hubs’ was Beat Drone, a startup that provides tech solutions using drones and data to monitor farmland and prevent attacks on their livestock and crops.

The company took home the prize money of five million Naira.

Several industry players were at TechFest to interact with other stakeholders and attendees. From Interswitch to Microsoft to Deloitte and the host, Diamond Bank, the exhibition areas were abuzz with activity throughout the entire event.

Diamond Bank and other partners of the event presenting the winning prize of 5 million Naira to the winner of the Hub Competition, Beat Drone.

A view of the audience on one of the days.

School children all smiles after visiting one of the partners, Microsoft booth.

From left: Uzoma Dozie, Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc; Jason Njoku, Founder, Iroko Tv; Chris Ubosi, MD The Beat FM; Akin Alabi, Founder and CEO, NairaBet; Musical artist, Koko Master Dbanj; renowned photographer, Kelechi Amadi Obi. Picture Credits: Techfest

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