Emirates Aviation College honoured 197 graduates at its? graduation ceremony last Monday.

The students were awarded degrees across a multitude of disciplines including 13 UAE national graduates, who are also Emirates staff, received the higher national diploma in Computing and Software Engineering.

Additionally, the ceremony also commemorated 28 graduates from the postgraduate MBA programmes, 17 of who are Emirates staff, and all of whom are professionals working in the aviation, logistics, and IT fields.

“Our graduates reflect the diversity and achievement of the College’s global student body, coming from more than 16 nations such as the UAE, France, Germany, Russia, India and the Philippines, said Dr. Ahmad Al Ali, Vice-Chancellor, Emirates Aviation College.

“The variety of degree programmes which the graduates studied, many while still working full-time, illustrates how the College meets the educational needs of the UAE.”? “With the future plans to relocate the Emirates Aviation College to a completely new, state-of-the-art campus in Academic City, the College is well-positioned to takes its place as a recognised international institute for aviation studies,” he added.

As a testament to the Emirates Aviation College’s commitment to constantly offer new and industry-relevant programmes, during the next academic semester, the College will introduce two additional programmes; an MSc in Aviation Safety and a higher national diploma in Operations Engineering.
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Arik Air said it supports the Cabotage Bill, otherwise called the Fly Nigeria Bill, being packaged by some industry watchers because it will create an opportunity for the indigenous airlines to grow.

Arik Air Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ndulue, said some developed countries of the world have implemented such Act despite the fact that they have the best airlines in the world, adding that such Act would help to promote the growth as well as protect the indigenous airlines.

Speaking to aviation correspondents in Lagos at the weekend, at the company’s corporate office in Lagos, Ndulue called on the National Assembly to give the Act the required attention, stressing that its implementation apart from protecting indigenous airlines, would also help the country and the airlines to conserve foreign exchange as well as create employment for the population.
He said the airline was prepared to up its services to meet every challenge even as the service upgrade is a continuous thing for any airline.

“We are prepared in terms of the capacity. In terms of service level, we are ready to up our service level. We are training staff and retraining them.? We are young and we are growing”, said Ndulue.

Ndulue was speaking based on a statement by Olisa Agbakoba, who, explained that his firm was working on a bill that would use Arik Air, Air Nigeria and First Nation Airways as pilot carriers for the project that would? mandate legislation and legal instrument to be put in place to ensure that key government officials only fly Nigerian carriers.

Agbakoba, who explained that his firm was seeking the cooperation of aviation stakeholders, airlines, the National Assembly as well as the Federal Ministry of Aviation to see to the quick passage of the Cabotage Act, within the next two to four months, to enable Nigerian carriers tap into the huge market running into billions of dollars.

On the airline’s growing network, the managing director said that Arik Air would grow its international operations gradually to make it sustainable. He said, “We have a lot of capacity that Nigerians have not exhausted”, even as he said the airline plans to change the Boeing 737-800 it uses on the Abuja to London route into a bigger aircraft.

He also spoke on the interlining arrangement among indigenous airlines. According to him, the airlines still have to work out some issues like a clearing house, where issues pertaining to the reconciliation of transactions would be handled. He said that such factors will ensure there is transparency in its operations as required.
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Oracle Experience, one of the brand activation and experiential marketing outfits has emerged the winner of the Institute of Direct Marketing of Nigeria (IDMN) West Africa’s World Class Experiential Marketing Services Consultant of the year 2011.

Defeating frontline and renowned brand activation companies in the business to pick the coveted prize in Lagos, Oracle Experience was said to have maintained objectivity and integrity in executing most of its businesses in 2011.

According to the Chairman, Award Research and Technical Committee, Mr. Daniel Aloba, “Oracle Experience is considered the best in its field in 2011 not because of numbers of activations but because most of the activations, from planning to execution were found to be seamless, thorough and impacting on the brands.”

Responding to the award, the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Oracle Experience Limited, Mr. Felix Eiremiokhae said, “When we started Oracle seven (7) years ago, our vision was to be number one and our mission was to ensure that any brand we work on achieve its set? objectives. Helping brands achieve their set goals has become my life and this is what I have lived for in the past 13 years.? If I look back to my? first five?? years of? industry experience and the things I did and how it all ended, I was encouraged to do the things industry watchers think are magical? today and it just kept expanding my horizon and approach in activating brand specifics.”

Eiremiokhae, who said he was surprised to be voted, added “honestly, I did not expect it, not because we have not worked hard enough, but because it has never crossed my mind for a second.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it would auction digital licence in the 2.3GigaHertz (GHz) and 2.6GHz spectra to increase broadband access and make internet pervasive across the country in 20112.

Dr. Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC disclosed that the Commission would auction the remainder of the 2.3GHz that it started auctioning in 2010. Currently, the telecom regulator is conducting an audit of all spectra within its jurisdiction.

Juwah revealed that NCC was “Constrained to auction some of the slots that are remaining in the 2.3 gigahertz. We have a plan about the Digital Dividend where maybe some of the incumbents that are there now will gain. We are also looking at the 2.6GHz frequency which today is not in the custody of the NCC, but the NBC (National Broadcasting Commission) and we are discussing with the National Frequency Management Council on these frequencies.

Juwah added “We believe that by the time we conclude all these discussions there would be enough frequency to licence, to be able to add to fibre development to create a good broadband development in Nigeria.”

He stated that modern fixed telephony was deployed through broadband and is part of NCC’s broadband project to ensure that as the Commission is empowering the private sector, providing incentive to the private sector to create broadband centres in Nigeria, this will go in hand with the restoration of fixed telephony to complement the mobile networks that we have.

“We cannot start giving out fixed line licences when we have not deployed our broadband project. So, we are about to start deploying and creating an infrastructure sector in the Nigerian telecoms industry, that will be able to create the opportunity for us to issue fixed wire licences to revive the fixed line telephony that has been in comatose in Nigeria,” he added.

In May 2010, NCC licenced Mobitel and Spectranet to operate on the 2.3GHz spectrum and provide broadband services using worldwide interoperability for mobile access (WiMax) technology to cloud the cities of operation.

Since the advent of the telecom boom especially, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Nigerians have, without apologies to mobile operators, come to accept poor quality of service as an additional burden they have to bear.
Although the regulator has emphasised that it should not be so.

In the last quarter of 2011, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) threatened to deal with mobile telecommunication service providers for not meeting its quality of service (QoS) targets. The regulator had then threatened to hit the hammer on MTN Nigeria, Glo and Airtel Nigeria for poor service provisioning.

By December, NCC after conducting further tests using new equipment it imported, let the three GSM operators off the hook with warnings that they should not to toy with the quality of service and customers’ expectations. On December 19, 2011, the NCC released the results of its latest Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which covered January to November 2011.

The KPIs measured by the Commission included Call Set Up Success Rate (CSSR), Call Completion Rate (CCR), Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel and Handover Success Rate (SDCCH), Call Data Rate (CDR) and Traffic Channel Congestion With or Without Handover (TCHCon).
The results of NCC’s December tests showed that of the four GSM operators, Etisalat was top in four of the five thresholds used in measuring quality of service. Among the CDMA mobile operators, Visafone was top followed by Starcomms while Multi-Links and ZOOMmobile had the worst quality service thresholds measured.

The report signed by Dr. B M. Sani, Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity Department, NCC, rated operators on Excellent, Good, Improvement, Fluctuation, Poor, Slight Decay and Mostly Steady Below Threshold on the KPIs.

Sani stated that “Improvement does not mean the new key performance indicator threshold is met; it meant that the trend to reach the threshold is progressing towards the set target of the indicator, taking into consideration the challenges the operators are facing today.” Apart from Etisalat, the other three GSM operators fell short of the NCC KPI thresholds although there were some improvements unlike in September-October 2011 when their networks’ quality was in bad shape.

Sometimes one wonders why a new entrant provides better quality service than other operators who have been in the market since the past 10 years. Why is Etisalat different? The difference is in Etisalat’s determination to ensure that subscribers are not disappointed in terms of quality of service that it renders. In December, NCC rated it Nigeria’s favorite network.

Since entering Nigeria three years ago, Etisalat has adopted a telecom infrastructure model of co-location, hybrid power, sharing of transmission backbones and sales and leaseback of towers which have helped it reduce capital expenditure (Capex) and operational expenditure (Opex), investing $2.46 billion,? thereby benefiting? customers through reductions of tariffs, increased coverage of networks, as well as greater profitability for the operators.

Recently, Mr. Steve Evans, CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, warned his operators on the financial drainage they may experience if they continue to control everything needed in providing telecom service. He advised operators to embark on a number of operational efficiency initiatives such as optimising retail outlet formats and migrating to over-the-air recharges for prepaid customers.

For years, Nigeria has tried to make a head way in global information technology, especially playing a role in the emerging electronic market presently dominated by the Western nations and a few developing nations like China, India and Brazil.

With a huge population, the country knows it cannot compete with the established nations without a very good human capital platform.

Having missed the industrial age, it hopes to capitalise on its huge population to compete in the growing software market. However, Nigerian youths have faced obstacles on many fronts in their desire to become software developers.

These obstacles include lack of encouragement in purchasing local software from the public and private sectors, lack of support in investing in their ideas and a difficult environment competing with foreign software.
With the right training and capacity building,? youths in Nigeria will not only be able to develop the necessary skills that will enable them innovate and create software applications to be reckoned with, but it will also enable them establish IT businesses that can? thrive and make a difference.

So last week in Lagos, technology giants like Microsoft, Google, IBM, CNBC Africa and Visafone, supported by the Ministry of Communications Technology, came under the platform of Youth Empowerment and ICT Foundation to harness the best brains among Nigerian youths for software? exports through the first Android Developer Conference.
It was not strange that over 2,500 youths gathered to learn how to be software developers and what steps they need to harness their skills into becoming the next generation of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerbergs, founders of Microsoft and Facebook respectively, who today have changed the world with their technological inventions.

Mr. Jim Ovia, Chairman, Youth Empowerment and ICT Foundation , said the Android Developer Conference was aimed at identifying at least 350 Nigerian software developers whose applications can compete in the global software marketplace and positioning.

Ovia, founder of Visafone and co-founder, Zenith Bank Plc., who is passionate about the Nigerian youths, has his eyes set on grooming young software entrepreneurs that will rule the world with the applications. His target is to get 350 software developers, with the best 10 getting N5 million each from the Jim Ovia Foundation, to package their applications to be commercially viable and exportable.
Miss Nmachi Jidenma, Project Coordinator, Google Africa, said that there were? lots of opportunities in software applications development, noting that Google was in Nigeria to increase sustainable internet ecosystem through a long term approach? by working with youths to build? future applications and future software entrepreneurs.?

According to Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology, who declared the event open, the Nigerian youths? are dynamic, hardworking, entrepreneurial in nature and hungry for technology, and if given the chance and the enabling environment to develop their inherent skills, will not only thrive, but will make Nigerians and Africans proud.

“We have seen the results of what their exposure to ICT can do with the remarkable achievement of some of our youths who have excelled in several local and international software competitions,” she said. Developing a vibrant software industry does more than reduce this heavy import bill, it creates jobs especially in the young population, she said.

To make Nigeria, a software exporter, our government and stakeholders in the software industry need to ensure that the software being developed is fit for the purpose, relevant, of high quality, properly documented and meets up-to-date software development skills – including solution architecting and testing.?

There is need to facilitate the process of moving from innovation and ideas? to business viability and commercialisation – in other words ensuring that ideas for software applications are viable and bankable; reducing the exploitation of software developers through the enforcement of intellectual property rights and copyrights? and finally, providing sources of funding that are more appropriate for software enterprenuers, that is, venture capitalists and not the traditional collateral-based lending.

The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe, has stated that the Kashimbilla/ Gamovo multi-purpose Dam when completed in 2014, would add 40 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.

The Dam has the capacity to supply water of 60,000m3 per day for 400,000 people, irrigation of 2,000 hectares of farmland, including tourism and fishery potentials which would also alleviate poverty.

Ochekpe made the disclosure while inspecting the level of work on the dam alongside the Minister of State for Power, Darius Dickson Ishaku, and reiterated the determination of government to complete the project on time as promised, adding that government would ensure timely release of funds with the passage of the 2012 budget.

The minister promised to ensure timely release of funds for the hydropower component of the dam. He said with hard work and dedication on the part of the contractors and if the tempo of work was maintained, Nigeria can look forward to an additional 40 megawatts to the national grid which, “would be another step towards our hope of having uninterrupted light in Nigeria”

Ochekpe expressed her satisfaction at the level of work on the construction of Kashimbilla/ Gamovo multi-purpose buffer dam and associated structures.? “There is three times more? progress and massive improvement than what we saw three months ago.” She expressed optimism that if the tempo of work was maintained the contractors will be able to complete the work at the specified date”.

The minister noted that the turbines, irrigation components and reservoirs were some of the outstanding works which would ensure that the teeming youths were gainfully employed.

In his remarks, Ishaku said that though the hydropower component of the dam was just starting, he was however satisfied with the concrete work that has been done and expressed optimism that there would be substantial improvement by the end of 2012.

Mr Ifeanyi Ubah, Managing Director, Capital Oil and Gas, on Monday said that the NNPC/Capital Oil and Gas “Kero-Direct Initiatives”, have started operating in ten States.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the direct sale of kerosene across the States, under the Kero-Direct Scheme, was put together by the NNPC in partnership with Capital Oil and Gas.

Ubah said that the scheme has generated additional direct distribution, thus making Nigerians have more access to the product.

He listed the States where the scheme has covered to include Ondo, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Kano and Jigawa.

“We have commenced the sale of kerosene directly to the people at the grassroots in about ten States of the federation.

“The NNPC/Kero-Direct scheme has continued its spread throughout Nigeria, with the distribution of kerosene to end users at N50 per litre,’’ he said.

Ubah said that the scheme had generated employment for 557 youths, while another 158 youths would be employed to extend the sales to more States.

Some European tourism companies have expressed interest in exploring Nigeria’s tourism potential, Otunba Segun Runsewe, Director General of the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation has said.

Runsewe, who just returned from this year’s World Toursim Fair, held in Madrid, Spain, named Eventolicks, a world-class tour packaging company, based in Madrid, Spain as one firm that had indicated interest in exploring the abundant tourism opportunities in Nigeria.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Monday that the outfit was interested in “packaging tours to Nigeria for different categories of its clients’’.

Runsewe quoted Mr Javier Arambarri, the company’s representative at the fair, as describing Nigeria’s tourism potential as “great and attractive’’.

The Madrid fair, which was attended by 172 countries, brought together countries and private industry practitioners from all over the world.
The Director General, who reviewed activities at the fair, said that Nigeria’s participation opened a lot of opportunities for the country to sell its massive potential to European nations.
“Apart from the Spanish firm, many other companies have indicated interest in coming to Nigeria to explore the vast opportunities.

“We have been working towards bringing as many of them as possible, so that they will see the opportunities and select which area best suits their interests,’’ he said.

He said that tourism would play its role in the transformation agenda of the present administration to improve the economy, adding that the sector had the potential to rake in much funds, if effectively explored.

“What we are doing is to make our presence felt at such international fairs. We are happy that the efforts are bearing the desired fruits.
“And in line with the peace efforts in Plateau State between NTDC and the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff, I will suggest the State as a possible destination to Eventoclick,’’ he said.

He reiterated the need to invest more in the tourism sector, so as to open a vista of investment opportunities to improve the economy by diversifying to areas hitherto, left untapped.
“Tourism has become even more crucial with the need to show the rest of the world that Nigeria is not as bad as was painted. The country is ever ready to receive tourists from all over the world.’’

NAN reports that Africa’s representatives at the Madrid fair adopted a suggestion for an African Tourism Promotion Initiative (ATPI).
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The projection of the Nigerian Stock Exchange to grow market capitalisation in 2016 to $1trillion (N150 trillion) might be a wide dream going by the current security challenges in the country and the dwindling fortunes of the stock market occasioned by dearth of liquidity.

While urging the federal government to be more apt and proactive in handling the menace of insecurity in the country, some operators who spoke to LEADERSHIP exclusively at the weekend noted that most investors were exiting the nation’s capital market to other emerging markets in the continent due to the growing security challenge in the country, hence, posing a serious threat to efforts put in place so far by the regulators to attract foreign direct investments.

They argued that the few foreign investors that have decided to play in the Nigerian stock market after the exit of their counterpart have begun offloading their shares massively due to the fear of losing their portfolio.
Speaking on the achievability of the target, the Managing Director, Crane Securities Limited, Mr. Mike Eze, who expressed worry over the current situation in the stock market, said unless the government focuses its attention on the market and tackles the rising wave of insecurity in the country the projection will be a mirage.

Eze also expressed optimism that if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) focuses on the capital market as promised, the market could be in the path of glory to achieve the target.

He noted that that the liquidity squeeze in the market has made it difficult for the market to thrive, adding that for the market to recover from losses incurred during the unprecedented lull in the stock market, government must provide fresh fund as a bailout for the market.
‘’We have tried everything within our powers and the market is stubbornly holding on. There is need for government to come and bail out the market. They did same in the aviation and textile industries, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) did same with the banks , why can’t they bail out the market which is the engine room of the economy.

“They should provide the intervention fund to mop up the excess shares that are in circulation. That is the only thing that can help this market to come up again.

Eze noted that CBN intervened in the bank, cleaned up their balance sheet, took away the excess shares they bought through margin loans and gave them back the monetary equivalent. What about the stock market, can’t same be done in the stock market?”
The managing director lamented the inability of government to find a lasting solution to the high rate of insecurity in the country.

He noted that the insecurity in the country was having a multiplier effect on the stock market, adding that it is a contributory factor to the unprecedented lull being witnessed in the market.

“It instills instability in the market. It is putting fear in the mind of everybody and scares foreign investors from us. To a large extent, it is having serious effect on the market.

“Government should get hold of people behind this and get them sanctioned. They should also dig deep to find out those sponsoring them and bring them to book,” he advised.
The president of the Progressive Shareholders Association, Mr. Boniface Okezie, said the way and manner the exchange was being run would make it impossible to achieve the target.

Okezie noted that the affairs of the NSE were still run through the interim administration planted in the Council which according to him, was scaring both the local and foreign investors from taken position in the stock market.

He also lamented the high rate of insecurity in the country, saying that the current situation could not attract investment in the country, but rather impedes it.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has apologised for the decay in infrastructure at the nation’s airports, adding that infrastructure at the airports was not developed in line with the increase in traffic.

FAAN’s Managing Director, Mr. George Uriesi, who spoke to journalists on Saturday at the Presidential Lounge of the Lagos Airport, said,” We left the development of the infrastructure too late. We have gone beyond the capacity.

The infrastructure has not been developed along with the traffic”.

He said FAAN would implement what he described as broad/specific security plans across all the airports, adding that the airport authority had got the financial support required to bring in new security equipment to enable it upgrade what is currently on ground.

The FAAN Managing Director also said the authority would work towards installing air field lighting system in all the airports where they are lacking.

He said it was unacceptable to build runways without installing airfield lighting in them, adding that once the Federal Government approves the FAAN budget for the year, the authority would work towards installing lighting systems at the domestic runway of the Lagos Airport as well as other airports where they are lacking.

On the over N20 billion owed FAAN by concessionaires, airlines and other airport users, Ureisi said the airport authority was aggressively implementing the debt recovering process, adding that some of the creditors were responding positively.

“So many things have been done in the past to aid the debt recovery efforts. We are aggressively pursuing our money. We have a score card, we are a business.
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Omatek Computers Plc is planning to invest billions of naira on a new solar panel and electric bulb factory in the country.

? This development is aimed at consolidating on the company’s achievements and its extensive presence in Nigeria.

The company, which clocked 25 years, last December, remains the only quoted computer company on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE). It has led the increasingly competitive Nigerian ICT market as the only company in East, West and Central Africa that produces computers and casings from completely knocked down (CKD) components.

Managing Director and CEO of Omatek Ventures Plc, Mrs. Florence Seriki, in Lagos at the weekend, while announcing a new phase of growth for the company, said the new factory that will take off immediately will have new solar panel and LED bulbs and lighting plants.

According to her, “Our 24 hour Solar/Inverter/battery hybrid solution is a great innovation and is pioneered by Omatek and the first of its kind in Africa. This by itself is major? revenue to providing 24 hour light and power to homes, offices, schools, hospitals and hotels among others.”

Seriki added that “Lighting and Power Solutions were provided via this solution in conjunction with special Omatek LED bulbs. These Bulbs last three to five years without maintenance and our regular 42W Flourescent bulbs had been reduced to 9W for 2ft and 13W for 4ft bulbs; thus reducing consumption by over 85 per cent.”

Tidying up on its financials with funding instruments from offshore and local partners, Omatek, which recorded over a billion naira turnover in 2011 from not just its existing computer products, but also from its newly innovating products such as the 24 hour Solar/Inverter/battery Hybrid Solutions sold to schools, offices and homes, said it was re-kitting its financial base to enable it consolidate and expand its portfolio of services available through its Consumer Scheme Finance? and Omatek Resource Centres.