Education
A Dirge to the Nigerian Research and Education Network
By Austin Okere
“Nigerian government reverses resumption of schools, says no WAEC exam for now.” was the screaming headline in the Premium Times on July 10, 2020.
The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, announced during a media briefing on July 6 that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) examination will now take place between August 4 and September 5. In swift contradiction, the education minister, Adamu Adamu, speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari, said Nigerian schools will not reopen any time soon “until it is safe to do so because of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
The situation at the tertiary level is not any better, as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) through an interview of their President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi with the Punch Newspaper on June 16, 2020 has declared that E-Learning cannot work in Nigeria. It seems that Prof. Ogunyemi totally overlooked Private schools in his pronouncement; many of whom have completed the syllabus for the current term through online classes at home.
The Ausso Leadership Academy (#ALA), foremost institution providing mentorship to Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs to scale their businesses geometrically has transitioned her models and frameworks online and continues to impact companies with game changing ideas to thrive now and beyond. Far afield, both Harvard and Princeton have announced plans to bring back students for the fall semester, albeit, all course instruction will be delivered online, including for students living on campus. Coursera is partnered with 192 institutions from 43 countries and offering more than 3,200 online courses in 13 languages.
The irony is that Nigerian Universities would have had six years of leapfrog experience in online learning if we had taken the opportunity presented by the NgREN and consolidated on the budding shoots. But like most opportunities that come our way, we display gross unpreparedness and unprecedented nonchalance in the face of opportunity cost to our future generations.
The COVID-19 pandemic is real, and we have to take all necessary precautions and follow social distancing and other protocols advised by the Nigeran Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). But not knowing how long it will last, we cannot put our lives on permanent pause. We have to adjust to the new normal and get on with it. Companies like Zoom and Amazon have understood this and have ended up net beneficiaries.
I wrote this article four years ago when it seemed that the NgREN will become an abandoned project, and another of the many white elephant projects dotting our landscape.
What can we learn from this in order to forestall a reoccurrence?
One of the proudest moments in the history of the Nigerian Education sector was the successful implementation and commissioning of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN).
Being the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, the pomp and pageantry that accompanied the unveiling event seemed justified and earned. The network which boasted 465mbps of internet capacity represented 20 times the average connectivity capacity leveraged by the universities. This was a project conceptualized, deployed and managed by Nigerians under a consortium of indigenous companies including CWG Plc, Airtel, Medalion, Resourcery, and Phase 3; finally, a project for us by us.
The idea of the NgREN was conceptualized as far back as 2004. After a long period of dormancy, it was revived under the auspices of the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and the Committee of Vice Chancellors (CVC) in January 2010.The objective was for a Research and Education Network that will connect all Higher Institutions of Learning together, and to the global Research and Education Network. The achievement made Nigeria the first in sub-Saharan Africa to join the league of countries in Europe and America that had functional Online Research & Education Networks.
A catalytic fund was secured from the World Bank as grant, and counterpart funding by the Federal Government of Nigeria in mid-2012 for the first phase of the project, while the procurement cycle was concluded in February 2013.
The first phase of the project which connected 27 Universities, the CVC and the NUC, with over one million users, delivered 155mbps capacity to each university and connected to the Multiprotocol Layered Switch core network, which had a 10Gbps capacity, as well as 465mbps internet capacity, providing high definition telepresence capabilities for real-time collaboration, voice over internet protocol, shared access to research content and joint experimentation projects.
The second phase was planned to cover five more clusters of about 100 institutions and five million users. Subsequent phases were to cover all higher education institutes numbering over 600. The network was to be connected to the London Open Exchange via an international private leased circuit, and offer additional services such as web hosting, unified communication, digital library collection, video bridging and archiving services.
This indeed would have afforded Nigerian Universities the opportunity to take a quantum leap in online learning, and significantly improve their low ranking in quality and reach of teaching and research output, and thereby bringing them closer to their global peers. But alas, this was not to be; as the much heralded NgREN has been shut down for over eleven months due to non-payment of the segment bandwidth fees. The consortium of local providers however, left all the equipment intact in good faith, awaiting the provision of bandwidth to restore services.
Apart from the immense benefit in value and global trends, the economies of scale of the project saved the universities immense costs, as embarking individually on such a project would be grossly sub-optimal and prohibitively expensive.
Nigeria has a long history of poor project execution and abandonment. According to journalists Chuka Uroko and Joshua Bassey, in the past couple of years alone, it is estimated that over 11,886 federal government projects with an estimated value of N7.7trillion have been abandoned.
Should we start singing a funeral dirge to a well conceptualized and implemented system as the NgREN, with all its benefits after spending so much tax payers’ money on it? By this action of omission or commission we would have inadvertently reversed the solid gains made in the broadband transformation agenda and shut our youth from critical online learning and the emerging digital economy.
The importance of broadband to online learning, the digital economy and social development cannot be overemphasized. This is underscored by the open letter from the Global Broadband Commission to the G20 leaders’ meeting as far back as 2012, wherein they enumerated the importance of broadband in moving the global economy onto a higher growth trajectory, and in generating sustainable, social and economic growth of all nations, especially literacy development to address inequity and deliver inclusive growth for all.
In particular, they argued that broadband enabled technologies are simulating fresh innovation and inspiring a new generation of digital entrepreneurs. The digital era will produce a whole new range of digital careers and industries of the future. Broadband reduces barriers to entry, offering opportunities for small and medium enterprises to challenge existing hierarchies, to innovate, compete and grow.
The targets of the NgREN were to make broadband universal among our youth in higher institutions and their surrounding communities, make it affordable, connect homes and businesses, and get more people online. In essence, it would have enabled our institutions to have the same opportunities to learning as those in the developed world, and impacted their communities as is currently witnessed in places such as Silicon Valley in America.
With such nonchalance to educational development in our country, it is no surprise that none of our local universities is included in the ranking of the world’s best 1,000. Tertiary education in Nigeria has suffered from long periods of neglect to the extent that parents would rather take their Children to countries like Ghana, UK, US and Canada.
It is estimated that Nigerians studying in British and American Universities have spent over N137billion on tuition and living expenses in the last two academic sessions. If the over 71,000 Nigerian students who pay tuition fees in Ghana were to contribute the N160billion they spend annually, they would account for about 40 per cent of the Nigerian education budget. According to Mr. Ian Stewart, a member of the British Parliament, there are about 30,000 Nigerian students in the UK alone.
In the wake of the expressed resolve of the Muhammadu Buhari led federal government to make public institutions more accountable and responsive to the needs of the society, it is expedient to immediately revive the NgREN project, and in the medium to long term properly situate it, including exploring Private, Public Partnership (PPP) to ensure that this laudable project does not die an avoidable death. We should as a nation learn to stop being wasteful in the face of acute scarcity and make the most of our scare resources.
Austin Okere is the Founder of CWG Plc, the largest security in the technology sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at CBS, New York. Austin also serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Business School Network, and on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Innovation and Intrapreneurship. Austin now runs the Ausso Leadership Academy focused on Business and Entrepreneurial Mentorship
Twenty media professionals across the country have been selected for the maiden Media Innovation Programme by MTN Nigeria in partnership with the School of Media and Communications, Pan-Atlantic University.
The six-month fully funded fellowship is for innovative storytellers and media leaders that will equip them with new skills needed to function in the rapidly changing media world.
The MTN Media Innovation Programme began on May 23, 2022 and will run until October 28, 2022. The MTN-MIP Fellows cut across print, broadcast, online and social media.
Wondering who the 2022 MTN-MIP Fellows are? See their bios below!
- Abidemi Diaro
Abidemi Dairo is a Senior producer/reporter with Channels Television and has been reporting on the showbiz industry since November 2008. He is a seasoned journalist with a background in traditional print media. Before transiting to broadcast, Dairo received certification in journalism and special reporting from the Timbuktu Media Training Institute.
From movies to music, fashion and general lifestyle stories, he has reported from within and outside the shores of the country and has interviewed celebrities from Nigeria and abroad.
He has displayed exemplary knowledge of the showbiz industry and has been featured as a subject matter analyst on some other media platforms. He currently produces the daily Entertainment News on Channels Television.
- Adeyemi Adepetun
Adeyemi Adepetun is the Assistant Editor, Communications and Technology Desk at The Guardian Newspaper. He holds both an MSc and BSc in Mass Communications; MBA in Finance and HND in Banking and Finance. He is also an Associate of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (ANIPR).
Adeyemi has 15 years of journalism experience and nine years specifically in the reportage of information and communications technology (ICT). On the ICT desk, he has written several stories that have shaped the sector and equally set the agenda for government at the different levels.
He is a well-travelled journalist, within and outside Africa, for training, and coverage of telecoms, ICT and business conferences. He has also won several industry recognitions and awards. He is currently the MTN Telecoms Reporter of the Year 2020 at the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA). Adeyemi is married with kids. He is gentle, inquisitive, helpful and loves reading and travelling.
- Agbonkhese Oboh
Agbonkhese Oboh is a hands-on and motivated team player. He is an expert communicator, writer and editor.
He is Deputy Online Editor – currently acting as Online Editor – of Vanguard Newspapers. He has a strong background in newspaper publication, networking in the media space and creating a presence in the multi-media space.
Currently, he is getting grounded in videography, video and photo editing, digital reporting, audience interaction and engagement and specific writing for a specific online audience.
He has a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mass Communication, Auchi Polytechnic; Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, both in Literature-in-English. The first is from Lagos State University (LASU), and the other, the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Agbonkhese has been commended for his emotional intelligence and enjoys learning and teaching.
- Ameh Ejekwonyilo
Ameh Ejekwonyilo is a Senior Reporter on the Judiciary, Human Rights and Anti-corruption Desk of Premium Times Newspaper. He is also a joint winner of Premium Times’ Best Story of the Year 2021.
Ameh is also a 2021 grantee of the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists, which was sponsored by the National Geographic Society, Washington, U.S.
He writes on the impacts of violent conflicts on vulnerable people.
He applied for the MTN Nigeria Media Innovation Programme (MIP) with hopes to acquire innovative skills in the telecommunications sector. He also sought to be a part of the MIP in order to horn his journalistic skills with a view to exploring entrepreneurial opportunities in the media and technology industry.
- Chima Akwaja
Chima Akwaja is the Technology Editor of Leadership.. He elevates ICT reporting in Nigeria with major exclusives, breaking news, and incisive and carefully researched feature articles.
Popularly called “The HOD”, Chima has covered numerous ICT events across the globe. His working experiences cut across National Newspapers, International Tech Magazines and Online Media. He was a Lead Contributor to the INVEST IN NIGERIA 2010 Handbook, a foreign investment publication for Nigerian High Commission, United Kingdom.
Chima is a winner of the 2006 AISI Media Awards of the ECA/AISI/IICD; 2009 IT Champion Award by the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN); ICT Journalist of the Year at the Titans of Tech 2019 Awards; Most Outstanding ICT Editor 2019 and ICT Editor of the Decade 2020 at the Africa Digital Awards respectively.
Chima holds M.A and B.Sc degrees in Mass Communications from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Imo State University, Owerri (IMSU). He has attended training sessions at Pan Atlantic University, and the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ), among others.
- Damilola Fajinmi
Damilola Fajinmi is a Media & Communications Professional with a demonstrated history of over eight years working in the media production industry. She is a radio broadcaster, content creator, voice actor, and scriptwriter, and is also skilled in marketing communications, and media buying.
Dami Faj as she is called by her faves is a family and health enthusiast. This passion led to the creation of her radio shows; Parenting Conversations with Dami Faj on Beat 97.9 FM Ibadan and Sabi Ya Health. She also co-anchors Toko Taya (Mr & Mrs ) an indigenous program on Naija 102.7 Ibadan.
She is outgoing and very energetic with strong communication and interpersonal skills. She is a well-organised professional with a track record that demonstrates self-motivation, creativity and initiative to achieve corporate and personal goals. In November 2021 she won an award for best performance in Media Plan Compliance in the southwest region.
Damilola is interested in young adults and she enjoys helping them discover who they are so they can think bigger and build better.
Damilola loves music, podcasts and checklists and loves to learn and apply. She enjoys quiet moments, reading, watching movies and spending quality time with her family.
- Daniel Adeyemi
Daniel Adeyemi is curious about how technology is impacting the lives of Africans. As a senior reporter at TechCabal, Daniel writes mostly about big tech and high growth companies operating in Africa. He shares insights from investors in the African ecosystem through his bi-monthly column, Ask an Investor.
Before joining TechCabal, he spent the past 4 years working in the tech and consulting industry as an Accountant. Outside work, Daniel spends his time reading, playing/watching soccer, volunteering with the TEDxLagos team and occasionally painting masterpieces.
He applied for the Media Innovation Programme in order to gain an expanded view of the media space and to become more valuable to his organisation and society.
- Elsie Godwin
Elsie Godwin is a versatile Media Personality – TV/Radio Presenter & Producer, Blogger, Writer, Conversationalist, Content Creator, Facilitator and Marketing, Brands & Corporate Communication Specialist. She is a Co-Anchor & Co-Producer on WAYS Show Africa showing weekdays on DSTV CH 408/Startimes Ch 308/GOTV Ch 112 and the producer and Anchor of Reviews on the Couch.
Her passion for creating content and impactful conversation led her into broadcasting where she has interviewed over 300 successful businessmen and women, across different industries in Nigeria, Africa & Beyond. She is passionate about telling stories of and having conversations with successful people in order to help shape the Nigerian and African narrative and to mentor the younger generation.
In her capacity as a media influencer, she works closely with media agencies (BHM, Plaqad, H+K Strategies, DottsMedia, Alder Consulting, Anakle, etc) to help create and share amazing brand stories. She’s also a Google influencer affiliate.
- Esther Ndu
Esther Ndu is a News Producer currently working at Arise News. She co-produces the mid-day news, the exchange news and the entertainment news daily. In addition to her day job as a journalist, she is also a member of the board of trustees in a private primary school.
Esther believes in broadcasting authentic news in a simple and easy to understand manner. She has been named producer of the year and is reliable when given tasks.
Esther holds a BA in Classics from the University of Ibadan and a professional certificate in Basic Presentation from the National Broadcast Academy, Nigeria. She is always seeking knowledge in order to impact her generation meaningfully, as she believes that everything should be done to better humankind and honour God.
She joined the Media Innovation Programme in order to learn more about the nexus between information and communication technology and how to use these to improve the media sector in Nigeria.
She loves children and hopes to write about them. She also cherishes her quiet time.
- Mike Okwoche
Mike Okwoche is an award-winning international broadcast journalist. He is a Senior Anchor and Head of Newscasters at Television Continental (TVC) in Lagos, Nigeria.
He is a graduate of Public Administration from the University of Maiduguri in Borno State. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the National Open University of Nigeria.
He is an Associate Lecturer at the Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Lagos as an instructor on Broadcast Presentation. He is the Country Director of media and communications for Mater Africa, an international NGO on humanitarian aid based in Italy and Nigeria.
He is an Alumnus of the United States International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP), a program he ran in Washington DC, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina and California.
He has bagged the Newscaster of the Year award by the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) in 2019. He also won the Nigeria Broadcasters Merit Award (NBMA) in 2014.
He was the project coordinator of the Media Literacy campaign for the U.S. Department of State in Nigeria which was administered by AlumniTIES in Washington DC.
Mike is the President of the United States Government Exchange Alumni Association in Nigeria, an association created by the United States Mission in Nigeria to rally U.S. exchange alumni members in partnership to cause positive social change wherever they are.
He is the founder of Rewired Africa Media Network, a media content agency passionate about civic education, training, advocacy and mentoring in Nigeria.
He is married to Emem Okwoche with two lovely daughters, Elsie and Eliana.
- Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen
Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen is the Founder and Lead Strategist at TenticP Communications Nigeria Limited. She is a seasoned journalist and media practitioner with over 14 years of experience in the Media industry. She is currently the Managing Editor, AP News published by TenticP Communications.
Nahimah has a keen history of working in the media industry with excellent skill demonstrations in Corporate Communications, Strategic Planning, Marketing Communication, News Writing and Editing as well as Advocacy/ Communication for Social Change.
Having worked previously with Daily Trust newspapers covering several sectors of the Nigerian economy, she has deep knowledge of the nation’s business environment and social, cultural and political landscape.
Nahimah holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Lagos and is currently a PhD student at the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo.
She is widely travelled for both local and international workshops and training.
- Peter Oluka
Oluka, Peter Ikenna is a practising ICT Journalist; Technopreneur, and Speech Writer, amongst other Media & Public Relations interests.
He is currently running TechEconomy.ng, a digital news platform that focuses on Business-People-Platforms-Institutions leveraging technology to enhance productivity and challenge the quantum of inadequacies in emerging economies like Nigeria/Africa.
Prior to that, he worked at the Nigeria CommunicationsWeek – a medium with a penchant for ICT reportage – as a Senior Reporter.
Peter started his mainstream journalism in 2010 with the Nigerian NewsDirect Newspaper based in Ogun State.
He also co-founded GrassRoots.ng, a news platform rooted in speaking for the global citizen. He also superintended the launch of NewsRepublic247.com.
Peter is currently the Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Njalo.ng; an online marketplace for ‘Classified’.
He obtained PGD (Mass Communications) from NOUN in 2015 and HND (Mass Communication) from the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu in 2008.
Peter describes his quest for journalism and media practices as exceptional.
- Rasaq Ayinla
Razaq Adesanya Ayinla is a journalist with over 15 years of practice. He has valuable experience in both Broadcast and Print Journalism. He began his career as a Graduate Intern at Cub Reporter and graduated as Staff Reporter, Proof-Reader, Assistant Editor, Regional Editor and News Editor.
He currently prepares, collates and edits news stories and features from Southwest and Kwara States. He edits and produces news across western Nigeria for BusinessDay and makes daily editorial contributions to the paper’s general and specialised pages.
- Sakina Ahmed
Sakina Ahmed began her career in broadcast journalism when she was employed by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria as an Assistant Translator and posted to one of its FM stations in Yola in 2011.
She is currently working as a Reporter for Fombina FM Yola with a passion for reporting on health, the environment and women and girl child rights.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Language and Communication Arts from Modibbo Adamawa University, Yola
She applied for the MTN Media innovation program to gain the required innovative skills needed to recognize opportunities that will help her improve her career prospects and equally be an important contribution to society.
- Samson Akintaro
Samson Akintaro is a seasoned journalist with a knack for technology reporting. Akintaro started his journalism career in 2005 at the now-defunct Financial Standard Newspaper, from where he was drafted to the ICT Desk as a young reporter.
Being a versatile reporter, he joined another special publication, Stockswatch, in 2008, where he became a Capital Market correspondent for the paper. However, his love of tech reporting saw him move to a specialised and one of the leading ICT Magazines in the country, IT & Telecom Digest, in April 2011.
At IT & Telecom Digest, he rose from the position of a reporter to become a senior editorial staff of the publication, taking responsibility for the editorial content of the Magazine, while projecting the industry to the world through his reportage.
In April 2018, he joined the New Telegraph Newspaper as ICT Editor, a position he currently occupies. His incisive and illuminating writings about the Nigerian ICT/Telecom industry earned him a nomination for the Telecom Reporter of the Year in 2019 at the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA). In 2020, he emerged as ICT Reporter of The Year, at the prestigious Africa Digital Awards (ADA).
In April 2022, he joined Nairametrics as Tech Analyst, where he continues to report and analyse issues in the ICT industry.
- Temitayo Jaiyeola
Temitayo Jaiyeola is a technology correspondent at the PUNCH newspaper. He is interested in stories that explore the intersection between tech and human activities. He is a data enthusiast, loves numbers, and insists that he should have studied Economics.
He writes prose and poetry when he isn’t haunted by the ghost of deadlines. Some of his writings have received positive nods — he was second runner-up for the Quramo Writers Prize in 2019.
When he is not writing or reading, he often folds inwards or takes random strolls.
- Ugo Unwuaso
Onwuaso Ugochukwu Francis, is a tech and ICT enthusiast, working with Nigeria CommunicationsWeek as a Senior Correspondent covering ICT, Business and Logistics.
He believes that technology is at the core of our ever-changing and evolving world and has written several articles on technology since he started covering the sector.
He has received several professional and capacity trainings on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) organized by reputable companies like Google, Microsoft, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), etc.
Ugochukwu is the 2019 and 2021 winner of CommunicationsWeek’s Best Employee of the Year award.
Ugochukwu is a native of Awka, in Anambra State and is married with four beautiful children.
He holds a post-graduate degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Lagos State University, and an HND degree in Business Administration and Management from Lagos State Polytechnic, Isolo.
- Uhuotu Omilabu
Uhuotu Omilabu is a young, aspiring and resourceful broadcast journalist with a strong passion to stay above mediocrity as a reporter, editor and compere.
With a degree in Communication Arts, Uhuotu has contributed to the media space with reports on topical issues bothering on women and girls’ issues, health, education, agriculture etc.
She has been a part of several training sessions within her state of practice and across the nation. Uhuotu currently serves in the News Department of Inspiration FM, Uyo as a producer, reporter, editor and show host which highlights her versatility in the media profession.
Holding fast to honesty and integrity as core values, her philosophy is to treat people the way you want to be treated. She strongly believes that this will make the world a better place. Uhuotu is married with children.
- Vanessa Obioha
Vanessa Obioha, a writer and a journalist joined THISDAY Newspapers in 2012 as a contributing writer. She became a staff member in 2016, covering lifestyle and entertainment. However, she has ranged broadly across the newspaper pages, reporting on politics, business, sports, tourism, human interest, and other subjects.
She has also profiled prominent personalities in the entertainment and lifestyle sector in the lifestyle section of the Sunday paper, The Glitterati.
In 2015, she was nominated for the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Awards.
Vanessa is also interested in poetry and has taken a screenwriting course with the New York Film Academy. She is a graduate of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism with distinction in Mass Communication.
With an eclectic taste in music, she enjoys listening to beautiful sounds, watching films and TV series, reading, travelling and discovering new cultures.
- Wasilat Azeez
Wasilat Azeez is a finance journalist, data enthusiast and fact-checker. She holds a first-class honours bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.
She began her journalism career as a graduate intern with the Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF) in 2020. Upon completing the programme, she got automatic employment at TheCable, Nigeria’s independent online newspaper.
She is passionate about spotlighting women and persons with disabilities (PWDs), especially those who have made outstanding records in their respective fields by overcoming barriers and beating the odds to reach their goals.
As a budding academic in gender and development, Wasilat has co-authored a research paper on The Role of Associations of Women Journalists in Promoting the Interests of Female Journalists in Nigeria.
She believes that the MTN-MIP will help her grow in her journalism career by increasing her knowledge of the telecoms industry.