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ICT in Nigeria

I believe that we
have not done badly. We have come a long way. I am saying this not
because I don’t realise that there is still a lot for us to do. Not
because I don’t realise that a lot of other countries are out there
very much ahead of us. But I am saying this because of where we started
and where we came from.

By 1996, when I
came back to this country, during that period, there was no access to
the Internet. Only a few banks had access to computers in terms of
having real time online experience. During that period, no bank had
ATMs; no bank had any card payment system. During that period, mobile
phones did not exist, apart from the big ones 0 9 0 and only a few
people had access to them.

But today, the
country has met the international requirement in terms of teledensity
and surpassed it. Today, mobile phones in the country is over 70
million; whereas, during that period, we had just over 400, 000 phone
lines. The few that gained access to the Internet were doing so through
a system whereby the Internet service providers go to the Internet,
download so many pages, catches them so that people can view those
pages; which means it was not live.

Policy requirement

Nigerian
Communications Commission has done very well, and it is largely as a
result of the good work they have done today that the country is
enjoying rapid development and rapid diffusion of mobile telephony in
the country.

When we talk about
ICT, it does not only has to do with telecommunications; it also has to
do with computers. In terms of computers, there is still so much that
we need to do. So, when I talk about the right kind of policy, I mean
that this country has to have a vision of where it wants to go to as a
country and know the role that ICT will play in order for us to achieve
that.

As is now widely
recognised in the whole world, there is a positive co-relationship
between the level of development in ICT and the level of economic
development. ICT plays a catalytic role in the economic development of
a country. If you have determined what you want to do in the area of
economic development, you can also sit down with the right kind of
people to articulate an ICT policy.

I am aware that
there is some sort of ICT policy in place in Nigeria, but I am also
aware that it needs to be recalibrated and brought to a level that it
really can work. We need to have the right kind of policy, and we also
need to implement 100 percent. We need to bring some good people, from
academia, from industry, and from government to sit down, look at what
is happening in the rest of the world, and say this is what we want to
achieve with regards to ICT in the next 5, 10 years, and see how it is
going to merge into our development policy.

Nigeria as Silicon Valley

It all depends on
how serious we are as a country. If we believe we can, we will
definitely because we have the wherewithal. Nigerian universities still
churn out many people in ICT and a lot of Nigerians are also studying
overseas in different areas of ICT. Outside of Nigeria, Nigerians are
achieving feats in the area of ICT. Many of them are highly recognised
and deemed to be very good with international reputation.

Here in Nigeria, as
somebody that has been in organisations where ICT professionals are
interviewed and recruited, I have seen on many occasions, people that
are fresh from Nigerian universities, yes, you can say they don’t have
a lot of practical experience, you can also say a lot of them don’t
even have some of the theoretical sophistication you are used to seeing
in some ICT people overseas. But I have also seen a lot of them, even
within six months of being exposed to how things ought to be done,
become marvelous.

As somebody in the
ICT industry, I know that Nigeria has so many good people in ICT today,
not just at the high end, middle end, but even at the very low end. So,
I know that with the right kind of policy, with the right kind of
targeting, with the right kind of focus, this country can by far become
the silicon valley of not just West Africa, but the whole of Africa,
because we have all what it takes.

All we need is just
the right kind of environment and push by both people in government and
the industry, and it can be achieved. We need people that are not just
trained in how to programme computers, but who can also create all
kinds of software. We need people that have also been trained to view
the development of software as an engineering enterprise. If you go to
a place like India, you see a lot of software factories because
software is being created almost in an automated manner with
engineering discipline.

Use of local software

As a patriotic
Nigerian, it worries me that at this point in time, given the number of
people churned out every year from our universities in the area of ICT,
that even up till now, many of the software we make use of in this
country are developed abroad. I believe that it is eventually going to
change, especially if the right kind of focus, the right kind of
polices are articulated, and that sense of urgency I am talking about
is brought to bear.

We have a lot of
talented Nigerian programmers who can come out with beautiful software.
But coming out with beautiful software that you can use to replace some
of the mission-critical software we are using in the banking industry,
it is not just the talent of how to write software that is needed.

A great deal of
entrepreneurism is needed. A great deal of project management ability
is needed so that very many people can come together to produce a
software. A lot of the software we use in the banking industry was
produced by about 100 people over a two or three year period.

Unfortunately,
here, we believe that just because somebody has studied computer
science, he can knockout software within a week; but it is not like
that. A lot of the very good software we are using were products of
team effort of 100, 200 or 300 people coming together with many
man-years in order to come up with the product. Yes, we may have the
talent in terms of software development ability, but I don’t think we
have the talent for how to manage big teams, big projects, or how to
make sure that big software development product that we are embarking
on can be subjected to international quality standards.

That’s the problem.
If you are an IT manager in a bank of any other institution, your
organisation is competing against other firms. Definitely you want the
best for your organisation.

Central switching system

At some point, when
I was the chairman of Interswitch, I felt that Interswitch was the de
facto national switch because all the banks were interconnected to
Interswitch. I felt that most other financial institutions and other
organisations that need to interconnect would do so through
Interswitch.

But somewhere along
the line, there were so many other switching companies that were
created in competition to Interswitch. Which means that because of that
need to have a national switch, not just several switch, just like in
telecommunication, there was that need for proper interconnectivity and
the way the country chose to do it was through the Nigeria Inter-Bank
Settlement System (NIBSS).

So NIBSS has come
out with a national switch that all the other companies are now
supposed to interconnect to and all the other players within the
financial industry are supposed to connect to. All the banks have now
had to connect to the national switch in addition to other switches
that they are presently connected to.

I think it is a
good thing because of the need for proper convergence. I believe that
as a result of the deadline (December 1, 2010), people are hurrying to
interconnect. From the point of view of NIBSS, the system is ready. All
they want is for others to start connecting. Once that happens, they
will start the system.

There is nothing
wrong with giving deadline. Sometimes, deadlines help us to quicken our
resolve and hasten our work, and we complete what we need to complete
within that time frame. Much of what we are doing or trying to do in
the world of ICT, especially with regards to the payment system in the
country, is very new, and as a result, it is understandable that you
might proceed on a particular path only to realise that you ought to
have done it differently. I don’t see what is so wrong that somebody
that proceeded on a particular path realiese that that path may
probably not be the best and may wish to progress on a more efficacious
path and then decides on that.

Level at Unity Bank

Unity Bank has done
very well with regards to diffusion in the use of technology. As you
know, Unity Bank is an amalgam of nine banks. Even if you bring two
organisations that have mission-critical IT systems, it is very
difficult to merge their ITs and even cultural and operational
processes. It is even most difficult to manage nine banks.

When Unity Bank
started, we found that some of the banks had legacy systems that were
good, some appalling, and some did not have any at all. There was a
bank that in each of their branches, they had different applications of
different ledgers. So, in converting them, it is almost like converting
different banks also. That is bringing about a sort of combinatorial
explosion.

You have problem
merging nine banks and only to find out that within the nine, some are
like more than 80 banks, on account of the different branches they had
that was not speaking to one application. Believe me, it has never been
done anywhere in the world. One way or the other, we were able to
achieve this.

So, we are as good as most of the other banks that you can say is
very good in ICT usage. We are one of the best in the industry, but
there is still room for us to improve. We are a level two organisation
going to level three.

His mother wants to go on a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem. His parents badly need a new car. Her brother doesn’t do
very much and can’t pay his own rent. His sister’s husband was just
laid off by his bank a year ago, they have no savings at all but school
fees are due and a new baby is on the way. He hasn’t addressed his
family’s immediate needs and says there is no money for a family
vacation this year, yet he is writing a cheque to fund all this.

Her father will buy her a brand new car
since all he can afford is a “tokunboh;” she is not accustomed to
second hand cars. Her parents will upgrade her to business class
because that is what she is used to – he can’t expect her to travel
economy? Her mother buys the grandchildren expensive gifts and his
can’t afford to match that kind of spending which always makes his
family look like the “poorer relations”.

What is social security?

Social security is a term that refers
to personal financial assistance, in its various forms. This in many
countries is a field of social welfare and insurance from which people
receive services or benefits in return for contributions to an
insurance scheme. It is a government’s responsibility to provide for
the basic welfare of the most vulnerable members of the society such as
the very young, the elderly, and the infirm. The objective is to ensure
a threshold subsistence level below which any worker who has paid into
a programme cannot fall.

Where the vast majority of workers are
employed in the informal sector, it is nearly impossible for them to be
covered by any formal government based system, as this is designed to
target formal sector workers. Even where a formal mechanism has been
introduced to provide free basic medical care for the elderly in some
Nigerian states, only a small part of the population is actually
covered and the quality of that care is often called to question.

The extended family

The extended family, which is usually
made up of several generations of people who are related by blood,
marriage, or adoption, is the very foundation of Nigerian social life.
This family group consists of not only a nuclear family made up of
parents and their children, but embraces siblings, grandparents, aunts,
uncles, cousins, and even more distant relatives.

In the absence of a formal and
effective social security system, the extended family system has
evolved into a homegrown version of a more formal welfare system.
Through this basic economic unit, individuals are able to build
networks and pool resources beyond their own to meet pressing needs
such as the education of children and the general welfare of their
relatives.

It is based on principles of
togetherness and reciprocity, involving obligations on members to be
supportive of one another in times of need. This form of co-operation
has had a huge impact on the life of most Nigerians and much of the
emerging world. Almost everyone, in a way or another, is a beneficiary
of a system that plays a role in the care of children and the aged,
with assistance at weddings and funerals, the funding of education,
supporting business ventures, providing shelter in the city, and so on.

Even where one cannot shoulder all the
financial responsibility, and often it is not all about money, one can
still show some concern by contributing in other ways to ease the
burden on a relative. One can provide encouragement and mentorship to
struggling members who have shown potential. Some of the extraordinary
talent in our communities just needs a little attention for it to
blossom. With the difficult economic situation in most Nigerian homes,
it is not easy to stand by if you are in a position to at least render
some help.

In an ideal world, the extended family
provides essential financial and emotional support. When the financial
burden is shared, the burden on individuals is reduced.

Often however, some family members
begin to see it as their right to be provided for by more able members,
and they fail to strive to work hard or contribute in any way. This
sense of entitlement can lead to tension and resentment due to the
complex relationships that exist, with varied earning powers within the
family, unhealthy rivalry and competition. This can lead to conflict
and the breakdown of family ties where issues are not resolved.

Is the extended family system weakening?

Today, Nigerian society has witnessed
significant changes in the extended family system. As a result of
urbanisation, modernisation, globalisation, and other socio economic
factors, we see a gradual dilution of the extended family system. Many
families are caught between the traditional family system that is
characterised by strong family cohesion and group orientation, and the
modern system, which is individualistic, and the nuclear family appears
to be gradually playing a dominant role.

It is of note that Nigerians in
Diaspora continue to send money home to help relatives to meet pressing
needs; this demonstrates that in spite of the fact that these Nigerians
are living and working within the nuclear family setting more common in
the Western world, there is still the strong pull and unity of the
extended family system in the support of relations far away.

Until an organised and effective
welfare and social security system is in place, the extended family
system will continue to play a crucial role in the social welfare of
its members. At the same time, it is clear that as socioeconomic
conditions, cultural values, and technology, continue to evolve, so too
will the face and structure of the extended family in contemporary
society. In whatever form it takes, we must try to protect it.

I recently learnt a lesson in basic capitalism from two hawkers on the streets of Antigua, Guatemala.

The first hawker
approached me, selling wooden flutes that I had no particular interest
in. He urged me to part with US$25 for one. For a moment, I thought of
my youngest son who has a passion for playing the flute and the
trumpet.

The hawker’s basic
commercial English would tickle your ears. But then, my Spanish is not
enough to get anywhere beyond basic greetings. I offered to pay US$5,
and the guy lowered his price to 15. Eventually, I dished out $10 to
this guy who took the cash and promptly moved to search for another
‘tourist.’

The flute under my
armpit, I swaggered with friends for dinner in a beautiful restaurant.
Not too long after, another hawker caught up with me. Guess what? He
had flutes to sell and without any bargaining, he announced they went
for $1 apiece. That was the end of lesson one: never rush the
celebration of a bargain.

Some evenings
later, my friends and I decided to sample the culinary delights of
Antigua again. A young girl soon made an approach with a collection of
pendants and scarves for sale. I was not ready to be sucked in a second
time.

When she pushed her
pendants at me I showed her one I had bought earlier in the day
dangling from my neck. Next, she brought a scarf. Too bad, I already
had one around my neck to ward off the cold. She looked at me for a
while and asked in impeccable English, “Why don’t you want to spend
money?” Taken aback, my response was laughter. Then she fired a second
salvo: “open the other wallet!”

She taught me a
sound lesson in basic capitalism. First, you must spend money. Is that
not the logic about how to stimulate recovery from the financial crisis
the world has been plunged into? More money into the hands of private
sector operators is expected to bring efficiency over profligacy
caskets.

Open the other
wallet? It was later on it dawned on me that some tourists probably
always carried two wallets: one with the local currency and another
with dollars or some similar currencies, but I had only one wallet.

With the
reflections from Antigua hawkers, it was time for us to visit San Juan
Sacatepéquez, a municipality in Guatemala whose local people engage
mainly in agriculture and production of flowers. The visit to a region
of 12 communities with a population of 75,000 revealed an iconic
struggle between local peoples on the one side, and combined teams of
governments and industry on the other.

After listening to
the people at a community meeting and then to the minister of energy
and mines of the country, I saw similarities with community struggles
in Nigeria. A major source of conflict has often been the peoples
demand for dialogue.

Shattered peace

The people recalled
that peace was shattered in 2006 when Cementos Progreso moved in to
commence exploratory activities for mineral exploitation for cement
production. Cementos Progresso is embarking on this project in
partnership with Holcin, the world’s second largest multinational
cement company, which is raising environmental dusts in other
countries, including South Africa.

The people insisted
they were not consulted and that an Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) prepared for the project was not participatory. Also, when they
asked for consultative meetings with the company and the government,
they were rebuffed. At a point, a state of emergency was declared in
the area and initial works on the project took off under that cover.

Community people
insist that this denial of consultation violates their rights, as
established under International Labour Organisation’s convention 169,
which requires that affected communities be consulted on projects that
will affect their territories. Guatemalan constitutional court ruled in
December 2009 that licences issued by the ministry of energy and mines
for the recognition, exploration, and mining and hydropower licences
without consultation, is unlawful and arbitrary and violates the
constitutional right of consultation.

With official
rejection of dialogue, the people went ahead and voted against the
project. The official response was repression, heavy-handed attacks,
deaths, and also imprisonment of three local people.

The people believe
their territory has over 34 different solid minerals and that the
cement company’s move is a ploy to open the area to mining of these
other minerals. They fear that the dust from cement operations would
damage their flower production and cripple the local economy.

Moreover, they
believe a road the company plans to build will only benefit the company
by providing it a link to the inter-America highway and would ignore
the community’s earth road that is in sore need for upgrading and
repairs.

When the issues
were tabled before the minister, the answers were telling. Of course,
they had the best intentions. They needed to fight poverty. Poverty
causes environmental degradation. An EIA was conducted and approved by
the relevant ministry.

A United Nations
agency also reviewed the EIA and cited the potential for heavy dusts as
an impact that needed action. Then he added that there was a
constitutional gap with regard to consultations. There is no clarity
about the meaning of popular consultations and who would be involved
and what the scope of such consultations should be. The ILO Convention
169 does not confer the power of veto to any consultative forum that
may be set up.

At the moment, the
project is stalled and there is an uneasy calm in the communities. The
government said mining works would commence only when a “friendly”
agreement is reached with the community.

This reminded me of
the lesson I got from the hawker about the approach of governments to
mining and other projects: open the other wallet – exploit anything
that can be exploited, whether you need it or not.

Lesson over!

Repairs to sabotaged oil facilities in the Niger Delta will help to push exports of Nigeria’s benchmark crude oil to the highest since early-2008, trade sources said on Friday.

According to preliminary loading programmes, Bonny Light output will average 285,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November, up from 245,000 bpd planned in October.

Production of the gasoline-rich crude has long been hampered by militant sabotage on vulnerable pipelines and platforms in the oil-rich wetland region, the heartland of Africa’s biggest oil and gas industry.

Sabotage attacks heightened in intensity in mid-2008 and operator Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has struggled to recapture prior output levels ever since.

But a government amnesty last year, which saw thousands of former militants hand over weapons in return for clemency, brought a halt to attacks, encouraging Shell to repair damaged infrastructure and build a new pipeline.

Bonny Light output reached a peak of nearly 500,000 bpd in 2005 when it accounted for nearly one-fifth of the total crude output from Africa’s most populous nation.