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  • Kaduna Assembly to pass whistleblower, anticorruption bills next week — Speaker

    The Kaduna State House of Assembly says it will pass the Whistleblower Protection Bill and the Anti-corruption Bill by next week, as part of commitment to open governance in the state.

    The Speaker of the House, Malam Aminu Shagali, made the disclosure at the opening of a meeting with relevant stakeholders on “Open Government Partnership (OPG)” in Kaduna on Thursday.

    The meeting, supported by DFID-Supported Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), was organised for people of the state to engage OGP community on the status of the state’s Action Plan and the journey so far.

    Shagali, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Nuhu Shadalafiya, explained that the effort was to help open governance in Kaduna State to strengthen transparency and accountability.

    ““As representatives of the people, we have a duty to make necessary legislation that will aid open government process with a view to carry the people along and make their voice count.

    “The whistleblower bill, when passed will provide a cover and protect people who provide information on anomalies and unlawful conduct by persons, public officials and corporate bodies in the state.

    “The anti-corruption bill will also help in the fight against all forms of corruption in the state,” he said.

    The Speaker said that Freedom of Information Bill will also be passed in the state in no distant time.

    He restated the support of the legislative arm of government in the state in ensuring inclusion, transparency and accountability in governance with a view to improve the lot of the people.

    He urged Kaduna citizens to take advantage of the OGP to make their voice count in demanding for better services from government intervention. (NAN)

  • Lagos Assembly to investigate deplorable state of abattoirs

    Lawmakers in the Lagos State House of Assembly have expressed dissatisfaction over the poor and unsanitary condition of abattoirs in the State. (more…)

  • Nsukka Community protests alleged high electricity bills by EEDC

    Residents of Owerre-Enu community in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest over alleged high estimated electricity bills issued consumers by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).

    Some of the placards carried by protesters read, “We say no to EEDC high electricity monthly bills”, “if the company cannot allow us to pay N1,000 per building, EEDC please come and disconnect your light and leave our electricity cable”, “Local and state governments should come and rescue us from further exploitation by EEDC.”

    Speaking in Nsukka on Wednesday, Mr Sunday Onah, the spokesman of protesters, said the elders of the community sent them to convey the feelings of the people to government over the continued high estimated monthly bills issued by EEDC.

    “The amount is too much for us, that is why we are here to inform EEDC Nsukka District Office that we are tired of its high electricity bills.

    “As rural farmers, some of us do not have televisions, refrigerators, pressing iron in our houses, but EEDC gives us monthly electricity bill of N7000, N6000 and N5000 per building.

    “We are here to tell the company to withdraw its previous bills to the community and start billing us N1000 monthly per building or come and disconnect us,” he said.

    Onah urged local and state governments to intervene to save them from further exploitation by the EEDC.

    “Sometimes the community is without electricity for four days, one week and even longer periods occasionally, but at the end of the month EEDC will still issue very high bills,” he said.

    Addressing the protesters, Mr Patrick Okolie, the Network Manager of EEDC District Office, Nsukka, said if there was any increase in monthly bill it was as result of improvement in electricity supply.

    According to him, the area now enjoys light for between twelve and fifteen hours daily.

    Okolie explained that residents should not expect the same bill when they were having four hours in a day and now that there was an improvement in supply of electricity.

    “EEDC did not increase any electricity bill but the monthly bill given to you is what you consumed as result of improvement in electricity supply in your area.

    “The community should forward us list of residents with their phone numbers, who no longer need EEDC power supply and our staff will come and disconnect them, but we can not disconnect the entire community since some are still paying their monthly electricity bills,” he said.

    On the request that the company should give monthly estimated electricity bill of N1,000 per building, the manager said that he lacked the power to approve such and advised that the request should be forwarded to EEDC Enugu head office.

    “I lack power to say yes or no to the request for Owerre-Enu residents to be given estimated monthly bill of N1000 per building,” Okolie said.

    The network manager, however, thanked residents of Owerre-Enu for their peaceful protest and assured them that the company would continue to do its best to ensure that customers were satisfied through improvement of electricity supply.

    “I commend them for their peaceful protest and promise them that EEDC will continue to do its best to ensure customers are satisfied.

    “For your information, EEDC staff do not sit in office and issue monthly bill estimate, they first pick the reading of electricity transformer in an area and the figure generated is divided among customers using electricity in that area,” he said (NAN)

  • Gov. Umahi rewards athlete for winning African Youth Games bronze

    Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi on Tuesday rewarded Miss Chidimma Nwankwo with N300,000 for winning bronze in Taekwondo at the last African Youth Games in Algiers, Algeria. (more…)

  • Ondo govt sacks Sunshine Stars’ players, technical crew

    All players of Sunshine Stars FC of Akure have been kicked out by the club owner, the Ondo State Government. (more…)

  • Startup brings vehicle trackers with preventive checks

    KARACHI:      Another budding startup – ‘Internet of Things and Automation’ (IoTA) – incubated by the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) has kicked off in Pakistan by offering cost-effective and plug-and-play vehicle trackers. These trackers provide internal information of vehicles and tracks the behaviour of drivers, making it feasible for organisations with a large fleet.

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    Startup founders Rabia Javed and Mohammad Musa Mazhar initiated the startup in July 2017 and unlike conventional trackers, its product is installed with lots of circuitry and requires technical knowledge.

    IoTA’s trackers provide live tracking, including odometer preview, average fuel consumption, mileage and maintenance information, driving behaviour alerts, battery information, coolant temperature, engine diagnostic, fuel/mileage data analysis, internal car alarms, trip records and simulated video of trips etc.

    “Market was full of various trackers; we wanted to introduce a tracker which would be equipped with preventive and detective checks, available at low cost,” said CEO Mazhar, who was previously associated with Telenor as a network energy manager, when he decided to enter the uncharted waters of technology in Pakistan.

    The startup claims to offer its first product in almost half the price than the ones available at the commercial level while the annual subscription is said to be available at a price about seven times lower than the currently present trackers in the market.

    The company at its nascent level has witnessed 20% growth on a month-on-month basis since January 2018, said the co-founder.

    The multipurpose tracker is compatible with 2007 or latest model vehicles, which have the electronic fuel Injection (EFI) system and allows the device to connect with all types of sensors to gather information about the vehicle.

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    IoTA Pakistan plans to collaborate with automotive companies to produce autonomous vehicles by putting these as built-in features in every vehicle.

    Presently, 80% of the company’s customer base comprises general consumers, which were attracted via social media marketing campaigns. However, as part of their future plans, they aim to reach out to bigger fleet companies, car rentals, distributors, logistics, transport and car original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)-based companies.“Currently, our business-to-business (B2B) subscribers range from 10-15 clients, which are growing continuously,” said the 30-year-old Mazhar.

    The founders said their system is based on artificial intelligence (AI), which will help evolve their product and it will also help them make new data-related applications.

    In the second phase, IoTA Pakistan has plans to modify the tracker through artificial intelligence, for example if there is a pothole ahead, the vehicle will automatically apply brakes.

    Or if there is congestion on the route of the car, then through the help of Google maps, it will alarm the driver so that he could take another route and avoid traffic jams.

    Helping Hand: IDB offers science, technology fund

    The tracker can help improve the traffic system of Pakistan through the data it will generate while observing drivers’ behaviour. In case, a vehicle meets an accident the system will be able to send alarm to a nearby police station, hospital and rescue workers.

    Such systems in vehicles are already present in the market but they are complicated and expensive, Mazhar said. “We are offering indigenous software solutions, which offer much cheaper solutions for autonomous vehicles.”

    Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2018.

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  • Okowa presents N367bn budget proposal for 2019 fiscal year

    DELTA State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi  Okowa, on Wednesday presented a budget proposal of N367, 095,083,451 to the State House of Assembly for the 2019 fiscal year. (more…)

  • Breaking: Senate asks CBN to suspend ATM card maintenance charges

    Senate on Wednesday asked Central Bank of Nigeria to suspend the ATM card maintenance charges being deducted from customers. (more…)

  • Is Saudi Arabia “taking over” Pakistan?

    By Muhammad Yamin

    Unfortunately, just like the calls against the CPEC having a colonial agenda, now there are calls that the Saudis are getting involved for having a colonial agenda in Pakistan. PHOTO: TWITTER/ PTI OFFICIAL

    Earlier this year, when the election campaign in Pakistan was running at fever pitch, I found myself listening to an old classic by The Who. The song was Won’t Get Fooled Again and the line that got me pondering was “meet the old boss, same as the new boss”. I shuddered when I heard this line while watching parties push their candidates. It was literal horse-trading as politicians scrambled to capture the number of seats required to secure the government for themselves.

    We are barely a few months into the new government and people are already questioning and debating the current government’s decisions. For example, take the matter of the Saudi government pledging to set up an oil refinery in Gwadar.

    Pakistan’s economy is in dire straits, there is no question about it. Government after government has saddled the country with insurmountable debts. There is no transparency in how much we owe to whom. Even the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), while beneficial, is becoming a black-box of where and how it is being implemented. The difference is, CPEC is largely being driven by the Chinese therefore there is some visibility, be it by the optics of motorways popping up all over Pakistan, the increasing presence of Chinese in Pakistan or even by the daily supplements about CPEC projects in national newspapers.

    The new government, like all the previous governments, has realised that to make any sort of headway, they need spending power. Unfortunately, they have also realised that Pakistan has next to nothing in its national coffers and is running on air. As such, we saw the finance teams running around to our allies in the global community looking for funds to sustain the country. During these efforts, Saudi Arabia stepped up to the plate and pledged to help Pakistan by agreeing to set up an oil refinery in Gwadar. The eventual goal of this oil refinery is to lower Pakistan’s crude oil bill by allowing it to refine oil within its borders.

    Beijing welcomed this development. Nobody wants to put in labour and effort without getting paid. Unfortunately, just like the calls against the CPEC having a colonial agenda, now there are calls that the Saudis are getting involved for having a colonial agenda in Pakistan.

    The only brush with colonialism that South Asia has had was when we were ruled by the British. That came about because the British gradually increased their military presence in India under the guise of protecting their business interests. They also sweet-talked their way into being the most trusted advisors of the ruling royalty. This virtually gave them the opportunity to influence policy decisions.

    But will the situation unfold the same way for Pakistan? It is highly doubtful that it would and there are many reasons why that is so.

    Firstly, there is the matter of business interest. Yes, the Saudis seem to be increasing their business interest in the country. That is how the global economy runs. Countries that have remained isolated from international business such as North Korea are poor and downtrodden. As far as security and protecting their business interest goes, the Pakistani Army provides ample security to internationally set up projects, no need for anyone to bring in their own forces.

    Secondly, there is the case of being beholden to Saudi debt. We are already in too deep when it comes to CPEC projects. The fear is we will end up spending years in paying off the cost of this refinery. However, this is still better than an outright loan from Saudi Arabia. By setting up a multi-billion dollar refinery, the Saudi’s are paying for a piece of infrastructure instead of providing a cash handout. This is also better because a cash handout comes with conditions such as setting up a more Saudi Wahabi agenda in our basic education system.

    Thirdly, Saudis are fighting their own economic battles. The Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has embarked on a modernisation initiative where he is trying to open Saudi Arabia for business. While the campaigning for this venture has been slick and glossy, it leaves the Kingdom with much less capital to invest into other countries. In addition, Saudi Arabia is still neck deep in funding conflict in Syria and isolating Qatar. This has spooked many of the investors that had expressed interest in the Crown Prince’s liberalisation vision and pulled back their investment.

    Fourthly, a country is taken over when foreign powers seep into policy-making positions. I believe that the current crop of leaders in Pakistan are too new to be perceived as puppets of foreign governments. Even previous governments, while being a bit partial to some governments, cannot be categorised as puppets. Puppets could be countries like Saudi Arabia as a puppet of the US or Syria being a puppet of Russia.

    Lastly, Pakistan is not in a condition to be taken over. Our economy is a mess, our population is uneducated, our infrastructure is dilapidated and our politics is trapped in a feudal mindset. Fixing Pakistan is not an overnight task and neither is it for the fainthearted. There are too many problems and too many road blocks. Why would Saudi Arabia take over such a daunting challenge?

    At the end of the day, it is not easy to ‘take over’ a country. Gone are the days when a country could roll into another country with tanks blazing. There are too many alliances and non-government monitoring agencies that serve as diplomatic barriers to outright war. With Pakistan, there is the additional spectre of nuclear weapons. Anybody wishing to take over Pakistan needs to be twice as careful. Pakistan needs to gets its economy in order though, otherwise it will continue to slide deeper and deeper into unsustainable debt and remain at the mercy of foreign powers.

    Culled from The Tribune Express