 For maverick dancer and choreographer Yeni Kuti, the lagacies of Fela's Afro-beat will continue to live on and as such she is committed to ensuring that the Fela music dynasty remains united to his values and ideologies. At Felabration 2011,the elegant first child of the “Abami eda” told Tribe Times the families plans to turn Kalakuta Republic into a museum, Felabration and the goings-on at The New Afrika Shrine. Excerpts:
You recently turned 50 and you still dance. What is the secret?
Yes I just turned 50. There is no secret really. I just try to laugh a lot and be happy. I rehearse with the dancers, particularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But I don't dance on stage anymore.
What was it like recounting your days as a stage dancer and any thought of a dance school?
I enjoyed it because it was my passion. Though, it was hard work, I enjoyed it. Through it, I toured the world. I have been to places where ordinarily if I was not a dancer, I probably would never have gone.
How safe is the New Afrika Shrine now for people to be there without molestation.
Oh it's really a free place because here, you can't fight, you can't beat up a woman and you can't steal. And particularly, you can't do hard drugs. It's no go area for any form of criminality. Some people just have misconception about the Shrine. It is very secure and we have a lot of expatriates that patronize us.
What is Felabration all about?
Felabration is about celebrating the life, music and times of Fela. It can also be described as the celebration of music in Nigeria, Africa and the world over. Musicians gather from all over the world to celebrate. This year's theme is: “Buy Africa”
Why the theme “Buy Africa”?
Every year, we choose our theme related to something of Fela's ideology often expressed in his songs. Buy Africa was one of Fela's songs and it is intended to make people look towards Africa. Buy African things, African music and in general, to be patriotic towards Africa.
What is the latest about Kalakuta Republic?
Well, we have taken steps to sanitize the place. It is no longer a free-for-all house. Nobody is allowed to stay in the house, except one of Fela's wives, a child and one other person. We have plans to turn the house to a museum, and presently, we are looking for funds. It is going to be a museum cum hotel. We desire to turn it into a masterpiece tourist attraction, archiving everything about Fela, his artifacts and instruments. Also, there is going to be a cafe and restaurant. We had to send many people away from the house, because they were turning it to a home of miscreants. Already, the Lagos State government has been approached for assistance. Corporate organizations as well as individuals will also be approached to translate this dream to reality. |
 Senator Ajayi Borofice, the Senate Committee Chairman on Science & Technology believes that the apathy of previous governments is responsible to the slow pace of the nation's development in science and technology. The senator who represents Ondo North Senatorial District State states that the Vision 20-20-20 will fail if the policy is not pursued based on research, scientific and technological prepositions. Excerpts:
This year, Nigeria celebrated 51years of nationhood, do you think we have anything to celebrate in the IT sector
Honestly, it will be too harsh to say we don't have anything to celebrate but we don't have much considering the history of Science and Technology and the investment in the sector. One of the success stories however is the space programme, we have not only launched a space satellite but we have a satellite made by Nigeria engineers. Then the substitution of sorghum for barley in the brewery industry is another positive effort but apart from these two, I don't think we can be compared with our counterparts in countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Brazil which have recorded phenomenal growth.
What would you say is responsible for this slow growth?
Well, I think there are many reasons one of which is that Science and Technology has not been regarded as critical sector in our economy but often treated as s social sector where you just create a ministry put people to earn their salaries. We don't see it as a sector that can drive the economy when you look at the industrialized countries today, you realize we seriously do not have great commitment to Science and Technology as it was seen by our past leaders perhaps as an area not to bother about. If you thoroughly reflect on the civil service bureaucracy you find out that the overhead is so high compared to the capital expenditure which is the major thing for research. You know research is not something that yields result immediately and we are not consistent in funding.
Don't you think this could be a major hurdle towards achieving vision 20 20-20?
Yes it is very seriously if we do not address the issues urgently, but am happy all the people in the Science and Tech. Committee of this Senate have agreed that it is a crucial sector. So we are going to look critically at the agencies to ensure they are focused and that there is a change in orientation from civil service to actualize the objectives of these institutions and then encourage government to put more money into the sector.
What we have seen in the past is that most of the agencies became more business focused rather than research driven, so by default, there was a system that could not drive sustainably, so we will address this.
You know research is very expensive, in terms of purchasing equipment etc we need water, electricity, if we don't have these, you can't achieve results.
Tell us what your major focus will be as a committee in the 7 th ?
We will look at the issues hampering the ability to deliver the mission and mandate of Science and Technology agencies, we look at issues of rationalizing so that there will be very minimal overlap to ensure Science and Technology becomes the engine room of the nation's economy and relate more with the industry so that we will promote the relationship between research institute and private sector. |
-Rasaq Shittu
 As a stakeholder in the Information Technology industry in Nigeria, we know you have come a long way, give us an insight into the journey so far?
Yeah, my journey into IT, ehm… I will not say IT per say, I will say Electrical Electronic Engineering dates back to Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro, that was in the early seventies and I was in the technical department. Immediately after my secondary school, I was just passing bye with my father in front of the former Nigerian External Telecommunications then I saw a very nice building and I asked; “Daddy, what do they do here?” He told me it was the Nigerian External Telecoms Company so I told myself I would want to work there …and we went in there, fortunately it was the time they were recruiting technicians, I sat for the test and passed, so I was recruited as an Assistant Telecoms Officer Trainee that was my first interaction with Telecoms. I started my career there but at the end of the day, I just realized that I needed to get proper education, so I left there for the polytechnic, where I had an HND from the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, then I went to Ogun State University to study Computer Science. Then I went to the University Of Ibadan for my Masters in Electrical/Electronics, precisely, Microprocessor and Control Engineering. Immediately after my graduation, I worked in TCAS, then that was the beginning of real IT in Nigeria which was around the 80's, they started data communication in Nigeria and I worked there in the Engineering Department as a data Communications Engineer. I remained in this terrain until I recently became the Country Head of Sky Vision .
So how would you describe your educational background at Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro and to what extent did it influence your choice of career?
You see, you cannot compare now and those days . It is appalling when you really look at the state of education now. Being in position, I had been opportune to interview a lot of Nigerian graduates. Some are naturally gifted and some are good. But you won't blame them because once the fundamentals are not there, there is nothing anybody can do about that. But you see, like I said, Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro, was one of those schools that offered a solid foundation. I saw the anatomy of Electrical Electronic Engineering at Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro. We had Guidance Counselor who will look at you then guide you through. Dr Olumide Kuti told me, “Rasaki, you will go to Electrical Department”. This was because he realized I had a well developed analytical mind and my guardian always noticed in me and I always had passion for electronics right from my youth, so he propelled me.
You seem to be so proud of Comprehensive High School, are your children currently schooling there?
No, no, no. It's a common phenomenon in Nigeria, we don't have maintenance culture. My children are not there because the infrastructure is broken down. There were two of its kind in Africa, one in South Africa and one in Nigeria. It was founded by The Ford Foundation, Harvard University and the people of Western Region. It was there it all began.
How has it been getting to your present enviable position to be found worthy to represent a global company like Sky Vision?
You see, there is one thing in this profession, especially with the constant technological changes and once you remain docile, you die with a particular technology and won't be able to move on. In engineering, you must at least create time for reading and research you must be abreast with what is happening in your environment. In my days in TCAS, the medium of communication we provided then for wide area network was predominantly leased lines. But suddenly, we had satellite as a medium, fibre and other means as well but if I decided to stay with NITEL or just any other medium, I would not have been able to grow with the industry, so I made sure I read so well…so , the secrete is that you must continue to educate yourself to be abreast of happenings in the industry. I attend several workshops and I do not need anybody to pay for it.
As an expert in the industry, why is the internet still very expensive in your opinion?
Of course, the internet will be expensive, I mean, if the infrastructure is not there. There are some countries in the Middle East, America, Europe that even to a home, you may have one megabyte to a child's laptop but in Nigeria, even sixty four by sixty four Kilobytes (64/64 KBS) is a luxury. It is like that because the infrastructures are not there, infrastructures like fibre. Fine, thank God we now have several people trying to bring fibre into Nigeria. There will be positive commercial implications for internet users because the prices will drop no matter what and when this happens, and then it becomes very easy and cheaper for everybody to have. Mind you, to deliver it will be another issue because we do not have intra-city fiber, to take it home is another thing. But bringing internet to the shores of the land is a major achievement.
You talked about the launch of the optic fibre, what benefits do you think the Glo1 sub marine cable will offer Nigerians and Africans at large?
Ah why? (Laughter)Those who think in that direction don't even know what they are talking about. They are not in the industry. Government cannot do it. Government has no business in business. The man has done Nigeria proud for spending his own money more than almost 800 million dollars to bring the cable here. And you are saying it is not right to allow him. He has provided the infrastructures government has refused to provide even when they are controlling the sector. So the man is licensed to do it, why would any one stop him? It is to the glory of the country and will reduce the cost of internet reasonably. The capacity will be there, it will be available. So the man has done a great service to his fatherland.
Are you saying there shouldn't be any fear of monopoly ?
There is no monopoly because we have Main 1 , Wax and we have Glo . There are several other fibres coming into Nigeria by the end of 2010 and this will encourage competition.
There are reservations that we do not have fixed lines in Nigeria, though the GSM has fared well with figures of about 78million subscriber base. What is your take on this?
Yeah, when you say fixed lines, I think what Nigerians should be happy about is the fact that they do have opportunities and facilities to be able to register voice calls or communication. That should pre-occupy their minds. It could be fixed or wireless, it doesn't matter. There is another sector that needs to be looked into, you know to invest in ehm…copper fixed lines now, is enormous and to really expand takes a while but it is easy to deploy wireless, so there is no real issue but if you are looking for stand alone telephone buttons, you can use fixed wireless like starcomms, multilinks.
What are those things you had in your school way back at Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro that you think are no more today?
We had freedom, quality education, we had morals as well as excellence and passion for survival. We had inter-student-teacher relationship which was very strong, survival instincts were there which are no longer there now, so in schools that you have today, the teachers are not even competent enough, the infrastructure is not there, the educational materials are not there, just name it.
You must have been from a wealthy background to attend a school of that kind .
Eh…that is the beauty of Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro, where the place you come from is deemphasize. Am not from a rich background, my parents were school teachers, but my father had passion for education and being the first child, he had always told me, Razaki, if you are not well educated, your future is doomed. Make sure you have proper education so that you can come out and beat your chest. You see, at Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, we had kids of ministers, kids of governors, kids of successful businessmen, Kola Abiola was my junior in the secondary school. I mean, we were not really laying emphasis on who your father was. Major General Ekpo's kids, were in my school, Aayomi Ekpo was my classmate Toye Koka, the kids were my classmate Shosa of blessed memory we were classmates em…name it. Teriba whose father was the Permanent Secretary in the then Western Region were in the same school just name it. The Agangas', Alabi Isama just name it. But the moment you got to the gate of Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, you stripped yourself of all these things, we ate from the same pot, were in the same hall, we wore the same dress.
So when you left Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro, where was your next point?
It was a long journey. When I left Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro, like I told you, I worked at Nigerian External Telecommunication. I was there until 1981, before leaving for the Lagos State College of Arts and Science that was at Ikosi Campus. Thereafter, I proceeded for my Ordinary National Diploma which I obtained in 1984/85, then in 1986, I went to the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro where I had my Higher National Diploma, so you can see it was rough, but Aiyetoro taught me that all these people I had relationship with will end up being graduates so there was no way I would have been contempt to stay back without striving to become a graduate. Though it was rough, but I had that determination to make sure I realized my desire, so after my HND, I started working relationship with foreign companies that could add values to me to be able to have full knowledge, practical exposure and interaction.
When did you start thinking of setting up your own business?
Since 1977, I had always believed that I would own my business. My father was only able to afford that kind of education for me, early in life and I felt the only way I could do it was to make sure I strive in business and get very well educated while at the same time, educate my younger ones. So this was what led me to work even in the first instance Looking back where you started, are there some memories that you cherish so much today?
Is it negative or positive or…?
Both of them.
The memories like I was telling somebody, that between 1985, 86, 87, 88, was such that I knew I would only sleep and wake up but would not even know whether I would be able to eat the next day but what was always coming to my mind was how to ensure my younger ones got proper education while at the same time, made sure they feed and wore good cloths which was a serious burden because my father was already getting tired then, things were so tough . I tell you that there was a time we had to sell Daily Times in order to be able to eat. There is someone in my life that I cannot ever forget, I would like to keep in touch with him. His name is Alhaji Santos, we were living in the same area. He just took interest in me, then I would go to his house, teach his kids and the man would give me some money and even give me cloths and those were the period most of my mates would say; why don't you start a business or look for a job now, why must it be education, those were the years that constantly come to my mind.
Then what about the beautiful memories?
Anyway, beautiful memories, I will say that was when I married my wife. You know, like a young person, you would like to have a lot of escapades, of course, we were in the same polytechnic because she had a lot of friends and she was in control .She would say; oh do not go out with this one, go out with this one and I hated her, there was this day my close friend who is now in the military was getting married, I just came across her on the pedestrian bridge and she was going to the market and I said oh this guy is getting married would you like to be there and she said oh sure, but I had it in mind that if I did not get her, then I would make sure one of my friends got her. I just wanted any of them to date and dump her and they consented. My friends went to their house to pick her up, while I was already at the party and told the father they were taking her out then amongst all my friends, I was the only one that was not married. They already mapped out a strategy at that time and she was already working in a bank. I was the best man but did not have time to sit with them. They said; this is the right girl for Razak, so why would he now want one of us to just use and dump her. That was how they started wooing her for me, but she turned down their advances observing that I was too tough in school and that I would perhaps make her unhappy. On our way back, we headed for Obalende. When we got to Third Mainland Bridge, somebody deflated the tyres so we got to home late, so at the end of the day, she went with us and the rest became history. But I tell you that we are very happily married today and blessed with two kids after twenty years, she has always been there for me, she is a real pillar of enormous support. |
- D G, NITDA
Despite the much talked about local content development in Nigeria, there are however strong indications that this is merely a lip service as indigenous technology is yet to attract the expected local patronage especially with the absence of any legal government backing. In this interview with the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) Prof. Cleopas Angaye makes a case for the promotion of locally manufactured PC's
Excerpts
Looking at our technology 50 years after nationhood, how would you rate the level of success of locally made computers?
Let me go back to history and statistics. Back in 2006/2007, the world globally, rated Nigeria's IT performance at 106 position in the world, last year, Nigeria moved up to 90. What has contributed to this is the awareness in IT and the utilization of computers in almost all spheres of our life. During the last administration, a programme was put in place to promote indigenous technology. The idea was to improve on the production of locally made computers and utilization, which brought a lot of benefits. This year, the statistics has moved even higher. Locally made computers are doing well, but like any other industries; we have a lot of challenges. One of which is power. Let me leave computers for now; let us go to ordinary air conditioners. Just a few days ago, my air conditioner had a fault, because there was frequent power problem. If you look at the component that breaks down more easily now, the power pack is rated number one and secondly, the memory because these cannot really withstand fluctuation in power. These are the areas we need to train our people on because the situation in this country is very dicey. That is why we have to look at environmental training to our own systems.
Would you then say locally made computers have done very well?
Yes, they have statistically considering the environment in which they operate. Many a times if you look at the systems, many of them are built with respect to environmental factors in which they operate; the temperature, pressure, facilities in which they operate and back up. We need properly trained engineers to help achieve this and if you look at the number, they cannot actually cope with the demand right now that is why we have to go back to engineering schools to produce more.
Just about four or five years ago, we had about seven or more locally made computers brands. Today, we can barely say we have three surviving ones. What do you think is responsible for this?
You could look at it from angle of business pressure, because business failure could be part of it. Our banks may not even give them enough loans to back up what they have. You need to be able to withstand a lot of hurdles in the market here unlike in the advanced countries where you can get loans on long term repayment. It could be because of sales as well. If you do not have enough sales, your market may not move very high. Demand and supply is also an issue. If some people in the industry are progressing very well, others may not have enough supply. Also, it may be attributed to financial failures globally.
A few years back, during the Obasanjo administration, government gave directives to agencies and parastatals to buy a certain percentage of locally made computers. Is this still effective.?
It is still effective but is only obligatory. I have had some cases where contractors or manufacturers complained that they are not being patronized by Nigerians. Nigerians would rather go for foreign made products. So my message to them is that we should actually patronize our own computer brands. It is only in this way that we can have higher volume of sales so that we can move from low range to high range of computers. We probably need a law that stipulates that locally made computers must be used.
Are you still going ahead with the re-certification of these locally made computers?
Oh yes, we will. If you have a driving license for instance, you do not have it forever even in other countries. Re-certification does not necessarily mean something is wrong. But the reason is that after some time, things sag, elastic materials too sags after sometimes. So when you certify, you actually go back and look at your production. That is why we have new set of productions coming in. Electronic materials are dynamic products, so re-certification means everybody has to stand up to expectations. That even gives more confidence on the products for consumers. Consumers know this people are on top shape. So re-certification is a normal thing in the electronic industry |
