My Engineers Blog

As a revolutionary mind with the vision to alleviate poverty in Africa and drive food security on a global scale, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has been confirmed amongst the candidates in line for election as the new President of the African Development Bank (AfDB). The candidates were selected after a meeting of the Steering Committee of the African Development Bank’s Board of Governors, who met on February 11 at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Adesina who was selected among 7 other candidates from across Africa, has over 26 years of experience in international development and having masterminded a spectacular recovery of Nigeria’s agricultural fortunes since assuming office in 2011 as the Federal Minister of Agriculture, is clearly well prepared for the position as a candidate for the position as the President of the African Development Bank. The official list of candidates, in alphabetical order as released o

Kindly be informed of the existing vacancies in Engineering Practice and Resource Development (EPRD). ASSISTANT  TRAINING MANAGER – (Code: ATM) The Training Manager will be responsible for strategic planning and identification of training and development needs of Engineers and other professionals through analytic appraisal and regular consultation with professionals and subject matter experts to design and expand training and development programmes based on professional and national needs. Responsibilities: • Identify training and capacity development needs of engineers, technicians and technologists and professionals in engineering based industries; • Design and organize or source Training Programs to meet specific training needs and gaps for organisations and individuals; • Evaluate and make Recommendations on Training Materials and Methodology. • Establish and Maintain Relationships with Facilitators, Participants and External Training Suppliers • Keep Current on Training Des

By Obinna Chima As part of its effort to boost local content in the nation’s oil and gas industry, Skye Bank Plc has increased the capability of one of its corporate customers, Marine Platforms Limited, by funding the acquisition of a multi-purpose support marine vessel that provides offshore support services to the oil and gas companies. Marine Platforms Limited is a frontline and the biggest indigenous service provider in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, providing wellbore clean out, subsea solutions and vessel chartering services in Nigeria and across the continent. A statement from the bank quoted its Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, who spoke at the unveiling and vessel tour in Lagos at the weekend to have said the bank was happy to support indigenous participation and local content in the nation’s oil and gas sector, particularly the upstream end. He promised the bank’s continued partnership with and assistance to the

INTRODUCTION In the past two to three years, I have watched with amusement the insensitivity of Nigerian lawmakers to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). The refusal of the lawmakers to pass this bill either through deliberate attempts or by circumstances beyond their control has essentially stopped fresh activities, initiatives, ideas and investments in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. The fact that several deadlines have been set, passed and the PIB has not been passed is gradually eroding any credibility that Nigeria has within the global oil and gas industry. Several versions of the PIB have been floating around unofficially. None of these versions is widely available to the average citizen but I have read about some of the provisions in the bill in the media outlets. Beneficial and revolutionary impacts of the various versions of the bill to the Nigerian populace have been touted in the media. From what I have read in the media, nothing is mentioned about unconventional

The Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) has said it would partner with the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) to use its new Ka-band to boost internet accessibility in the rural areas. Ms Abimbola Alale, Managing-Director of NIGCOMSAT told newsmen in Abuja that the new Ka-band would provide cheap internet financial transactions and internet accessibility at a lower cost to Nigerians. Ka-band is opening a new window to internet services for financial and health services for rural communities to accelerate national development. She said the development was to ensure that people in the rural communities have access to internet connectivity. According to her with cheap Internet connectivity, people in rural communities would access to easy financial services, health insurance and other benefits that people in the urban areas enjoys. Alale said the new Ka-band inaugurated recently would be used by NIPOST, government, private and public stakeholders to achieve its aim. The

The President of the Council for the Regulation Engineering in Nigeria, (COREN), Engineer Kashim Ali; and his counterpart in the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Engineer Ademola Isaac Olorunfemi, have commended the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for transforming the state into a modern one despite pausity of fund from the Federation Account. The duo spoke in Osogbo during the inauguration of Engineer Adeniran Ibitoye Kilomodemo as the 16th Chairman of the Osogbo branch of the NSE and dinner held in their honour by the state government held at the Government House, Osogbo. The COREN president stated that Aregbesola had performed a miracle in transforming the state into modern construction site with durable infrastructure development despite the poor allocation accruing to the state from the Federation Account. As at the last allocation disbursed, Osun has been relegated to the 36th position on the Federal Allocation table. According to Engineer Alli, “wh