internationally, science and technology project reports undertaken in Nigeria, research activities in all sectors of the economy and information on existing technologies in the key
areas.
• Industrial Development Coordinating Committee (IDCC) was established under the Federal Ministry of Industries in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. The operational concepts of self-sustaining industrialisation by the IDCC include:
identifying and establishing core industries;
reassessing industrial strategies towards a local resource-based industrialisation; and creating internal engines of growth.
The IDCC, in conjunction with UNIDO, evolved the Strategic Management of Industrial
Development (SMID). The framework for this SMID is the establishment of the National
Committee on Industrial Development (NCID). NCID develops strategies for each sub-system
before sanctioning by government and monitors implementation; progress and problems are noted
and, where necessary, addressed immediately. Below the NCID are strategic consultative groups - one for each identified priority sub-system.The Strategic Consultative Group (SCG) is made up of representatives of the various actors within the defined network of relations. Their main functions according to NCID (1990) are to:
analyze the specific problems and constraints of their sub-system;
analyze the opportunities that exist in domestic and foreign markets;
develop a strategic direction for the sub-system;
pin-point the type of supportive programmes needed to implement the adopted strategy;
work out a programme of action.
• Co-operative arrangement was established between research institutions, universities and polytechnics.
• Four existing centres of excellence in technology attached to universities, i.e. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Obafemi Awolowo University,Ue Ife; University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto were established to implement R&D activities in various sectors of technological development.
Government on its part has continued to foster the growth of Science and Technology by removing some of the constraints that hamper technological development in the country. On July 18th, 1990, the National Committee on Engineering Infrastructure (NACENI) comprising 150 members drawn from State and Federal Ministries, the organised private sector, the professional organizations, higher institutions, research institutes etc, was set up.
17. Conclusion and Recommendations
Since effective maintenance of any telecommunication outfits is dependent on availability of spare parts, it is recommended that all future information and telecommunications projects should be
aligned to provide for spare-parts production in the country. In this respect, efforts should be made
to build into contract agreements on imported technologies, the possibility of Nigerians beinginvolved in the assembly of such technologies abroad. Such involvement will allow Nigerians to gain detailed insight into the internal arrangements and working of the equipment. The maintenance schedule of any future project should be clearly assigned to Nigerians.
There is an urgent need for equipment standardisation in the country. This will ease the manufacture of spare parts and reduce maintenance cost. Also maintenance personnel should be provided with adequate tools and they should be located sufficiently close to the facilities they are to maintain. The third important consideration in the development process is the availability of core industries for the fabrication and manufacture of equipment and spare parts.
In Nigeria today we have a Federal Ministry of Science and Technology charged with the
responsibility of promoting scientific and technological activities in the country. For the country to develop technologically we must all agree to use this government organ effectively. Also the
Universities Research Institutes, Industries, Entrepreneurs and private organisations - all have a role to ensure that the prerequisites for meaningful technology development are available in the country.
The Recommendations for a powerful and efficient telecommunications in Nigeria can be summed up as follows:
• that Operation and Maintenance Strategy be premised on a structural organisation that assigns ftill responsibility to zonal/state administration working directly with the Central office of the administration.
• That the service objective shall be to provide optimum effective and efficient telecommunications
service within the framework of available resources at the lowest cost.
• That a unified operational and maintenance pattern in the zones/states should be guaranteed by the issuance of guidelines from the Headquarters of the administration to the zones/states for compliance.
• That periodic returns be made at specified times from the zones/states to Headquarters for analysis and general management of overall information.
• The Headquarters set out a list of accepted performance indicators to which would be related the analysis of returns from the zones/states as a yardstick for measurement of activities and guide in taking decision on improvement.
• That a network of maintenance centres be set up as the main support to operational routine maintenance which is mainly based on replacement of modules to cut down on outage periods.
• That there be a National Maintenance Centre as the hierarchy, supported by zonal/state maintenance Centres and mobile units for prompt attention to remote locations.
• That support Services' - (Stores and Workshops) - administration and operations be structured in conformity with (1) above and easily accessible by field operation and maintenance staffs.
• That training in the form of Appreciation courses, Refresher courses, Skill Development, Safety, Management, Introductory courses, etc., should be intensified and programmed to suit operations and maintenance needs on a continuous basis.
• That records are vital Operational and Maintenance tools, be they personnel records, training records, subscribers records, Technical Handbook records, Equipment or Assets' etc. The ultimate should be a centralised computer record location from which information could be retrieved or updated on any subject matter relating to Operations and Maintenance.
• That in all these Operation and Maintenance Strategy processes, auditing as a vital organ to check excesses and streamline operations should be taken cognisance of Technical Audit, Store Audit and Personnel Audit shall be undertaken by the Headquarters' team periodically for accountability.
• That customer services locations as an all-purpose centre for Telecommunications services should be strategically located for easy reach of the public at large.
• That a multidisciplinary team be formed to work on the standardisation of telecommunication equipment modules, tools and test gears for operations in the Nigerian market.
• That the planning and Implementation groups take advantage of Operational and Maintenance group experience in finalising designs and project acceptance procedures to minimise operational and maintenance difficulties after commissioning.
It has been argued that the growth of Information Technology could both facilitate and complicate the job of governing; facilitate by making available to decision makers vastly expanded resources of timely information and complicate by vastly expanding the number of people who would be informed about important issues and who will inevitably want to play a role in deciding. However, any
seeming disadvantage should be weighed against the numerous advantages derivable from its application.
The recent competitive environment of telecommunications which allows more than one field operator must of necessity attract standards and rules of operation for orderliness, effectiveness and efficiency. The flexibility of choice open to customers also call for a wide interconnecting boundary between operators and a specific level of quality of service to be attained by all to avoid harmful effects on other operators and the public being served at large. There is therefore need for an effective monitoring and enforcement mechanism in the structural frame work of managing telecommunications in a liberalised environment. Furthermore, penalties applicable to violation of rules must be commensurate and promptly applied to deter violators. The monitoring and
enforcement unit could be structured within the Regulatory Institution or otherwise, such
responsibility could be devolved on existing law enforcement agencies in the land. The instrument establishing the Regulatory Institution by government would, along with the statement of mission, determine the position in the hierarchy of governance where the supposedly autonomous and independent Regulatory body would be and at the same time, define specific issues to be addressed which may, or may not, include enforcement of rules and application of penalties.
It is obvious from all stated earlier, that Information Technology management in a Deregulated Telecommunications environment would primarily revolve around a strong Regulatory Institution in the nation. In a liberalised setting for competition between operators, service providers, content assemblers and disseminators as well as devices retailers and manufacturers, an independent and neutral body to set the rules of the game as well as apply and monitor them is a prerequisite in such a pluralistic scenario. There is need therefore for the following:
• A clear statement of mission of the Regulatory Institution by Government from the outset.
• A legal instrument defining the Regulator's powers, rights and obligations and equally the rights and obligations of licensees and the established Public Telecommunications Operators that are on the field.
• Establishment of the relative position of the regulator to other arms of Government, its linkages and working methods.
• Putting in place significant resources in terms of men, materials and money to enhance the Regulatory entity's performance.
The need to keep abreast with technological advancement, especially in this era of rapid obsolescence of equipment due to intensified research activities need not be emphasised. The regulatory Institution must be sufficiently equipped to carry out its Type approval Tests and standardisation functions and also be financially capable of hiring high calibre staff to perform these and other licensing functions.
The Nigerian government has a crucial role to play in nurturing rapid technology progress, as well as
rapid application of new technologies in the marketplace. In the field of Information Technology, the government has to establish a clear set of national objectives - such as universal services,technological leadership and broadband capability into all population centres, through a
comprehensive and up-to-date National Policy for Telecommunications and Information Technology.