03072019 - Buhari's Ruga policy, an explosive issue — SOYINKA

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36 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2019 WITH HENRY OJELU midweekpersonality@gmail.com 08111813061 (sms only) PROF NDUBUISI EKEKWE: From village boy to Silicon Valley tech genius Prof Ekekwe is a rare Nigerian tech genius with many incredible world class inventions to his kitty. Among his numerous inventions is the invasive medical robotic, a system which was acquired by US govt. He also led the team that designed generation accelerometer, a major component of iPhone. In this interview, he shares his trajectory from a local village boy to a master in Silicon Valley. HOW was growing up like for you? I grew up in Ovim in Isuikwuato LGA of Abia State. I attended Ovim Community School and Secondary Technology School Ovim. I lived in the village until the day I left for my undergraduate education in Federal University of Technology Owerri. As a kid, I was told that the only way to become like legends in my community was education. I invested all to become the best I could become academically. It was a great community which made things very easy for the boys and girls. I was shaped living in a place where I could see governors, professors, and justices in the village square discussing with elders, and at the end join the entourages to play and eat in their homes. Those experiences normalized my perspectives such that by the time I came to the city, nothing was new because all the important people came from my village. What childhood experience shaped who you have become today? One of the finest moments I had as a teen was the day my WASC result came out. I set an all-time academic record in school history which remains till today. That made me popular in my village as many big people invited me, congratulating me with gifts. Specifically, Real Admiral Ndubuisi Ekekwe (rtd), a former governor of Imo and Lagos states, and Major General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), a former governor of Imo State, gave me handshakes. Doctors and engineers from cities came to our village house to congratulate me. I visited a neighboring secondary school (Ovim Girls), and students saw me, came out and began singing my name. Through that experience, I quickly knew that if you excel in education, big men would shake your hands and bring you closer. That has been a moment that defines how I see being the best in anything I pursue. What was the inspiration behind your choice of profession? During my Integrated Science class in secondary school, I quickly connected with electricity the first time PERSONALITY ETHICS Life without values is lifeless Differentiation, a key element in success Focus is vital for success. they introduced it. I felt at home with the constructs of electrons. Then the teacher started mentioning things electricity could be applied in. When I heard robot, I became a believer that it was going to be electrical engineering. His explanation of robot was important as I had worked in the farms with my grandmother and felt that technology could have assisted her in farms. She worked hard but I never felt the yield was rewarding her efforts. Today, robot is a passion. I specialized in medical robotics during my PhD in the Johns Hopkins University, USA. I own a U.S. patent in robotics which the U.S. government acquired assignee rights in 2017. What does your company really do and what milestones has it achieved so far? I control a digital holding company that owns properties in agriculture, healthcare and other domains. Zenvus is an intelligent solution for farms which uses proprietary electronic sensors to collect soil data like moisture, nutrients, pH, etc. It then sends the data to a cloud server via GSM, satellite or Wifi. Algorithms in the server analyze the data and advice farmers on farming processes. As the crops grow, the system deploys special cameras to build crop vegetative health index for detection of drought stress, pest and diseases. Our system has the capability to tell a farmer what, how, and when to farm. It has in-built GPS, compass and XL making it possible to map farm boundaries which could be useful during loan and insurance applications. Medcera makes software that help doctors, nurses, labs, imaging centers, insurance, patients and other players in the healthcare sector to operate seamlessly. If you visit a clinic in Medcera network, in Lagos, and then travel to Kano and the clinic uses our solution, the Kano clinic will access your medical records real-time. Our motivation is that no patient should be treated without access to his or her medical records. We are the first company in the world that made access to medical record agnostic of location and hospital chain. What were some of the challenges you faced as an entrepreneur and how did you overcome them? My biggest challenge has been losing team members after training them. It creates so many risks in the business. But one has to respect that people have rights to work wherever they want to work. Yet, it is painful to train and develop and then lose. I have lost my team members to big multinationals. We are managing the risks in many ways but it makes innovation crawl since continuity management is distorted. What would you say was the most important key to your success? The key part of my success is focusing on doing things not many people do. In our agriculture business, we are the only one in that space today in Nigeria. In the healthcare domain, we make the solution largely free because we have I have an unbelievable optimism about life that it is hard to lose hope in anything built really brilliant AI systems that enable value creation. Differentiation is a key element in our strategy. Who is your mentor and why and What role has mentorship played in your success? In business, Tony Elumelu has been extremely helpful. He is someone I can send an email and within hours he will respond. His directions have saved me money and helped me in making money especially on understanding market pulses. Getting insights from someone who has done it and continues to do it is critical. My elder brother, Engr. Dr. Okey Ekekwe, has always inspired because he has known how to change the goal posts to ensure I achieve more. Many years ago, I told him that because the principal could not allow me to do more than nine subjects in the Nigeria's SSCE path, he went and bought GCE form and asked me to write GCE to prove that I had mastered the subjects. And when I did and got distinctions while in SS1 in Economics, Government, etc, he responded "easy subjects - everyone gets distinctions in them". Quickly, can you deliver in Further Maths, Geography and others? That was the mentorship, driving me to do more. Your guiding principles? I grew up in the Scripture Union and that shapes everything in my life. For me, a life without values is lifeless. I put on that hard work and excellence. I have an unbelievable optimism about life that it is hard to lose hope in anything. That mindset gives me the energy to execute because I am so confident that tomorrow will be better than today. What do you think Nigerian entrepreneurs are not doing well and how can they improve? We have the ambitions with unbridled tenacity and energy. Yet, we need to elevate our capabilities to fix market frictions, not just at the downstream of the sectors but at the upstream where more impacts can be made. The fact is this: unless we can fix frictions which are catalytic, we will not liberate many people from poverty in this nation. Yes, apps can help us know where the village streams are. But building boreholes may add more value over time. I give Nigerian entrepreneurs credits because they are moving forward, cutting off the noise. The entrepreneurs will lift Nigeria because nations change only when enterprises rise. Your advice for upcoming entrepreneurs hoping to be successful like you? With humility, everyone is looking for success. It is a continuum. I am still on it. But largely, I will tell them to solve problems not many people can solve and that problem must have huge market opportunity. In other words, if you win, the size will be huge for you. Getting to that level requires they must invest to accumulate capabilities which can come via many channels.
I fell in love after 25 years of marriage! Dear Bunmi, After 25 years of marriage, I have fallen in love for the first time in my life. I want to be with my lover full-time but that seems like an impossible dream. My husband and I are both in our early 50s. In the last few years, he’s had problems performing in bed. Sex became a bore, so we gave up. I realised in time I still wanted intimacy in my life but didn’t want to settle for men out to have just flings. Then my boss sent me on a two-day management course. It included an overnight stay and that’s when my love life fell into place. I went to the dinning are bar in the evening and got chatted up by this wonderful man. He’s two years older than me and it was like we’d already met somewhere in the past. We ended up in his room and the sex was intense and wonderful. The next day, we hugged as we parted after exchanging mobile numbers. I live in Lagos but he lives in Ogun State but we still managed to meet four times. The chemistry is still there and the intimacy gets better and better every time. His wife recently found out about us but she’s unperturbed as she has a good lifestyle she won’t throw away. My husband also found out, but he hates making waves and agreed we could meet now and then. I want to leave him to be with the man I love. I live on edge, hoping my husband won’t see all the emails I send to my lover, then sometimes wishing he would. There seems to be no solution to this. I’ve got three daughters and my lover has sons. They’re no longer children but are still young enough to be hurt. Angela, By e-mail. Dear Angela, I hope you do realise you’re playing with fire and living on dreams. You’ve sent a lot of emails and text but have only met up with your lover four times. Is that enough to throw a solid marriage over for? Looks as if you’re both using each other as distraction from your lacklustre marriages. That isn’t unusual but keep your eyes open in case it backfires. What if your husband decides that enough is enough, that he can’t stand you cheating and finds somebody else? What if your lover puts pressure on you to leave home? I’m not sure you want that as much as you say. Suggest that you take a break from each other, for a My husband is a slub! Dear Bunmi, My husband of seven years has terrible manners: he eats like a pig and burps or passes wind at dinner table. When we go out, he creates such a mess that I have to apologise to waiters. At social gatherings, he would rather use his fingers for ‘swallow’ foods than use a cutlery. I am ashamed to be seen with him and worried that his manners, or lack of them, will rub off on our sons, aged six and three. Kikelomo, by e-mail. Dear Kikelomo, I know it could be quite frustrating for you to spend ages trying to get the children few months, say while you give your life partners the time and attention they need. Ask your husband to seek medical help in case he has a medical problem that needs sorting out. At your age, all four of you should be less flighty in the way you handle relationships. to be polite and eat their food nicely, only for your husband to come in, throw his coat and tie on the sofa, put his smelly feet on the table and pick his nose or pass wind. What you need to do is be firm. You could write a list of house rules, for example: “Always say please and thank you,” and “use your cutlery, not your fingers.” All of them, your husband included, should get commended when they do what they’re supposed to do. In short, if your husband insists on behaving like a toddler, treat him like one. Otherwise the children might think his behaviour is hilarious and try to copy him. Looks as if you’re both using each other as distraction from your lacklustre marriages. That isn’t unusual but keep your eyes open in case it backfires. What if your husband decides that enough is enough, that he can’t stand you cheating and finds somebody else? Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2019 — 37 He thinks he’s my son’s dad Dear Bunmi, I’m in my mid-twenties and have a young son. I’ve been with my boyfriend since our university days, but I don’t love him any more. I only stay in the relationship because of this child. Around the time I became pregnant, I’d been seeing someone else for eight weeks but broke offline affair because I thought the kid was my boyfriend’s. Unfortunately, the boy looks nothing like him. He looks like the boy I had a fling with. I don’t want to continue to lie to my boyfriend about my son, it doesn’t feel right. But how am I going to tell my boyfriend what I’ve done? People have told me not to tell him but I can’t; I don’t want to have to lie to my son or to anyone. It’s not fair. Zainab, by e-mail. Dear Zainab, I agree with you. To mislead your son about the identity of his father would be a gross deception. To defraud your boyfriend by allowing him unknowingly to raise another man’s son is equally unacceptable. Unfortunately, a few people are now aware of your plight and you can’t rely on them to be a part of any conspiracy of silence. You need to tell your boyfriend that you’re We need to move on after my wife died Dear Bunmi, Around last Christmas, my world fell to pieces when my wife of eight years was killed in a car crash. Not only have I lost my soulmate, but our six-year-old son has been left without a mum. I just don’t know how to handle things. Daniel, by e-mail. Dear Daniel, The first and most important thing your little boy needs is love from you, so give him loads of affection. Answer his questions as he asks them, so he’s getting information when he’s ready. Reassure him that mummy hasn’t gone because of anything he did, which some children fear. And don’t think you have to ‘cope’ with your own feelings of loss in private. Children need to know that adults feel grief too, so it’s fine to cry together. Finally, seek the support of friends and relatives and encourage your son to interact with relatives in his age bracket. I wish you the best of luck. unsure who’s the father of your child. The double revelation of your unfaithfulness and that he may not, after all, have a son, will wound him. Yet, he may have sensed that you are going off him. For everyone’s peace of mind, a blood test is needed. After the test, he might even decide to support you if he weren’t the father. I wish you the best of luck. My mother-in-law gets on my nerves Dear Bunmi, For 16 years I’ve been trying to get on the right side of my mother-in-law but I’ve come to the end of my tethers. She’s never liked me and has never bothered to hide the fact. She has three children and my husband is her only son. In her opinion, I’m not good enough for her son, nor am I good enough to be the mother of her grand-children. I’ve tried ignoring her, buttering her up, keeping out of her way but nothing works. My husband says she doesn’t mean it but I know she does. How do I cope with her To mislead your son about the identity of his father would be a gross deception. To defraud your boyfriend by allowing him unknowingly to raise another man’s son is equally unacceptable. hostility? Abby, by e-mail. Dear Abby, Your chances of changing your mother-in-law are slim! But you could change your attitude towards her, which should help. See her for the pathetic, insecure person she is, and recognise that she’s no threat to the happy family you and your husband have built. Thank goodness your husband is not taking sides. At the moment, you’re a little bit afraid of her but, in fact, you hold all the cards. No matter what she does, be nice to her because you’re a happy person who can’t be bothered to trade words with her. There may be a miracle and — she may change. If she doesn’t, you’ll still be a winner. I wonder why she isn’t bothering her two daughters’ spouses? Share your problems and release your burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi, Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos, or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk
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03072019 - Buhari's Ruga policy, an explosive issue — SOYINKA

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