Infrastructure

NBRRI Inaugurates Bamboo-Reinforced Storey Building

By Web News 2542

By Segun Folarin

A bamboo-reinforced storey building, constructed by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, NBRRI, has been inaugurated with a promise that the Federal government will continue to support innovations geared towards promoting the use of local content. 

The Minister of Innovation, Science And Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji made the promise at the Ota, Ogun State office of NBRRI where he also performed the groundbreaking for the construction of a technology village for research. 

The Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, NBRRI is a Federal Government agency saddled with the responsibility of conducting integrated applied research and development into various aspects of the building and construction sectors of the economy. 

Its functions include researching local building and construction materials to determine the most effective and economical methods of their utilization as well as the architectural design of buildings to suit Nigerian climatic conditions concerning lighting, ventilation, thermal comfort and humidity.

Speaking at the inauguration of the bamboo-reinforced storey building, The Minister Of Innovation, Science And Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji said the agency had continued to assist the federal government in addressing infrastructural and housing deficit through cost-effective materials.

The Minister who also inaugurated a well-equipped ICT building and a central workshop for the agency said the use of locally made products would boost the economy and create jobs for the youths. 

Chief Nnaji described the achievements of the agency in the last 45 years as overwhelming and encouraged the workforce not to rest on the oars but strive towards addressing other critical issues begging for solutions in the road and building sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Earlier, the Director General, Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, Professor Samson Duna had expressed the need for Nigerians to embrace and sustain their support for locally made products.

Professor Duna reaffirmed the institute’s commitment to ensuring groundbreaking innovations in the field of building and road infrastructure.

Highpoint of the event was the presentation of certificates to over 50 individuals who had been trained in floor and wall tiling technology, interlocking block technology and paving stone technology as well as concrete pole and ring production.

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Economy

OSHA Lawmakers Canvass Economic Thrust through Local Content

By Web News 446

By Mojisola Oladele

Chairman House Committee on Innovation, Science and Technology, Prince Adewumi Adeyemi wants Osun State Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology to utilize local content to boost the economy of the state. 

Prince Adeyemi made the call during a maiden meeting with a team from the Ministry led by the Commissioner, Mr Moruf Ayofe.

The legislator, who urged the team to tap from the young talents across the state in the field of science and technology, emphasized that harmonizing such brains would place Osun on the world map.

Prince Adewumi expressed the resolve of the Governor Ademola Adeleke and the Osun 8th Assembly to collaborate for the wellbeing of the residents while engaging the capable hands within the state. 

He stressed the need for the Commissioner and his team to source local talents that could assist in the production of various technological innovations by organizing a mini-tech summit on a small scale which would involve relevant stakeholders.

Similarly, member representing, Irepodun/Orolu, Mr, Adekunle Oladimeji urged the Commissioner to use his wealth of knowledge to develop and improve the ministry to make Osun a technology driven state. 

In a remark, the State Commissioner for innovation, Science and Technology, Mr Moruf Ayofe said despite the deplorable state of the ministry, his team had been able to create official e-mail for the government and its principal officers, conduct ICT training for students from tertiary institutions across the state and explored opportunities in the state along with British investors.

Mr Ayofe who explained that a lot of work needed to be done, and pleaded for the support of the Osun 8th Assembly in achieving some set goals the ministry wished to achieve.

The Maiden meeting, which held at the Parliamentary building, had in attendance other members of the committee including Mr Rotimi Ogunrinade, Mr. Laide Ajibola and Principal Officers from the State Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.

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Technology

Makinde Advocates Female Students’ Involvement In Technology

By Web News 954

The wife of the Oyo State Governor, Mrs Tamunominini Makinde has called on female students to be more involved in the technological revolution being experienced in the world to be at par, with their male counterparts.

Mrs Makinde made the call at a programme organized for the girls to commemorate this year’s international day of the girl child at the house of chiefs, secretariat, Ibadan.

Wife of the Governor who stressed the benefits of technology noted that the key to changing the future for the better lay in the digital world, which must be embraced by the girls.

Mrs Makinde called on the girls not to think that technology was boys’ business, stressing the enormous role it played during last year’s lockdown caused by the covid-19 outbreak.

In her lecture, Senior Special Adviser to the governor on intervention, Mrs Aderonke Adedayo charged the girls to be careful with the use of their phones to utilize technology positively.

Some girls at the program promised to use their technological knowledge to improve themselves and better society.

The female students who were over 600 in number were drawn from sixty-six secondary schools across the State.

Seyifunmi Olarinde

Technology

Tornadoes Claim over 20 Lives in Eastern Alabama

By Web News 988

At least 23 people have been killed as tornadoes struck Lee County in Eastern Alabama, authorities say.

County Sheriff Jay Jones said there had been “catastrophic” damage and there were fears more bodies would be found, while the number of injured persons is not yet known.

Rescue efforts have been halted until dawn due to the danger of searching in the dark.

The most devastating tornado struck the area around Beauregard, carving a path at least half a mile (0.8km) wide.

The National Weather Service (NWS) classified it as at least an EF-3 – meaning winds of up to 165mph (266km/h).

It warned people to “stay out of damaged areas so first responders could do their job”.

The area around Beauregard, about 60 miles (95km) east of Alabama’s State capital, Montgomery, appears to have borne the brunt, also the tornado there struck at about 20:00 GMT on Sunday.

Footage showed snapped poles, roads littered with debris and houses without roofs.

Sheriff Jones said some homes had been reduced to slabs.

Authorities fear the death toll could rise.

Residents of Smiths Station told local TV they had seen businesses destroyed there and a large bar called the Buck Wild Saloon had had its roof torn off.

Sheriff Jones said: “The challenge is the sheer volume of the debris where all the homes were located. It’s the most I’ve seen that I can recall.”

Tornado warnings were also issued for Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. Footage showed smashed buildings and snapped trees in Talbotton, about 80 miles south of Atlanta.

Tornadoes were also reported in Walton County and Cairo in northern Florida.

All of the deaths so far have been in Lee County. Authorities say they are still working to identify the victims and the injured.

One of the dead in Beauregard was an eight year old, family members said.

“We’ve never had a mass fatality situation, that I can remember, like this in my lifetime,” Lee County coroner Bill Harris said.

He said on Sunday evening: “We’ve still got people being pulled out of rubble. We’re going to be here all night.”

Alabama meteorologist Eric Snitil tweeted that there were more deaths in Lee County in one day due to a tornado than in the entirety of the US in 2018.

East Alabama Medical Centre said it was treating more than 40 people injured by the extreme weather, and was expecting more.

Several people were reported hurt in Talbotton in Georgia, though not seriously.

US says there are about 3,000 customers without power across Alabama, most of them in Lee County.

Cold weather is forecast for the region after the tornadoes, with temperatures predicted to drop to near freezing.

The National Weather Service said it would send three survey teams to assess the damage caused by tornadoes across Alabama on Monday.

The extreme weather initially cut off electricity for 21,000 Georgia Power customers, according to a company spokeswoman, and tore down trees and destroyed homes.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey posted on Twitter to warn residents there could be more extreme weather to come.

“Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives in the storms that hit Lee County today,” she wrote.

President Donald Trump also tweeted, asking people to “Please be careful and safe”.

And Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was born in Mobile in the southwest of the state, said he was “devastated” by the news, saying Lee County was “a place close to my heart”.

This series has occurred earlier than the traditional peak season for tornadoes, which runs from April to June, when more than half of the year’s tornadoes generally strike.

Weather systems are more conducive in these months. Warm air flows north from the Gulf of Mexico at the same time as storm systems are propelled into the south and mid-west by a southward dip in the jet stream.

These latest tornadoes appear to have carried the deadliest toll since 35 people were killed in Arkansas and Mississippi in April 2014.

A “super outbreak” of tornadoes across a swathe of the US in April 2011 killed more than 300 people.

BBC