Good news from JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board) as it sees more young people aspiring to attend universities in Nigeria: “Meanwhile the bulletin also noted that the slash in the UTME fee by the federal government had increased the number of candidates who want to sit for the examination.” Very happy for the voices we put together for the action effected for that change.

That said, the plan to use biometrics in JAMB exams will set a new basis for universities and all tertiary institutions in Nigeria to do so. After all, what is the value of JAMB using biometrics if the universities cannot use same biometrics to validate that incoming freshmen are the same JAMB had tested. So, as JAMB marches ahead with biometrics, contractors are already smiling because universities will need same equipment. Had NIMC (National Identity Management Commission) been fully operational, Nigeria could have consolidated all these disparate databases in one.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it will not rescind its decision on the use of biometrics in the conduct of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

This is contained in the board’s weekly bulletin issued on Sunday in Lagos.

According to the bulletin, the importance of biometrics in the conduct of the board’s examination cannot be overemphasised.

It noted that the Biometrics Verification Machine (BVM) was introduced by the board in an attempt to get rid of the numerous forms of examination malpractice.

It said the BVM was a security mechanism used for the authentication of candidates’ identity as it provided access to the individual data, based on physiological characteristics.

We need to fight exam malpractices, and using biometrics will surely help JAMB. Yet, it does not end there. The problem is that every university, polytechnic and college of education will get in line, embracing biometrics. And just like that, personal bio-data becomes permanently warehoused in schools which are not specifically suited for such. One will hope that brokers will not pay to trade on them!

Then after schools, employers will do their own biometrics to confirm that the same student is the very one applying for jobs.

Certainly, government needs to get NIMC going to avoid this biometric paralysis in the nation. It does not need to be this way. Yes, Nigeria cannot be a biometric nation, from telecoms (SIM card) to banking (BVN), and now university entrance exam, you do not need to kill more than one tiger to be nicknamed “the killer of tigers”.

LinkedIn Comment on Feed

Isn’t it ridiculous that in a country that is hell-bent on centralising governance now abhors the very things that actually deserve centralisation? We are really specialist in doing things the opposite way.

We run a federal system that is actually unitary in practice, then we have the NUC lording it over all the universities. You have the ASUU as a bargaining conglomerate, then we have JAMB deciding who the universities admit. With all the unification conglomerates all over the place, even when they are really the problems, we have done everything to keep them alive and kicking, while showing contempt and disdain to any idea that questions their efficacy and usefulness.

On the other hand, Immigration Service is maintaining its own database and biometrics, FRSC have theirs, the banks have their BVN, the telecoms have theirs, INEC is there, even Customs have theirs; and in all of these paralyses, we still have a certain NIMC, with government paying salaries there, only God knows what its job actually is. Now JAMB wants to join the league of Biometrics Keepers Association of Nigeria…

Other than awarding contracts and getting kickbacks, no one else can explain why we need disparate databases to keep an individual’s biometrics.

One of the most important elements in technology ventures is efficient integration of market systems. In short, most times, companies win based on the quality of integration into customer ecosystems. Integration is a key component of business model, and does matter a lot, on differentiating consumer-focused and enterprise-focused businesses.

A consumer-focused business (e.g. Facebook, Nairaland) builds its integration to serve mass-produced solutions. Usually, the best solution in the sector is adopted massively by many users, and over time, it wins the market. An enterprise-focused company (e.g. IBM, ATB Techsoft) delivers solutions to companies but must customize them to meet the specific needs of the enterprises. Doing that means that winning is no more just about technology, but support, sales force, and capacity to close deals and sign contracts.

Facebook is a consumer-focused company. It has built its integration to focus on making the best product that serves mass market (of customers). These products are largely uniform.  It does not have to customize anything from one user to the other. The marginal cost in the business is very low – distribution is non-convoluted – and it can just scale really fast because it does not need to have many sales people.

But when it comes to IBM which is mainly an enterprise-focused company, the products, though similar at core, are designed to be customizable for customers in order to meet their specific business technical frictions. It cannot just expect the web to do the job. So, it needs to have sales force, contract team, etc for it to thrive.

The implication is that the architectures of Facebook and IBM businesses are different because the customers they serve are different. If Facebook wants to start doing enterprise business, it will fail before it restructures its system to become like a company that can support companies. Similarly, if IBM wants to start doing consumer business, it will struggle until it recalibrates to become like a consumer-focused company. Those changes are at the heart of integration – linking solution value into users to solve their frictions. The value could be connecting with friends (Facebook) or implementing a new database (IBM).

This is the reason why great companies like Google, a leading consumer-focused business, will struggle when it moves to enterprise-market. Think of Google Cloud where it continues to struggle as Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure leap ahead. Google will be fine, but to do that, it must build a sales team which is not typical in Google in its consumer search-driven business. The realization has not much to do with technology: Google does have extremely great cloud technology with many suites. But that is irrelevant: its integration does not fit the ways it can deliver value to enterprises.

You will say the same as why Microsoft has struggled on leading any major sector in the consumer business: it is a company wired for enterprises, working with OEMs to bundle Windows in laptops and desktops. It was never in the business of dealing with end customers at scale. Bing is there but it continues to struggle while Azure became a runaway success because Azure is just like Windows – an enterprise business which Microsoft understands.

All Together

Integration is at the heart of a business model. Most times, the way a company is structured affects its capacity to win. Even when the competing product or technology is at the same level of quality, the integration system with customers is what really determines success.

Google Cloud is just as good as Microsoft Azure but the business model of Google has not been well integrated to serve enterprise customers, leading to Google Cloud struggles. Similarly, Microsoft despite any great technology it can make is yet to understand how to do consumer business at scale. So, Facebook, for instance, can go enterprise but it will struggle until it re-integrates, since its current integration is biased for consumer business.

The message is this: as you build, understand your market so that you can have the right integration with your customers. It is only when you get integration right that you can deliver higher level of values to the business frictions of customers. At that equilibrium framework, your reward will come: business success.

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Hello, Ndubuisi Ekekwe, This is particularly true as there’s a very distinct customer journey between B2B and B2C. Apparently, only the right integration can help businesses (B2B or B2C) deliver a customer experience that move hearts and wallets.

The Aggregation-Integration Construct

Hello Moses Olafenwa and John Olafenwa,

This is Ndubuisi Ekekwe, your fellow citizen. I read a post on my blog written by Nnamdi. I was blown away by your work.

Moses and John Olafenwa, the CEO and CTO of AI Commons (now called DeepQuest AI), respectively, launched Deep Quest AI to advance artificial intelligence and make it accessible to every individual and organization in the world.

They created Deepstack, an AI server which can be easily installed, used completely offline or on the cloud for facial recognition, object detection, scene recognition and custom recognition for enterprise, consumer and security applications. Its API allows you to run thousands to millions of requests without pay as you use costs, and provides the perfect integration channel for all your applications. Also, it makes it easier to add new recognition APIs at will, with capacity to deploy instantly with strong user privacy.

Quickly, I marshaled to track both in Nigeria and within minutes, I spoke with Moses. I offered jobs to start on Monday but Moses “smiled”. I offered to fund your ideas immediately, Moses “smiled”. Because that happened, your story becomes more exciting: jobs and money serve great people! You both are amazing.

I told Moses that I will make this post to show young people the way the world works. I wish Moses had given me the opportunity to sign the offer letters or write the cheque. Nonetheless, your story is what Nigeria needs.

Good luck into the exciting future. You have my direct phone number!

Two Nigerian Brothers On A Quest To Democratize AI for Everyone