Life they say has many callings and that life in itself is often better experienced than told. This adage succinctly tells about one man, Dr Patricks Oghemu, Ph.D.
Often times, many Nigerians due to social and environmental dispositions are wont to rush into hasty conclusions that Nigeria, as a nation is bereft of people with the abilities to push forward innovative ideas.
However, one man, Dr Patricks Oghemu, like a few other Nigerians amongst the millions of citizens this greatest African nation is endowed and blessed with has over the years been disproving all naysayers who never saw anything good about the good intentions of making innovations in this nation.
Coming from a very humble background, this innovator and Workaholic par excellence, Dr Patricks Oghemu has continually made his marks in Nigeria’s quest to move away from analogue thinking to the innovative drive.
The man, Dr Patricks Oghuma, Ph.D., R.Eng is an Assistant Director and Technical Assistant to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He obtained a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical – Electronics Engineering (B.Eng), from the Edo State University Ekpoma (now Ambrose Ali University) in 1997 and proceeded to acquire Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Information Science and Telecommunications Technology from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea (2009-2014) in quick succession and with flying colours.
He has journal articles and referred conference proceedings to his credit as well as several tangible research output which include technical reports and others.
Apart from these degrees, he has several other certificates from the following bodies/organizations: Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO) UK, Global System Mobile Communication Association (GSMA), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), ZTE University China, Huawei Technologies, China, Swedish Programme for ICT Development in Emerging Regions (SPIDER)/ Stockholm University Sweden, among others.
Prior to his appointment as a Technical Assistant to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, he was the Technical Assistant to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Civil Service Commission, Technical Assistant to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defence, Technical Assistant to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Technical Assistant to former Honourable Minister of Communications (Dr Adebayo Shittu), Special Assistant- Technical to the former Permanent Secretary (Mrs. Nkechi Ejele), Ministry of Communication Technology and was the head, Human Capital Development and Emerging Technologies Team of the ICT Department in the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
Dr Oghuma crafted the Honourable Minister’s speeches and papers (Dr. Adebayo Shittu). His hands-on lessons and experience received as Technical Assistant to several Permanent Secretaries put him on a good stead to work with any Permanent Secretary or Honourable Minister.
He has also achieved a blend of administrative and technical experience in the Federal Civil Service. He has also been a member of several Inter-Ministerial Committees including Committee on the Establishment of Digital Economy and Digital Innovation & Cybersecurity Departments, Committee on the Performance Evaluation of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Inter-Ministerial Committee to Develop a framework to Build Digital Skills in Schools, Technical Evaluation Committee for the implementation of 2020 Capital Project; Digital Transformation Technical Working Group for the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy and National eGovernment Masterplan.
He was a member of the Ministry of Defence Procurement Planning Committee on 2021/21 Capital Project, Website and Content Management Taskforce and served as a Secretariat member of: Presidential Think-Tank on Defence and Security, Ministerial Planning Committee on the Convocation of Seminar on National Unity, and Committee to Review the Nigerian National Defence Policy (NNDP 2017) in the Ministry of Defence.
He was a participant at the workshop on Leadership Course in Preventive Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution 3 (LCPDCR-3) at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos Plateau State in August 2021. He was a technical participant at the 20th National Council on Science, Technology, and Innovation 2022, at NASRDA, Abuja. Technical participant at the 2-day Experts’ forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation, organized by the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) 2022.
Member, Technical committee to develop implementation plan for effective implementation of the revised 2022 National Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (NSTIP), Member 2022 World Youth Skills Day commemoration planning Committee, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sport Development. Member, Website Committee Federal Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Member, Committee for energy power retrofitting in the ministry.
Member, Local Organizing Committee for the hosting of the African Forum on Research and Innovation (FARI) programme 2022. A technical member to the meeting on the development of a National Policy for Chemical Technology, Nigeria Chemical Industry Action Project (NCIAP) 2022.
He is a member of the Ministerial Committee on the implementation of the Nigeria’s National Development Plan (NDP 2021- 2025)Dr Oghuma is a recipient of several awards, in 2014, he bagged KAIST Academic Excellence Award in South Korea, KOICA eGovernment Instructor Award in 2017 and in 2019 he also bagged a Presidential EPIC Merit Award of Excellence in recognition of his good character and exceptional contributions in upholding the fundamental ethical values of the Public Service.
He is a well sought after eGovernment Instructor at the eGovernment Training Centre and was a visiting scholar/ facilitator at the National Open University of Nigerian, Abuja Model Study centre from 2015- 2021.
He is a member of several professional bodies: Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Computer Professionals of Nigeria (CPN), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Institute of Electrical Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Nigerian Institute of ICT Engineers (NIICTE), Korea Society of Management Information System (KMIS), and International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
He is a member of ICT for National Development Committee under the Nigeria Computer Society. He is a Fellow Information Marketing & Management Institute (FIMMI).
