Reverse engineering: Penetration tests (vulnerabilities) and artificial intelligence

Fortunately, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang’s reassuring recommendation is that we should just chill and free ourselves from the chains of being trapped in a “frenzied and workaholic society”. In his book: “Rest: Why you get more done when you work less”, he argues that what we need is plenty of rest-“not as an antidote to work but as an aid.”

He is an unrepentant advocate of downtime. Indeed, he vigorously canvasses his strident prescription:

“We shouldn’t regard rest as a mere physical necessity to be satisfied grudgingly. When we stop and rest properly, we are not paying a tax on creativity. We are investing in it.”

He has earned the endorsement of Sarah Begley who declared on CNN:

“The greatest thinkers in history, like Charles Darwin, Ingmar Bergman and Alice Munro (she should have added Sir Winston Churchill and Mrs. Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain) all realized that maximum productivity requires only about four hours a day of focused work. To get the most out of this window, the remainder of the day must be spent doing restful activities, like taking long walks and short naps.”

Also, we should factor into the equation the supreme confidence of internationally acclaimed consulting engineers. Only yesterday, CNN denoted prime time to the consulting engineer who was responsible for the construction of the tallest building in the world – the Burj Al Arab tower in Dubai, United Arab Republic. He is already working on a project that would surpass the Burj Al-Arab in height by almost fifty feet, thereby creating yet another world record.

When his interviewer challenged him about the safety and other elements of the project, he coolly and calmly explained in considerable detail the vast amount of work his firm had carried out – simulations, computer models, stress tests, penetration test etc. He was a exceptionally self-assured and confident regarding the competence of his team to deliver the project on time and within the prescribed budget.

Many Nigerians who watched the programme would no doubt have been left in awe. They should not be. Amongst Nigerian consulting engineers are the likes of Eng. (Dr.) Akintola Omigbodun who broke all the records at Government College, Ibadan; followed by King’s College, Lagos; Queens’ College, London; and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The same could be said of Eng. (Dr.) Edet Amana of Government College, Umuahia; King’s College, Lagos and Imperial College, London As if to thoroughly confound the professors at Imperial College, Dr. Amana’s younger brother achieved equally spectacular results at the same university where he bagged a Ph.d in engineering as confirmation that the genius gene has been firmly planted by their father who was a teacher / headmaster.

The temptation to revisit and extend the boundaries of penetration tests and our vulnerabilities has become irresistible in the light of my experience regarding a piece of land which my company has owned since 1996. It is located at Plot 7 Block 2 Foreshore Ikoyi.

To my utter horror and astonishment, a few months ago a signboard sprang up overnight with the inscription:

“This land belongs to the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi Ojaja II. For any enquiry call 0803 3657788”

Our property was invaded by trespassers and building on our land commenced with a frenzy. We had no option but to report the matter to the police and simultaneously pursue our case in court. As we speak, the construction on our land is still going on while the police appear entirely helpless and utterly intimidated. In the courts, our experience confirms the relevance of penetration tests and our vulnerabilities. Fifty-six years after our nation became independent we are entitled to rely on the judgement of our consulting engineers regarding the consequences of impunity and total disregard for the law. It is a moot point whether those countries that we admire for their excellent reverse engineering, penetration tests (vulnerabilities) and artificial intelligence could have sustained the conducive environment that enabled superlative engineering feats without first addressing the results of the soil tests as well as the relevance of good order in a society that is circumscribed by the rule of law.

Perhaps the most important aspect of our deliberations tonight is to ponder on the alternatives open to consulting engineers regarding the critical issues with which our nation is faced. Even if engineers are denied access to “the kitchen, living room and the other room” they should find their way to the waiting room where they will find a sizeable number of chartered accountants who are eager to join the rescue mission to save our nation from repeating the same mistakes all over again. Even from the waiting room, we can attempt to clarify matters regarding the apparent marginalisation of the Association For Consulting Engineering in Nigeria. There are two sides to the bad coin and mutual suspicion – between the government and the engineers. Some of you may recall that the late Funsho Williams was himself an engineer and rose to become the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Works. He eventually became the Commissioner and he decided to cast his lot with Nigerian engineers by awarding three major road contracts (one of them was AdeolaOdeku Street, Victoria Island) to them. He went to great lengths to empower them by arranging 60 per cent mobilisation fee to be paid upfront to them in order to ensure that there would be no hitches. Sadly, he ended up by being disappointed. The Nigerian engineers / contractors performed woefully and the contracts had to be re-awarded to foreign engineering firms. The rest is history. Sadly, Eng. Funsho Williams is no longer alive to share the full story with you who are his professional colleagues.

I am grateful to the late Engineer (Chief) S.O. Fadahunsi who I believe was the president of your association for taking the trouble to explain in his book and various lectures that what we are dealing with in Nigeria is systemic failure further compounded by corruption. Apparently, what has prevailed for many years is that for reasons which we all know government officials would rather patronize foreign engineering contractors than support their Nigerian counterparts. In a matter of contract awards, the general perception is that the process is compromised ab initio by funding constraints. Apparently, government officials would deliberately abandon on-going projects and proceeded to award new ones even though the money to pay contractors is not in place. To further compound matters, transparency is in short supply as the same contractors keep winning – to the exclusion of all others. In Nigeria, there is no fire without smoke. It is in other climes that the dictum of there is no smoke without fire prevails. Anyway, the bottom line is that towards the end of the financial year / budget cycle, matters are rushed and payments are made without ensuring that the proper safeguards are in place. In the case of a bridge or a dam the design and other preliminaries could take several months (if not years). Even those engineers who have excellent their reputation to protect have to contend with unethical practices and the settlement syndrome when they are paid mobilisation fee which is actually meant for preliminary expenses and procurement of equipment / machinery. What ever deals or compromises they have to strike with their benefactors have grave consequences for the speedy execution of the assignment as well as the quality of the work.

Most of you are of course aware that a very delicate and most thorny issue has to do with variations which are meant to deal with unforeseen circumstances ranging from soil tests, topography, inflation, change in scope; inflation and a host of other issues. In other countries, the process is evidently transparent and negotiations are handled most professionally. Where it is impossible to reach agreement, experts with relevant experience and skills are invited to advise or arbitrate. Sadly, in Nigeria variations have been exponentially abused over the years without any sense of guilt by the perpetrators. Consequently, the nation is littered with projects that were abandoned or were never even started at all. Regardless, the treasury has been savaged. We are here to dine with Consulting Engineers. Hence, it will amount to a flagrant abuse of your generous hospitality to speculate on the guilt connivance, culpability, or innocence of chartered accountants in this dodgy enterprise and rapidly escalating scam.