MEET THE STAFF SERIES

Our Apps Are Designed to Reduce Collection Losses- Group Head, IT Applications unit.

CCD: Please can we have your brief profile?

UY: My name is Umar Yakubu Mohammed. I am a graduate of the University of Wales, United Kingdom. I studied Business Computing and Information Technology; my areas of interests are programming, web development and artificial Intelligence.

CCD: Tell us how it all began for you at Kaduna Electric?

UY: I saw a job advert on Facebook and I applied. I was called for an aptitude test then later for an interview. I came with a goal to contribute to a better Kaduna Electric and improve my career.

I started working with committed and dedicated team in Billing Unit for four months before I was transferred to ICT. 

We brought a lot of innovation and implemented solutions that have added value to the company.  My journey at Kaduna Electric comes with varied experiences and memories.

I am glad to say that we have people full of ideas that if harnessed properly will take the company to greater heights.

CCD:  What specifically is your responsibility in ICT? 

UY:  I am the Head of Group IT Applications unit, responsible for coordinating in-house systems development and management, troubleshooting and support.

I am also responsible for coordinating 3rd-party applications management.

CCD:  Can you share with us some of the support the ICT Department is rendering to other Department/Units?

UY: We render support in automating department operations and processes so that their work would be easier and more efficient.

CCD: Tell us your unit’s achievements and those of ICT in general.

UY: We have supported many departments in automation and have achieved success such as Customer Enumeration app, KEGIS, Meter Reading App, CRM, STOMS, Enforcement App, Meter Management App, Meter Verification App etc. 

CCD: What would you consider as the challenging part before you offer solutions? 

UY: Overlapping responsibilities, meeting deadlines, user support, user rejection, sabotage and staff negligence.

CCD: You are one of the people who got awards in the Reward and Recognition segment of the last Customer Service Week.  What is the secret?

UY: Teamwork, dedication and patience.

CCD: How supportive is your Unit in tackling ATC&C losses?

UY: We have created solutions for reading of Maximum Demand (MD) customers’ meters. We created the Payment Tracking App to track PPM and non-PPM customer payments; we also created the Enforcement App to monitor and track customer bypass and other suspicious activities.

CCD: Closely related to this are customers’ apathy towards payment of electricity bills, energy theft and meter bypass. What is your department/unit doing in support to address these issues?

UY: As earlier stated we created apps to track customer payments. There is another app for monitoring customers and logging issues and penalties. The CRM is another solution that allows customers lodge their complaints. We are also building another mobile application for customers to easily make payments, view their payment history, make complaints and so on. All these Apps are geared towards addressing the issues related to revenue losses.

CCD: Any appeal/suggestions or advice to the Management or staff?

UY: We should be more professional in our responsibilities.

CCD: By way of closing, what are your hobbies?  

UY: Meeting people, Programming, Research and Games.