.ng redelegation, a plus for NiRA

The successful conclusion of redelegation of the nation’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) name .ng, stands as a major achievement for Nigeria, reports REMMY NWEKE.


Penultimate Wednesday, May 13, 2009, no doubt, is a date to remember for every loving Nigerian Internet enthusiast, mainly because it was the day another landmark history was made with the conclusion of the nation’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) name .ng, with the current global coordinating internet agency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

ICANN in the saddle:
It must be recognized that this feat is coming after over 13 years of the .ng registration with ICANN, an international not-to-profit corporation championing standardization of the internet community globally. Formed in 1998, ICANN involves participants from all over the world and is dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable, as well as bent on promoting competition by developing policies on the Internet’s unique identifiers and over the years it has impacted on the expansion and evolution of the Internet.

What’s TLD?
A country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country or a dependent territory. Some examples of ccTLD are .us for United States, .uk for United Kingdom, .de for Germany, .ng for Nigeria, .nz for New Zealand, and .eg for Egypt to name a few.

President, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Mr. Ndukwe Kalu, said it is a milestone for the country to achieve the full local management and control of its ccTLD, .ng.

ITRealms Online recalls that .ng ccTLD expedition began precisely in 1995, with the first delegation to Mrs. Ibukun Odusote as the then administrative Point of Contact (POC). And by 2004 stakeholders were engulfed in controversy over who hosts the ccTLD locally, majorly between a non-governmental organization, the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), which attracted the attention of the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who consequently, directed the Nigerian Internet community represented by the G22 to reach a consensus on a not-for-profit and all inclusive entity to manage the .ng ccTLD, thus giving birth to NiRA board of trustees in 2005, proceeded by the election of the NIRA executive board in May 2007.

NiRA’s Vision 20-2011:
NiRA president, Kalu, described the conclusion of the exercise as a turning point in the existence of .ng ccTLD, having scaled through the processes as demanded by ICANN’s administrative affiliate, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

“For us, we have set our Vision 20 2020 as Vision 20 2011, that is, for Nigeria to make the ccTLD top 20 by year 2011,” he declared.

Also, Ndukwe said that with the conclusion, NiRA executive board inaugurated since May 2007, at an all-inclusive stakeholders meeting in Lagos, can now go full-length into the commercial aspect of the .ng management, which was entrusted on NiRA at inception.

As said by him, precisely 4pm GMT, May 13, 2009, Verisign implemented ICANN approved root server changes to the .ng ccTLD; while a few hours later IANA followed the board approved redelegation of the Nigerian ccTLD on its website, www.iana.org, stressing that effectively this brings to a close the much agitated local hosting of .ng ccTLD by Nigerian Internet community.

However, after the inauguration of the current exco, top on the agenda of NiRA was to ensure this conclusion among other challenges, due largely to the controversies .ng has generated in the recent past and also the emergence of NiRA into the polity.

Yet the executives were undaunted as they initiated one process after another, restructuring things by putting in place the required structure and infrastructure that would sustain the .ng ccTLD eventually.

Today, most stakeholders in the nation’s internet community agreed that those structures have paid off owing to the diligence of the exco-led by Ndukwe Kalu and his vice president, Mrs. Mary Uduma, who also represents the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) at NiRA, just as .ng ccTLD promises to offer its domains with the most robust technical infrastructure on the continent.

Standardizing .ng ccTLD:
“The .ng ccTLD is the only ccTLD with multiple anycast name servers offering local resolutions of .ng domain in over 40 cities in five continents with a 100 per cent uptime guarantee,” Kalu said, pointing out that Nigeria, as matter of fact, is the second country in Africa to have a fully automated registry with full Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) making its access to be of a global standard that allows registrars from all over the world to interact with it.

EPP also known as Enhanced Capability Port (ECP) is a standard signaling method for bi-directional parallel communication between a computer and peripheral devices that offers the potential for much higher rates of data transfer than the original parallel signaling methods.

In other words, with the Nigerian registry, anyone can register .ng in seconds and be sure that the name would always be available and visitors to such websites would get translations of their domain names in over 40 local cities; making room for a better web presence.

For the Nigerian Internet community, this is truly a defining moment, which made NIRA the sponsoring organization and manager of the .ng ccTLD, hence bringing the .ng as desired to the greater participation of all stakeholders, both in government and private sector.


Respect for late Ajayi:
This landmark act has also accorded the former Director General, National IT Development Agency (NITDA), late Prof Gabriel Ajayi, to invariably have his final rest, with his name also rested from the IANA website; just as with the change, NIRA has deemphasized personalization of the domain managers, but rather used roles with the admin contact as the role of NIRA President, which could be any body occupying such a position.

NIRA, therefore, has exhibited commitment for the population of .ng ccTLD and would soon outline key projects toward achieving its Vision 20 2011. Kalu also noted that with this development in the Nigerian cyberspace countless opportunities would be available to both the state and citizens.

MOU for .ng:
Noteworthy is that last year, NiRA entered an agreement with NITDA which spurred the end result of today, the redelegation without controversy, attracting commendations from stakeholders and the Internet community precisely, most of who described the development as a positive chapter in the annals of Internet development in the country.

And following the MoU, NiRA filed for the redelegation without forgetting to invite comments on 13-policy documents to guide its operations.

The first sets of policies, he said, were 11 domain related including policy development process, domain name policy, special domain name policy, fees policy, privacy policy and dispute resolution policy. He listed others to comprise policies on general registration rules, registrant agreement, registrar agreement, registrar accreditation process and glossary as contained in the policy documents.

Kalu pointed out that apart from the above 11 named documents, there were two policy documents specifically mapped out to ensure good corporate governance in management of affairs of NiRA, thus aligning its procedure with international best practices.

Warming up for 2010 public meeting:
This redelegation is apt, mostly now that Nigeria has proposed to host ICANN’s international meeting by 2010, of which ICANN official recently visited Nigeria and had meeting with NiRA officials and NCC in Abuja, just as Nigeria has already set up a Local Organising Committee (LOC) led by the Director of Licensing at NCC and Vice president, NiRA, Mrs. Mary Uduma.Confirming this, the Regional Manager for Africa at ICANN, Ms Anne Rachel Inne, informed that Nigeria has sent an Expression of Interest to host the 2010 meeting to the ICANN team in-charge, and applauded NiRA and Nigeria for a successful redelegation of .ng.

Stakeholders comment:
For the chief executive, IceCool, a team of website developers, Mr. Destiny Amana, when Mr. Kalu and his team were elected into NiRA exco, stakeholders were at lost as to what to expect as the task of moving .ng into the hands of Nigerians had eluded the internet community for a long time.

“But, after a trying time and through so-tricky Information Technology maneuvering, the president has successfully changed delegation from Randy Bush, whom we are thankful to for hosting .ng for as long as he did,” Amana said.

Ndukwe’s team, he said, has established a standard compliant registry as a legacy for future generations and has involved the pioneer registrars all the way through the process.

Amana further commended the technical committee for pulling redelegation processes off and tasked the registrars to ensure the Vision 20 2011 is realizable byway of “make .ng number 1.”

NCS president, Prof. Charles Uwadia, while reacting said that the nation’s Internet community is happy for finally taken charge of its own online identity, .ng. “The nation has all it takes to manage it effectively both administratively and technically, so stakeholders are happy,” he asserted.

Tapping .ng advantage:
Like Amana noted, the responsibility of popularizing .ng, apart from resting on registrars, equally lays on both public and private sectors in the country to embrace .ng, the nation’s identity in the cyberspace, so as to help Ndukwe’s dream team in achieving yet another mile stone of 20 2011 for the country, more so, when .ng is touted as the cheapest domain name to get in recent times.

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Starcomms lights up Awka, Umuahia... 3 other cities

THE Anambra State capital, Awka and its Abia counterpart, Umuahia, are now connected on the Starcomms network. This was in addition to three other cities, namely Nnewi, Ilorin the Kwara State capital and Sapele in Delta State, where Starcomms has established its presence.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Starcomms Plc, Mr. Maher Qubain, while announcing these latest additions on the network, said it is part of the telecom’s determination to take quality services to more Nigerians that spurred the completion of the expansion plan which commenced over a year ago.

Starcomms Plc, as a leading telecommunications operator in the country, he said, has extended its coverage to five more cities in the country, with South East having three, viz Awka, Umuahia and Nnewi.

Mr. Qubain explained that Starcomms’ effort at linking-up to these cities, was expression of its poise to give quality products and services backed up with cutting-edge technology to more cities in the country.

At Starcomms, he said, the operator believes in giving people value for their money, hence the new cities on the network are bound to have quality communication through it offerings.

“At the disposal of our prospective subscribers would be world-class telecom services, products and packages, all tailored toward meeting all communication needs. We are known for bringing innovative and affordable solutions and access devices to all areas under our network,” he declared.

The operator, he assured, would always be on the lead in bringing innovativeness to telecommunications services in the country and has also initiated a feedback access direct from subscribers to the CEO of the company.

“In cases where challenges are not satisfactorily addressed by other departments, we have made available an email address, ceo.customercare@starcomms.com, where customers can reach me directly,” Qubain disclosed.

Starcomms subscribers, according to him, in these five new cities would be offered products and services that would revolutionize their communication experience.

“These include the fixed wireless service which is available on Starcomms network in all the other cities already under its coverage. The subscribers will also have access to the 07028 & 07029 roaming services. These come with value added services like call waiting and missed call notification,” he asserted, stressing that the call waiting services would allow them to carry out two conversations interchangeably without losing any of the calls.

On the missed call notification, he said, it would keep subscribers abreast of all the calls that come into their phone when they switch off or move out of service range.

He further said that apart from this, Starcomms customers will also enjoy several other products and services, including the 1x CDMA Internet access, especially the Starcomms Neo, which offers them the benefit of surfing the web at a cost effective rate.

On the ongoing Starcomms talktime bonanza, he said, it is another package that will come to Awka, Umuahia, Nnewi, Ilorin and Sapele with the current roll out.

Enlightening that in this offer, for every N500 recharge, subscribers would enjoy a bonus airtime of N50, bringing a total airtime of N550 or 10 per cent free airtime on recharge.

While N1,000 recharge card attracts airtime bonus of N150 and a total airtime of N1,150.

Equally, he said that subscribers who recharge with N2000 will be richer by N500 as airtime bonus.

“Thereby enjoying 20 per cent free airtime,” he said, noting, however that N5000 recharge will attract an airtime bonus of N1,250, bringing a total airtime of N6,250 or 25 per cent of free airtime.

In addition, he said, that Starcomms Smart Centre an innovative concept aimed at revolutionizing the pay phone business in the country, would form part of the package prepared for the cities for the empowerment of the citizens.

“It provides more profit and more opportunity for call operators to tap into the cutting-edge technology of Starcomms. With two models in place: Smart Centre for the youth and business people, the ultimate aim is the economic prosperity of the operator in terms of profit,” he submitted.

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750,000 laptops up for grabs @ CNP promo

Computerize Nigeria Project (CNP), is collaborating with four global Personal Computer (PC) brands in dangling 750,000 laptops before Nigerians in a joint project promotion, aimed at encouraging the use of computers in the country.

Chief executive officer, Computerize Nigeria Project, Mrs. Vivian Abii, who disclosed this at the weekend, said that history has been made as the leading four international original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have come under one umbrella for a common purpose.

She listed the four OEMs in this promo to include ACER, Hewlett Packard (HP), Toshiba and Zinox, noting that by injecting such number of laptops into the Nigerian market, definitely the offer is coming at bottom prices.

She explained that the promo seeks to enhance computer ownership, Information Technology (IT) competencies and increased productivity on a national level is endorsed by Microsoft, world Number1 software house.

She pointed out that primarily, the 750,000 laptops promo would empower civil servants at the three tiers of government, staff of organized private sector, military and para-military personnel students and staff of educational institutions as well as cooperatives.

The promo, according to her, eases out the problems of the many computer ownership or purchasing schemes in the market today.

“Firstly, it addresses the often expressed consumer desire to have a wide range of brand choices from which to choose, as traditionally, an OEM would offer only its own brand in its ownership scheme,” she said.

CNP, she said, has broken all the barriers of competition and the OEMs ACER, HP, Toshiba, and Zinox are offered to consumers under one roof at prices hitherto unmatched.

Mrs. Abii enumerated other consumer benefits to include no bank guarantees, thus bringing an end to the tedious documentation and the endless come-today-come-tomorrow that have frustrated many prospects.

“Consumers enjoy value for money whether they pay in cash or take advantage of the flexible payment terms with interests below bank prevailing rates,” she said.

The result of this kind of promo, Mrs. Abii said, is that the 750,000 laptops promo has made laptops cheaper and easier to purchase, while encouraging the growth of a credit culture in the economy.

“That was the ultimate aim for this partnership between leading OEMs in Nigeria,” she said.

A press statement made available to ITRealms Online, weekend, quoted the Country Sales Representative for ACER, Mr. Charles Igboa, as saying that ACER’s participation in the 750,000 laptops promo underscores the company’s commitment to empower people.

He also said that ACER, like the other participating OEMs has made substantial discounts to bring prices down because of the belief that this promo would help break the barrier between technology and people.

Mr. Igboa urged the working class in the country to take advantage of the unique incentives of this promo and computerize their offices and homes.

Toshiba’s Business Manager for West Africa, Mr. Simeon Gotley, said that the promo has a huge opportunity for Toshiba to make remarkable contributions in the country.

Further, he said, that the timing of the promo signified the conviction of the OEMs that only appropriate technology could help Nigeria to survive the on-going global economic crisis.

ITRealms Online, recalls that Computerize Nigeria Project Ltd was launched in 2001 by the NLC President Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who is currently the Executive Governor of Edo state, in the presence of the then Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, Executive Governors, Senators, Ministers, among others.

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SAP to host SME world tour in Lagos

Software technology-driven company, SAP Africa, has concluded plans to host a one-day Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) world tour in Lagos, tomorrow.

This is coming on the heels of a similar tour hosted recently in South Africa.

A statement endorsed by the director of SME business at SAP Africa and Managing director, Messrs Derek Kudsee and Pfungwa Serima, respectively, indicated that top on the agenda is why the SME market in Nigeria is positioned as intelligent business in, making investments in the current economic meltdown.

Highlight, they said would focus on how SAP is gearing this market up for success beyond the current economic situation.

According to them, the global markets have established and come to terms that the world is under recession, but “we are also told that this recession will pass sooner or later.”

Pointing out that when eventually that happens, companies that have managed to fend themselves against this situation will surely emerge with new business models and strategies for the future, stressing that it is no secret that SME market is the driving force of innovation and job creation in the economy, but this is also the section of the economy that is facing most challenges.

They explained that many software companies have recognised that the economic growth will come from the SME sector, thus becoming the seed for the next wave of large enterprises.

Kudsee, therefore said, that SAP has made significant inroads into the SME market and would be ready to answer the question: what will the future SME look like, noting that SAP’s world tour holding in Lagos, tomorrow, Thursday, May 21, would afford participants to share in the firm’s visions on the approaches that the organisations need to take.

The SAP SME world tour is a flagship event that stops in 50 SAP regions. The event is hosted for the first time in Nigeria; its third stop of four in Africa after its huge success in Johannesburg last year.

SAP Africa has announced that it is building on the success of last year’s inaugural SAP SME world tour by hosting this event in major centres in South Africa, as well as Nigeria.

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Ndukwe harps on ICT tools

THE Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Ernest Ndukwe, has said that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools remain veritable means for any nation to achieve greatness without it which, it may be difficult to explore full potential in today’s world.

Ndukwe who was speaking at the recently concluded Computer, Telecommunications and Online Service (CTO) conference and exhibition in Lagos, also said that a World Bank report has shown that firms that use ICT grow faster and are more productive and profitable than those that do not.

“Two new reports by the World Bank on the world economic forum underline the facts that economic development depends on overall progressing countries ICT sector, and that without such progress the economy and the companies in the business sector suffer. The study also shows that firms that use ICT grow faster and are more productive and profitable than those that do not,” he said.

Speaking on Partnership in Technology “The best way to diffuse technology and empower the citizens,” the NCC boss said access to broadband remains a key to keeping small business competitive in any modern economy, stressing that, investment in ICT can reduce the burden of inadequate infrastructure, access to rural and poor economy, particularly in transportation and rural access.

“ICT can enable them to save both time and money, if they are able to access information and services closer to where they live and operate from. ICT is increasingly becoming critical to local producers to co-ordinate their activities, avail themselves of national and global opportunities as well as withstand competition in their domestic markets,” he said.

Ndukwe further said that survival and growth depend on innovativeness in the use of ICT, which, he noted, is becoming embedded in production, distribution, marketing and planning process at all levels.

In the informal sector, he said, the source of livelihood of most of the world’s poor and a large percentage of women, ICT can assist with the delivery of social services with microfinance, strengthening strategies and income generation.

He equally said there is need to encourage technology diffusion in order to enhance performance generally, noting that all it takes is for one to embrace ICT and use same to the advantage of all.

The EVC said the Nigerian government is passionate and committed to forging partnership and diffusion of technology in the country.

The CTO which began Monday, May 11 and lasted till Friday 15, is an annual event organized by the commercial section of the United States embassy in Nigeria.

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Winners emerge in Nigeria Imagine Cup

Amid stiff competition, Team X, last weekend emerged winners of the Nigeria Microsoft Imagine Cup, which held at the Information and Communication Centre, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka.

According to Mr. Ade Famoti of Microsoft Nigeria Limited, Team X whose members are Ezeokoye Celestine (leader), Bello John and Akinnawo Opeyemi, all of computer science department, UNILAG, will represent Nigeria at the Microsoft World competition in Egypt this July.

Mr. Famoti during the award presentation said that Team X won based on the multi-channel approach the group used in packaging their soft ware as well as the mode of presentation saying that “a good product with a bad marketer cannot sell”.

He stressed that the use of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Global Positioning System (GPS) and Short Messaging Service (SMS) by the group, targets the different classes of the Nigerian population and as such, will help in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations especially as it affects the third world countries like Nigeria.

He also urged the contestants to teach others their innovative ideas so that the knowledge will spread and have a positive impact on others.
Meanwhile, Team Ekah who won the most innovative solution award, emerged second runner up in the competition as a result of poor presentation of data while Team Indwell emerged the first runner up.

Explaining what is Imagine Cup, the Public Relations Manager, Microsoft Nigeria, Mrs. Victoria Uwadoka noted that basic education is out of reach for too many people but this year, the Imagine Cup challenges the world’s most talented to “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today”.

“The United Nations has identified some of the hardest challenges in the world today in its Millennium Goals. IT students across Nigeria have seized the opportunity created by the Imagine cup as a guiding light to propose innovations that have the potential to drive change all over the world”, she said.

Mr. Clement Onawole of Softcraft Technology, congratulated all the students and urged them to be more focused on their efforts and to shun all forms of distraction and not to limit themselves as well as to see beyond their today’s potentials.

The seven participants from different universities across the nation were given 25 minutes for presentation of concept and demonstration by each team and after the judges’ deliberations, certificate of presentation was given to all the participants.

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FG regrets dysfunctional website ... Launches new sites

THE Federal Government on Monday said it regretted the dysfunction of its official website, www.nigeria.gov.ng, just as it launched two new sites.

ITRealms Online, last week, reported exclusively that the official federal government website was stale and has not been updated holistically in the last eight months, thus misleading.

The Federal Ministry of Information and Communications (FMIC) in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online, signed by the Director, Information Technology at the ministry, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, said Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili, regretted the inconvenience the dysfunctional national portal must have caused the public.

While acknowledging ITRealms Online’s report last Wednesday, she attributed the dysfunctional and inaccessibility of Federal Government’s website to a disagreement with the Internet Service Provider (ISP), which has taken long time to resolve.

“This unfortunate situation compelled the Ministry to launch a new website which became up and running for the past three weeks,” part of the statement read.
Mrs. Odusote add that government has launched two new websites in pursuit of its rebranding campaign.

“As part of the Re-branding Nigeria Project, the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications (FMIC) recently launched a new website, www.fmic.gov.ng, which will avail Nigerians and foreigners timely and important information about the people and government of Nigeria,” she said.

She added that the ministry’s website would help the Federal Government to have an interactive polling system that would engage Nigerians through a seamless feedback mechanism on government policies and programmes.

She also said the ministry set up another website, www.nigeriarebrands.com, for the re-branding Nigeria project, which will contain all materials relating to the scheme.

“The two websites are up and running as they are regularly updated,” she said.
Stating that while efforts are underway to resolve all issues surrounding the national portal, www.nigeria.gove.ng, the ministry said, Nigerians and foreigners alike who desire information on Nigeria, the Ministry and the re-branding project should visit www.fmic.gov.ng or www.nigeriarebrands.com.

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Multi-Links Telkom joins WAFICT sponsors

MULTI-Links Telkom has joined the array of sponsors of this year’s West African ICT Congress (WAFICT Congress 2009) and West African International Telecommunications and ICT exhibition (W.Afri.Tel).

The Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Multi-Links Telkom Nigeria, Mrs. Ijeoma Abazie revealed that the telco is battle-ready for the show by confirming its status as silver sponsor for the congress, while at the same time declaring a major stake at the exhibition.

A letter signed by her equally confirmed that the Managing Director, Mr. Thami Msimango will actively participate at this year’s edition, especially as a speaker.

Msimango, she said, would be speaking alongside the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe and Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO).

The letter addressed to the organizers of the events affirmed Msimango participation, part of which read:

“We refer to your letter in respect of the WAFICT Congress 2009 inviting Mr. Thami Msimango, the Managing Director of Multi-Links Telkom as a key speaker at the WAFICT, running concurrently with W.Afri.Tel from June 2-4, 2009.

“We are pleased to inform you that Multi-Links Telkom’s management has accepted your invitation to speak at the plenary and also approved silver sponsorship of the Congress and our participation in the exhibition,” Mrs. Abazie said.

Reacting to the Multi-Links Telkom sponsorship of the congress and exhibition at West Africa’s biggest show, the Editor-in-chief, IT & Telecom Digest, the local organisers of the event, Mr. Mkpe Abang noted that when it was not clear whether private telephone operations could thrive in Nigeria, Multi-Links blazed the trail by becoming the first privately owned company to begin operations in December 1997.

“When many thought that the CDMA market was beginning to slow down in Nigeria, Telkom of South Africa knew otherwise, and came over and acquired Multi-Links, thereby transforming into Multi-Links Telkom,” he said.

Emphasizing that it was not surprising that this company is signaling that it has a clearer vision of the Nigerian telecom market than many thought, thus pitch its tent correctly.

“Surely the Nigerian CDMA market needs robust and dynamic players; and Multi-Links Telkom has proved that it is ready to take on the market very seriously,” he declared.

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MTN Project Fame-II kicks off in June

THE second edition of the MTN Nigeria’s sponsored youth talent contest for West Africa, would next month, June, kick off.

The organisers of the MTN Project Fame West Africa, a talent discovery and nurturing musical reality TV show, Ultima Studios Limited, seeks applications from youths across West Africa to register for auditioning.

A press statement made available to ITRealms Online informed that prospective candidates are to indicate their interest by sending a Short Messaging Service (SMS) to 35850, in order to get their Personal Identification Number (PIN) to access the registration form on the official website: www.projectfamewestafrica.com.

They could also pick up registration forms at any of the MTN call centres across the country.

Affirming this, the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Bola Akingbade, said, the company is out to discover a new set of musical talents whose lives will be transformed in extraordinary ways.

“This is an opportunity for young individuals with artistic talent to be part of a musical academy, where they will be groomed in voice and dance training, musical performances as well as other creative techniques,” he said.

ITRealms Online recalled that the maiden edition achieved massive popularity among television viewers across West Africa.

The maiden edition also saw to the discovery of Inyanya Mbuk of Nigeria, who emerged the winner of the star prize of N2.5million, a fully loaded Toyota RAV 4, and a one-year recording contract.

Others were Nii Ankra of Ghana, the first runner up, with a prize of N1.5 million and a fully loaded Toyota Corolla; Praise Adejo of Nigeria, the second runner-up won N1million, and a Toyota Yaris while the third runner up, Annette Cookey, won N1million.

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Egwu commends Omatek’s e-learning scheme

Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, has commended Omatek Ventures Plc over its positive contributions towards the development of education in the country, saying the firm’s e-learning initiative is adding value.

Speaking recently at the launching of Omatek e-Learning Initiative and the unveiling of Omatek 8 and 10 inches Smartbooks for Schools in Abuja, Dr. Egwu said the administration of President Umaru Yar’adua recently unveiled the Ministry of Education’s Road Map, which is intended to harness and give direction to the Federal Government’s efforts aimed at strengthening capacity building and quality of education at all levels.

He also said the Omatek e-learning initiative is therefore a viable means of adding value to the Federal Government’s programme on e-Learning.

In addition, he reiterated that the FG road map considered the advantages of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will bring to the academia, stressing that the unveiling of the Omatek products for the education sector is a testimony to the role the private sector could continue to play in the actualization of the country’s hopes for a brighter future for education.

Chairman, Omatek Ventures Plc, Dr. Tim Farinre, in his speech to the occasion, said, the Omatek e-learning initiative is a one-stop shop which provides a platform to ensure that information and communication technology tools are deployed to schools/classrooms under a carefully structured learning environment, equipped with internet connectivity to create virtual connectivity between students and teachers/lecturers. Thus he said, also involves the deployment of a robust content /curriculum development.

Also speaking, the Group Managing Director (GMD) Omatek, Mrs. Florence Seriki said the launch of Omatek e-learning initiative would help to transform the education sector, as well as create the needed path towards achieving sustainable growth especially in the development of ICT in all cadre of schools across the nation.

Seriki pointed out the scheme is a holistic solution to consolidate Omatek’s position in the education sector and would involve the provision of internet connectivity via the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology to stimulate the provision of hot-spots around schools, thus creating an enabling environment for teachers and students to deploy their Wirreless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) connectivity at will.

According to her, the e-Learning scheme is divided into modules for ease of deployment and these modules will help to streamline the processes where the practice of teaching and learning can enjoy intervention by the introduction of IT tools required to create an e-Learning environment across schools.

Mrs. Seriki said the hardware components of the scheme; the Omatek 8” and 10” Smartbooks, are specially designed with 60 Giga Bytes (GB) harddisk space and 512mb and 1Gb Random Access Memory (RAM) respectively for students and teachers in the educational sector and equipped with robust Wi-Fi coverage, portable and come in various attractive colours.

She explained that alternatively, there is available the 15.4” laptop for Teachers/Leacturers.

Also available under the scheme is the Omatek All-In-One compact PC which comes with a 14-17” flat screen with inbuilt CPU and Monitor. It is ideal for schools, computer/ ICT laboratories. The Omatek Compact comes with 80 gb HDD, combined PC and CPU, Wireless Mouse, Wi-Fi ready and its equipped with DVD Writer.

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POD launches online curriculum for students

An online educational curriculum focusing on conflict resolution and non-violence for teachers and students across the world is now available at http://education.peaceoneday.org.According to the Coordinator, Education Research and Development at Peace One Day (POD), Olivia Rainford, the two free education resources have thus far been created and the curriculum, is highly recommended for grades 6-12 in the United States (US) and KS 3 & 4 in the United Kingdom (UK).

Ms Rainford also said that the curriculum is aimed at fostering discussion among young people about peace and non-violence in their schools, local communities, and the world at large.

The resources work in conjunction with Jeremy Gilley’s award-winning documentary film The Day After Peace.

“As the founder of Peace One Day (POD), Jeremy Gilley was responsible for the unanimous adoption by United Nations (UN) member states of a day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed calendar date, Peace Day - 21 September,” she said.

Peace Day, she said, has now been proved to save lives and inspire and empower individuals everywhere to take action toward a more peaceful world.

“On Peace Day 2007, 100 million people according to UN were actively engaged in Peace Day activities in over 200 countries,” she said.

She pointed out that the POD education resources look to advance active learning in the areas of conflict resolution, global citizenship, human rights and the link between sustainability and peace, using Peace Day 21 September as a focus.

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ICANN resolves transfer problems on OnlineNIC

Acting in compliance with the recent Court orders permitting transfers to resume on the OnlineNIC, the global coordinating agency for the Internet, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has resolved the transfer issues.

ICANN in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online said it was not unaware of the fact that customers of registrar OnlineNIC, had problems with previous transfer requests but they should now be able to transfer their domains to a different registrar if they wish.

“ICANN is aware that some customers of OnlineNIC have been prevented from completing requested transfers and we have been working with the relevant parties in an effort to resolve complaints,” official said.

OnlineNIC, Inc. had interpreted a court order to mean that OnlineNIC was prohibited from allowing any domain names registered under its accreditation to be transferred to a different registrar.

Two new court orders issued on May 13, 2009 provided for a receiver to act in a limited capacity in order to facilitate the transfer process.

With the latest court order, any registrant that experienced difficulty recently with transferring domain names from OnlineNIC to another registrar should now be able to complete the transfer by contacting their preferred registrar.

“Once the transfer request is initiated, it is expected that OnlineNIC and its receiver will follow the procedure spelled out by the court to permit legitimate transfers to be processed within a few days of the request,” ICANN official said.

While transfers should be possible now, ICANN is not suggesting that registrants request transfers if they are satisfied with the service and functionality available through OnlineNIC.

ICANN will continue to monitor the situation, advising that in the case of a customer buying a name through one registrar, and wanted to switch to a different registrar, ICANN said that it is possible to conduct such transfer through the due process based on its Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy.

“All ICANN-accredited registrars, provides that registered name holders must be able to transfer their domain name registrations between registrars. You must wait 60 days after the initial registration or any previous transfers to initiate a transfer,” official said.

ICANN further advised that if customers wish to move their domain name, they may initiate the transfer process by contacting the registrar to which they wish to transfer the name to.

“This registrar is required to confirm your intent to transfer your domain name using the Initial Authorization for Registrar Transfer form. If you do not respond or return the form to the registrar, your transfer request will not be processed,” ICANN said.

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Nigeria concludes redelegation of .ng ccTLD

Finally, the internet coordinating agency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), weekend, concluded the redelegation of Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) name, .ng.

A country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country or a dependent territory. Some examples of ccTLD are .us for United States, .uk for United Kingdom, .de for Germany, . nz for New Zealand, and .eg for Egypt to name a few.

Disclosing this in a telephone conversation, President, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Mr. Ndukwe Kalu, said it is a milestone for the country to achieve the full local management and control of its ccTLD, .ng.

Champion Infotel recalls that .ng ccTLD journey began a decade and four years ago, precisely in 1995 with the first delegation to Mrs. Ibukun Odusote as the then administrative point of contact. And by 2004 stakeholders were engulfed in controversy over who hosts the ccTLD locally, majorly between a non-governmental organization, the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), which attracted the attention of the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who consequently, directed the Nigerian Internet community represented by the G22 to reach a consensus on a not-for-profit and all inclusive body to manage the .ng ccTLD, thus giving birth to NiRA board of trustees in 2005. This was followed by the election of the NIRA executive board in May 2007.

For NiRA president, this moment of completing the redelegation processes as demanded by ICANN and its administrative affiliate, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), is a turning point in the existence of .ng ccTLD.

“For us, we have set our Vision 20 2020 as Vision 20 2011, that is, for Nigeria to make the ccTLD top 20 by year 2011,” he declared.

Ndukwe also said that with the conclusion of the redelegation, NiRA executive board inaugurated over two years ago at an all-inclusive stakeholders meeting in Lagos, could now go full-length into the commercial aspect of the .ng management, which was entrusted on NiRA at inception of the management in May 2007.

According to him, at exactly 4pm GMT, May 13, 2009, Verisign effected the ICANN approved root server changes to the .ng ccTLD, a few hours later ICANN/IANA followed the board approved redelegation of the Nigerian ccTLD on the IANA website.

This, he said, effectively brings to an end the long desire and expectation of the Nigerian Internet community to effect redelegation of the .ng ccTLD and full local management.

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Anyanwu to preside @ Co-location forum

PLANS have been concluded for the much awaited Co-location forum scheduled to take place tomorrow, Tuesday in Lagos, as the chairman, Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Sylvester Anyanwu, would preside at the occasion.

This is coming as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, would lead chief executive officers in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to the forum.

The one-day business forum is being organized in collaboration between NCC and Telecom Answers Associates (TAA).

Chief executive of Telecom Answers Associates (TAA), Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu who confirmed the readiness at the weekend to Champion Infotel, said that over 50 chief executive officers have been lined up for participation.

Noting that Senator Anyanwu’s committee has been in the forefront of pushing for an update of the National Communications Act 2003, and he is known to have done very extensive stakeholder assessment on co-location and other strategic industry management moves.

Speaking at the end of the inaugural meeting of the six-man technical committee in Lagos, Omo-Ettu said that Co-location forum is not a mere conference, but is expected to come out with relevant recommendations as to move the country and particularly service providers as well as infrastructure builders ahead of competition.

Apart from Helios Towers Nigeria Ltd., many telecommunication and finance companies have joined the sponsorship of the co-location forum. He listed some of the latest sponsors to include Access Bank, FCMB, IHS Plc, The Cyberschuul, Channel-IT, MTI, Reime West Africa and Technology Advisors.

According to him, Ndukwe would give the keynote address while the chairman, Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Sylvester Anyanwu would preside at the occasion whereas his counterpart at the House of Representatives is billed to assist him.

Champion Infotel recalls that infrastructure sharing leader, Helios Towers Nigeria Ltd, has endorsed the forthcoming co-location forum as a sponsor.

Communications Manager, Helios Towers, Mr. Myke Ofili, had confirmed that Helios is a co-location licensee which has been in the forefront of providing a platform for infrastructure sharing.

Even as IHS Plc, another co-location licensee, would play host to the participating CEO’s who at a post-forum to be held at the Chirrasco Grill House, located within the Lagoon Restaurant.

TAA in a press statement, endorsed by Kayode Yussuf, affirmed these developments, saying that almost every co-location licensees and infrastructure builders in the industry have opted to play one role or the other in the Forum, which seeks to generate an industry plan of action for assuring the benefits of co-location when it finally gets the approval of the authorities.

He recalled that the Nigerian Communications Commission has, for some time been working on providing intervention at various levels to assure that co-location is effectively launched and the National Assembly is known to have been working on a Bill which seeks to make co-location a workable reality.

Hence, the objective for hosting the business forum is to address the concerns of experts, investors, and technocrats by distilling the technology, management, legal and regulatory issues in a manner that we can push an industry ‘Plan of Action’ such that Nigerians at the end of the day benefit from the initiative if government eventually intervenes.

Reassuring that the co-location forum scheduled for May 19, 2009 in Lagos promises to feature presentation of a couple of strategic cost savers and technology enhancers in telecommunications infrastructure sharing.

In a related development, a six-man Technical Committee was weekend inaugurated to ensure a successful proceedings at the one-day Forum.

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Ilukwe calls for public private partnership

THE Managing Director, Galaxy Backbone Plc, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe has called for partnership between the public and private sectors in the pursuit of national development, especially using the information and Communications Technology (ICT) as tool.

Speaking at the MUSON Centre, during the just ended Computer, Telecommunication and Online Services (CTO ’09) conference, he said that one of the key functions of Galaxy is to enable government to function and play its role in national development stressing that public institutions cannot afford to be inactive in this regard.

“Both in the public sector enterprise and the private sector there have to be a partnership with each party playing its own role. So, our role is to enable government function and play its role in national development,” he declared.

Galaxy, he also said, is not driven primarily by a motive to make profit but to serve the under-served communities.

“We have also had situations where people say Galaxy is competing with the private sector, and we say a large part of where we go and provide services have always been out there and the private sector did not provide those services simply because the private sector operates with a single primary motive and that is profit. Government is not solely profit-driven. However, there will always be room for partnership,” he said.

The Galaxy boss who spoke on “Market Insight: Measures to promote local area development through partnership in technology and science,” identified some of the challenges facing ICT development as skill shortage, lack of critical mass of opportunities, inadequate capitalization thus leading to lack of initiative and investments.

Others, he said, are the culture of competition instead of collaboration among customers and providers alike as well as challenges with critical infrastructure especially power.

Further, he said that from these challenges there are emerging trends and opportunities, identifying some of these to include a shift from reactive to proactive services, industry and government regulation and encouraging and enforcing sharing and collaboration, strong investments and subsidies from government in critical information infrastructure.

He observed that private sector providers are re-investing earnings and seeking for new revenue streams and large enterprises are focusing on core missions and competencies and outsourcing ancillary services.

Ilukwe said that there are lots of opportunities opening up as networks grow and that opportunities abound within local governments, community centres and post offices stating that these locations are severely under-utilized.

“Quite a lot of people who manage these locations do not know the potentials that are there. The post offices in particular are located in strategic and prime areas. I observed recently, during a trip to Enugu that in one of the post offices’ warehouse I visited, somebody could put down 300 personal computers (PC) there,” he said.

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Zain elevates more Nigerians into key posts

As part of its Drive 2011, Zain Group has elevated some outstanding Nigerians with the group to various key positions at the international levels across the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

The giant mobile operator with presence in 23 countries across MEA, now has 22 Nigerians within the top management strata of the organisation in various countries.

Announcing this, the chief executive officer, Zain Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Ligali, said the appointment of Nigerians to very important positions within Zain Group clearly demonstrates that the company offers every high performing employee irrespective of their nationality the opportunity to move up the corporate ladder and work in any country where their skill and experience are required.

He explained that ‘Drive2011’ would propel the company to achieve its target of becoming a top-10 global mobile operator by 2011 through a combination of focusing on customer facing services and commercial activities that will result in managed outsourcing, centralization, leveraging capabilities, as well as training and development for personnel, all of which will improve operating efficiencies.

“At Zain Nigeria, we’re glad to be a major contributor to the development of the country’s human capital through world-class training and expatriation, which provides excellent opportunity for brilliant Nigerians to acquire international work experience,” Ligali said.

He stressed that the progress of Nigerians undoubtedly will contribute to Zain’s progress and underscores Zain brand’s value of belonging.

“At Zain we harness and celebrate the inherent diversity within this large family.
Indeed, one of the benefits of belonging to a global family like Zain is the opportunity for people from various parts of world to work in a harmoniously positive and culturally diverse work climate,” he said.

Ligali disclosed that the latest addition of high-profile appointments are Mrs. Grace Omo-Lamai, who was named Human Resources Director for the Democratic Republic of Congo, just as Abosede Olabimtan, Daniel Udochi and Folasade Abieyuwa Akinlade have been appointed to key positions within the Zain group in Bahrain, Gabon and Kenya, respectively.

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