Controversy looms as Akunyili, Maku battle over NCC

A new line of controversy is looming at the Ministry of Information and Communications over which of the two ministers should supervise the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

ITRealms Online gathered that the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, may have taken over the supervisory function of the telecom regulatory house from Minister of State in the Ministry, Mr. Labaran Maku.

But information reaching us at the weekend indicated that the Minister of State, Maku, is not comfortable with the latest arrangement, which our sources said was not official yet because President Goodluck Jonathan was too busy to attend to such an issue for now.

Our sources also hinted that Mr. Maku may have threatened to resign if his functions are tampered with, citing an instance of what transpired between Prof. Akunyili and her immediate past Minister of State, Alhaji Ikra Bilbis, during the struggle for the cancellation or otherwise of the 2.3 Gega Hertz saga.

Equally, our sources recalled that it was in the heat of 2.3GHz controversy which has since proved NCC’s independence in discharging its duties by a law court following the insistence by one of the licensees, Mobitel Nigeria Limited, that the presidency under Musa Yar’Adua decided to delineate responsibilities afresh for the two ministers.

Noteworthy is that last year, the Presidency had via a memo of September 16, 2009, endorsed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, advised Akunyili, then, to adhere to statusquo of which NCC portfolio was directly under the supervision of Minister of State in the ministry.

This delineation gave birth to the minister of state being reinstated as the supervisor of telecoms, which include NCC, Nigerian Telecommunications plc (NITEL) and its subsidiary, the Mobile Telecom (MTel) and of course, leaving the senior minister with the supervision of post and information, comprising the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON), Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Nigerian Press Council (NPC) and Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).

As at the time of going to press, Prof. Akunyili could not respond to our inquiries, but according to her media aide, Mr. Orji Ogbonia Orji in a telephone chat, last weekend with ITRealms Online, things have just gone back to the way it was before the two ministries of Information and Communications were merged, a few years back.

He also said that President Jonathan has reorganized the ministry and the minister (Akunyili) said that “its government’s decision and the operators have nothing to fear.”

For him, “It’s a normal government decision and there is no conflict at all between Akunyili and Minister of State, Maku. In fact, I am not aware of such development.”

Industry observers said that this development may break the camel’s back as far as Akunyili’s leadership in that ministry is concerned, considering her recent past controversial reputation, especially since assuming office as the Minister of Information and Communications.

ITRealms Online recalls that just few weeks after her posting to the ministry, precisely during her maiden stakeholder’s forum, she was reported to have displayed antagonistic tendencies which did not go down well with one of the telecom operator’s chief executive officers who had wanted to explain certain subject to her but she reportedly shouted him down.

This particular display forced others to decline further attempts and presumed her as ‘unapproachable’ until the controversy on the 2.3GHz surfaced about May last year till few months ago when a court intervened, declaring she has no right over the matter, which has since been transferred to NCC via the Communications Act 2003.

Assistant Director, Press, Minister of State, Information and Communications, Mr. Bassey Okon Etim, told Champion Infotel, “I am not aware, but would check if there is any memo to that effect, I would get back to you.”

Industry analysts noted that the issue is that Akunyili may have realized the obvious visibility of whoever is supervising telecom and particularly the NCC and decided to try her luck before this dispensation ends in the first quarter of next year.

Also, industry observers agreed that this line of thought could brew bad blood in the leadership of the ministry, while some others noted that since the Minister of State has a journalistic background, that he fits into being the spokesman of the government, but not while he is still a junior minister.

Probably realizing that she needed to be seen as being fully in-charge, Akunyili, analyst said may have initiated the move to exchange NCC with NAN, while still retaining her portfolio as senior minister in charge of information.

This attempt, analysts also said would amount to literally keeping the Minister of State in the dark and without any visibility except for reportage covered by NAN, just as they warned that this slant may jeopardize the current good relationship both are enjoying since the present dispensation.

ITRealms Online also gathered another school of thought, posited that except if President Jonathan approves of this latest scheming in the ministry, he may not find it funny with Akunyili, because it could amount to distraction, but those close to the Minister of State, Maku, said, he may not take chances of allowing such to happen now that he is in office, rather, may deploy his political prowess to ensure that he retains NCC as parastatal.


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Ekuwem gives account of stewardship

THE immediate past national president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, has given account of his four-year stewardship since 2006.

Ekuwem who spoke at the Annual General Meeting of ATCON prior to the general election of the group, noted that his administration, hosted about seven industry-based roundtables including Telecom Investment & Finance Forum, Telecom Franchise & Virtual Operations, Stakeholders’ Summit on Energy & Power Crisis, Nigerian Content Development Summit, ComBIT African Expo, Nigerian ICT Education Summit among others.

He also highlighted that the Telecom Investment & Finance Forum, was designed to address the challenges of the absence of long term funding from banks and non-banks financial institutions for telecom projects in Nigeria.

Held in 2006, he said that Telecom Investment & Finance Forum, encouraged the recapitalized banks in Nigeria to consider lending to the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector, as ATCON also secured the participation of regional and international finance and funding institutions as well as solicited their assistance in facilitation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Nigeria ICT sector.

On the Telecom Franchise & Virtual Operations, which held in 2007, he said, it was to stimulate further expansion of ICT service to underserved and unserved areas in the country.

This forum, according to him, discussed opportunities in telecom franchising and virtual operations, stressing that also looked at the policy and regulatory framework that would create an enabling environment for small and medium scale investors to participate gainfully in the provisioning of ICT services especially in rural Nigeria where big operators do not consider economically viable to invest in.

Participants, he noted, called on the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to empower local entrepreneurs who show interest in taking up franchise of big operators to remote Nigeria so that the rural population would also benefit from the boom in Nigeria’s ICT market.

Stakeholders’ Summit on Energy & Power Crisis, Ekuwem pointed out, addressed the failure of Nigeria’s energy and power sector to provide energy and power on a constant basis to support industrial and other economic activities in Nigeria.

ATCON, he said, considered it a national shame that industries were folding up in Nigeria due to the failure of the energy and power sector to live up to its billings.

Above all, participants lamented that ICT operators have had to provide services at great costs as they also had to generate power when they should have been concentrating efforts at improving service quality, even as experts suggested investments in alternative power sources, including biofuels, as a way out of the challenging situation.

ATCON, he noted, raised alarm over hawking of SIM Pack in the country and called for accreditation and registration, recalling he urged for SIM packs accreditation and registration at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of ATCON held in April 2008.

Additionally, he took the gospel of SIM pack accreditation and registration to every ICT forum he attended in Nigeria, until the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) bought into the vision as well as national security agencies.


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Farroukh, Ajayi lead speakers @ Nigeria Com

CHIEF executive officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Ahmed Farroukh, and his counterpart at PiNet Informatics, Mr. Lanre Ajayi would lead speakers at the Informa Telecom & Media organized NigeriaCom, a dedicated Nigerian telecoms event.

According to the organizers, NigeriaCom is intended to boost profitability in Africa’s largest telecoms market.

Other speakers slated for the event include the chief executive officer, Starcomms Plc, Mr. Maher Qubain, CEO, Starcomms Nigeria, his colleague at Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, even as the chief commercial officer, Starcomms, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari would also feature among the top speakers.

Official press statement from the organizers stated that no other event gathers such a distinguished line-up of C-level speakers including CxO operators from the leading players of the region such as MTN, Etisalat, Globacom, and Zain.

The industry leaders, the organizers said, would share strategies driving their business forward in this fastest growing and largest African telecoms market.

Noting that over 700 mobile, fixed and satellite operators, Internet Service providers (ISPs), government regulators, carriers and networks, solutions and applications providers would attend the show.

“This is simply your best opportunity to meet everyone who matters in the Nigerian telecoms market,” they declared.

Some of the topics for discussion would include “Harnessing growth and attracting Investment in Nigeria; Nigerian Broadband Connectivity; Strategies and solutions to boost operator ROI and many more.”


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Nokia Siemens kicks off LTE roadshow in Lagos

NOKIA Siemens Networks (NSN), last week in Lagos, kicked off its Long-Term Evolution (LTE) road show in Nigeria with plans to extend this to Morocco, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi, Arabia and South Africa.

The Finland-based Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of telecommunications services with focus on innovation and sustainability, and provides a complete portfolio of mobile, fixed and converged network technology, whereas having operations in 150 countries including the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

Head, Networks Systems for MEA at Nokia Siemens Networks, Mr. Mohamed Abdelrehim, said in Lagos, that they intend to unlock a new mobile broadband experience across the continent.

This, he said, would ride on its LTE offering to deliver improved and faster data speeds to support a suite of multimedia and rich call applications.

He noted that with Nigeria’s growing demand and need for mobile broadband, the growth for the country’s operators have now come gone to advanced mobile data service offerings, thus beyond basic connectivity.

LTE, he said, is the de-facto evolution path of the Third Generation (3G) mobile standard that is based on a full flat Internet Protocol (IP) architecture and is optimized for data and multimedia traffic.

“Having demonstrated the world’s first LTE demo with data speeds up to 160 Mega bits per second (Mb/s), Nokia Siemens Networks has been at the forefront of developments in this space,” he declared.

In Middle East and Africa specifically, he pointed out that Nokia Siemens Networks was behind the region’s first LTE contract with Zain Bahrain.

“Leading the evolution of broadband technology means our customers will be the first to benefit,” Abdelrehim said, stressing that today, they are reinforcing the vision of five billion people to be connected by 2015, via a showcase of the latest next generation mobile broadband technology to mobile operators in the region.

LTE will truly revolutionize the region’s mobile market, changing the way businesses and individuals communicate. The technology will unleash a plethora of new devices such as Internet telephones and videophones to end user services such as teleconferencing, telecommuting, to wider benefits in medical services such as remote diagnosis, interactive distance education, rich multimedia entertainment, digitally-controlled home appliances and much more.

NSN’s LTE proposition, he said, is based on software upgrades to current 3G networks that are currently deployed by a majority of regional mobile operators, underscoring that at the heart of its solution is the Flexi Base Station that supports multiple technologies from Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)/EDGE and Wide Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) cum High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) to LTE on a single platform.

“Being only 20 per cent of the size and weight of a conventional base station, it is energy efficient and designed to minimize the overall cost of network operation and maintenance,” he said.


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ATCON embarks on inclusive talk-process

The umbrella body of telecommunications firms in the country, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has embarked on an inclusive talk process according to the newly elected national president, Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu.

He said the process has become necessary following the end of the inaugural meeting of the12-man Executive Committee where it was decided that ATCON should advance its immediate plans and focus.

Omo-Ettu made this disclosure in a letter of appreciation sent out last weekend to express the gratitude of the new executive council committee of ATCON.

“We will embark on an inclusive talk-process with our members, the regulator, governments, consumers, and other stakeholders to build lasting processes and institutions that will not only secure what we have built thus far, but move us on to other frontiers,” he said.

He also said that the concept of reaching out would accommodate views and feelings of telecommunications firms who may not even be presently members, but “who as players in the industry, we are determined to take seriously in our plans.”

He pointed out that the objective would be to secure an industry fit for the purpose where all stakeholders could effectively play their respective roles.

“The pace of development in the industry globally is frenetic and we cannot afford not to keep up. The ball is firmly in our court,” he asserted.

He stressed that ATCON would embark on a consultative programme in the coming weeks to canvass ideas from its members, which would form the foundation of the plans to be discussed at the Executive Committee and considered for implementation.

He emphasized that ATCON relationship with the media, as always, would be robust, open and reciprocal.

“Our association will, whenever the need arises, study industry developments and issue statements only when we have completed our consultation processes. Our focus will be to publish the truth all the time so as to destroy rumour for all times,” he said.

ATCON, he said, would run an open administration and avoid reactions to issues considered undeserving of reaction.

“We expect that in the normal media practice run by mortals, some journals may just slip into sensationalism and thrive on controversy. We will not join issues beyond stating the facts and the truth,” he noted.

At this moment, ATCON said, its consultation process is in progress regarding specific issues of industry management such as SIM card registration, sale of NITEL, Number Portability, industry restructuring, tariff management, Quality of Service (QoS), dominance to mention a few.

“We will issue sequential statements on completion of the aforementioned consultation,” he said.


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5 Nigerian students showcase scientific innovations @ Intel ISEF-10

Five young Nigerian students are taking part in the on-going two-day 2010 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), which ends today in the United States of America.

A press statement by the corporate affairs manager, Intel Nigeria, Ms Bunmi Ekundare, disclosed that the students were given the chance of a life time to represent Nigeria and compete with the rest of the world in a global engineering and science event.

She said that over the past decade Intel’s investment in this programme has helped to increase the number of participants by more than 36 per cent and the type of scientific projects students are tackling have grown increasingly sophisticated.

The 2010 Intel ISEF, ITRealms Online was informed, brought 1,500 exceptional high-school science students from over 500 Intel ISEF affiliated fairs held worldwide to California.

These students will compete for $3 million in awards and scholarships. Students would also have an opportunity to network with fellow students, the academia and employees of sponsoring companies.

The students include Abiodun Kehinde, Adebayo Olajumoke, Ebong Wisdom, Essien David and Idara Thomson.

Intel official noted that only gold medal winners from the Intel ISEF’s affiliated fairs were considered to take part in this competition. Each affiliated fair selects two individual projects and one team project to travel to the Intel ISEF to compete in 18 different categories.

For Abiodun Kehinde and Adebayo Olajumoke eeach won a gold medal at the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists (EEYS) which was held earlier this year and as a result they will be representing Nigeria at the Intel Fair.

Ebong Wisdom, Essien David and Idara Thomson of Akaossot Community Secondary School in Akwa Ibom, they worked together to win gold on a project for the EEYS in which they designed skin cream from local plants. “The thought of litmus, a plant extract, as an acid-base indicator, provoked this research. Several plant extracts, all weeds in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, were investigated for use as acid-base indicator.

Equally, Adebayo Olajumoke who hails from Lagos State expressed his desire to use knowledge of science and electronics to solve societal problems.

“My project is the Electronic Community Guard, which creates a secured environment as it alerts the home owner, the appropriate security agencies and every resident in the estate indicating the particular house under threat without alerting the intruder. It does not use radio waves which can easily be jammed but uses higher frequency imposed on the main voltage,” Olajumoke said.

In addition, Abiodun Kehinde, a gold winner from Ekiti State, took his research work on extracting chemicals from local plants, which is an anti skin-infection cream from local herbs.

“The aim of this work is to produce an anti skin-infection cream using local materials such as cam wood extract (Pterocarpus osun), palm-kernel oil and other ingredients like camphor, sulfur, candle, perfume which make this cream useful for the cure of many skin infections like eczema, heat rash, scabies, pimples, ring worm etc in human being due to their anti-microbial properties. It also cures skin infections in animals like goat and rabbit if applied to the skin of the animals twice” he said.


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Summit declares Etisalat ‘leader in telecom sector’

Middle East-based Business Leaders Summit rose at the weekend to declare Etisalat group the ‘International Leader in Telecommunications Sector – Asia & Africa’.
This recognition honours Etisalat’s excellence at acquiring and developing international operations across 18 markets especially for the improvement it has brought to the economies of these markets.

The judges at the summit said the award was in respect of several initiatives Etisalat has involved in to provide value added services and solutions such as internet telephony, cable TV and mobile broadband in its 18 markets of operations thus enabling new technologies and advanced networks to reach over 2 billion people in Asia and Africa.

In the United Arab Emirate (UAE), Etisalat has deployed a Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network, which the jury described as a quantum leap in the infrastructure of telecommunications sector, thus placing Abu Dhabi as the first fully covered capital city with fiber optics services worldwide.

The leading telecommunication giant also received recognition for ‘Leadership in Social Responsibility’.

“This recognition adds to the company’s profile in being an innovator and in providing developed technology solutions and services in the UAE and its other markets,” said Ahmed Bin Ali, senior vice president, Corporate Communications.

In his response to the latest achievement, Etisalat Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Steven Evans said that the latest feat is an evidence of Etisalat’s world-class service delivery in all the countries where it has operations.

According to him, “This recognition further confirms what Etisalat represents in all the countries where we operate. As a global brand, the quality of our services stands out. This honour will further ensure that we continue to surpass our subscribers’ expectations in terms of world-class products offering and service delivery.”


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WAFICT, vital for regional growth – Toure

Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Dr. Hammadoun Toure, has said that the West African ICT Congress (WAFICT) is vital for the growth of the region.

Toure, who was reacting to the forthcoming second WAFICT Congress slated for next month, in Lagos, said the three-day conference is central to continued growth in the sub-region’s telecommunications industry. Speaking in Barcelona, Spain, recently, during the Mobile World Congress, he commended the organizers, IT & Telecom Digest.

He said, the concept of the conference would pave way for further growth and positive change in West Africa.

According to him, WAFICT is timely and vital for the growth of the sub-region’s telecom market and the economies of the countries in general.“The idea of such a conference is highly commendable; and coming from your magazine, which has such a record of pioneering excellence and nurturing the telecom growth in West Africa – because I recall the magazine has been on for 10 years now – I have no doubt that this conference will help to drive the growth, the awareness and the penetration of telecom in the region further and higher than it is currently the case,” he said.

However, the organizers led by Mr. Mkpe Abang disclosed that the theme for this year’s congress is “Moving West Africa Forward: Policy and Technology Imperatives – Trends, Potentials and Challenges,” WAFICT Congress 2010 would hold at the ultra modern Eko Expo Hall, Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, from June 1-3.

This, he said, follows an exceptional outing in last year’s edition, which held concurrently with the 10th edition of the West African International Telecommunications and Information Communications Technology Exhibition (W.Afri.Tel), since 2001.

Abang noted that with competition from new mobile and allied ICT entrants, a growing market that embraces and shows great potential for broadband, limitless taste for mobile, WiMAX, network solutions, computing and e-business solutions, among others, Africa’s largest market, Nigeria, is also reputed as having the most transparent and best regulatory environment supportive for telecom and IT investment and growth in Africa.

He also said that the conference agenda shows that the event would highlight such crucial topics as broadband, rural connectivity, accessibility and cost-efficiency, managed services and future networks, fraud and mobile management, customer retention as panacea for churn, competition and need for quality services, policies, regulations and regulators, licenses and license implications, Internet and ubiquity networks, fibre optics and Long distance cables, among others.

This year’s WAFICT is organised by IT & Telecom Digest in conjunction with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation headquartered in London, the UK, and the Global VSAT Forum. Dr. Toure, a Malian, copiously referred to the Nigerian telecom revolution, saying what happened in Nigeria “is a very good sign that Africans can take up their own fate in their hands and achieve greatness.”

He added that with such positive achievements in telecom in one decade, Nigeria has become a motivating factor and a good example for other African countries in general.


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LG ends experiential zone for DP 461 DVD player

Technological innovative company for home entertainment, LG Electronics, has ended its experiential zone for DP 461 portable DVD player with television tuner at selected experiential zones in Lagos.

The campaign which opened on April 19, ended last Saturday May 8, but took place in selected locations including Polysonic mall in Apapa, Mega plaza, City mall, Sweet sensation outlet in GRA Ikeja, E Centre Ozone, Murtala Muhammed Airport (MM2) and Game shop.

General Manager, Media, Home Entertainment Division of LG Electronics, Mr. Hee Chan Han, noted that these locations have representatives of LG Electronics to educate consumers on the features, benefits, attributes, adaptations to various gadgets based on the product elements, especially its latest in stock, DP 461 portable DVD player.

Consumers, he said, had the opportunity to ask questions, first hand feel of the products, which were on display, just as other educational materials were distributed.

He also said that LG is constantly looking for ways of adding value to its consumers through its products and the new DP 461 Portable DVD Player is one of such products specially developed for that purpose.

“LG Electronics is committed to delivering smart technological products that fit the lifestyle of consumers and we have gone a step ahead in the industry to produce a portable DVD player with a detachable antenna which facilitates TV tuner reception signals for crystal clear images when watching favourite TV programmes,” he said.

Mr. Chan Han explained that the LG portable DVD Player with TV tuner has been packaged with unique features for consumers’ entertainment on the go, ensuring that the consumer never misses favourite TV programmes wherever and whenever.

“The TV Tuner has an unprecedented 1st class TV signal reception capability coupled with its detachable Antenna which ensures crystal clear picture viewing of favourite TV programmes,” he said.

In addition, he said, the portable DVD Player comes with over 2.5 hours of battery life which could withstand passion for prolonged action while its 7 inch swivel top TFT LCD screen gives you excellent picture quality to your sheer delight.

The LG Portable DVD Player which is very light is loaded with DVD multi-format playability including DivX features and hence provides users with an endless list of entertainment options. The portable DVD player has an AV outlet which can be connected to a standard TV as well as S-Video out socket.

Just as the portable device also comes with a universal serial bus (USB) slot to enable user watch movies, pictures and listen to music from a USB memory stick.

The device, he further said, produces audio relay using virtual 3D-surround sound, which simulates multi-channel audio playback from its inbuilt speakers.

“Consumers do not need to be at home to enjoy their favourite movies and TV programs anymore as LG has bridged that gap by bringing entertainment to the doorsteps of consumers. With the portable DVD player, consumers can enjoy their programs, listen to music wherever they are be it on the beach, plane, in traffic or anywhere your busy schedule or leisure drive takes you to,” he said.


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ICT firms urged to endow varsity chairs

SPEAKERS at a workshop on ‘The impact of liberalization on trade in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) goods and services’ organized by the Faculty of Social sciences, University of Lagos, last week, have challenged ICT firms, urging them to endow industry-based research chair in tertiary institutions across the country.

Some of the speakers at the one-day workshop on the dissemination of findings on the impact of liberalization on trade in ICT goods and services, included Prof. Tayo Fakiyesi of the department of Economics, Prof. Ike Mowete of Faculty of Engineering and Electrical Electronics as well as Prof. Peter Fogam of the department of commercial law, all from UNILAG. They agreed on the need to establish research chairs in tertiary institutions nationwide.

Leading discussion in this aspect was Prof. Fakiyesi, who said that ICT in the country has raised the level of employment opportunities, but called for strict regulatory measures that would check some fraudulent practices associated with it.
He pointed out that why academic community seems not to be involved in the research leading to ICT innovations was, saying that lack of professional endowed chair in the nation’s tertiary institutions by operators in the sector has not been helpful.

He decried the absence of political will by those in the government to given the academia the opportunity to research on ICT, rather, they prefer foreign countries to supply all that is needed in the sector.

‘’The environment is not conducive, the political will has not given us the opportunity to work towards research, not that we cannot do good jobs but the political will is not there. The essence of this workshop is to create more ICT businesses in Nigeria and we’re ready to work towards the improvement of ICT sector,” he said.

According to him, universities and some professionals needed to be consulted when policies on ICTs are being formulated, saying that some of the people who are making policies on ICT today are not professionals.

He cited an instance with the United Kingdom and America telecommunication companies who go around universities endowing chairs to research on how to improve their services, stressing that the network providers, should be able to identify their need areas and get to the universities to research on these areas.

‘’In United Kingdom ICT companies go around to universities to establish chairs for research. MTN, Glo and Zain should come to us for research, they should tell us what they want and guide us on what they want, we’re ready to do research, but these people are not ready to encourage research work in the country. The research should be under their guidance, and the findings should be theirs,’’ he said.

Also speaking, Prof. Ike Mowete of the faculty of engineering, noted that lack of implementation has hindered the anticipated success from the ICT sector.

This, he said, could have been differently, “if there have been political will to implement the policies on ICT.”

On the inability of his faculty to stimulate actions to leapfrog ICT development in the country, he said that most of them have good ideals, but investors would prefer to sponsor those likely to have immediate return on investment, just as he noted that when professionally endowed chairs are established and adequately funded in the universities, it could go a long way to strengthen the contributions from those in the academia.

“Everybody wants quick return on investment. With this kind of attitude, the sector will remain undeveloped for some time,’’ he warned.

For Prof. Fogam, despite the rapid development recorded so far in ICT in the country, the sector is still bedeviled by total lack of consistently in the ICT policy.

As said by him, total application of ICT in most developing countries, including Nigeria, are hindered by the lack of comprehensive legal and regulatory framework, emphasising that, though, Nigeria has taken a bold leap forward, the legal and regulatory measures on ground needed to improve.

“However, the ever changing nature of ICT industry is such that it is difficult to imagine the challenges that these measure may face in the future. Much, therefore, are yet to be done to meet the future challenges,” he said.

Fogam, further said that what exists today by way of national communication policy and Communications Act 2003, underscores the facts that a sustainable ICT industry in Nigeria needs an environment of trust created through legal and regulatory apparatus.

Additionally, Prof. Fogam noted that the opportunity brought by ICT needs a strict legal and regulatory environment for proper coordination, saying that the present ICT status in the country has been influenced by policies, status and regulations.

The ICT technologies, he said, have led to the convergence between the media and the telecommunications in such a way that today, it is possible for one to read newspapers online and listen to radio stations across the world from different websites through multi-media system.

He stressed the importance of ICT in the affairs of any country could never be over emphasized because ICT enhance economic growth through enhanced competitiveness, possible increased trade and investment.


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36 firms showcase products @ CTO ‘10

ABOUT 36 companies are participating in this year’s annual Computer, Telecommunication and Office Equipment (CTO) which commenced in Lagos on Monday with experts discussing how technologies could aid the security of the country.

Confirming this, the Senior Commercial Specialist at the United States Embassy Lagos, Mr. Anayo Agu said that the five-day conference and exhibition has as its theme: leveraging Technologies to Secure Nigeria’s Future.

He also said that the official opening ceremony has been moved till tomorrow, Thursday, due to the seven-day mourning declared by the newly sworn-in president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in respect of late president, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua.

He noted that the US Commercial Service in the country has scheduled the CTO-2010 to end on Friday, May 14.

The event holding at the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Centre Onikan-Lagos, would focus on technologies available to the private sector and government to enhance the cyber and physical security of all Nigerians.

CTO exhibition, he said, has become a market development tool of the US Commercial Service in the country, which showcases the best technologies that US companies and their Nigerian partners have to offer the region.

He recalled that the annual event began in 1989 with a focus on encouraging office automation in the country, using computer and telecommunications technologies.

“It has since expanded to include the entire spectrum of hi-tech US products that often utilize a whole host of hardware, software, telecommunications, and remote sensing technologies to deliver business solutions that enhance all of our lives. It is the largest exhibition of its kind in West Africa,” he said.

This year’s CTO, Mr. Agu highlighted, would featured an all day seminar, focusing on leveraging technology to enhance the security of the public and private sector in all aspects of their operations, ranging from protecting business and customer information in the digital age, confirming the identity of individuals through the use of biometrics, to preventing customs evasion through the use of remote sensing at ports and border entry points.

He explained that the seminar would tomorrow, Thursday be open for students, especially those under the age of 18 years.

Emphasizing that CTO seminars and exhibitions help professionals from both public and private sector better understanding of the challenges they face and the array of technology-driven solutions available to successfully meet these challenges.

Hence, the seminar provides a unique platform for local and international experts to interact on critical issues.

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Open source gives wide option for development – Awe

The chief executive of Jidaw.com, Mr. Jide Awe has said that Open Source Software (OSS) promotes competition and gives a wide option for development.

Speaking exclusively to ITRealms Online, Mr. Awe said that OSS helps to widen the options as countries invest in software to meet a variety of needs.

The opportunity scope, he said, expands beyond the narrow choices of proprietary software.

“For governments that need to improve opportunities for growth OSS increases options. It is ridiculous to expect growth through software development by being mainly reliant on a narrow group of proprietary providers,” he said.

According to him, for an increased development in the small and medium scale enterprises, there is need for them to involve OSS in software services.

This, he said, would enable them to benefit from development of the local Information Technology (IT) industry facilitated by OSS as noted earlier.

“For SMEs in general OSS promotes growth and development through the reduction of IT costs,” he said.

On the security and stability, Mr. Awe noted that countries and organizations are increasingly adaptation of Open Source Software to minimize security risks.

“As IT infrastructure becomes critical to our way of life, business and governance, associated threats cannot be ignored,” he declared, stressing that if systems fail instability sets in it could be that sensitive data is lost or stolen, leading to compromising of national security.

Freedom of source code, he said, gives better control and access to intellectual property, reduced reliance on proprietary software development all contribute towards bolstering security.

For him, in view of the considerable interest OSS has generated globally, it will be a mistake for a developing country such as Nigeria to fail to examine the worth and benefits of OSS.

As said by him, the community driven model of OSS thrives and has received widespread acceptance because of its intrinsic “freedoms”.

Pointing out that the question for Nigeria is how it could and should exploit the fundamental freedom of being able to use, distribute, modify and redistribute the modifications made to OSS software, as well as the availability of OSS without licensing fees and with source code.

“OSS offers forward looking nations a wide range of possibilities,” he said.
For him, the ability to obtain and utilize valuable software at little or no cost without the burden of licensing fees can only be of immense benefit for countries with low per capita income.

He pointed out that since there are no licensing fees exploitation of OSS offers practical avenues for government to promote mass digital inclusion.

“Technology cannot have the desired effect of overall prosperity without universal access and inclusion,” he said.


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MTN partners DSTv, Nokia on mobile Tv

As the date for the commencement of the 2010 World Cup, lead sponsor, MTN has announced its partnership with DSTv Mobile and Nokia Nigeria to deliver the games via mobile television.

Giving this insight at a press conference in Lagos, last week, the General Manager, Consumer Marketing at MTN Nigeria, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi, said the telecom operator was delighted to be part of this innovation and pioneering offer to teem Nigerians, especially those who may not be able to visit South Africa during the world cup.

He also explained that mobile TV which rides on MTN platform would be delivered with Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) accompanied with all the services available on the network.

Oyeyemi equally described the partnership as an exciting union driven by common desire to satisfy customers, stressing that MTN Nigeria is in this partnership with the passion to enrich the lives of its customers.

“MTN is the first and only African global sponsor of the world’s biggest football event; FIFA 2010 World Cup and is not leaving any stone unturned in its quest to enrich the lives of its customers via the promotion of their passion for football,” he declared, adding that MTN is bringing the pleasures, intrigues, surprises and fun associated with the best of world class football from the South of Africa to her teeming customers while on the go.

Also speaking, the General Manager for West Africa at DStv, Mr. Mayo Okunola, said the partnership is aimed at demonstrating how all the three companies are pushing the boundaries of the mobile and entertainment industries forward.

According to him, the partnership aimed at providing MTN subscribers using Nokia 5330 with DStv channels free access till March 2011 at a cost of N28,000.

“Our aim is to show you that mobile television is an effective medium for visual and audio entertainment. In fact, it is estimated that by 2012, over 300 million people worldwide will be watching live TV on their mobiles,” he said.

He also said that the Nokia 5330 device is able to render pictures that complement television viewing experiment, and that World Cup scheduled for June would be viewed live on MTN platform.

He pointed out that the device would offer a handheld mobile television service through Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB).

“Our service relies on our own broadcast network and not the mobile network operator. You are not using your credit in any way, shape and or form to watch DStv Mobile once you get this device,” he said.

In addition, the General Manager, Nokia West Africa, Mr. Phillip de la Vega, said that enhancing the daily lives of Nigerians was at the heart of this partnership, so as to regularly connect people.

“The introduction of the Nokia 5330 Mobile TV edition responses to the arrival of DVB-H broadcast mobile TV networks in new markets, including Nigeria and offers an affordable device for new and existing customers alike,” he said.

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Zain lifts UNN team @ African Challenge contest

Leading tertiary institution in the country, the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) has been lifted by Zain Nigeria for its participation in the Zain African Challenge.

This is coming as Zain has restated its commitment to support Nigerian universities in their key role as source of knowledge, innovation, development and change by igniting the desire for learning and rewarding academic brilliance through its popular academic programme, Zain Africa Challenge.

Speaking at a recent prize presentation ceremony held in honour of UNN’s representatives to the International Festival of the on-going Zain Africa Challenge, the Public Relations Manager of Zain Nigeria, Mr. Emmanuel Otokhine said the company will continue to provide exciting platforms for students of Nigerian Universities, adding that the Zain quiz show is designed to stimulate and reward academic excellence among youths in Nigerian Universities.

Otokhine also commended the University for qualifying for the International Festival two years in a roll and for being worthy ambassadors of the country at the Championship in Kampala, Uganda.

The University team comprised four team players, a coach and a Liaison were presented with cash prizes as reward for their participation in the International Championship Festival and for emerging from the keenly contested Zain Africa Challenge National Qualifier Tournament as one of the country’s representatives.

The team comprise Julius Arop a fourth year student of Civil Engineering, Odigwe Michael, a final year student of Medicine & Surgery, Samuel Ugochukwu, a 200 level student of Education & Political Science, Macdonald, a second year student in the department of Economics, Prof. Marie-Stella Nzewi (Team Coach) and Celine Ngozi Nnebedum (Team Liaison).

In addition to receiving cash prize (Institutional grants), the University was also presented with a Zain Africa Challenge trophy.

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ICT has raised Nigeria GDP by 1.62% - Fakiyesi

An economist and lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Tayo Fakiyesi, has said that despite the exploitation of negative aspect of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by a few Nigerian youths, ICT has raised the economy of the nation, especially the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 1.62 per cent.

“Despite all odds, the ICT sector has raised the economy of the nation and there is need for stakeholders to work towards improving the sector for more economic growth and development,” he declared.

He spoke at the end of a one-day presentation of findings workshop on ‘The impact of Liberalization on trade in ICT goods and services’ organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos last week, under the LICOM project supported by Senegalese-based PANOS West Africa.

Prof. Fakiyesi, who conducted the project alongside Prof. Ike Mowete, also said that ICT has raised employment and investment in the country and has come to stay.

“It has reduced cost of trade and increased productivity,” he said, just as he lamented that apart from the improvement on the economy, ICT has also enhanced falsehood, dissemination of harmful information as well as fraudulent activities in the transaction of businesses.

According to him, ICT presently accounts for 1.62 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with over 50.90 per cent growth in the contribution of the GDP.

He also said that ICT has substantially contributed to the nation’s growth since introduction over 10 years ago.

Beside the contributions, Fakiyesi noted that the growth in GDP in the country is an indication that Nigerians are getting the benefits of growth when compared with other countries of the world.

Benefits drivable from the increased development, he said, must match with the level of service provided to citizens, lamented, however that presently “the benefits are far behind in terms of services.”

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