Fuel Subsidy Removal protests: Nigerian Tweeps cautious of State agents monitoring

Proponents of social media aspect of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as tools for revolutionary strike action which commenced across the country on Monday have cautioned Nigerians to be wary of agents of the State monitoring online conversations.

Tweeps is a conjunction of Twitter and Peeps resulting into ‘tweeps,’ which is commonly used to refer to the Twitter flowers of someone or Tweet enthusiasts.

ITRealms Online gathered that proponents of nationwide protest against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Nigerian president on January 1, 2012, including the famous Enough-is-Enough Nigeria (EiENigeria), OccupyNigeria and Save Nigeria Group among others.

The coordinating civil society groups enjoined protesters to ensure they use technology to plan but note that agents of the State are monitoring conversations.

“Treat sensitive information with caution,” the group told Tweet followers.

They further advised Tweeps who are using Short Messaging Service (SMS) to first connect their account to their mobile numbers, saying that subscribers on Airtel or MTN could send START to 40404, while those on Glo could send START to 20644 to connect.

They equally said that Tweeps using this module would be required to complete a one-time login with your username (twitter handle) and password, explaining that “No downloads” is needed, although each SMS will cost you N10.

According to the proponents, SMS allows 160 characters, compared to Twitter is 140, hence, they advised protesters to keep their tweets below 140 characters so that it will be delivered.

“Please use popular hash tags, for instance the #FuelSubsidy or #OccupyNigeria in your tweets so that any emergency requests could be picked up for action,” the group advised.

In addition, the group cautioned those who may be using a public computer to send sensitive information, clear the cache so no one could gain access to information.

For most browsers, experts in the group counseled that if you press “Shift+Ctrl” then “Delete”, you will get the “Clear Browsing Data” option. Clear as required, adding that protesters could keep sensitive information a bit more secured by making sure they only send such to people they know and trust, otherwise, they should use Direct Messaging.

ITRealms Online also gathered that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has promised to be on standby to assist with legal issues during the strike, even as they warned Nigerians to stay nonviolent and report every suspicion to protest coordinators.

Meanwhile, current tension in the land over the removal of fuel subsidy has forced new media enthusiasts in the country to carry their grievances to the internet by relying on social media networks to share grievances and strategies for the total strike.

While some use Facebook, others chose Twitter, YouTube and Yfrog to name a few of the social media networks on the Internet to distribute information.

This came as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) have variously denied rumours making a round that services, especially on the Blackberry offering would be cut off to avert impending revolt by Nigerians using mobile technology devices in communicating during the strike.

Even as NBC said every station has the right to cover protest, but must ensure that the interest of the nation takes prime position.

ITRealms Online investigations at the weekend revealed that since the proclamation of the removal of fuel subsidy on Sunday, January 1, 2012 by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, Nigerians have taken solace on the Internet to share information especially their hardship following the removal.

Whereas some Nigerians have asked the Jonathan government to cut government waste rather than removing fuel subsidy as his New Year gift to Nigerians, others insisted that charity must start at home with the Presidency cutting on the cost of governance at the Aso Villa.

A public statement made available to ITRealms Online by some civil society organisations, government, they said should make petrol affordable, maintaining that it’s the only thing government do as it does not provide water, electricity, good roads, good health care facilities or good educational opportunities.

The civil society group also said that the removal has forced an increment which has doubled across the country including the cost of transportation, food, health care, and cost of running businesses in addition to the cost of generating electricity through the generating sets, whereas most salaries is now worth at least 35 per cent less as goods and services have tippled on average.

According to the group, although the minimum wage remain N18,000, the government at all levels have not implemented this wholesomely, contending that the government could save money by cutting waste and tackling corruption, most of which exist in the public service.

They noted that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently prosecuting former Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, his counterpart from Oyo State, ex-police offer, Adebayo Alao-Akala among others for over N200 billion.

Equally, they argued that the government disburses N250 billion per year as ‘security votes’ to the President and Governors, which they could spend at will.

The 2012 budget, they pointed out has allocated approximated N1 billion to purported ‘feeding’ for the president and the vice president, while the same budget allocated N1.7 trillion wage bill and N675 million to generate power in the Aso Villa and VP’s residence respectively.

They, therefore, urged Nigerians to join the protests in their cities, send a Short Messaging Service (SMS) to share their opinion on 0816666222 and 08120006622 as well as send an electronic mail to info@eienigeria.org.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Now that NigComSAT-1R is here!

The replaced Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComSAT-1R) was launched last December, REMMY NWEKE reports that now the satellite has returned to orbit, the government must have the political will to push for full commercialisation.

Fulfilled NigComSAT-1R

The much taunted replacement satellite of the Nigerian Communications Satellite-1 has returned successfully to the space with the launch on Monday, December 19, evening.

From China where the Long March 3B (LM-3B) launch vehicle from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, located in South West China was conducted as at 5.41pm.

ITRealms Online recalls that NigComSat-1R formal launch was in fulfillment of the Chinese company’s promise to replace NigComSat-1, which was de-orbited due to malfunctioning of Solar Array Deployment Assembly (SADA) on November 10, 2008.

Confirming this to ITRealms Online, the Deputy General Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. Sonny Aragba-Akpore said that the spacecraft entered the predefined orbit of perigee being 200 kilometres (km), apogee 41991 km and inclination 24.8, noting that NigComSAT-1R is the fourth in-orbit delivery contract signed by China Space with its international customers.

The 18^th CGWIC deal:

He also said that the launch was conducted in line with the NigComSat-1R contract signed between the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) and China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

He noted that NigComSat-1R spacecraft is built on Dong Fang Hong 4 (DFH-4) satellite bus developed by China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and launched by LM-3B launch vehicle, developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle (CALT).

China Satellite Launch Tracking and Control General (CLTC), he said, is providing tracking, control and ground segment support for the programme, just as NigComSat-1R is the 8th satellite built on the DFH-4 bus for in-orbit delivery and the NigComSat-1R launch is the 18^th flight of LM-3B launch vehicle and the 154^th flight in the series of the Long March launchers.

Knowledge Transfer

The project, he said, was carried out in conjunction with over 50 NigcomSAT engineers who spent the last 31 months in China, just as the satellite has service lifespan of over 15 years and was designed to meet the needs of telecommunications, maritime, defense, broadcast media in Africa, particularly Nigeria, parts of Europe and Asia.

An elated Managing Director, NigcomSAT Limited, Mr. Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai declared “this is mission fulfilled,” adding that NigComSAT1-R has 28 active transponders and quad band of Ku, ka, C-Band and L-band.

He also said that there are two ground stations located in Abuja, Nigeria and Kashi, China owned by NigComSAT which participated fully in the launch.

Top government officials that witness the launch included the Communications Technology, Minister, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, her Science and Technology counterpart, Prof. Okon Ewa Bassey, chairman, Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Gilbert Nnaji, House members, NigComSAT 1R project Director  and Executive Director, Marketing, Abimbola Alale and Chief Executive of LASACO Insurance Plc, Mr. Sola Ladipo-Ajayi among others.

Ghana orders for NigComSAT-1R transponders

And with the disclosure that NigComSAT-1R covers of over 40 African countries in the orbit, days after launch started to attract the commercial attention it deserved with Ghana leading the queue to have access to the services of the replaced Nigerian Communication Satellite (NigComSAT-1R) launched last month in China, with Ghana already ordered for two transponders.

A communications satellite’s transponder is the series of interconnected units which form a communications channel between the receiving and the transmitting antennas.

A transponder is composed of an input band limiting device known as a band pass filter, in addition to having an input low-noise amplifier (LNA), designed to amplify the normally very weak, because of the large distances involved signals received from the earth station. Even as it’s a frequency translator; normally composed of an oscillator and a frequency mixer and used to convert the frequency of the received signal to the frequency required for the transmitted signal.

Experts at Wikipedia, an online open source encyclopedia explained that most communication satellites are radio relay stations in orbit, and carry dozens of transponders, each with a bandwidth of tens of megahertz. Most transponders operate on a “bent pipe” principle, sending back to earth of what goes into the conduit with only amplification and a shift from uplink to downlink frequency.

Internet surfing without tears

Confirming this at a maiden media interaction after the launch of NigComSAT-1R, the chief executive officer, NigComSAT, Mr. Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai, said that Ghana and Congo are some of the countries on the continent keenly interested on receiving service offering from NigComSAT, just as Ghana has asked for two transponders.

He noted that the replacement satellite is of no cost to Nigeria, while the commercialization potential of NigComSAT extends beyond the current 40 African coverage to China and Asia as well as Europe among others.

NigComSAT, Ahmed-Rufai said, is specifically for Africa and has been globally positioned, adding that talks are on with MainOne, a cable company in Nigeria to enter into partnership with NigComSAT through deployment of its services and compliment the efforts of MainOne in extending broadband availability to homes in the country.

Ahmed-Rufai who was accompanied at the session by the Executive Director, Marketing, Ms Bimbola Alale, Head, Legal Services, Ms Alima Udoye and General Manager, Corporate Strategy and Planning, Mr. Olabode Oroge, said that Nigerians are fully in control of the recently launched satellite which arrived its orbital home successfully on December 27, 2011, which is approximately seven days or 168 hours after it was launched, stressing that it will remain there in the next 15 years plus when its lifespan is expected to expire, just as the partnership with MainOne, would usher into homes ‘Internet surfing without tears.”

He underscored the fact that the satellite was built on a DFH-4 platform and was successfully launched on a Long March 3B/E launch vehicle into the geo-transfer orbit (GTO) on Monday, December 19, 2011 at exactly 5.41pm local time, from Xichang satellite launch centre in China.

As said by him, following the separation of the satellite from the launch vehicle, the satellite was injected into the geo-transfer orbit and subsequently began its journey to the final orbital position of 42.5degree East in the GEO-stationary orbit.

Final Orbiting of NigComSAT-1R

“This operation is referred to as Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) operations of the satellite lasted for one week with about five orbital maneuvers carried out successfully,” he said, maintaining that the satellite was placed in its final orbital position of 42.5 degrees East at exactly 00:58 GMT, on Tuesday, December,27, 2011.

He said that the satellite now positioned, is within the view of the two NigComSat ground control centres based in Lugbe, Abuja and Kashi in China respectively, of which NigComSat-1R is now monitored and controlled from the Abuja ground station; where the data from the satellite are presently being received real-time.

Hence, he said that In-Orbit Testing (IOT) has commenced and will last another 40 days from the date of arrival at orbital home, before commercial activities could take off, to ensure that the tests satellite conform with the design requirements.

“Upon the successful completion of IOT, it is expected that commercial services shall commence in the first week of February 2012. In anticipation of this, the Direct-to-Home (DTH) platform, broadband Internet services and other services are being prepared for hosting on the satellite as soon as commercial activities flag off,” he said.

Now, NigComSAT-1R is here!

The truth of the matter now is that NigComSAT-1R is here, no doubt, but the fact remains that its commercialization positively could spur further job creation for the country, apart from uplifting Nigeria’s position among the satellite nations of the world.

The political will of the government, especially now that NigComSAT is under the Ministry of Communications Technology, led by Mrs. Omobola Johnson should be at the utmost level, so as to ensure that before NigComSAT-1R expires in some 15 years ahead, Nigeria may have made its mark with the benefits visibly trickles down to the masses of this country.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Bindir says Nigeria made progress in technology

Umar Bindir

The Chief Executive Officer, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. Umar B. Bindir, has said that Africa and Nigeria particularly has made some progress technologically in recent years.

Reacting to a recent challenge by retired General Ishola Williams on the need for “Extra Income Generation Options for Scientists” Dr. Bindir said that continent-wide and Nigeria precisely “We are making progress.”

On Nobel Prize winners, he said that after careful check, Africa has them of which Prof. Wole Soyinka is one of them, and there are some Egyptians too.

Citing instances of technology progress, the NOTAP boss said that Malawi is now maize sufficient even as Nigeria has created and commercialised the NICOSAN - a new sickle cell drug developed in 

Nigeria aka Niprisan; whereas South Africa has many technology prowess.

Kenya, he noted, ‘invented’ the phone banking and is working, just as was seen recently, Uganda has launched a viable environmentally friendly two-seater vehicle as well as some progress made in the Gambia under the leadership of Dr. Yahya Jammeh.

He agreed that as a continent, Africa needed to look inwards and focused as well as collaborate.

“Yes, we need more and we need to look inwards, be more focused, and synergise. Asia or no Asia, Africa must evolve its own models, and I think we are making progress,” he declared.

He wondered why some people do claim that India or China does not have problems?

As said by him, the difference here is that they dwell more on their successes and made all think that all is Uhuru there, while Africans instead of looking of success stories and projecting it concentrate their energies on the negative aspect.

“We always dwell more on the negative, portraying that nothing is happening,” he lamented, stressing that this is not necessarily true.

He, therefore, urged Africans and Nigerians to promote deeper and more intensely their own success story.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Mybidmonster portal debuts

The BidMonster Online Nigeria has unveiled its portal, www.mybidmonster.com.ng with a promise to offer safe and user friendly eCommerce platforms.

The Chief Executive Officer, BidMonster Online Nigeria, Mr. Femi Kayode Fatokun, said that the website enables the company to connect Africa to global trade opportunities.

BidMonster Online, he said, is an ideal global market village in Nigeria, hence it serves it’s the first online auction and shopping website, MyBidMonster, in which people and businesses can list their products, auction, bid, buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide.

The company, he said is committed to providing members a secure online business portal www.mybidmonster.com.ng with world class secured (SSL) encryption features.

This, Fatokun said, would ensure the protection of customer’s details, multiple payment gateways, ability to engage on the go, and quality rich auction features to facilitate smooth, convenient and successful bidding, buying and selling experience.

He further said that an installed SSL ensures that customers’ transactions are transmitted under a secured platform thus making certain that customer’s details are protected.

Mobile payment gateway, he said, has been integrated while payment using credit card could only be used through payment gateways where members have verified their details thus helping to reduce fraud.

Fatokun noted that the website provides a secure platform for individuals to make a living online by listing their products on auction, selling and making a profit, while growing the eCommerce industry in Nigeria, hence attracting investors.

Additionally, the website which is presently live in South Africa, Ghana and Kenya hopes to extend its reach to more countries globally over the next few months providing its members a wide reach of customers and indeed suppliers.

Through Mybidmonster and her affiliate sites, he said, true online earning capability could now be actualized in the country.

"MyBidmonster has integrated features and systems to help reduce fraud, protect both buyers and sellers and ensure that members receive products and items paid for," he said. 

The process, he said, is quite easy, simply start by registering, confirming uses or customers registration, "list your item with detailed description, pictures and videos either as auction for people to bid on or as "buy now" for outright purchase if you want it purchased out rightly."

Registered members, he said, could list their products for free, based on the site’s user policy, stressing that Mybidmonster is open to members over 18 years or above, even as registration is free, bidding, buying and selling is also free on MyBidmonster, whereas members only pay a small commission for items sold and paid for.

Remmy Nweke

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

SOPA: EFF launches Chokepoints, •As House of Reps linked with 800 IP

As the agitation over the support and against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) being championed by the United States, her House of Representatives have been discovered to be a very big fan of piracy with some 800 Internet Protocol (IP) traces.

A report by DSLReports.com made available to ITRealms Online showed that the US House of Representatives has continued their breathless support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in spite of warnings from experts that the law will stifle free speech and break core Internet functionality.

Recent analysis by Bit Torrent transfers indicated that there are significant number of House members, visitors and employees engaged in piracy.

The report quoted some 800 IP-addresses assigned to the U.S. House of Representatives as being engaged in trading copyrighted content, most specifically books.

The same data recently showed piracy by Sony, Universal and Fox, French President Nicholas Sarkozy and the RIAA and DHS.

“It is of course shocking that politicians, lobbyists and the RIAA would say one thing, but do another, though perhaps the House website should be filtered from the broader Internet?” part of the report read.

Meanwhile the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) in collaboration with over a dozen civil society organizations worldwide recently launched Global Chokepoints at www.globalchokepoints.org to document how copyright enforcement is being used to censor online free expression in countries around the world.

Internet Activist and contact lead for this project at San Francisco-based EFF, Rainey Reitman said that Global Chokepoints, funded in part through a grant by the Open Society Foundation, is an online resource created to document and monitor proposals from around the world to turn Internet intermediaries into copyright police.

These proposals, Reitman said, harm Internet users’ rights of privacy, due process and freedom of expression, as well as endanger the future of the free and open Internet.

Global Chokepoints, the activist continued was designed to provide empirical information to digital activists and policymakers and to help coordinate international opposition to attempts to cut off free expression through misguided copyright laws and transnational agreements, like Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

Further, Reitman said, Global Chokepoints would document the escalating global efforts to turn Internet intermediaries into chokepoints for online free expression.

Describing Internet intermediaries all over the world to include Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to community-driven sites like Twitter and YouTube to online payment processors; saying they are increasingly facing demands by IP rights holders and governments to remove, filter, or block allegedly infringing or illegal content, as well as to collect and disclose their users’ personal data.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D