NaijaHactivists on rampage, occupy Nigerian MDAs online

A body of Nigerian hacker activists under the aegis of NaijaCyberHactivists, has continued to occupy Nigeria institutions online.

Technologically, a hacker is referred to a term described as contentious term used in computing for several types of person, while computer security experts see those hackers as crackers, who access a computer system by circumventing its security system, even as some describe them as hobbyist who makes innovative customizations or combinations of retail electronic and computer equipment, yet there are those known as ‘programmer subculture,’ who share an anti-authoritarian approach to software development now associated with the free software movement.

Investigations carried out by ITRealms Online at the weekend showed that hackers have embarked on this mission of occupying Nigeria businesses, especially Federal Government institutions websites online in sympathy of the populace following the sudden removal of fuel subsidy by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ).

On Monday, the website of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) was also hacked by Naija Cyber Hactivists, denouncing the deployment of soldiers across the country, especially Lagos by GEJ at the Gani Freedom Park among others, to molest protesters.

ITRealms Online recalls that on the New Year day, January 1, 2012, the Federal Government had announced the removal of fuel subsidy, thereby causing hike in pump price from hitherto N65 per litre to about N143 per litre.

Further investigations showed that as at the time of filing this report, both the websites of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) among others.

Although, ITRealms Online also gathered that by weekend, NAFDAC website, http://www.nafdac.gov.ng/ has been restored, while that of EFCC, http://www.efccnigeria.org/ remain inaccessible as any attempt showed that the requested Universal Route Locator (URL) had additional code ‘/jm15/’ indicating that it was not found on the server. While, additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an Error Document to handle the request is being displayed on the website ever since last Friday when the EFCC website went live with the news that the likes of telecom business mogul, Mike Adenuga, Femi Otedola and others were allegedly arrested.

Also, ITRealms Online gathered that sooner than it was hacked, officials of EFCC denied the arrest of these business moguls, alleging that its website was hacked.

Speaking on this development, the Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Emeka JP Obegolu told ITRealms Online that as much as Nigerians are entitled to peaceful protest within the law, hacking of website is a cybercrime and legitimate protesters are not welcome.

He advised those hackers to avoid criminality as a way of protest.

Equally commenting, one of the protesting Nigerian youth who gave his name as Hareem, said that this – the hacking of government institutions website; is a very good way of communicating their message loud and clear to the government. Mostly “if they don’t still understand what is going on.”

Further investigations confirmed this with a Tweet from NaijaCyberHactivists, saying that the hacking of EFCC website was in solidarity with the Nigerian masses’ protest over fuel subsidy removal and alleged bad governance and inability of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to assent to the demands of the people.

ITRealms Online further gathered that on Friday, January 13, 2012, NaijaCyberHactivists had stated through social media, Twitter, that it should be occupied for unwillingness to give the Nigerian people justice.

The call to occupy EFCC was for not bringing the suspected cabals among the oil importers and corruption politicians in the country to book, which came as popular a demand online.

“The AYES have it. EFCC’s website goes down officially at exactly 2pm tomorrow with an #OccupyEFCC chatbox on it.

In what started with a question from NaijaCyberHactivists on a motion: Should EFCC’s website be occupied for mis-information & lack of will to prosecute the Cabals? Aye or Nay? The majority of his followers affirmed to the temporary occupation of EFCC website, mostly for the inability of the Commission to tackle the purported cabals defrauding the country of millions of Naira.

ITRealms Online recalled that the hackers had occupied EFCC site with that notice.

In addition, the website of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) was last Friday hacked following the alleged announcement by the Commission for arresting and detained some 21 executive directors of oil-chip firms for defrauding the nation over fuel subsidy.

The former Head, Media & Publicity Unit, EFCC, Mr. Femi Babafemi was purportedly reported as saying in a press statement dated January 13, 2012 that those arrested were in response to fuel subsidy scam.

He also alleged to have said that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested and detained at the weekend included the managing director of CONOil, Otunba Mike Adenuga, who also is the executive chairman, Globacom and three others.

He said these comprised of his counterparts at African Petroleum (AP), Mr. Femi Otedola, MRS Oil, Mr. Sayyi Dantata and Mr. Adewale Tinubu who is the Group Chief Executive of Oando plc among others.

Equally, Babafemi was reported to have disclosed that some senior officials of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), “who defrauded the nation several billions of Naira.”

The EFCC spokesman was further alleged to have said that in total, “21 executive directors have been detained in all and at the moment been interrogated over fresh information that they allegedly stole fuel subsidy funds,” even as he promised to release more information later.

Investigations conducted by ITRealms Online indicated that the EFCC website may have been hacked by unknown persons following agitation on the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government, this was further strengthen by the fact that some media organizations who rushed to the press, especially online to announce the arrest have since yanked the announcement off their website.

Even as it was rumoured that the said Mr. Babafemi Babalola may have resigned from the employ of EFCC as at January 12, 2012. However, EFCC has since Friday denied the reported arrest of Adenuga and co.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

4.3m Nigerians on Facebook out of 799m global users – IWS

The figures of Nigerians on the popular social media platform, Facebook has grown to 4,369,740 users out of the 799m recorded by the end last year, December 31, 2011, according to the Internet World Statistics (IWS).

The chief executive officer, Miniwatts Marketing Group, publishers of IWS, Mr. Enrique de Argaez, said in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online that by growing Facebook users to 4,369,740, Nigeria’s Facebook penetration has risen by 2.8 per cent.He noted that social media has become quite popular all over the world, with Facebook described as the social web leader in number of users and at year-end 2011 registered the impressive number of 799 million subscribers worldwide.

In Europe, he said, Facebook has the largest number of subscribers in the world with a record of 223 million, and a penetration rate of 27.4 per cent. While Northern America has the largest Facebook Penetration Rate with 50.3 per cent, an indication he said, shows that one out of every two persons in America has a Facebook account.

Africa, IWS reported with estimated population of 1,037,524,058, had Facebook users as at August 31, 2010 amounting to 17,607,440 million and by June 30, 2011 has reached 30,665,460m, and by December 31, 2011 recorded 37,739,380 million with Facebook penetration rate of 3.6 per cent.

Additionally with 118,848,060m Internet users in Africa, IWS said that as at June 30, 2011, the continent recorded 11.5 per cent penetration rate.

The report has it that Algeria with 34,994,937 population as at 2011 has 2,835,740 Facebook users with 8.1 per cent penetration rate for the period under review.

Angola, IWS said 322,300 Facebook users and 2.4 per cent penetration rate; Benin has 130,240 Facebook users and 1.4 per cent penetration rate, even as Burkina-Faso 95,380 Facebook users on December 31, last year and growing at 0.6 per cent penetration.

Egypt with a population of 82,079,636m last year with 9,391,580m Facebook users as at December 31, thereby growing at 11.4 per cent penetration rate. Just as Kenya which boast of 41,070,934 population in 2011 recorded 1,298,560m Facebook users as at last December in addition to having penetration rate of 3.2 per cent.

South Africa on the other hand with a population of 49,004,031m in 2011, proud itself with 4,822,820 Facebook users by December 2011, thus having 9.8 per cent penetration rate among others.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

2011: PND shipments decline as competition soars

The global shipments of Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) declined to about 33 million units in 2011, says research analyst firm, Berg Insight.

The Sweden-based research firm also noted that this was spurred by the fact that competition on PDNs have intensified.

The chief executive officer, Berg Insight, Mr. Johan Fagerberg, affirmed this in a press statement available to ITRealms Online on Monday, saying that in mature markets where the installed base of PNDs is already high, the device category is facing increasing competition from smart phones and low-cost in-dash navigation systems.

As said by him, aftermarket navigation systems would be the largest segment for several years to come and many customers, especially in Europe and North America, are likely to use more than one navigation capable device for different occasions in the future.

He noted that the growing shipments of PNDs in markets such as Brazil, China, India and Russia are not likely to compensate for the decline in Europe and North America.

“Global PND shipments are forecasted to decline to about 23 million units in 2016,” he disclosed, adding that the number of mobile subscribers using a turn-by-turn navigation application or service on their handset doubled in 2011 and reached 130 million worldwide.

“The subscriber base is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.9 per cent to reach 340 million users worldwide in 2016,” he said.

On the broad availability of Global Positioning System (GPS) handsets, Mr. Fagerberg pointed out that attractive pricing are key factors for widespread adoption of mobile navigation applications.

Senior Analyst, Berg Insight, Mr. André Malm, said that the global active installed base of smart phones surpassed 700 million units at the end of 2011, which is approximately 15 per cent of all mobile phones in use.

He also said that about half of the current mobile navigation subscriber base uses free applications and services that are bundled with handsets or service plans from mobile operators.

“A growing number of mobile operators worldwide are switching to bundled free-mium navigation services to offset the cost for end users in response to free navigation applications (apps) for smart phones from Google and Nokia,” he said.

Malm further noted that navigation application developers and mobile operators are trying to monetise services by introducing premium feature and content add-ons that allow users to customise navigation apps to suit their personal needs.

“Since relatively few users need turn-by-turn guidance on a daily basis, complementary features such as traffic information, speed camera alerts, parking space information and local search become increasingly important means to drive usage”, he pointed out.

This, Mr Malm said has continued to stimulated usage which makes it imperative for developers and mobile operators to seek additional revenues from location-based advertising and local offers.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Airtel unveils first continental 3.75G in Zambia

Airtel Zambia has unveiled its 3.75G platform in the country, even as it promises significant changes to how subscribers experience the web on 3.75G-enabled devices.

This is the first of its kind on Airtel network across the continent, just as Airtel said the offer would enhance multimedia functionality, high speed mobile broadband and internet access.

In addition, the mobile operator said 3.75G allows users to make video calls, watch live TV, send and receive emails and download music from the devices.

Managing Director, Airtel Zambia, Mr. Fayaz King, said that this is the latest global HSPA+ technology with speeds of up to 21 megabytes per second (mbps).

Also being rolled out in Europe and the USA, he said it is the fastest 3.75G available and will be enormously beneficial for a variety of users, including large corporates, small or medium businesses and the youth.

“3.75G technology will give our customers the opportunity to interact with data in a different way,” he said, stressing that this is why Airtel does not see 3.75G as a product but a platform that enables the community to expand its social and commercial horizons, alongside the rest of the world.

Mr. King emphasized that Airtel would be rolling out its data network across all its markets in Africa with the objective of building the largest 3G network across the continent, and will continue to provide useful and innovative services to make use of this new technology.

“There are currently 280 Airtel 3.75G sites across Zambia, covering all provincial districts with the aim to roll out up to 400 by the end of this year, giving even more people an opportunity to experience this technology,” he said.

Airtel’s 3.75G platform, he said, allows customers to combine the enormous potential of the internet with the convenience of cellular phones and other devices.

“It will liberate the potential of our youth through enabling fast access to the Internet for learning, sharing, social networking, creating and accessing content like music,” Mr. King said, adding that for the small and medium business, it will enable the entrepreneur to embrace a highly mobile way of working with high speed access to email and internet and facilitate large companies to increase productivity through vastly enhanced mobile internet speeds and access to record and allow for communication via video calls on handsets.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Nigerian tweeps record 86,400 tweets per day

 •Over fuel subsidy protests

Nigerians who have Tweet handles, also known as ‘tweeps’ may have recorded 86,400 number of tweets per day since the last week protest over bad governance in the country ignited by the removal of fuel subsidy.

Just as this figure may have swelled during the two-day rest declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress and organised civil society to restock for the unfolding events this second week of the protest nationwide, saw an increase in the activities on #OccupyNigeria rising from 11,766 as at Friday to 12,957 tweets, which is an average of 1,191 tweets per day.

While Sunday, January 15 and early hours of Monday January 16 witnessed another rise 14,148 to 14,955, according to the TwitterCounter on Monday morning.

Key team member of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) and Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, made this disclosure at the weekend, saying that Tweet rate for #OccupyNigeria now averages one (1) tweet per second.

Based on this estimate, it means that in the last one week of protest to occupy Nigeria by members of the organized labour and civil society groups that Nigerians were adding about 60 tweets every minute and when this is multiplied by 60 minutes in an hour, it amounts to 360 tweets per hour.

 

Also, when this is postulated into 24 hours in a day, it would amount 86,400 tweets per day and if added up by the last seven days, the awakening record of 604,800 tweets were contributed by Nigerians using the hashtag #OccupyNigeria for seven days and still continue.

But additional investigation via TwitterCounter statistics, #OccupyNigeria handle has a record of 11,766 followers, which means an average of +143 on average have been added since the protest began on January 9, 2012.

Also, #OccupyNigeria follows 313 an indication that it follows other tweeps on average of +3 ; recording 861 tweets with an average of +10 tweets, thus becoming top 100 twitter users with 35,160 as at Saturday, 14 January 2012 while the usage of its hashtag recorded about 34,869; with 13,911 followers in 15 days, which means it took approximated 58 days to get 20,000 followers.

In a related development, another popular hashtag among Nigerians during the fuel subsidy and occupy Nigeria protest has been #FuelSubsidy with 280,463 views and has 376 followers, whereas following 4 on the average and 40 tweets on the average per day.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

We need courageous leader, not a General – ATCON boss

Omo-Ettu, ATCON president

The president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu has said that what Nigeria needs is essentially a courageous leader.

Omo-Ettu on the state of the nation and consequences of subsidizing corruption in the country, asked ‘How did we totally lose our way?’ a question he attributed to the chief executive officer of MainOne, Ms Funke Opeke, during the recent hosting of Engr Victor Haffner’s 92nd birthday last September, where she wrote thus: ‘Very informative about the history of accomplishment that previously existed in the telecoms sector in the country. How did we totally lose the way?’. 

He opined that what the nation needs is essentially a leader with courageous mind to lead the people aright.

“Quite frankly we do not need an Army General to tell us what has gone wrong or how to solve them, we simply need anyone who works like a General – essentially a courageous leader,” he asserted, stressing that the failure to challenge orthodoxy cripples the Nigerian nation.

He noted that over time, it has been realized that for the best moments come from discomfort and dissatisfaction because in those moments Nigerians are propelled to step out of what rubbish they may have found themselves and search for better solutions.

“A lack of aspiration means we are unable to truly judge a system either by its operations or manifestation,” he said.

It is one articulated by Ms Funke Opeke, CEO of MainOne Cable Company in a Guests’ Comment Register at the breakfast meeting by CEO members of ATCON for Engr Victor Haffner’s 92nd birthday last September. Therein, she wrote: 

Omo-Ettu said in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online on Monday noted that most people of reasonable intellect let alone someone of such prominence in the industry would be left scratching their heads how, in a relative short period, things have degenerated so far and so fast.

ITRealms Online recalled that in his address to the occasion, Omo-Ettu noted that less than 50 years ago, in 1963 precisely, the first telecom company in Nigeria provided the needed communication resources for the inaugural satellite launch by the United States-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) into space from the Lagos Marina, back to Goddard Space Flight centre in USA; and that some 10 years later, Engr Haffner and his team of Nigerians who provided the resources also conceived the NECOM House, the pioneering architectural feat of a rotating restaurant at the summit of a functional telecom building designed to be 37 levels above the ground floor.

He said that to pretend to be ignorant of the root causes of this degeneration is simply burying one’s head in the sand, therefore, the issue is whether one wants to found solutions or meet the problems with the customary shrug of despondency. 

According to him, the few people who wrote the history depicted different era by those who have had the misfortune to rule Nigeria, hence charting the historical path by the ‘Obasanjo’s regime’, ‘Shagari’s era’, ‘Gowon’s days’,  Abacha’s period, Babangida’s time, Obasanjo’s second time second term to name a few.

The difference between those heady days when Mr. Haffner worked and today, he said, is was that back then, the states were not going to Federal Government routinely with a begging bowl to collect dues but rather, through ingenuous means, they generated revenue and contributed agreed sums to the central Government.

“This ‘funnel like’ system was effective and its reversal put the gearstick of progress in reverse. To understand the moment that precipitated this regression, we need to go back – as far back as 1966,” he noted.

He warned that a President should not be seen as going to church routinely to make pronouncements on affairs of state and give more impression of hopelessness than hope.

Stressing that to imagine that those young ‘brilliant economists’ which Mr. President surrounded himself with should not be allowed to impress on him that economic indices are more important and more respectable than the wishes and true feelings of Nigerians.

“And that our economy  regarding fuel consumption is being threatened by small countries who share border with us and whose total population, consumption, and corruption quotient are only very insignificant fraction of Nigeria’s,” he said.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D