Nigeria vs. China: Decoupling data on global poverty rankings by Remmy Nweke | WeekendDigits@ITREALMS

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The global landscape of macroeconomic development is fundamentally a story of shifting trajectories, resource governance, and institutional engineering. When analyzing how transition from widespread economic vulnerability to structural resilience, historical data often reveals stark, illuminating contrasts.

A critical piece of visual video evidence currently circulating in public policy circles, offers an empirical window into one of the most dramatic socioeconomic reversals in modern history. The data tracks the absolute headcount of individuals living in extreme poverty globally across a multi-decade timeline.

Ala Igbo: Past, present versus marginalisation by Obi Nwakanma - ITREALMS

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And I hear you, bro. But think about it: from 1970- 1979, the generation of the Igbo who had fought and funded the war, were not talking of marginalization. They took on the task of restoration. I remember the story the late Mbazulike Amaechi told me when I once visited him in Ukpor. 

At the end of the war, the Igbo business elite who had been in PH, and whose property had been forcibly acquired by the new government in Rivers state went to Asika to intervene. Asika sat with them and urged them to seek the intervention of the courts and make this a seminal case on the defense of Igbo property rights in Nigeria. 

Falana/Citadel vs Zinox: FIRS document shows Benjamin Joseph lied under oath by Tolu Aderemi-Cole - ITREALMS

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As the case between Citadel Oracle Concept Limited and Zinox Technologies returns to court, a document from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has put a lie to the claim under oath by Benjamin Joseph, CEO of Citadel, that he was not aware of the contract executed by his company at FIRS.

It will be recalled that Joseph, in his statement on oath in suit No: LD/4335/2014 in the High Court of Justice, Lagos State, dated 28th June, 2019, averred that his company, Citadel, did not execute any contract with FIRS and that he was not aware that a contract had been awarded to Citadel.

FG versus Daily Trust: Media Commission receives complaint - ITREALMS

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The National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), otherwise known as the Ombudsman, has received a formal complaint from the Federal Government against the Daily Trust newspaper, which it alleged published an article on July 4, 2024 “containing false and misleading information that severely threatens national security.”

In the complaint, dated July 8, 2024, and signed by Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, on behalf of Information Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the Government alleged that on July 4, 2024, the newspaper published on its front page a news item titled “LGBT: Nigeria Signs $150 Billion Samoa Deal,” in which it reported that the Government had endorsed a European Union (EU) partnership agreement (referred to as the “Samoa Agreement” with member states of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), despite some conditional clauses that compel benefiting nations to support the agitations by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community for recognition.

Democracy Day vs Judiciary: Real enemies of Nigeria emerging in court - ITREALMS

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The guilty, they say, is always afraid. This assertion cannot be truer in the face of near-direct fisticuffs taking place at the Abuja Appeal Court venue of the ongoing Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT. Since real trials began on May 30, the Respondents have been objecting to every move made in court by the Petitioners to prove that HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not win the election.

But as much as one could feel nauseated over the pursuit of technicalities by the second and third Respondents (Tinubu & Shettima) and fourth Respondent (APC) as the only ingredient of proving that they won the election, the actions of the first Respondent (Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) in leading this quest is outrightly disgusting.

Banks vs MNOs: ALTON ‘this is our story on USSD access fees’ - ITREALMS

ForTheRecords@ITREALMS:

The attention of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has been drawn to the public outcry against the charges for the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) access to banking services and the subsequent suspension of the implementation of the charges by the Honourable Minister of Communications.

Our members are deeply concerned about the feelings of customers who have been instrumental in the growth of the telecommunications sector. Given our members’ commitment to the ethos of accountability and transparency in engagement with consumers, we wish to provide clarity on the issues surrounding the USSD access and the associated charges.

· The USSD channel has evolved over time from a telco exclusive channel used for only telco services such as balance inquiry and recharges, to a channel being utilized for the deployment of financial, insurance, agricultural and government services, etc. The USSD channel is delivered using the Standalone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH) which is also used for call set-up, SMS set-up, and delivery.

· Similar to the other telco services such as SMS, voice and data, network resources are utilized in the provisions of USSD services and as such there are significant costs associated with deploying and maintaining the service.

· The Banks however identifying the convenience of delivering services to its customers over the USSD channel applied to the Nigerian Communications Commission for USSD codes to deliver these services. USSD Shortcodes were thereafter issued to the Banks and as is expected, they became fully responsible for the charges associated with delivering services to their customer through these shortcodes.

· Recently, the USSD channel has become a preferred service channel for the financial sector because of the cost efficiencies derived from the adoption of the channel. Today, USSD codes such as *737#, *906# have become leading brands because Banks have intensified the promotion of this channel to mostly the banked base towards the overall improvement of efficiencies with less focus on other service channels such as brick and mortar centers.

· With the increase in USSD traffic driven by financial services which currently constitutes approximately 90% of the entire USSD traffic, our members have continued to incur additional costs to provision additional SDCCH channels to mitigate against the negative impact on the quality of service. It is therefore factually incorrect when allusions are made that USSD costs incurred by our members are sunk costs which are not recoverable

· In order to accelerate the adoption of financial services on USSD, the banks partnered with our members to zero-rate the USSD access to end-users, while the banks bore the cost for the provision of service. Based on this arrangement, the banks took on the responsibility of billing customers and paid our members for use of the USSD infrastructure from the service fees deducted from the customer’s bank account. These service fees charged by the banks, were however far in excess of the costs remitted to our members by the Banks for providing the USSD platform and have since remained so.

· Following the issuance of the USSD Pricing Determination by the Nigerian Communications Commission which resulted in a price review of USSD service by our members, the banks stated that they would no longer pay for USSD service delivered to their customers and requested our members to charge customers directly for use of the USSD channel. This billing methodology where the Banks customer is directly charged USSD access fees by our members irrespective of the service charges that the bank may subsequently apply to the customers’ bank account is called “End-User Billing” which the banks specifically demanded that all our members implement. The banks, however, provided no assurances to our members that such service fees charged to customers’ bank accounts for access to bank services through the USSD channel will be discontinued post implementation of end-user billing by our members. The removal of these service fees by the banks would have meant that if bank customers were charged only the USSD costs communicated by our members per USSD session, bank customers will be paying far less than what they are currently being charged by the banks which in some instances are as high as N50. Additionally the banks and telco’s will be applauded for collaborating towards the financial inclusion objectives of the Federal Government.

· Our members were however concerned that the banks were unlikely to discontinue the USSD service fees charged by the banks when customers utilize the USSD channel thereby resulting in double and over billing, whereby our members charge consumers for the USSD access from their airtime and the Banks still proceed to charge the same consumers a service charge from their bank accounts. In the interest of the consumers, our members challenged the implementation of end-user billing until a formal request for its implementation was received from the Body of Bankers Chief Executive Officers and several banks specifically demanding that end-user billing be implemented.

· In view of the opposition to the implementation of end-user billing by customers, our members, as responsible and responsive corporate citizens are committed to safeguarding consumer interests, and in this regard, we are willing to explore mutually beneficial solutions which ensure that costs associated with the provision of USSD services as determined by the Nigerian Communications Commission are fully recovered by our members and customers are not billed twice for the same service and by different institutions which is what end-user billing advocated by the banks will entail.

· In this vein, we call on the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria to, as a matter of priority, convene a meeting of the financial and telecoms industry stakeholders to address this issue for the benefit of the consumers and other stakeholders.

For the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON)

*Contributed jointly by Engr. Gbenga Adebayo and Gbolahan Awonuga, the ALTON Chairman and Head, Operations respectively.

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iPhone X versus Note 8 - 10 important differences

Review@ITRealms:

The iPhone X was recently released and many experts in the mobile technology industry have issued their opinions about the new gadget from Apple. Of particular interest has been the comparisons that have been made between the phone and leading competitors including the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, reports ITRealms.

In this special review, Noelle Neff, a photography expert and author highlights the differences between iPhone X and Note 8.

1. Display

The first consideration the buyer will focus on is the display of the phone. On this point, the Galaxy Note 8 offers a larger display at 6.3 inches against 5.8 inches on the iPhone X. There are also disparities on resolution with the Note 8 achieving a resolution of 2960 x 1440 against 2436 x 1125 on the iPhone X.

2. Audio output

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 comes with a headphone jack for audio output, but as from iPhone 7, Apple has not been including a headphone jack. To listen to music on the iPhone X, you will need wireless earbuds.

3. Login options

Another difference between the two phones is that the Galaxy Note 8 includes more login options. You have a fingerprint scanner, face recognition, and an iris scanner. On the iPhone X, you only get the Face ID face recognition system, but this is said to be the most secure technology for authentication.

4. Unlocks based on location

The iPhone X lacks automatic locks that are available on the Note 8. What this technology does is it unlocks the phone based on location. For example, you can instruct the phone to always stay unlocked whenever you are at a specific place and as you move it is able to detect these changes. While in the house you can utilize this feature.

5. Stylus pen

Unlike the iPhone X, the Galaxy Note 8 offers you a stylus pen that allows you to easily take notes and navigate within apps. The pen is also ideal for drawing and can translate foreign language text when you select. You don’t get any S pen support on the iPhone X, and this might be a matter of market preferences rather than a failure on the part of the manufacturer.

6. Expandable storage

Another area the two phones differ is when you consider storage options. The iPhone X offers two storage options, 64GB and 256GB, but the Galaxy Note 8 comes with only a 64GB option. However, the Note 8 has an advantage over the iPhone as it allows expandable memory through microSD, which means you could expand the memory to achieve up to 300GB.

7. Split-screen apps

One of the biggest advantages of the latest Android system is that it has been focused on supporting multitasking. The Note 8 allows you to work on two windows side by side, which is something you cannot do on the iPhone X. You can easily run different operations on your phone while relying on this functionality.

8. Access to files

To access files on your Note 8, you only need to plug it onto your computer through a USB cable. It is shown as an external drive and you can then access and modify different files. This is not the case with the iPhone X as it demands you rely on iTunes application to access your files, and this makes sharing difficult.

9. Processor

When it comes to processor speed, the iPhone X wins as the A11 Bionic chip delivers more power compared to the Snapdragon 835 used on the Note 8. The new Apple chip is 51 percent more efficient and can handle many operations simultaneously.

10. Augmented reality

Most importantly, you will note the iPhone X is optimized for augmented reality. Apple included the ARKit system that allows developers to deploy augmented reality apps and this is supported by the A11 Bionic chip. These are features the Note 8 lacks.

About the author: Noelle Neff, a professional photographer covers niche markets. She graduated from the University of Miami and is based in the same city. Noelle Neff is also a renowned blogger on topics such as photography and travel.

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