COP-17: South Africa hosting to leverage ICT4D

*Maite Nkoana-Mashabane

As Africa warms up to host the world at the city of Durban, South Africa for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) otherwise known as Conference of the Parties (COP-17), the South African government would leverage on Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D).

This was disclosed recently by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation for the Republic of South Africa Madam Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in a chat with some foreign journalists in her office as part of the preparation for the COP 17.

According to the incoming COP-17 president,  there is need to ensure that the decisions made at COP-16 in Cancun last year are operationalised, which include the need to establish the institutions such as the 

Adaptation Committee, Technology Executive Committee, Standing Committee on Finance.

She said these committees, for instance if put in place and made operational, would assist greatly in building confidence in the multilateral process.

She noted that the adaptation framework must undertake the matching of actions with finance and technology, while recognizing that adaptation needs for developments countries depends on emission reduction ambition of all parties.

Nkoana-Mashabane also called for understanding of all parties as COP-17 under her leadership would strive for a comprehensive, balanced and ambitious result in Durban conference due to hold between November 28 and December 9, this year.

The minister reassured the team of Brand South African tour that in her capacity, she would spare no effort to make sure that parties to the convention find common ground and that they are able to agree on an outcome that is fair, transparent and credible.

In terms of logistic preparations for COP 17, she said that South Africa’s hosting of the conference is on track and progressing well.

“We are on top of all aspects of what goes into organizing an event of this magnitude; from accommodation and venue to security and protocol support,” she assured.

She said that Africa as a whole expect a highly successful event and outcomes that will make a meaningful impact on the mutual efforts in building a new future in a new world.

“Only in this manner can we truly realize our theme of ‘Working Together, Saving Tomorrow Today,” she asserted.

Equally speaking during a joint breakfast session, the Managing Director of the Banking Association of South Africa, Mr. Cas Coovadia, said that all hands are on deck to ensure that COP 17 is successful.

Pointing out that there is a joint effort at ensuring that COP 17 is successfully hosted, noting that issues on the agenda would include finance for the emerging countries, technology development and transfer as well as links between technology transfer, finance and capacity building, particularly related to the institutional arrangements agreed in Cancun.

He expressed hope that there would be a balance between adaption and mitigation in addition to addressing the Kyoto protocol.

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SIM card: NATCOMS calls for 12-month extension

The National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), has joined calls for an extension of the just concluded Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card registration by12 months.

NATCOMS President, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, made this call recently in Lagos, saying that there were myriad of challenges facing the exercise and requested for a 12 month extension.

He noted that prior to NCC’s SIM card registration which commenced on March 28, this year, all the telecoms operators actually started SIM Card Registration in August, 2010, about 13 months earlier, yet the nation could not registered more than 12 million subscribers.

*Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, NATCOMS president

He emphasized the fact that during the stakeholders meeting in preparation for the SIM card registration his association, the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) had raised alarm on the impending challenges, including the criteria for the identity cards, spread of registration centres, registration timeline of six months and level of public enlightenment and sensitization among others.

Currently, he said there are some new issues of note which must be addressed in order to be fair, just and be seen to be regulator-friendly to Nigerian subscribers.

He outlined these to include inadequate coverage, population density, low rural penetration, wide geographical area, current security threats of Boko Haram, Jos riots, bomb threats in some areas and across states to name a few.

NATCOMS boss did not forget the inadequate briefing of SIM registration agents on necessary and sufficient instructions about the exercise, even as some of them misinformed subscribers; natural disasters floods across some cities and states; absence of periodic monthly review and subscriber education and motivation.

Against this background, NATCOMS appealed to the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Honourable Minister, Ministry of Communication Technology and the President and Commander–In–Chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria to extend the SIM Card Registration Exercise in line with International best practices for another 12 months with monthly industry periodic review meetings to ensure regular updates and total subscriber compliance.

Meanwhile, NCC said it has commenced the collation and harmonization of all existing registered SIM cards nationwide with a window for accommodating more subscribers.

This follows the end of a six-month countrywide SIM registration exercise, which began on March 28, 2011 and came to a close last Wednesday, September 28, this year.

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Study says broadband impacts on GDP

Newly released study has indicated that by doubling the broadband speed for an economy increases the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by at least, 0.3 per cent.

The research conducted by Ericsson, Arthur D. Little and Chalmers University of Technology confirms that increased broadband speed contributes significantly to economic growth.

The study also posited that positive effects come from automated and simplified processes, increased productivity as well as better access to basic services such as education and health.

Media and Public Relations Manager at LM Ericsson Nigeria, Ms Omasan Ogisi who disclosed this to ITRealms Online noted that

According to her, the new study quantified the impact of broadband speed at a 0.3 per cent GDP growth in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) region at equivalent of $126 billion.

She quoted the Head of Business Unit Networks, Ericsson, Johan Wibergh, as saying that the study underlined as corresponding to over one seventh of the average annual OECD growth rate in the last decade.

Also, he said, the study showed that additional doublings of speed could yield growth in excess of 0.3 per cent, that is, quadrupling of speed equals 0.6 per cent GDP growth stimulus

Emphasising that both broadband availability and speed are strong drivers in an economy, just as last year, Ericsson and Arthur D. Little concluded that for every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration GDP increases by 1 per cent.

This growth, they said, stems from a combination of direct, indirect and induced effects, even as the direct and indirect effects provide a short to medium term stimulus to the economy.

The induced effect, he said, include the creation of new services and businesses, which is the most sustainable dimension and could represent as much as one third of the mentioned GDP growth.

Wibergh further said that broadband has the power to spur economic growth by creating efficiency for society, businesses and consumers.

“It opens up possibilities for more advanced online services, smarter utility services, telecommuting and telepresence. In health care, for instance, we expect that mobile applications will be used by 500 million people,” Wibergh said a recent Broadband World Forum 2011 in Paris.

He expected a huge increase from the current estimate of around 1 billion people with broadband access to about 5 billion in 2016, most of whom will have mobile broadband.

“Connectivity and broadband are just a starting point for new ways of innovating, collaborating and socializing,” he said.

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SIM card: NCC opens new window, shuts Cobranet

*Minister, Communication Technology, Mrs. 'Bola Johnson

Telecommunications regulator in the country, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has commenced the collation and harmonization of all existing registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards nationwide with a window for accommodating more subscribers.

This came as NCC sealed up the corporate office of an Internet Service Provider (ISP), Cobranet, for violation of frequency regulations in Lagos at the weekend.

Just as this follows the end of a six-month countrywide SIM registration exercise, which began on March 28, 2011 and came to a close last Wednesday, September 28, this year.

Head, Media & Public Relations, NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, who confirmed these development said that the registration exercise was undertaken through NCC appointed SIM Registration consultants in each of the six geopolitical zones, including Lagos; and the telecom service providers.

According to him, given the vast geographical spread of the country, and the logistics involved in the registration exercise over the past six months, there is need for proper harmonization of the data in line with the specifications issued by the Commission.

He also said that the harmonization process would involve the collation, reconciliation, cleaning, and consolidation of the captured data into a central data infrastructure for efficient management of Nigeria’s subscriber data base.

Commending the nation’s telecom subscribers for participating actively in the SIM registration exercise, he noted that a new window of opportunity is now open for those who have not yet registered their SIM cards to do so within the limited period of the harmonization exercise.

This limited period, provides the last chance for all users of existing SIM Cards to register as all unregistered SIM Cards will be promptly disconnected without further notice at the conclusion of the harmonization exercise.

The Commission is fully aware of the clamour by many interested stakeholders, and stakeholder organizations, for extension of the period for the registration of existing SIM Cards.

The Commission, he said, believes that the six months period provided for the registration exercise, was ample time for all phone users in the country to register their SIM Cards with either their service providers, or the NCC appointed registration consultants.

“It is in deference to the clamour by the stakeholders, that the Commission has provided this opportunity for all those who have not registered on account of logistic challenges, to do so without any further delay while the harmonization is ongoing,” he said.

As said by him within the limited period of the harmonization exercise, service providers would be directed not to disconnect any subscriber on account of the registration until the Commission announces the completion of the process after which those who remain unregistered would be disconnected.

“We commend all subscribers, who, in spite of some challenges along the way, responded positively to this national call to duty, by registering their SIM Cards. We also commend the service providers, and the NCC appointed registration consultants for their commitment towards the success of the SIM registration exercise,” he said.

In a related development, NCC at the weekend, shut the office of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) based in Lagos, Cobranet in defiance of frequency regulations and confiscated equipment.

Muoka further said that NCC sealed the offices of Cobranet, a telecom company based in Lekki, Lagos, for illegally occupying frequencies in some bands mapped out for broadband services in the country, and disrupting the services of other service providers.

The Commission, he pointed out, had in 2009, developed guidelines for the deployment of frequency services on the 5.2 – 5.9GHz bands and in April this year, declared the 5.470 – 5.725 portion of this spectrum as licensed, licensable and not license exempt in Nigeria.

Head, Compliance Monitoring at NCC, Mr. Efosa Idehen & Cobranet officials.

He said that upon this premise, the Commission warned all companies without a license to avoid transmitting signals or using equipment on this frequency band.

However, he said, the Commission after final warning on the issue in June, 2011, discovered that Cobranet, was transmitting signals on the affected frequencies, hence an enforcement action against the company, resulting its being shot down by the Commission, and its equipment disconnected and confiscated all its transmission equipment.

He quoted the head, Compliance Monitoring at NCC, Mr. Efosa Idehen, as saying during the raid that Cobranet would also pay some yet to be determined amount of money to be calculated by the frequency department of the Commission with reference to the space and time the company has illegally occupied the band.

In addition, he said the action of the company is also detrimental to the service quality of other providers as illegal occupations of frequencies degrade the quality of service of the other operators who may be legally operating on such frequencies.

Muoka further said the clampdown on Cobranet is a signal to other operators who may be operating without proper authorization or without recourse to all the rules of the game in the telecommunications industry.

The current leadership at the Commission, he said, is focused on compliance to the rules, hence the need for all operators to adhere to all the rules and conditions in service provisioning for the benefit of the subscribers and the nation.

He said that the frequency spectrum is a finite resource whose use must be in accordance with the set guidelines and conditions.

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ICANN extends call on process enhancement

*Regional manager, Africa @ ICANN, Ms Anne-Rachel Inne

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has extended the initial comment period for the second phase of the public comment process enhancements by 15 days.

ITRealms Online recalls that the initial request for comments on the second phase of the process enhancement ended Friday, September, this year.

The contact person for this call at ICANN, Filiz Yilmaz, disclosed that as an initial test of the “Reply Cycle” concept introduced within this solicitation, the comment forum on this topic has been extended for an additional 15 days.

During this “Reply” period, Yilmaz noted that contributors are asked to address only previously posted comments.

“Please do not use this extension to submit new comments about the topic. For each Reply, it will be helpful to everyone for the contributor to cite the original poster’s name, comment date, and any particular text that is pertinent,” Yilmaz said.

The official also said that at the conclusion of the reply cycle, a consolidated report will incorporate both the initial comment and subsequent reply periods.

Further, ITRealms Online recollects that ICANN staff from the Policy Development Support Department had invited comments for the purpose of this solicitation is to request community feedback concerning three of the Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT) recommendations  that affect the way ICANN publishes and manages Public Comments.

These recommendations, which comprised Phase II of the Public Comments Improvement programme tend to address, stratification, which entails categorizations topics to assist the community understand the subject matter and inform a participation decision.

On the prioritization, ICANN staff explained that it would assist community members in determining the importance or urgency of a solicitation by providing key information.

While comment circles has been structured to aid the community’s input process into an initial period for submitting new comments followed by a separate reply period during which community respondents would be able to address and rebut arguments raised in opposing parties’ previous comments.

A fourth area involving, ITRealms Online gathered has to do with the technical forum improvements is also incorporated into this solicitation.

Current status of the phase I of the public comments improvement initiative was completed effective 30 June 2011 and included completely redesigned web pages, improved navigation menus, the addition of a new Upcoming Topics page, and the development of internal Staff templates to facilitate publication and ensure presentation consistency.

The Phase II improvements including Stratification, Prioritization, Comment/Reply Cycles, and Technical Forum Improvements were targeted for implementation on or before 31 December 2011.

Hence, integral to that preparation, this public comment solicitation requests community feedback concerning planned enhancements in these four areas.

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MTN v. Abia State: ALTON backs operators to shut services @ unfriendly locations

Telecommunications operators in the country may not have taken the incursion of Abia State Infrastructure Development Fund (AIDF) laying low, as the service operators umbrella body has backed the MTN Nigeria Communications’ plans to shut its services in the south eastern states due to what the organization termed as criminal and unacceptable attitude of the agency.

ITRealms Online had reported that leading mobile operator in the country, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, is likely to shut its door against the people of the South-Eastern States, if the unremorseful Abia State government agency, AIDF continued in its bid to exploit the company in the name of levies that were not in the books statutorily.

Reacting to the development, telecommunications operators through its body, the Association of Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) revealed at the weekend that it’s in support of any operator to pull-out of any area if the government and people of such communities are not friendly and environment is not conducive for their kind of business.

Chairman of ALTON, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, told ITRealms Online while responding to questions at the weekend that the behavior and insistence of AIDF is unfortunate and undemocratic.

He lamented that in a normal clime, the people elected the populace cannot be the clog of progress, considering the development that telecommunications has brought to the economic well-being of Nigerians, especially those in the rural communities.

This attitude of AIDF, he said, is a disgrace to democracy and must be tamed before it gets out of hand.

According to him, the Abia State government and its agencies are missing the priority of providing affordable communication to the citizenry.

“It’s against normal life. It’s criminal and once we allow that to happen, it would replicate in other states. Therefore it remains criminal and not acceptable to us,” he said.

Adebayo also warned that this trend of harassing telecom operators and their employees by one state agency or another, would militate against expected growth in the ICT sector.

“We are at risk … We are worried and it would be very unfortunate if it’s allowed,” he lamented, saying that in some of the sites, they are hub-sites, which entails that they serve beyond their immediate environment to include other neighbouring states.

He further called on the government at all levels, be it federal, state and local governments to see telecommunications investment and operators  as service providers.

“Most government currently think that the higher taxes or levies from the Stated and Local government,” he said, alleging that bulk of the problems like this one between MTN and Abia State, begins when government and its agencies make demands that are out of the law guiding the industry.

Till date, he pointed out that operators still have to go to about 10 ministries to get right of way, a process which has continued to dwindle investment potentials.

Meanwhile, penultimate Wednesday, MTN management had taken a notice in some national dailies to warn of the impending shut down of its services in South East.

According to the notice entitled ‘Quality of Service in Abia State and its Environs: An Alert to MTN Customers in the Eastern Region’ the mobile operator decried the attitude of the Abia State government through one of its agencies.

MTN management noted that the notice has become imperative due to the challenges  the operator is  facing and at the same time endangering the lives of employees, hence they decided to alert customers.

“… For the attention of MTN customers in Abia State and neighbouring states in the South-East and South-south Regions,” part of the statement read.

MTN also said that as a customer-focused organization, that  they are duty bound to proactively inform our esteemed customers of any occurrence that may cause disruptions that impact the quality of telecommunications services in their areas.

“We wish to alert our customers that due to the actions of the Abia State Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF),” MTN said, alleging that the attitude of Abia IDF has caused the network operator of being unable to gain access to several of its sites in the state.

MTN, the statement added is unable to fuel or service these sites, a number of which are ‘hub’ sites providing service to other states in the Eastern part of the country.

“As such, a significant number of MTN customers outside Abia State will be similarly affected,” MTN said.

Further, MTN alleged that the Abia State Infrastructure Development Fund seeks to compel MTN to pay levies, the legality of which is being challenged in court by MTN.

“In spite of ongoing court processes, the Agency has employed a variety of tactics over the course of this year with increasing disruptive action over the past few days, which if unremedied will result in the shutdown of network services in Abia State, Rivers State and environs,” MTN said.

Stressing that they have had to take extra measures to protect employees in Abia State and surrounding States as a result of the actions of the Abia State Infrastructure Development Fund.

MTN, therefore assured that they would continue to engage with the relevant arms of government in the bid to resolve the issues in this regard.

“… And we earnestly seek the co-operation and understanding of our esteemed customers,” MTN pleaded.

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Folayan explains .ng domain name convention

Sunday Faloyan, VP, NIRA, CEO Skannet Ltd

The Vice President of the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NIRA) Mr. Sunday Folayan, has explained domain name convention guiding the acceptance and otherwise of the organizations policies with regards to .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) domain name.

Speaking on ‘Domain Naming Conventions’ at the recently held Switchto.ng workshop in Lagos, he  said NiRA has stipulated compliance to adhere to by any registrant and registrars.

Folayan, who doubles as chief executive officer, Skannet Engineering Services Limited, described a domain name as being made up of several levels of domains with levels being separated by . (dot).

He cited for instance, ‘we.keep.you.sleepi.ng ‘ saying it is a domain name, hence, levels are read in reverse order, that is from right to left.

“.ng is the top level domain alias Top Level Domain (TLD), dot ‘sleepi’ is the second level domain alias Second Level Domain (SLD), dot ‘You’ is the third level domain (3LD); ‘Keep’ is the fourth level domain (4LD) and ‘We’ is the fifth level domain (5LD),” he explained.

Current NiRA Domain Name Policy, he noted, is on Version 1.0 and has been operated since May 5, 2008.

This, he said, outlines NiRA’s rules for the registration and use of domain names within the .ng domain and its sub-domains, even as NiRA domain name policy and other policies are available at the organization site.

According to him, NIRA reserves the right to disallow names in certain domains, therefore maintains the list of domains that must not be available for registration, otherwise such domain names could be withdrawn if already registered.

He cited an instance with ‘Offensive Names’ which he described as words determined by NiRA to be offensive to the Nigerian community; ‘Restricted Names’ Names that would give the wrong impression if used, such as Military and Government to name a few. As well as ‘Premium Names’, which he said are domains with generic words only, thus commanding premium value in terms of Naira and Kobo. Some of these premium domains he listed to include ‘cooki.ng and bi.ng’ among others.

Folayan said that the Nigerian second level domains (SLDs) comprised of .com.ng for commercial purposes and is open for registration; .edu.ng is for degree awarding institutions; .sch.ng is for non-degree awarding schools; .gov.ng is for governmental organizations; .mil.ng means it’s for Military and related purposes; .org.ng - Non-Gov Organizations and open; .net.ng – networks; .mobi.ng - mobiles and .name.ng for personal names and still open respective, while .premium.ng is by auction only.

NiRA, Folayan said does not allow certain characters and as such, does not currently operate Internationalized Domain Names (IDN), which allows domain names in the natural languages of the users. 

Just as he list some characters allowed by NIRA to consist of the 26 Unaccented Roman Characters; that is, from ‘A to Z’ both in small and capital letters respectively, in addition to the 10 Western digits from 0 to 9, coupled with (-) hyphen.

Character combinations, he said, must conform with domain names rules which states that it must be a maximum of 64 characters for now; not case sensitive like ‘AGe and AgE’ saying they are the same; while the first or last character of a domain name may not be a hyphen, there cannot be two hyphens in a name, even as domains cannot start with xn followed by --.

He underscored the fact that second level domains (2LD) domains could only be offered for sale via auction, whereas, some third level domains (3LD) domains could only be offered for sale via auction with an instance of ‘internet.com.ng’ so also that 3LD domains may not be a single character.

The NiRA vice president added that generic restrictions may apply for each SLD or 3LD they may also have restrictions related to these sub-domains; for example, the .edu.ng may have restrictions which are different from those for .gov.ng.

Domain names, Folayan advised, are more useful when they confirm to best practices, short and popular names are better than long and detailed names, maintaining that to register any 3LD domain within .gov.ng, State Government entities must register the full state name or the official abbreviation of the state name similar to that used in vehicle license plate registration.

“States are encouraged to make 4LD available to local governments and state government departments and agencies,” he suggested, adding that generic names are not allowed, citing an instance with instead of shipping.gov.ng it should be nsc.gov.ng. Just like the generic SLDs are not allowed on 3LDs, for instance, “you cannot register com.org.ng,  org.com.ng, mil.com.ng.”

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Unwin takes over from Spio-Garbrah @ CTO

Newly appointed chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO), Prof. Tim Unwin has assumed office with a promise to shape the future of CTO in delivery of effective development interventions within the member nations.

Speaking shortly after taking over from his predecessor, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, who held the position for eight years, Prof. Unwin declared that it is an exciting moment to take the helm of such a prestigious organization of over a century tradition.

“… And help shape its future as a vehicle for delivering effective development interventions that will enable everyone in our societies to benefit from the enormous potential of ICTs,” he declared.

He noted that CTO has a century-old tradition of providing support in the field of telecommunications and the use of ICTs for development across the Commonwealth for governments, regulators and the private sector.

The Council of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) recently confirmed the appointment of Prof. Tim Unwin as its new Chief Executive Officer.

A press statement from CTO endorsed by the Senior Officer, Marketing and Communications, Srini Srinivasan, noted that Tim Unwin, currently a professor of Geography and chairman of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), has research and teaching experience which focused on the use of ICTs to empower poor and marginalised communities.

Also, Prof. Unwin is the chairman of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, which is the public body that manages the UK’s £19 million contribution to the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP), a framework through which governments of Commonwealth countries offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other member states.

Tim Unwin took over the reins of the intergovernmental body from Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, who held the position for eight years, spearheading with the Chief Operating Officer, Bashir Patel, the organisation’s innovative range of programmes and initiatives.

“I am pleased to be handing over the reins of the CTO at such a high point in the Organisation’s life,” Spio-Garbrah was quoted as saying.

He also said that when the new business and commercial initiatives that have been announced in recent years and approved by council are fully harnessed, the exponential growth of the CTO will know no bounds.

Prof Unwin,  is well-positioned to inherit the leadership of the 110-year old organisation as it expands and diversifies partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders including the donor community, companies and civil society.

In 2007-2008, he was Director and then Senior Advisor to the World Economic Forum’s Partnerships for Education programme with UNESCO, which aims to deliver effective multi-stakeholder contributions to the ’Education for All’ goals agreed at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal in 2000.

From 2001-2004, he led the UK Prime Minister’s Imfundo initiative based in the Department for International Development, creating partnerships to deliver ICT-based educational initiatives in Africa.

On returning to Royal Holloway, University of London, in 2004, he created an ICT4D Collective, which undertakes research, teaching and consultancy in the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development.

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Zinox launches Legacy Notebook on October 1

To celebrate Nigeria’s independence anniversary and support the digital emancipation of Nigerians, Zinox Computers shall launch her Legacy Notebook on 1st October.

Communications Advisor to the Zinox Group, Mr. Echika Ezuka, who disclosed this, said that Legacy Notebook is very simple to use, sleek, stylish, unprecedented and stubbornly Nigerian has been described as the height of ingenuity by David Ibhawoh, the Intel Inc. West Africa Head, who also urged the government to use the Notebook to brand Nigeria world-wide as part of its transformation initiative.

He said that as a member of the Intel Diamond’s Club, Zinox received Intel’s technical support during the design and production of the Zinox Legacy.

The system, Mr. Ibhawoh said has consolidated the ranking of Zinox as a manufacturer of world-class computers. He argued that the huge investments that Zinox is incurring in trying to secure the nation’s place in technology can only be justified through massive patronage by the Governments and people of Nigeria.

He stressed that patronage remains the surest way to support local OEMS and grow technology.

Announcing the launch date of October 1st for the new product, the Managing Director of Zinox Computers, Mukoro Emonine said that the Zinox Legacy merges the digital visions of our founding fathers with the insight of Nigeria’s 21st Century global digital whiz kids in one notebook that is certified and powered by Intel, the Number 1 chips producer in the world. The launch, he said, is timed to lift the spirit of Nigerians from the prevalence of economic depression and social instability. It is a statement that this country is moving slowly forward in spite of all the setbacks.

The Zinox Legacy runs on a B940 Intel 2.0 GHz processor, 2GB Ram, 320GB hard disk, and a 14” High Definition screen (HM 65). This sleek and stylishly built notebook has 6 Cell Smart Li battery, card reader, DVD Supermulti, and a 1.3M Camera and more and highly loaded other features include wifi bgn, Windows 7 Professional and Office 2010 said Mr. Mukoro Emomine, the Managing Director of Zinox Computers.

The bios of the Legacy Notebook is embedded with information on the profiles, milestones and quotations of the founding fathers of this great nation- Herbert Macaulay, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe – nationalists; Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Head of State and Obafemi Awolowo, first opposition leader; 

He said that apart from the configuration, Nigerians would be elated by the fact that the cover of the laptop is wrapped in a national symbol, the Nigerian Coat of Arms.

Mr. Mukoro said that the use of the Coat of Arms is supposed to confer a feeling of ownership on Nigerians; evoke a consciousness of pride in our national values, aspirations, and achievements; stimulate higher levels of creativity and productivity among Nigerians who are privileged to own the Zinox Legacy Notebook, limited edition; and stubbornly proclaim the Nigerian character while encouraging the frequent use of our national symbols at the personal and corporate levels.

He explained that only 25,000 of the Legacy notebook would be produced and distributed strictly on the basis of first come first served, to mark a decade of computer manufacturing at Zinox.

Zinox Technologies Ltd, Africa’s most integrated ICT firm was launched in 2001 by a team of tested IT technocrats with a combined experience of over 128 years in different continents, led by Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh.

As the foremost company to go into an uncharted terrain of Computer production in West Africa, Zinox had Nigeria in mind as it debuted with the first ever Nigerian internationally certified branded computers with the Naira keyboard.

Zinox technologies Limited, with its strong research and development backbone has won the certification of Microsoft and Intel and remains the only computer manufacturer in Nigeria to earn the NIS ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Certification.

Zinox has won many Awards nationally and internationally including the Best Computer Manufacturer of the Decade from the Nigerian Computer Society.

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