NITEL: NATCOM pays up $252.2m … FG approves handover

ITRealms

The Federal Government may have concluded plans to handover NITEL/MTEL facilities to NATCOM consortium having met the necessary requirements including full payment of $252.251million cost of acquisition repor, according to the deputy chairman, National Council on Privatization Technical Committee Mr.  Haruna Sambo, ITRealms reports.

Mr. Sambo disclosed this at the last meeting of his committee for this administration, saying that NCP has approved the handover following the financial bid for NITEL/MTEL by the bidder, NATCOM consortium.

‘Today, at the council meeting, the council approved the handover to NATCOM consortium, having paid the cost of acquisition. By this approval, the process has come to a closure and the council has mandated the BPE to hand over the two companies to the preferred winner after all due processes are taken care of,” he said.

As said by him, with this, the transaction has come to an end and Council therefore authorize BPE to hand over the two companies NATCOM consortium.

Also Vice President Namadi Sambo, and the permanent secretary of Ministry of Power Mr. Godknows Igali, said that government had settled about 98 per cent of ex-PHCN workers, including their pensions and gratuities directing that any other remaining cases should be referred to the BPE for settlements.

The minister of Mines and Steel Hon. Musa Sada, added that the council also discussed reforms of the National Parks as well as the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) with the aim to restructure the sector and bridge the 17 million housing deficit in the country.

AbdulKareem Mueenah/GEE

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Air Controllers strike may continue Friday, full strike expected Monday

ITRealms:

Despite the inconveniences the six hours strike by the Air Traffic Controllers at the nation’s airports caused Thursday, April 16, 2015, ITRealms reports that this may continue Friday.

Sources close the airport operations and a captain of one of the leading private airlines confided this to ITRealms midnight on Thursday, while a full blown strike expected on Monday, April 20, 2015.

According to our source, the Thursday exercise was a mild one as Friday’s own will be intense.

ITRealms recalls that the strike by Air Traffic Controllers paralyzed airport activities Thursday owing to unresolved operational welfare matters, which sources claimed have been communicated to the Federal Government but was not attended to due to the just concluded electioneering. 

As at Thursday evening when skeletal services commenced at the airports, most airlines were struggling to evacuate passengers who were stranded at the airports.

It was also gathered that airlines struggled to reschedule flights outside Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt for Friday morning, till early Friday morning, which left the airlines flying throughout all the night.

However, a statement by the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers (NATCA) Thursday, stated tat the strike was to draw the attention of the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), to epileptic air navigation equipment, as well as the failure to address welfare issues raised by the association last year.

NATCA also claimed that the warning strike, was a prelude to total industrial action scheduled to begin on Monday April 20, 2015.

Although, ITRealms further gathered that the management of NAMA has concluded plans to mitigate the effects by collaborating with the Nigerian Air Force officials and deploying them as interim traffic controllers at airports nationwide.

Unconfirmed sources told ITRealms that NAMA has commenced talks with NATCA, even as its Managing Director, Mr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam, was reportedly sighted at Abuja Thursday evening in effort to consult with relevant officials of Ministry of Aviation in order to resolve issues associated with claims of NATCA as soon as possible. 

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DStv flouts court judgement – Counsel

ITRealms:

 

A team of lawyers led by Oluyinka Oyeniji has told a court in Lagos that Digital Satellite Television, (DStv) a division of MultiChoice Group, has disobeyed its earlier order restraining price increase on its services, ITRealms reports.

Counsel in the class action suit brought against DStv informed the court that the satellite television service provider has gone ahead to give effect to its price increase contrary to the order of the court.

ITRealms recalls that Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had on April 2, 2015 made orders restraining DStv from giving effect or enforcing its planned increase in cost of the different classes of viewing or programmes pending the determination of the Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction, which was adjourned till April 16, 2016.

When the matter came up on Thursday, ITRealms gathered, the counsel told the court that DStv had breached the order by going ahead to enforce the price increase.

Oyeniji whose team of lawyers include Osasuyi Adebayo, Mufutau Olajobi, Yemi Salman and Fola Oluwole for the applicants, while DStv was represented by Moyo Onigbanjo (SAN) and M.K. Adesina among other lawyers.

He informed the court of his application for interlocutory injunction, stressing that DSTV had disobeyed the orders of the court and that relevant applications for contempt proceedings had been filed.

ITRealms was however informed that the court adjourned the matter till May 5, 2015 for the argument of the preliminary objection.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Gemalto 2015 Data confidence index shows increase investment

ITRealms:

 
 

World leader in digital security, Gemalto, has released the latest findings of the 2015 Data Security Confidence Index (DSCI). In a report released to ITRealms, the findings reveals a widening gap emerging between the perception and the reality of perimeter security effectiveness amongst global IT decision makers, which shows increasing levels of investment in the area of data protection, despite an exponential growth in the number of data breaches, ITRealms reports.

The study was based on research conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Gemalto, ITRealms learnt, queried more than 1,000 security and IT executives in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific with survey respondent executives from a variety of industries including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, public sector, telecommunications, utilities, retail, construction, insurance, legal and others.

ITRealms gathered that more than 1,500 data breaches led to one billion data records compromised in 2014 alone, a 49% increase in data breaches and a 78% increase in data records stolen or lost compared to 2013 according to Gemalto’s Breach Level Index (BLI).

Despite this the DSCI research ITRealms learnt, shows that almost nine out of ten (87%) IT decision makers feel their organization’s perimeter security systems are effective at keeping out unauthorized users.

The study as gathered by ITRealms, shows that IT decision makers are looking to further increase their investment in perimeter security with 64% looking to do so in the next 12 months, as this would close the recent breaches in the average amount of data protected by encryption from below 8%, highlighting the need for a more robust data protection strategy.

According to Vice president; Strategy for Identity and Data Protection at Gemalto, Mr. Tsion Gonen, “With the number of sophisticated breaches on the rise, relying on perimeter security systems alone is no longer enough. Traditional security staples such as firewalls and anti-virus should be part of a much greater security strategy. IT decision makers need to take into account that if someone is motivated enough they will breach a network, no matter how well it is protected,” he said.

ITRealms gathered that in conducting the research, Gemalto was aiming to find out not only the level of confidence among organizations with regard to information security, but also whether their security strategies were actually in sync with their data protection needs and the threats and vulnerabilities that are predominant today.

Daniel Nsolibe/GEE

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