Debt management must be democratized, beckons GOCOP for partnership – Nwankwo

ITRealms:

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO) in the presidency, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo has said that the activities of any debt management must be democratized to yield the deserved gains, just as he beckons on Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) to partner with DMO for national development, reports ITRealms.

Speaking in Lagos, Friday, at a one-day enlightenment workshop for online publishers, Dr. Nwankwo pointed out that at this time in the annals of Nigeria, DMO could not ignore the online environment, especially those who are taking advantage of the social media technologies for accurate and adequate information dissemination.

He enjoined that whatever Nigeria as a nation and DMO as an entity of the Federal Government, that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) must be optimized to the benefit of the country.

For him, online publishing is a new window that could support development and comes with onerous tasks, hence he described online publishers as partners in effort at progressing the activities of the nation and particularly DMO.

“The crisis of western countries particularly Greece is all about debt management and given the fall in oil prices its settles down on the fact that debt management role beyond just borrowing,” he said, stressin the need for the country to take advantage of debt management and work together with online publishers for national development.

In national development, he said, its important that as a country, Nigeria produce more goods and stick to telling the truth at all times.

According to him, Nigerians should think more of intellectual rectitude, underscoring the fact that there is no group in the world that plays more role than the media, “because they have to keep up in shaping the way the world is or should be.”

He noted that online publishing and social media are becoming more dominant in the media practices globally, and deserve every attention and partnership required for societal growth.

Nwaankwo advised GOCOP members to ensure that first, they do not undervalue and over value their roles in development.

Emphasising that it is in this realization that DMO come with trust and believe that they could structure a relationship to the greater benefit of Nigerians, especially in the forthcoming financial year.

Dr. Nwankwo was accompanied at the workshop by senior management team from DMO including the Director, Market Development, Ms Patience Oniha, Director, Strategic Programmes, Mrs. Asma’u Mohammed, Director, Debt Recording & Settlement, Mrs. Hannatu Suleiman, Head, Policy Strategy & Risk Management, Mr. Joe Ugoala, and his counterpart in Portfolio Management, Mr. Afolabi Oladele as well as Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr. Liman Balarabe, among others, spoke to various topics at the event.

In his remarks at the occasion, President, GOCOP and publisher of The Citizen, Mr. Malachy Agbo, commended DMO leadership for their foresight in collaborating with GOCOP and assured that the organization was set up to create sanity among publishers and publications online, because they are made up of professional journalists with track records of over 10 years in journalism.

He also invited Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government at all levels to partner with GOCOP for promotion of accurate information for the world online from professional principles.

 


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Daudu to address Commonwealth countries in London

ITRealms:

The Chairman-designate of the forthcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), Mr. Festus Daudu, would address Commonwealth country representatives meeting in London on 7 - 9 October 2015, ahead of the treaty conference organised under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union, reports ITRealms.

WRC, ITRealms gathered has been slated for November 2 through 27, 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

A press statement from Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) endorsed by Marcel Belingue, quoted Mr. Daudu as reacting to the invitation thus:

“It is good to see that whilst there have been WRC preparatory events held in each region, the CTO is also enabling consultations to take place across regions by holding a Commonwealth preparation event. This will no doubt contribute to securing greater consensus on contentious issues when the international community meets in Geneva,” Mr Daudu said.

Also speaking, the CTO Secretary-General, Mr. Shola Taylor welcomed Mr Daudu’s planned contribution to the London meeting.

“Seeking as much consensus among Commonwealth countries from different regions ahead of WRC-15 is part of a greater coordination effort by the CTO to ensure views and concerns from different regions are better understood and more effectively addressed, and we are particularly honoured that Mr Daudu will join our discussions next week,” Taylor said.

Equally confirmed to be at the London event is Aboubakar Zourmba who chaired the WRC Conference Preparatory Meeting over the past four years.

ITRealms further gathered that the meeting hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the three-day London event would address a wide range of issues across a number of sector interests.

Key areas of the WRC-2015 include future availability of spectrum for mobile broadband including the second digital dividend; the use of fixed-satellite services for the control of unmanned aircraft; global flight tracking; earth stations on mobile platforms; and other satellite regulatory issues. 

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms)  
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Google Ghana plans fast, affordable broadband

ITRealms: 

The Google Ghana Country Manager, Estelle Akofio-Sowah, has disclosed plans to use its Project Link in the country to expand Internet access and connection to the populace, reports ITRealms.

In an official blog post by Akofio-Sowah, Google has to expand broadband connection affordability that could transform communities and help people make the most of opportunities online.

Akofio-Sowah also noted that the Research and Education Network of Uganda (RENU), which provides infrastructure to connect universities across the country. Using capacity provided by Google’s Project Link.

RENU, ITRealms gathered, has been able to make its network faster, more reliable, and better equipped to enable the easy exchange of ideas, remote research, and academic collaboration.

“Since we first announced Project Link in Uganda, our work with partners like RENU has shown us what's possible, and we want to see more. That’s why today, we are expanding Project Link to Ghana, our first country in West Africa, so that we can work with local Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile network operators (MNOs) to bring fast, reliable broadband to more people across the continent,” Estelle said.

While undersea cables reach the coasts, the challenge remains to bring abundant bandwidth closer to Internet users in Ghana’s largest cities—Project Link aims to fill this gap in local infrastructure. 

The Manager said that across Accra, Tema, and Kumasi, Project Link will build more than 1,200 kilometers of fiber to connect local ISPs and MNOs to metro-area fiber networks. By giving them more speed and capacity to work with, providers can meet the growing bandwidth demands of Ghana’s mobile phone users, schools, and businesses.

 +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) 

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Etisalat applauds high-value customers with latest Smartphones, all-expenses trip

ITRealms:

Nigeria’s celebrated most innovative and customer centric telecommunications company, Etisalat, has rewarded its high value customers with exciting incentives, in appreciation of their continued loyalty to the Etisalat brand, reports ITRealms.

These set of customers, ITRealms gathered were rewarded with the latest smart phones namely, Samsung S6 Edge and iphone 6.

Other irresistible rewards, ITRealms reports include an all-expense paid trip for top customers, discounted flights and holiday deals, free movie tickets, invites to exclusive events, free data as well as free minute calls and SMS on customer’s birthday.

Also on offer were free incoming calls while roaming in top destinations, among other incentives.

The loyalty programme, ITRealms further gathered, is another innovative way Etisalat rewards its high value customers who attain a predefined threshold of N120, 000 and above in usage of Etisalat voice and data services over a period of 12 months.

Director, Consumer Segment of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wole Rawa, said as it is in other services, consumers of telecom services want to be well appreciated for their continued loyalty, and Etisalat is delighted to be at the forefront of rewarding its customers  for their loyalty at all times.

“At Etisalat, we are committed to continuously rewarding our customers for their patronage and loyalty. For us, the customer is our major focus and the reason for our being; the place of our valued customer as kings is sacrosanct,“ Rawa said.

ITRealms equally gathered that in order to be eligible for any of these rewards and more, Etisalat customers would need to spend over N120,000 cumulatively in 12 months on their lines.

+ITRealms DSA 

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Buhari orders audit of NCC, CBN, FIRS, others

ITRealms:

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has said he has ordered a complete audit of the nation’s revenue generating agencies including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) as well as the Nigerian Customs and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), ITRealms reports.

Buhari in his national day address to Nigerians noted that in the last few years the nation has seen how huge resources were mismanaged, squandered and wasted, stressing that the “new APC government is embarking on a clean-up, introducing prudence and probity in public financing.”

He also said that “October 1st is a day for joy and celebrations for us Nigerians, whatever the circumstances we find ourselves in because it is the day, 55 years ago; we liberated ourselves from the shackles of colonialism and began our long march to nationhood and to greatness.”

This, ITRealms reports, forms part of the President’s Independence Anniversary speech to Nigerians:

“As I said in my inaugural speech, I bear no ill will against anyone on past events. Nobody should fear anything from me. We are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view to join me in working for the nation.

“My countrymen and women, every new government inherits problems. Ours was no different. But what Nigerians want are solutions, quick solutions not a recitation of problems inherited.Accordingly, after consultations with the Vice President, senior party leaders and other senior stakeholders, I quickly got down to work on the immediate, medium-term and long-term problems which we must solve if we are to maintain the confidence which Nigerians so generously bestowed on us in the March elections.

“And since then, as you know, I toured the neighbouring countries, marshalled a coalition of armed forces of the five nations to confront and defeat Boko Haram. I met also the G-7 leaders and other friendly presidents in an effort to build an international coalition against Boko Haram.

“Our gallant armed forces under new leadership have taken the battle to the insurgents, and severely weakened their logistical and infrastructural capabilities. Boko Haram are being scattered and are on the run.

“That they are resorting to shameless attacks on soft targets such as I.D.P. camps is indicative of their cowardice and desperation. I have instructed security and local authorities to tighten vigilance in vulnerable places. On power, government officials have held a series of long sessions over several weeks about the best way to improve the nation’s power supply in the safest and most cost-effective way.

“In the meantime, improvement in the power situation is moderately encouraging. By the same token, supply of petrol and kerosene to the public has improved throughout the country. All the early signs are that within months the whole country would begin to feel a change for the better.

“Preliminary steps have been taken to sanitize NNPC and improve its operations so that the inefficiency and corruption could be reduced to a minimum.

“Those of our refineries which can be serviced and brought back into partial production would be enabled to resume operations so that the whole sordid business of exporting crude and importing finished products in dubious transactions could be stopped.

“Prudent house-keeping is needed now more than ever in view of the sharp decline in world market oil prices. It is a challenge we have to face squarely. But what counts is not so much what accrues but how we manage our resources that is important.”

ITRealms learnt Buhari advised for Nigerians, ”there have been a lot of anxiety and impatience over the apparent delay in announcement of ministers. There is no cause to be anxious. Our government set out to do things methodically and properly. We received the handover notes from the outgoing government only four days before taking over.

“Consequently, the Joda Transition Committee submitted its Report on the reorganization of Federal Government structure after studying the handover notes. It would have been haphazard to announce ministers when the government had not finalized the number of ministries to optimally carry the burden of governance,” he said.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Orange Group reorganizes for optimal performance

ITRealms:

Based on the Orange Group’s Essentials 2020 and commencing March 1, 2016 the telecom company will be structured for optimal performance,ITRealms reports.
 
According the a press statement from the group, Marc Rennard, who successfully led Orange's development in Africa and the Middle East, will be appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of customer experience and mobile financial services. Armed with his experience gained in rolling-out Orange Money, he will be in charge of mobile financial services, one of the two areas of diversification set out in the strategic plan.

Bruno Mettling, who has worked ceaselessly for the Group’s transformation, will be appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of operations in Africa and the Middle East (AMEA). In parallel, Jean-Marc Vignolles, who has carried out outstanding work at the head of Orange Spain since 2007, will become his second in command as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of AMEA operations. Africa and the Middle East is a growth territory for Orange. The creation of a holding company bringing together its operations in this zone, as well as the planned acquisition of four new countries, opens up new development prospects for the Group to affirm its ambitions in that region, ITRealms reports.

Laurent Paillassot will be appointed CEO of Orange Spain. Laurent Paillassot, who brings his executive experience and who has been very successful in his work since he joined the Group, will take the helm of the Orange’s subsidiary in Spain, which, with the acquisition of Jazztel, is set to become the most dynamic convergent player in the Spanish market and now represents more than 10 per cent of the Group's revenues.

Jérôme Barré will be appointed Senior Executive Vice President in charge of Human Resources. Orange will mobilise all of its employees based on a new, people-oriented digital employer model. This is an essential condition for meeting the challenges of digitisation while adhering to the social contract. This key mission is entrusted to Jérôme Barré, who has already demonstrated his strong management qualities.

Thierry Bonhomme, who is currently in charge of Orange Business Services (OBS), will also be appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer. This appointment recognises his contribution to the redeployment of OBS as the trusted partner for enterprise customers in their digital transformation.

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Orange Group, Stéphane Richard, commented: “This new organisation has been thought out to support our strategic plan, Essentiels2020. I am especially proud of the talent that makes up the management team at my side. These changes will take effect on 1 March 2016 in order to allow for the completion of certain particularly important projects for the Group, such as the preparation of our mobile banking offer and the integration of Jazztel. I also wanted the coming months to be devoted to the preparation and organisation of this transition, so that it can take place in an efficient and coherent manner, and so that the new organisation will be fully operational from day one.”

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Onosode was a family man that radiated the best of family value - Delta State Assembly Speaker

ITRealms:

The Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon Ovwigho Igbuya, has described the foremost technocrat and boardroom Czar, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, as a family man that radiated the best of values, ITRealms reports.

He stated that Onosode’s death has deprived Nigerians, particularly the people of Delta State of the services of one of the most consistent administrators of this age.

Igbuya who also described the death of the former chairman of Dunlop Nigeria Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc and Zain Nigeria as sad and painful, noted that the boardroom guru proved to Nigerians and the international community that there was everything to gain from being principled, ITRealms gathered.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Mr. Henry Ebireri urged the younger generation of Nigerians to take a cue from the ideals that Onosode lived for- building a better Urhobo nation, Delta State and Nigeria.

“In Nigeria, Onosode stood out. He was a rare gem and a visionary leader with the knack for identifying talents. As the head of then NAL merchant bank of Nigeria, he brought together bright young men and women, some of whom are today in top banking positions in the country and abroad. As a presidential adviser to President Shagari and a former president of the Nigerian Institute of Management, he demonstrated exceptional administrative prowess.

He urged Onosode’s immediate family and the Urhobo people at home and abroad to take solace in the belief that God’s will is unquestionable and must always prevail.

“We will certainly miss the former chairman of the Niger Delta Environmental Survey, Global Missions Board of the Nigerian Baptist Convention and the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomoso. We will certainly miss this quiet and unassuming man on so many fronts” the statement added.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Pix:  Rt. Hon Ovwigho Igbuya,