ITU ranks Nigeria 137th in ICT Development Index 2016

ITRealms:

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development Index 2016 has ranked Nigeria, the 137^th out of its 175 members under review for this year, just as the Korea Republic tops the ranking chat, reports ITRealms.

This is coming as Nigeria’s economic value within the ICT for Development Index was 2.72, whereas it was 2.48 in 2015, while the ranking was stagnant, that is 137^th in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-organised indexing.

ITRealms gathered that the index was unveiled at the just concluded 14th Global Symposium on ICT indicators held in Gaborone, Botswana, between November 21 and 23, 2016.

The ICT Development Index (IDI) is the official instrument by which we measure globally the level of development of the ICT sector. This index uses 11 indicators among which are the number of mobile phone subscriptions, the number of households with a computer the number of Internet users, the number of subscriptions to fixed broadband internet and mobile broadband, the literacy rate, etc.

According to ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, the Measuring the Information Society Report is widely recognized as the repository of the world's most reliable and impartial global data and analysis on the state of global ICT development and is extensively relied upon by governments, international organizations, development banks and private sector analysts and investors worldwide. 

"To bring more people online, it is important to focus on reducing overall socio-economic inequalities. Education and income levels are strong determinants of whether or not people use the Internet. ICTs will be essential in meeting each and every one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and this report plays an important role in the SDG process. Without measurement and reporting, we cannot track the progress being made and identify areas that require action, and this is why ITU gathers data and publishes this important report every year," he said. 

The Republic of Korea, he said, topped the IDI rankings in 2016 for the second consecutive year. The top 10 countries of the IDI 2016 also include two other economies in the Asia-Pacific region, and seven European countries. Three island countries in the Caribbean – St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada – featured among the most dynamic countries with strong improvements in their IDI value and rank.

For Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau, this year's results showed that nearly all of the 175 countries covered by the index improved their IDI values between 2015 and 2016, which produces the report each year.

"During the same period, stronger improvements have been made on ICT use than access, mainly as a result of strong growth in mobile-broadband uptake globally. This has allowed an increasing number of people, in particular from the developing world, to join the information society and benefit from the many services and applications provided through the Internet," he said.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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Pix: ITU Sec-Gen Houlin Zhao

iOpenEye partners Etisalat on ‘Love & Recession’

ITRealms:

The residents and visitors to the city of Lagos, Nigeria’s entertainment capital, are up for another ecstatic Season’s celebration as iOpenEye Limited, producers of ‘Hearword’ in partnership with the most customer-centric network, Etisalat Nigeria, has concluded plans to present another block-buster stage play entitled ‘Love & Recession’ reports ITRealms.

The Play, Love & Recession, ITRealms gathered is set to hit the stage on a four-day tour starting from December 29, 2016 through to January 1, 2017, is a hilarious comedy with intriguing themes. It highlights the current harsh economic realities and depicts how many are managing to pull through the challenging times, being resourceful in their own way.

Love & Recession also plays up the need to celebrate the Nigerian heritage vis-à-vis the Nigerian traditional culture and language, the appreciation of which can be harnessed to promote the unity, togetherness, collaboration and partnership needed to build a better Nigeria.

Speaking on the new drama series, renowned Producer and Director, Ifeoma Fafunwa, said ‘Love & Recession’ is a celebration of the creativity and ingenuity of the Nigerian in addressing challenges without the involvement of external help.

“It is important for me to showcase a quality Nigerian production and by so doing, celebrate Nigerian talent and expression.  I am also happy to bring some cheer and laughter to the holiday season and to create a work which is suitable for all members of the family.  We want to use the play to urge the embrace of measures that can give us the future we deserve as a people and nation,” she said.

Commenting on the involvement of Etisalat Nigeria in the project, Head, Events and Sponsorship, Modupe Thani, said it is in keeping with the company’s commitment to celebrating creativity as well as supporting platforms that enable people express themselves.

“Etisalat is a great supporter of the creative arts as shown in our support of Ake Festival, Lagos Photo Competition and our own platform, the Etisalat Prize for Literature.  We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to platforms and initiatives that empower people to live their lives, in the best way possible. We are glad to be part of this movement that seeks to help us refocus and make the best of the challenging times,” Thani said.

Besides the focus on the current economic downturn, the play seeks to draw out other social norms such as the pressures on the woman to marry and the pressure on the man to attain certain “economic” status to qualify for marriage.  Love & Recession uses comedy and satire to explore these social issues with the aim of inspiring conversations and ultimately effecting changes in perspectives.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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Instagram fraud: How I duped 33 men posing as a lady – Oluwole

CyberSecurity@ITRealms:

Falope Oluwole Israel, a 22-year old suspect arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command, has disclosed that he duped over 33 men while pretending to be a lady on Instagram.

Falope it was revealed, was arrested when officials of the RRS decoy team, who had been monitoring him for some weeks, trailed him to a popular club in Ikeja City Mall on Thursday evening, before arresting him.

The officers were reported to have monitored him, and those that he was interacting with at the club before arresting him and a colleague late in the night.

It was gathered that the suspect recently celebrated his birthday at Hard & Rock, Lekki, Lagos, week before his arrest, where he lavished over half a million on foods and drinks.

The suspect, a 100 level part time student of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos, who confessed committing the crime, said that he has been in the business for more than two years.

The Police revealed that Falope’s activities on Instagram was placed under investigations when it received a complaint about an Instagram handle @blackberbiedoll, used for criminal activities, which was later traced to him.

Apart from @blackberbiedoll, which he prominently used for fraudulent activities, he maintained @froshwhite007 and @froshwhite separately for same purpose.

The complainant, Bernard stated that he got a friend request from @blackberbiedoll. “Apparently, the picture on the account was that of a lady. The lady in question messaged me on BBM. Honestly, I thought I was chatting with a woman who claimed to be in Nigeria at the time.

“She lied to me that her father was a Nigerian and her mum, a Kenyan, and so we got talking. At a point, she lied that she was building a beauty outfit in Ikota Shopping Mall, VGC and that she was in need of some money to complete the mall,” Bernard added.

He explained further, “I had to transfer N1 million to her. Weeks later, I got suspicious of the account name Olawole Israel Oluwaseun Falope. I ran a search on Google, and then discovered it was all scam.... Immediately, I reported the incident to Instagram and that account was blocked and later suspended to prevent others from falling victim.”

Another victim, who did not want his identity disclosed said he paid N100,000 into her account to support her bogus fashion outfit.

Admitting the allegation, the suspect noted that since he started the fraudulent act about 2 years ago, he had duped no fewer than 33 men pretending to be a lady on Instagram and that the least amount he received from any of them was N80,000.

“When I started, much as I pretended to be a lady on phone, some men on the other side didn’t believe me. I then downloaded an app on Google which transformed my voice into that of a lady whenever I am having conversation.... I got several pictures of Shayla, a pretty United States based lady on my profile. Since then, men have been disturbing me and calling to request for a date,” he stated.

He said, “What I do is that I assess people based on their appearance on Instagram, add them and thereafter open up conversations with them before I start bringing up all manners of stories in order to dupe them.... At a point, I lied to most of them that I had an accident and I lost my ATM. I told them that I need some money. Some of them were generous enough to drop money into my account.”

“I lied to them that I was putting up a  boutique and saloon at Ikota, VGC and Lekki, and that I need money to finish setting up.... I know I made a mistake downloading Shayla’s pictures and used them for fraudulent purposes. I am telling you the truth, those that I have collected money from cant be more than 33,” he explained.

Investigations revealed that the owner of the profile pictures the suspect used, @Shayla had complained to Instagram that some Nigerians were using her profile pictures to scam unsuspecting members of the public.

It was also disclosed that the suspect claimed to be a friend of Toke Makinwa, Tonto Dike, Don jazzy, Peter Okoye, Toyin Aihmaku, Tee Y Mix, Oristsefemi, Timaya, Sean Tizzle, Dami Adenuga, Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga jnr, Ramsey Noah e.t.c.

“I know all of them. I attend a lot of shows, I meet them, take photographs with them, even exchange numbers. Like sister Toke Makinwa, Tonto Dike, Uncle Ramsey Noah, these are the kind of celebrities I look up to and I want to be like them,” he stated.

But RRS investigators confirmed that he was following a lot of Nigerian celebrities on Instagram but they could not confirm if any of them fell prey to Falope's antics, as many his Instagram chats with them got no response.

They added that a Ghanian business man who Falope claimed to have met at a popular club in Nigeria rebuffed his request to engage him in a chat.

They noted that Falope claims of been a half-cast, Fashion designer, stylist, cosmetologist, model were all part his fraud to make people fall for him. He was never a trainee or a specialist in any of this.

Our source added that he is not an half-cast as he claimed to be, rather he bleached his skin.

"He didn’t deny this claim. He admitted bleaching his skin to escape the taunting of girls that he was a very ugly guy,” the source stated.

Items recovered from the suspect included, an iphone 6, 1 Samsung Galaxy A5, an Apple tablet, hand and neck chains, some new notes and a handbag.

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Suprintendent Dolapo Badmos, warned Nigerains to be careful on the internet because scammers are on the prowl worldwide.

The suspect has been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigations.

Courtesy: RRSLagos

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Folayan, Onuegbu canvass new options, describe CommTax as industry-killer scheme

ITRealms:

The president of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Rev. Sunday Folayan has described the proposed Communication Service Tax (CST) by the Federal Government (FG) as an industry-killer scheme, reports ITRealms.

Folayan made this known in his Facebook wall post on Monday, saying there are several options the Federal Government can alleviate the suffering of Nigeria as the recession heightens.

According to him, the advanced plans by the Federal Government to introduce the Communication Service Tax (CST) among other current policies of this administration are industry-killing schemes.

A position corroborated by the chairman of Signal Alliance, Mr. Collins Onuegbu as both agreed that with the cost of living so high and foreign exchange so scarce, the government could demonstrate immediate faith in fixing the economy starting with scrapping of visa fees for visitors.

They also canvassed that FG should ensure that businesses could be registered in one working day, just as goods could be cleared at the nation’s ports in three working days.

In addition, they said that export permits should be issued within 12 hours if indeed the government is serious in changing the conditions of the people.

For Mr. Folayan, these ideas are low-hanging fruits instead of the Communications Services Tax and other nation and industry-killing schemes.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Pix: Folayan and Onuegbu

Abi wins 2016 NCC-sponsored Telecoms Cup Tennis Tournament

Sport@ITRealms:

The 2016 Telecoms Cup Tennis Tournament sponsored by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ended in Lagos at the weekend with Nishant Abi emerging star player, reports ITRealms.

The final game for the tournament, ITRealms reports was between Nishant Abi and Walter Eze which closed at 6-1; 6-1 with Eze, a veteran who had represented Nigeria in international tournaments in the past losing to Abi in the exciting match.

Equally, Nishant and his partner won the Men's Double in the tournament.

The Vice Chairman, Tennis Section of Ikoyi Club, Mr. Sunny Onegbu, commended the NCC for efforts at putting the tournament into sustaining sponsorship of tennis competitions to rejuvenate the game in Nigeria, stressing that the sport was almost dying because of lack of sponsorship.

“A long time ago, tennis used to be a very popular sport in Nigeria, but not again. Today, it is football that attracts a lot of sponsorship because it is very popular. So, the fact that the NCC is putting in a lot of energy around sponsoring tennis should be appreciated. This is good for the younger ones coming up and also, most of us that are still playing,” Onegbu said.

ITRealms recalls that in recent years, NCC has been sponsoring this tournament.

Banji Boye/GEE

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NCC tasks operators on improved services @Yuletide

ITRealms:

The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has charged telecoms operators in the country to strengthen the Quality of Service (QoS) on their various networks as festive activities build up this Yuletide season, reports ITRealms.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Dambatta, made the call at the weekend at the grand finale of the NCC-Sponsored Telecoms Cup Tennis Tournament in Lagos, stressing that the yuletide was not like any other period of the year in terms of service usage.

Dambatta, who was represented by a Deputy Director at the Commission Secretariat, Mr. Jerry Ugwu, charged operators to be prepared to fully cater for subscribers’ reliance on voice, data and short messaging service (SMS) in the period, adding that festive period would always witness increased traffic on telecoms networks.

“NCC’s message on a good Quality of Service (QoS) is always consistence to serve the interest of all- operators, subscribers and stakeholders, despite that the players are believed to know the dynamics of the market and understand the demand flow as well,” he said.

Pointing out that this is a period that traffic is higher, hence, operators, he said, “must be prepared to meet the demand because it brings business to them, and they too would not be happy should bad quality of service lead subscribers to deserting their (operators’) networks.”

Banji Boye/GEE
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Magu, DSS, Saraki, Buhari and the intrigues of a corrupt cabal

Commentary@ITRealms:

"The President – whoever he is – has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.”

The prologue to this piece was part of the farewell address to the American people delivered in January 1953 by President Harry Truman. It was a categorical reference to the concept of “The buck stops here,” which Truman, 33^rd president of the United States, invented and espoused diligently. So passionate was Truman about this principle that he made the phrase into a desk sign that stood on his desk throughout his tenure.

“The BUCK STOPS here! This phrase is an irrefutable reminder of where the ultimate power lies in a democratic presidency, which one is minded to recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari in these very worrying times, especially in the wake of the Nigerian senate’s despicable rejection of his nominee, Ibrahim Magu, as substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Clearly, if nothing else, Buhari should know that that rejection sounded the death knell for his vaunted war against corruption, as well as constitutes a huge embarrassment to his person and office.

And he should also take notice that rather than being the end, the senate’s act is just the beginning of the process of giving full expression to a familiar refrain of his and numerous other lieutenants in the APC administration: corruption is fighting back. Yes, corruption is fighting back, and the Buhari administration needs to summon the will to repel the attack and crush the monster. Otherwise, as Buhari himself has often stated, it will kill us. With the decision to block Magu from becoming EFCC chairman, there is no way corruption won’t kill us eventually if Buhari does not act like a true president. 

Now, it’s no longer about Magu, nor an utterly Senate populated by over-feds whom Nigerians would be too glad to do away with as quickly as possible. It’s about Buhari. It’s about the kind of president he wants to be, and whether he wants to continue to run a heavily tainted and compromised presidency where the one who runs the show is the highly discredited Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, a man who has been linked with multiple acts of corruption and who on the eve of the 2015 elections denounced Buhari as a “serial loser.”

In the subtle design to rubbish Buhari’s government and preserve the old order, Abba Kyari is ably supported by other willing collaborators among them the equally unpleasant DSS boss, Lawal Daura, and the senate president Bukola Saraki. But now is the time to urge Buhari to toe the path of Truman and point to Abba Kyari and the rest of the destructive gang where the buck stops.

With an impressive credential of personal integrity, and with fervent pre and post election resolve to wage an all-out war against a scourge that has gone down as the biggest cog in Nigeria’s development – a resolve for which he received an unequivocal endorsement from the vast majority of Nigerians – will Buhari buckle under the unrelenting onslaught of a vicious cabal whose singular interest is to perpetuate corruption as the directive principle of state policy? Will he continue to fold his arms and look the other way when his arch ally in the anti-corruption war, the man who has demonstrated rare courage in dealing corruption an unprecedented blow is being sought out by the cabal for destruction?

That the senate did what they did was not altogether surprising. Every discerning observer saw it coming. After more than one year of Magu as acting chairman, and six months after receiving a letter from the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, requesting the senate to confirm him as substantive chairman of EFCC, the senators reluctantly rustled up a pathetic engagement with Magu on the day they had scheduled to go on end-of-year recess. Instead of allowing the man to appear before them at plenary as the whole world expected, they arranged a sham executive session where the public was shut out.

It was at that dubious session that Magu’s fate was purportedly sealed. While the world was still waiting for the chambers to be thrown open and Magu invited for screening, it was a guilt-ridden, tremulous spokesman of the senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, that appeared to read a terse statement announcing the senate's decision that Magu was not “fit” to be confirmed as substantive chairman based on a security report submitted by the DSS. 

What the spokesman failed to tell his audience was that there were indeed two security reports on Magu written the same day by the DSS. The one that clearly acquitted Magu and certified him qualified to lead the EFCC was discarded by the senate, and the negative report was picked just because they had an evil agenda that must be satisfied no matter what it takes. No wonder he refused to take questions.

It will be interesting to see how Buhari reacts to all of this. His reaction should determine the status of The Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC) headed by Professor Itse Sagay, going forward. If Buhari would not see through the shenanigans of the Abba Kyaris, the Bukola Sarakis and assert himself as president by insisting that Magu remains his choice for the EFCC chair, Sagay should lead other members of the committee to resign the job and allow Buhari to fight corruption his own way.

Truly, if Magu was really corrupt, the Nigerian senate that we know would have filled the chamber with chorus of "Take a bow; Take a bow!"

Contributed by: Godwin Onyeacholem is a journalist. He can be reached on gonyeacholem@gmail.com; Follow him on Twitter @Gonyeacholem

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MMM founder berates Federal Government, wondered why life is hard for Nigerians

Trade & Investment@ITRealms:

The MMM Founder, Sergey Mavrodi has berated the Federal Government (FG) for the recent frozen of all bank associated to the scheme, reports ITRealms.

In a letter, ITRealms gathered, displayed on the page of all participants of the scheme, Mavrodi told FG in his submission wondered that if they (FG) know what is good for Nigerians, why then is life so hard for the citizens.

“And finally. If you know what is right for people, why is the life so bad in the country?,” he stated.

ITRealms recalls that the Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently warned Nigerians against the MMM scheme which it described as a “Ponzi”.

A Ponzi is scheme game based on a fraudulent investment operation where the operator, an individual or organization, pays returns to its investors from new capital paid to the operators by new investors, rather than from profit earned through legitimate sources.

Just as the House of Representatives last October ordered an investigation into the operation of the MMM scheme.

Excerpts from Sergey Mavrodi’s letter to the Federal Government, reads:

“Honorable authorities,

So far MMM has come under a constant attack from you. In this regard, I would like to ask you a few simple questions. Since you are concerned with the interests of millions of your fellow citizens, I hope that you would be so kind to answer them.

What are you trying to get? Do you want the MMM System to collapse and millions of people to suffer? Who will support them then if now MMM is their only means of livelihood?Will you? You even don’t pay wages to people? Or might you not care about them? Might you be using a trendy topic to make a good name for yourselves? What will you say to a mother who will have no money to buy food for her child? Will you let her child die for the sake of the higher interests of the economy?

You say that MMM is a scam. What is the scam here, if all members are warned in advance about all the risks, the possible and impossible ones? They know there are no investments at all. The warning is a red text on a yellow background placed on most prominent place of the website.

You say that MMM is bad. Why? Yes, it produces nothing, but nothing gets out of the country either. The money is just redistributed among the citizens of Nigeria. It gets from those who are richer to poorer ones, in this way restoring social justice. What”s wrong with that?

You have repeatedly stated that “it should be investigated! .. researched!..” It means you know nothing about this System yet; you even haven’t understood how it works………

And finally. If you know what is right for people, why is the life so bad in the country?

Sincerely yours,

Sergey Mavrodi

P.S. As for your statement that “everything will collapse soon”. The system has been working in Nigeria for a year, and according to your estimates, the total number of members now is about 3 million people. In Nigeria the population is approximately 195 million. Can you calculate? Will it be “soon”? :-)”

•Source: NAN.

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Letter to parents, guardians as 2016 academic year ends

Campus Pavilion@ITRealms:

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The exams are over and school is almost out for the 2016 academic year. 

Your children will bring reports home this week. I know you are all really anxious for your child to do well. 

What's the meaning of "doing well?"

Please do remember, amongst the children who sat for the exams, is an Artist, who doesn't need to understand Maths. 

There's an Entrepreneur, who doesn't care about History or English literature. 

There's a Musician, whose Chemistry marks won't matter.

There's a Sportsperson, whose physical fitness is more important than Physics. 

If your child does get top marks then great. But, if he or she doesn't, please don't take away their self- confidence and dignity from them. 

Tell them it's ok, it was just an exam. They are cut out for much bigger things in life.

Tell them, no matter what they score, you love them and will not judge them.

Please do this and if you do, watch your children conquer the world. One exam or a 90% marks won't take away their dreams and talent.

And please do not think that doctors and engineers are the only happy people in the world.

Be happy for them when they come home with those reports this week. Encourage them to do better. Motivate those who were not successful. There's beauty in going back and giving it another shot. Don't judge them. They expect of you, their mother, their father, most of all to understand and to still believe in them. 

Failing a grade can never make your children failures. Their destinies lie locked up in far greater things.

*Courtesy: Eddy Nnadi/GEE
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ICANN seeks nominations for Ethos award 2016

ITRealms:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) opened call for the nomination of its Multistakeholder Ethos Award, 2016, reports ITRealms.

The Ethos award, ITRealms gathered, was launched in 2014 at ICANN50 in London, recognizes ICANN participants who have deeply invested in consensus-based solutions, acknowledging the importance of ICANN's multistakeholder model of Internet governance, and contributed in a substantive way to the higher interests of ICANN's organization and its community.

The ideal recipient(s), ITRealms reports, must have served in roles in multiple ICANN working groups or committees and collaborated with more than one Supporting Organization and/or Advisory Committee in a significant capacity.

According to ICANN, candidates for the award will demonstrate at least five years of participation in the ICANN Community, stressing that candidates will be evaluated by a panel of community members appointed by the Chairs of each Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees using a merit-based point system evaluated against three criteria.

These, ICANN said, include demonstrated ability to work across community lines with both familiar and unfamiliar ICANN Stakeholders with the aim of consensus building and collaboration that substantiate ICANN's multistakeholder model; Facilitator of dialogue and open discussion in a fair and collegial manner, through the spirit of collaboration as shown through empathy and demonstrating a sincere desire to engage with people from other backgrounds, cultures, and interests; and  demonstrated additional devotional factors exhibited by time spent supporting ICANN's multistakeholder model and its overall effectiveness through volunteer service via working groups or committees.

ITRealms reports that award recipient(s) will be announced in June 2017 at ICANN59 Johannesburg.

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