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Nigerian Networks Not Robust to Implement Number Porting

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NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Eugene Juwah

By Emma Okonji

Contrary to the belief of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that the country is long overdue for the implementation of  number portability, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said the time was yet to mature.

Chairman of ALTON, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, in a chat with THISDAY said the unsteady condition of all registered networks as it relates to poor quality of service in recent times, was enough signal to convince the NCC that the networks are not robust enough to carry the capacity needed for number porting.

Citing instances of the recent fine of N1.17 billion imposed on four telecoms operators by the NCC for poor quality of service on their networks, as well as the reactions of affected telecoms operating companies, Adebayo argued that if the networks were strong enough, there would be no trace of dwindling network service and the issue of fine would not have arisen in the first place. “The fine is a clear indication that the networks are not healthy and should be strengthened if NCC expects better results from the standard it set, using the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs),” Adebayo said.

He advised NCC not to be in a hurry to implement Number Portability, so as not to add to the present ugly situation.

He rather suggested that NCC should encourage investment in alternative platform like the fixed line operation, to avoid over dependence on mobile, which he said was already suffering from congestion. He was of the opinion that Nigerians depended so much on mobile operation like the GSM service both in offices and homes, thus contributing to the heavy traffic being generated on the mobile networks.

“Mobile Number Portability is ill-timed. Nigerians are not ripe for Number Portability because networks not yet robust. With the issue of poor quality of service and fine from NCC, it goes to show that the networks are not robust enough for Number Portability. It also shows that if one network is shut down by government agencies or it goes down for any reason, no single operator has the headroom to accommodate the gap and capacity lapses it will create and that will be a problem for the industry. Subscribers cannot port from one network to another, if up to four operators were indicted for poor quality of service. If four operators have been declared by NCC as weak in terms of quality of service, then which network will subscriber port to when all the operators are not strong,” Adebayo asked.

NCC is insisting on the implementation of Number Portability and has concluded to commence the process across networks in September this year. Standing firm on its promise, the telecoms regulator, early this month, released a set of guidelines for the implementation of Number Portability across networks.

Number Portability is a process that allows subscribers to migrate from one network to another, in search of better quality of service, while still retaining the original GSM number, irrespective of the network the subscriber chooses to migrate to. NCC in its released guidelines, made porting free of charge for subscribers.”

Source: Thisday Newspaper

Again, Police in Accidental Discharge, Kill Two, Injure Others

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 Acting IGP, Mohammed Abubakar 

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

“Once more, the Police have killed innocent persons in circumstances that are far from crime control. Although it little shocks Nigerians anymore that the Police killed innocent persons, yet, it deepens the slur to which the image of the Police Force is often dragged each time it occurs. And many are the times indeed.

In a recent incident, four policemen attached to the State Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), were said to have been more than tipsy, having spent hours carousing at a Night Club, Monalido Club, Kalakuta road, off Creek Road, in the Apapa district of Lagos State.

In foggy circumstances, the Police men who were said to have escorted a certain sailor, one Captain George¸ to the club last Saturday, as they usually did in the past, had gone into the club with their loaded weapons.  The police officers are two corporals and two inspectors.

Eyewitness account said the Lagos socialite had gone to the club to unwind with his escorts; and stayed till the wee hours of the next day however, as they were about to leave, the escorts were said to have fired their guns purportedly into the sky in sheer mark of revelry, having lost full control of their emotions.

The shooting surprised the club members and many of them began to run helter skelter for shelter from the flying bullets. But two persons, one Azubuike Benedict and a lady simply identified as Joy were not as lucky as the bullets hit them on the stomach and neck respectively.  Others were inured. One of them, Darlington, received a bullet on his knee.

THISDAY further gathered that the police officers were fond of shooting sporadically into the air to celebrate while their boss sprays money on fun seekers anytime they came to the club to unwind. Observers are thus worried at the flippant excuse at which live bullets are expended by policemen. Another question raised by this incident is on why the police would go into a club with their guns when they face the danger of being inebriated?

Speaking to THISDAY Thursday in Apapa, friends of Azubuike called on the appropriate authorities to see that justice is served. Narrating the scenario, one of the deceased’s friends, Deji Nathaniel, said he was hanging out with Azubuike when another mutual friend showed up and asked them out to Monalido to unwind. It turned out to be Azubuike’s last outing ever. Azubuike hails from Kwale in Delta State.

According to Nathaniel, the 39-year-old father of Esther (6-years-old) had just come back two months ago from Italy where he resides.  Described by friends as an all round entertainer and mentor, the death has shocked all who knew him.

Nathaniel said: “We were all together that day when I stepped out. The next thing I knew, a lady rushed to me and told me that Zuby (their pet name for him) had been shot dead.  When I got to our spot, I was told he had been taken to Lagoon Hospital for treatment.

“I rushed there only to see Zuby lying in a pool of his own blood. Even though he was in pains, he was still talking. He asked me to hold his hand which I did and was assuring him that he would survive. He complained that his stomach was hurting him because he was shot in the ribs.”

Nathaniel said he held the hand of the deceased until he was rolled into the theatre for surgery and about five hours later, they got a call to announce his death.

“When we took him to the hospital, they demanded for N1million before treatment would be carried out. We quickly rallied round and raised N800, 000 before treatment commenced.

“First they gave him four pints of blood but it obviously was not enough as the hospital told us that they needed six more pints. We went around to different hospitals to get that. It is painful that despite all our efforts, Zuby still died.”

According to Nathaniel, the said Captain George had stormed the club with his ash coloured Toyota Forerunner Jeep with registration number FST950AJ while his escorts were in a white Hilux truck.

“We want the authorities to do something about this matter and not sweep it under the carpet because this has been Captain George’s modus operandi. He comes into the club with his escorts and after they have enjoyed themselves, he would throw wads of cash in the air while his escorts will also shoot into the air in joyous mood.”

One of the victims, who was identified as Darlington, who was lucky to have survived the gunshot on his knee was brought to THISDAY after treatment to narrate his account.

According to him, they were catching their fun when the stillness of the night was broken by sporadic gunshots. He said while the fun seekers quickly dispersed, he took cover but was hit all the same.

He demanded that, “the police officers who did this should be brought to book since they are known. I was lucky the bullet did not kill me.”

Also speaking to THISDAY, one of the petty-traders around the club precinct, one Gbenga, claimed the policemen were drunk and as result fired their guns even though no one threatened them or their boss.

He said: “Captain George is a very popular face at the Monalido Club and so that day, he had come as usual to the club and as they were leaving, his police escorts shot sporadically into the air. The bullets killed two people instantly and injured so many people.”

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Jaiyeoba, a superintendent of police, had confirmed the incident but said he could not say if the policemen were drunk as alleged.

He said: “The incident happened quite alright but we do not know if the policemen were drunk. From what I deduced from the information reaching me, the shots were accidental.

“The police officer in question tried to shoot his gun up in the air but his gun jammed and hit his hand thereby bringing the gun down. It was in the process that two people were killed.”

Jaiyeoba said investigations are going to ascertain what truly happened as well as secure the arrest of the two fleeing officers.

The two arrested officers have since been handed over to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mr. Muhammed Muazu, of Apapa Police Division.

It would be recalled that on assumption of office, the acting IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, as part of his reformatory agenda for the police, had ordered the withdrawal of all approved police escorts from private individuals and corporate bodies across the country.”

Source: Thisday Newspapers

Govt Officials Spend N300b Annually on Aircraft Charter

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Vice President Namadi Sambo

By Chinedu Eze

“It has been revealed that top government officials at the Federal and state levels, including Ministers, President’s aides, governors, Senate and House committees, Speakers of State Houses of Assembly and others expend over N300 billion annually on aircraft charter.

A confirmed insider told THISDAY on Monday that charter operations in Nigeria is a multibillion Naira business that effectively competes with that of scheduled commercial operation and   involves largely foreign registered aircraft with foreign registered crew, although most of the aircraft are owned by Nigerians.

With average of about $6,500.00 (N1, 01400) for one hour charter, the charter operators rake in huge amounts of revenue every month from mainly government officials and some Nigerian businessmen and women.

It was also revealed that although this subsector of air operation in Nigeria generates billions of Naira annually, many of them do not pay the stipulated charges, Value Added Tax (VAT) and corporate tax to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and government.

THISDAY learnt that according to regulations, before an aircraft is allowed to operate commercial charter in Nigeria,  it must be under an airline that has Audit Maintenance Organisation Certificate (AMO) and Air Operators Certificate (AOC).

AMO would ensure that the airline has the competence to maintain the aircraft it is flying, while the AOC would ensure that the aircraft is competently managed, but indications show that most of the aircraft that operate as charter in the country were acquired as privately owned and therefore do not pay the necessary charges, VAT and corporate tax to government.

For the aircraft to operate charter services in the country it must be deregistered of its foreign number and then be registered in Nigeria and the cockpit crew must hold valid Nigeria licence,  and the aircraft must be under a commercial operator, but many of these aircraft owners do not abide by these conditions.

A source said that if these aircraft are managed by an airline that meets the aforementioned conditions, “the commercial operator ensures that tax, VAT and other charges are paid when they are due. Currently government is losing so much money on VAT, corporate tax and 5 per cent charge to NCAA, which are lost from those privately owned aircraft that are used for commercial charter services.”

But the spokesman of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Sam Adurogboye, told THISDAY on Wednesday that all aircraft operating in Nigeria meet the conditions set out by the regulatory body, adding that “every airline has a licence that specifies  its type of operations and are guided accordingly.”

He also said that private operators pay appropriate navigational charges like landing, parking etc. and that owners of private jets are not allowed to run commercial services, adding that    doing so would be regarded    as an aberration if detected.

“Owner of private jets are required to put their jets under an AOC holder for management, i.e., maintenance, insurance and crew, and accordingly held responsible for any violation in the process of its operations.”

But the source also told THISDAY, “Nigerians will travel overseas, buy aircraft, register it overseas, bring it to Nigeria in the pretext that it is leased and use it to operate commercial services without paying anything to government.”

The source also adds, “Crew members must correspond with the country of registry; however, these aircraft were not financed by any foreign financial institutions, they were bought by Nigerians, so most of them ought to be registered in Nigeria.”

Depending on sitting capacity and aircraft type, an aircraft could be chartered for average of $6,500 for one hour in addition to waiting charge, which includes return flight.”

Source:Thisday Newspaper

FG ready to dialogue with Boko Haram – Sambo

By Gbenga Omokhunu

“The Federal Government has reiterated its call on the militant Boko Haram sect and other aggrieved groups to ceasefire and come forward for dialogue.

The Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the National Symposium, organized by Nasirul-Lahi-Faith Society of Nigeria (NASFAT), tagged “Islam and Peaceful Co-Existence in a Contemporary Multi Religious Society.

Sambo, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the occasion, said: “government is ready to discuss. History has proven that even wars that are fought for decades, at the end, are only concluded by dialogue.”

According to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Umar Sani, the vice-president lamented the activities of some negative forces whose activities have portrayed Islam in a negative and evil light.

He said: “Islam is a religion of peace; it is a way of life. It cannot promote senseless killings and wanton destruction of property. I am not aware of any religion in the world that encourages unprovoked and relentless attack on other people.”

He reiterated the determination of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to provide adequate security for the lives and property of all Nigerians and visitors.

Sambo commended the organizers of the symposium, noting its aptness, adding that it would help to educate the public on the Islamic view of peaceful co-existence and the concept of Jihad.

He used the opportunity to enumerate the strides the administration had made in achieving the objectives of the Transformation Agenda, which cut across improved electricity supply; education; agriculture, transportation system; and poverty alleviation.

The vice president stated that to deliver on government’s promise on the revitalization of the Railway system, government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with General Electric for the delivery of 200 locomotive heads and also for the location of a locomotive manufacturing plant in Nigeria, which would also serve the West African sub-region.

Similarly, he assured that the activities of militant groups would not jeopardize government’s desire to propel Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs).

In his remarks the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, called on the Muslim Ummah to champion the principle of peaceful co-existence and education.”

Source: The Nation Newspaper

Why terrorism is on the rise – Azazi

Gen. Azazi
Gen. Azazi

By Tony Akowe

The National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi , said in Kaduna on Thursday that governments’ failure to address the root causes of unrest in the country has created a fertile ground for the recruitment, indoctrination, brainwashing and training of terrorists and other insurgents in the country.

Speaking on the theme: “Northern Nigeria, The Prosperity Agenda and National Security” at the Northern Impact Summit organized by the Arewa Transformation and Empowerment Initiative, Gen. Azazi also said that lopsided economic development of any nation has never worked anywhere and is capable of leading to the collapse of such a nation.

Represented by one of his Advisers, Prof. Soji Adelaja, the NSA noted that recent events in the Middle East and North African region have showed that long term failure to address long standing economic problems helped to erode national cohesion and the ability to advance as a nation.

He noted that even though the incidences of bombing and terrorist attacks have been concentrated in the north, the development has adversely affected the nation’s economy, pointing out that the economic prosperity of a region depends on national security which all Nigerians must be on board to address.

Azazi noted that Nigeria as a nation cannot afford to leave any of its states or region behind in the march towards a long overdue achievement of prosperity, stressing that comprehensive regional economic transformation has and will remain at the forefront of the nation’s policies.

He said, “From a practical perspective, evidence is mounting that some of the root causes of unrest and the feeling of dissatisfaction and disaffection amongst citizens are economic hardship and the lack of economic opportunity.

“This is the case, not only in the north, but all over Nigeria. The failure to address these root causes of unrest tend to create fertile ground for the recruitment, indoctrination, brainwashing and training of terrorists and other insurgents.

“As we have learnt from the recent events in the Middle East and North Africa regions, long term failure to address long standing economic problems helped erode national cohesion and the ability to advance as a nation,” the NSA added.

Source:The Nation Newspaper

Jonathan qualified to contest 2015 election – PDP

President Jonathan
President Jonathan

…Vows to reclaim Edo State

The Peoples Democratic Party said on Thursday that President Goodluck Jonathan is eminently qualified to contest the 2015 Presidential election if he is interested in vying for another term in office.

It also warned those haggling for the job of in 2015 to stop distracting him from executing his laudable programmes for the country.

The South-South National Vice Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Steven Oru, who gave the hint when he inaugurated the state executive committee of the party in the state, warned members to stop disturbing and distracting Mr. President on the issue of 2015 when the time is still far.

He said, “President Jonathan, who is just in his first tenure in office is imminently qualified to contests if he wants to.

“Mr. President is as qualified as any other person to contest in 2015”, noted Oru who added that “Mr. President is qualified to contest in 2015 because after all this is his first tenure.”

In this regard, the South-South National Vice Chairman of the party called on all well meaning Nigerians and people of Bayelsa State to rally round President Jonathan in his quest to deliver on his election promises.

“When we get to the bridge in 2015, I know we shall cross it with Mr. President”, he added and vowed that the PDP will recapture Edo State in the next governorship election.

He said the PDP won the last election at the polls but the Action Congress of Nigeria won in court.

Source: The Nation Newspaper

Buhari, Tinubu move to revive alliance

Written by Abbas Jimoh

A meeting on Sunday between Buhari and Tinubu in Lagos was meant to revive alliance moves between the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change, party officials told Daily Trust in Abuja yesterday.

Retired General Muhammadu Buhari visited ACN leader Bola Tinubu at his residence in Lagos, where they met behind closed doors.

Sources close to the two leaders said they discussed the political future of the two leading opposition parties, especially how to restart consultations towards merger or alliance ahead of 2015.

The meeting came as, according to one source, some People’s Democratic Party leaders who are angry over the outcome of the party’s recent convention consider working with the opposition parties to confront the ruling party.

Sources in CPC and ACN said the Buhari-Tinubu meeting discussed a possible alliance that would include the other main opposition party, All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).

National secretary of CPC, Buba Galadima, told Daily Trust yesterday in Abuja that the two leaders had “fruitful discussions” on alliance and workable plans ahead of the next general elections. He said they also reviewed some of the issues that scuppered previous alliance moves before the 2011 elections.

For his part, CPC spokesman Rotimi Fashakin said, “The visit is part of the ongoing cooperation among progressives in breaking the primordial barriers of yore and ensuring that the yearnings of the people for a stable, virile and just nation are satisfied.”

Spokesman for the ACN, Lai Mohammed, was not available for comment yesterday.

But two top ACN officials told Daily Trust that there had been moves for Buhari and Tinubu to meet and that a birthday event both of them attended in Abuja last week was used to facilitate the Sunday meeting.

“We are starting early to avoid the pitfalls of previous meetings and talks,” one ACN official said. “We want to be sure we got it right this time around, dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s; moreover that we have some aggrieved PDP members giving us vital information on their parties internal wrangling and how we can overcome our own differences.”

ANPP’s spokesman Emma Eneukwu, was not available for comment; he had however told our reporter earlier in an interview that the party “is in serious talks with other opposition parties ahead of the 2015 elections.”

Source: Daily Trust

Four bombs uncovered at BUK

by Salihu Mustapha, Kano

Bayero University

Four unexploded bombs were uncovered at the old campus of Bayero University, Kano, on Tuesday morning.

The bombs were believed to have been planted by members of the terrorist Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

Security sources told our correspondent that the bombs were discovered in front of the faculties of Law, Sciences, sports complex and the lecture theatre.

It was learnt that curious attendees at the lecture theatre sighted a black bag in a corner of the hall and raised the alarm.

As a result, the anti-bomb squad was invited to prevent the bombs from detonating.

However, the bomb at the sports complex exploded on its own before the arrival of the anti-bomb unit.

No casualty was however recorded as most of the affected areas were immediately condoned off.

Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, Musa Majiya, said the police were on top of the situation.

Majiya said, “The command has taken care of it. It has swiftly dispatched the anti-bomb unit to handle the situation. The police are on top the situation.

“Residents should please go about their normal duties. The police however appeal that any suspicious movements should be promptly reported to authorities for proper action to be taken. The command also thanks the people of the state for their cooperation so far.”

In a video posted on the Internet last week, Boko Haram threatened to attack the media and universities.

Gunmen attacked a lecture theatre at the BUK which was being used for Christian Sunday services on April 29, killing 15 people.

Source :The Punch Newspapers

Four injured in Bauchi explosion

by Jude Owuamanam, Jos

Four people were injured on Monday night when a bomb exploded at Peoples Hotel in Bayan Gari area of Bauchi metropolis.

The hotel located behind the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, is always busy due to the activities of sex workers.

It was learnt that a man threw a bomb.

The explosion created panic as people scampered to safety.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Ladan, who confirmed the incident, said the bomb exploded at about 9pm and that one woman and three men were injured.

He said the injured persons were taken to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital for treatment. Three of them were discharged on Tuesday morning.

Ladan said, “We are suspecting that the remaining person who is currently on admission is the one that carried out the act because of the degree of injury on his body, but we are still investigating the matter. Part of the building was partially blown off.

Source: The Punch Newspaper

Telecoms: Broadband services to contribute N29.6bn to GDP

Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola JohnsonMinister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson
| credits: File

The telecommunications sector is expected to contribute about $190m (N29.6bn) to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product through broadband services by 2015.

The Director, Regulatory Affairs, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Osondu Nwokoro, said telecoms companies had provided nothing less than three million jobs and invested well over $16bn in the country since the liberalisation of the sector in 1999.

He said the telecoms sector remained a key driving force for the economy, adding that broadband services would boost the country’s GDP portfolio by $190m in the next three years.

Nwokoro said this in a paper he presented at the fourth West African Information and Communications Technology Congress in Lagos on Tuesday.

He argued that multiple taxation posed a great challenge to telecoms operators, insisting that the government was the loser at the end of the day as most of the taxes ended up in private pockets.

Besides, he explained that multiple taxation, alongside other hindrances such as vandalism, could discourage operators and make them withhold investment meant for the Nigerian market.

Nwokoro stressed that the telecoms operators might be forced to slow down investment in the country if there were constant threats to infrastructure in the face of multiple taxation and generally unfriendly business environment.

This, he said, was done by Econet in Zimbabwe when the telecoms company was frustrated by the Robert Mugabe government.

He, therefore, warned that care must be taken by relevant government agencies so as not to push the telecoms operators out of the Nigerian market.

Nwokoro, who asked the government to protect telecoms infrastructure, said, “The Federal Government has a key role to play where it comes to telecoms infrastructure. These should be seen as critical equipment just like the oil pipelines, as well as PHCN and NITEL facilities.

“Once it is seen as such, no ministry, department or agency will shut down base stations at will, which in most cases; have adverse effects on the quality of service.”

The Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, in a keynote address, said the commission had concluded plans to engage reputable international consultants to drive the strategy and design the processes for achieving broadband goals.

He added that the regulatory environment in the country had remained stable and attractive to the global investment community, hence the need to attract more broadband investors.

The NCC helmsman further said that Code Division Multiple Access operators such as Starcomms, Multilinks, Visafone, and ZOOMmobile, might soon be relocated to a new frequency spectrum band.

This, Juwah said, would assist in freeing up already scare resources for more telecoms operators without requisite spectrum allocation to deploy innovative and reasonably priced broadband services to the generality of the Nigerian population.

He said, “It is a well know fact the spectrum band between 790 – 862MHz is been occupied mostly by the CDMA players. Normally, the CDMA frequencies are not efficiently planned as is the case with Long Term Evolution frequencies.

“We have asked the CDMA players, who have tiny frequencies, which cannot do much on LTE, to upgrade. We have said if they are prepared to upgrade, the commission will re-farm these frequencies and give them a higher slot in terms of capacity to provide value services, but they must do LTE. A lot of them are already considering it. Very soon, CDMAs will have difficulty finding appropriate handsets because technology is changing. As they begin to realise this, CDMAs will begin to plan for LTE.”

The CDMA operators have been battling for survival in the face of multiple challenges such as subscriber preference for GSM technology, corporate governance issues, low capitalisation and poor promotion of CDMA technology, among others.

Meanwhile, the Editor-in-Chief, IT & Telecom Digest, organisers of WAFICT, Mr. Mkpe Abang, has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency for broadband deployment.

Abang argued that the country had conquered voice telephony and there was the urgent need to accelerate broadband deployment for the next phase of the country’s telecoms revolution.

Source: The Punch Newspapers

 

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