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New Horizons, the world’s leading information technology training institution, has highlighted the need for youths to have information technology skills to better their lives. The company stated this in a statement made available on Monday, after a special information and entertainment programme for youths in Lagos. The Managing Director, New Horizons, Mr. Tim Akano, told participants that the present century belonged to Nigerian youths, and urged them to strive hard to take their rightful place in the scheme of things in the world, thereby leading Nigeria gallantly into the future. He noted that IT was central among skills that they should possess to become competitive in the present age. He added that it was the duty of the youths to develop Nigeria and that foreigners could not do a better job than the citizens. He identified the IT skills that participants should acquire in order to improve their chances of professional success to include Oracle and Microsoft certifications, E-Busi

Kuwait-listed Zain Group, owners of Celtel Nigeria, has reported a significant growth in revenues with customer numbers exceeding 50 million. For the first half of 2008, Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of $3.49bn, an increase of 26 per cent compared to the first half of 2007. The company’s consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 20 per cent for the same period to $1.305bn. Zain’s consolidated net profits reached $551.5m, an increase of seven per cent on the first half of 2007 profits. Year-on-year customer growth across the two continents where Zain operates was 58 per cent with the group serving 50.74 million active customers as at 30 June, 2008. Commenting on the company’s first half of 2008 financial results, Zain’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Saad Al-Barrak said, “On the back of splendid results for 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, despite fierce competition in many markets, we are elated that Zain continues its excellent

Jonah Iboma The Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria is to introduce a professional examination programme similar to what is being offered by other professional bodies in the country.The programme, called, "Computer Professional Examination," is to be offered in various stages to individuals depending on their skills and academic qualifications with highest level being equivalent to a university degree. According to the Registrar of CPN, Mr. Sikiru Shehu, every stage of the examination has a corresponding recognition in the country's educational system as approved by the Federal Ministry of Education. He added that the introduction of the programme had become necessary in view of the fact that computer education had become compulsory like mathematics and English language. He said a professional programme of the nature had to be introduced in order to offer students, who were unable to immediately meet standards for university education, a window to acqui

Recent developments have showed that Nigeria needs to quickly implement a harmonised emergency numbering system. JONAH IBOMA captures experts’ views on the matter. Today, Nigeria remains one of the countries in the world where a uniform number code that can be reached in times of emergencies does not exist. This is despite the rising incidences requiring the use of such numbers in the country. Instead of simple three digit numbers, there exists various numbers used by the Nigeria Police, Federal and state fire services and even traffic management agencies for emergencies. The situation means that in case of emergencies, people often struggle to remember the numbers to contact. The situation is made worse by the fact that the numbers are not easy to remember as many of them are regular mobile lines with 11 digits. Globally, this is not the situation as various countries have numbers for emergencies. Recently, the International Telecommunications Union introduced a new emergency numberin

Jonah Iboma Coscharis Group on Tuesday unveiled its brand of locally made computers called Cosmos. The Chairman of Coscharis Group of companies, Mr. Cosmos Maduka, said the entry into local assembly would not be a fluke as the firm was poised to redefine the market with highly reliable services and product offerings. He said though Coscharis may appear to be late in making an entry into the local PC manufacture arena, the company is was well-positioned to make its mark in the industry by offering competitive products. Cosmos Computers, he added, would be of very high standards and would address both individual and corporate market segments. He said the firm was not unaware that some others were already involved in local assembly ahead of Cosmos, but added that the firm was ready to compete for its place in the large local market. He explained that the dream to establish a local assembly plant had been on for quite sometime but noted that Coscharis finally decided to make entry into the

Globacom Limited and Kanu Heart Foundation (KHF) have kicked off a partnership on the generation of funds for treatment of people suffering from heart diseases through the deployment of SMS on the platform of Nigerians’ preferred network. The two organizations said at a press conference that the partnership hopes to raise funds for heart surgeries. In raising the funds, the telecoms firm has developed a special coded number “33640” for SMS by those who wish to support the effort. Any Glomobile subscriber can send SMS (save, any character even a blank message) to 33640 and an immediate response from Glo follows. A sum of N50 will be deducted instantly from the subscriber’s air-time. In his remarks at the heart-touching ceremony, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Globacom, Mr. Mohammed Jameel, said the second national carrier was a compassionate and truly Nigerian corporate citizen, stressing that this was responsible for the company’s collaboration with the Foundation in addressing h

Jonah Iboma All heads of ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government have been urged to ensure full compliance with the circular issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to patronise Galaxy Backbone Plc on telecommunication and information technology infrastructure matters. Galaxy Backbone is a public firm set up by government to provide infrastructure for use by its agencies in order to reduce public sector expenditure on ICT. According to a statement released on Monday by the firm, SGF, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, gave the directive last week during a two-day interactive session between the firm and various government establishments and referred to a circular issued in 2007. The circular had as reference number; SGF. OP/1/S.3/V11/870 dated June 18, 2007 titled “Guidelines for the procurement and implementation of bandwidth, network connectivity and other ICT infrastructure by Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies

YS Technologies, a new entrant into the information technology sector, has unveiled its range of computers and plasma television to the public. The products consist of 15, 17 and 19-inch, panel personal computers and 50 and 63-inch high definition plasma TVs. According to the Chief Executive Officer, YS Technologies, Mr. Oluyomi Soyinka, in a statement on Tuesday, the 15 and 17-inch computers called Elegant and Classic series, respectively, are designed to be foldable, easy to carry and allow users to save space on their desk. He said the computers also offer all-in-one solution as both the central processing unit, motherboard and associated devices like the disc drive were all built into the liquid crystal display screen. He said, “The products are well designed such that owners could easily carry them about whenever they wanted.” The 19-inch executive series, he explained, was a combination of the functions of a PC and TV, allowing a user to make maximum use of space and technology.

Jonah Iboma Three members of a four-man NITEL cable vandalism gang were arrested by avigilante team in Lagos Island in the early hours of today, Thursday, June 19,2008. According to a statement signed by the Public Relations Manager,Lagos Zone, Mr. Ig Nwangwu, those arrested, all men – Onyebuchi Anazodo, 21, Steven Aleke, 18, and Monday Ebube, 27 – cut the high-capacity, optic fibre cable linking Lagos to the rest of the country. He said so far, this was the fourth occasion the same cable would be cut by cable thieves since this year. On each of those occasions, NITEL sustained losses running into millions of naira in inconvenience to its customers given the loss of traffic as a result of the disruption of their service and then the cost of repair or replacement of the affected cable. While expressing regret the inconvenience would have caused its customers, he said the firm was hopeful to restore service on the cable very soon. The external line plant network of NITEL in Lagos Zone h

Jonah Iboma , Chams Nigeria PLC will soon deploy about 2,500 access service terminal in all the 774 local governments in the Nigeria, with a focus on states capitals. The firm explained that this was in order to ensure that Information Communication and Technology services were readily available to many Nigerians, especially, people living in the rural areas, front liner in card based transaction business This product, which is first of its kind if successfully deployed would allow people across the nation no matter where you are located to have access to telephone, internet access, multimedia e-mail, recharge card vending, e-Visa, e-premium, information portal, fees/bill payment, airline ticketing and reservation, advertisement, online booking and many more. The hardware which is a perfect balance processes communication and technology, according to Demola Aladekomo, Managing Director, Chams Nigeria PLC during the unveiling of the new product in the just concluded card expo h

The Lagos State Governor Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on has appealed to the Nigerian Communication Commission not to shut down the 767 Emergency number frequency. The telecommunications regulatory body had threatened to shutdown the emergency number saying that it was not inline with its plans to have a single national emergency number. Fashola who spoke at an interactive session with members of the Organized Private Sector to mark his first 400 days in office at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa pleaded that the NCC should have a rethink of its plans to first shut down the operation of the frequency before listening to complaints about a previous commitment on the frequency. In a statement signed by the Senior Special assistant to the governor on media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, the Governor said he discussed the issue with Vice President Jonathan Goodluck on Tuesday in Abuja. He said the availability of the Emergency Response number had helped in rebuilding the confidence of residents of L

As part of preparations for commercial service rollout, Etisalat has held an interactive engagement with its Distribution Partners where both sides restated unwavering commitment to make Etisalat products and services available and affordable to Nigerians. Etisalat said it was keen on providing a platform for sustainable and viable partnership with its strategic partners in every aspect of business, stressing that the driving goal was to satisfy the customers at all times. The meeting which held in Lagos, was the first public engagement with the distribution partners, and it provided them immense opportunity to know more about the Etisalat brand. Specifically, the interactive session exposed the distributors to the company’s pedigree of innovative technology, successful roll out in tough conditions, as well as the values of simplicity, optimism and care as its driving forces. In his presentation, Vice President (Marketing) Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar, said the engagement with the

By Everest Amaefule and Jonah Iboma One of the current challenges in the use of information technology in government in Nigeria today is the fact that various institutions in the three tiers often embark on projects independently. The development has created a situation where projects are often duplicated and resources wasted. It was once reported that a particular government secretariat had over 15 VSAT installations serving separate ministries. Often, these infrastructure are under-utilised and public funds are wasted in maintenance and support. But this situation is soon to be a thing of the past, as the Federal Government through the Galaxy Backbone Plc is set to roll out a network that would cater for the information technology and communication needs of government institutions including ministries, departments and agencies The Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone Plc, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe, announced this in Abuja during the two-day “Public Sector ICT Infrastructure Forum” orga

National telecom operator, Globacom, has said that it will on Tuesday connect the Eket-Port Harcourt axis to its high capacity optic fibre telecommunication transmission backbone. The Eket-Port Harcourt line is the first on the Glo optic fibre network in the South-South part of the country. The operator had recently commissioned the Abuja-Minna, Onitsha-Awka, Owerri-Onitsha and Enugu-Awka legs of the project. Globacom’s optic fibre cable is an advanced and reliable transmission network that offers a much faster transmission of data, voice and broadband Internet and multimedia services than copper. It is expected that the inauguration planned for Eket would lead to a major improvement in the quality of telecom services in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states and adjoining communities. The Eket section of the optic fibre backbone is expected to connect residents of the oil rich Akwa Ibom and Rivers states to world class telecommunication services and bigger business opportunities. The fibre cable

The 2008 version of AfriGrowth Youth Mentoring Programme ended in Lagos on Wednesday with participants receiving certificates from the event organisers, AfriGrowth Foundation, at a one-day workshop organised in Lagos. The 2008 event brought together 24 young people (mentees) who participated in a one month long mentoring programme in Abuja and Lagos. It was designed to formally give participants knowledge about the lives of successful Nigerians in the corporate world and thereby empower them to succeed in life. Speaking at the workshop, President, AfriGrowth Foundation, Mrs. Dayo Keshi, noted that the mentoring programme started in 2005 with a pilot and that it had made its impact as many young people who participated in it had successfully taken their first steps in life by learning that honesty, handwork and dedication to good causes was rewarding “We have continued to receive fantastic reports from our mentees on their progress and we are happy with the success and progress that are

Starcomms Limited, Nigeria’s foutrh largest telecommunications operator has extended its network coverage to Shagamu and Ijebu Ode in Ogun State. The roll out, the company said in a statement on Thursday, was coming on the heels of the networks earlier promise of ensuring that subscribers on its network have increased network coverage to use their lines. Since it started its mass rollout of service following the acquisition of unified access licence in 2006, Starcomms, has taken its service from Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Maiduguri to some key cities including Ibadan, Rano, Aba, Onitsha. The firm recently added Asaba, Benin, Kaduna, Zaria and Abeokuta to its network. With the rollout in these cities, Starcomms now covers the 15 key cities of Nigeria. It also said plans were at an advanced stage to link other cities and towns this year. Starcomms said that the drive towards the South West market was to enable more Nigerians enjoy the company’s array of innovative products and value

Jonah Iboma Acer, the world’s third largest Persona Computer vendor, and the region’s leading notebook provider, has said that it regards Nigeria as a central market or its growth in the African continent. The form explained in a statement on Monday that it would therefore focus on the country as part of its ongoing commitment towards strengthening its unique channel business model across the African continent. The statement said that senior Acer executives during a special visit to Lagos highlighted the crucial role its channel partner’s play in making Acer’s empowering technology and products available to valued customers across the country. The Deputy Managing Director Acer Middle East and Africa, Krishna Murthy, said, “Nigeria’s IT sector is growing steadily and with the help of its strong channel partners, Acer intends to tap into this dynamic market. Facilitating their growth is instrumental for our continued success.” Murthy added that Acer’s business model encouraged partners