Electron Native

The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) has registered only about 100,000 .ng domain names since its inception in 2007. The President of NiRA, Sunday Afolayan, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos  that Nigeria had yet to be where it should, in terms of .ng domain name. NAN reports that the .ng domain name is the domain name system for Nigeria the same way .uk is to the United Kingdom and .za is to South Africa. The .ng domain name system is useful for anyone who wishes to set up a website in Nigeria and/or for Nigerians. “South Africa with about 56 million people has registered one million domain names and Nigeria with 180 million people has registered only 100, 000 domain names; so, we are not there yet. “Right now, we should be talking about three million .ng domain names but we are talking about 100, 000 only. “There is a gap between Nigeria and South Africa in terms of domain names registration, and we need to close that gap,...

Amendment to the Immigration Act by the House of Representatives will give the recent Executive Order 5 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari legal backing, House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila has said. The amendment, passed by the House last week following the adoption of a report, will restrict the Nigeria Immigration Service from issuing Work Permit to foreign expatriates in fields, where Nigerians have requisite knowledge and skills. Gbajabiamila, who sponsored the bill on the matter, said in a statement by his media aide, Olanrewaju Smart, yesterday in Abuja that it was in tandem with the yearnings by Nigerians to get a fair deal. “This Immigration Act, 2015 Amendment Bill I sponsored in July, 2016 preceded the Executive Order made by President Muhammadu Buhari on similar matter on February 5, 2018 and will considerably provide legal teeth to ensure implementation of the presidential order beyond tenure of the current President.” He said the amendment was the Hou...

Australia’s consumer regulator has announced it will conduct a broad-ranging public inquiry into how digital platforms like Facebook and Google have impacted media organisations’ ability to fund and produce quality news and journalistic content. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Monday it would examine the impact of such platforms, which have “up-ended advertising markets across the world.’’ ACCC Chairman, Rod Sims, said: “digital platforms like Google and Facebook are part of the sweeping technological and cultural changes overhauling the media landscape in Australia and globally. “While these technological changes have brought many benefits for consumers, this inquiry will have a particular focus on examining whether the changes affect the quality and range of news supplied to Australian consumers.” The inquiry will also look into the extent to which consumers understand what data is being collected about them by the platforms, and how this in...

Pay TV platform, Kwesé, has acquired a significant stake in iflix Africa, which will now form part of Kwesé’s diverse broadcast offering, as the core vehicle to deliver seamless mobile experiences to millions of viewers in Africa. iflix is an entertainment service for emerging markets, while Kwesé is Econet Media’s pan-African media company. A statement by Kwese read in part, “Having set up operations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, iflix offers users the region’s most extensive collection of highly acclaimed local African and international series and movies, including first-to-market exclusive programming. “This, in partnership with Kwesé’s broadcast operations and footprint, will create an exceptional mobile offering for consumers on the continent.” It was gathered that both companies had committed extensive resources with local and international expertise in mobile entertainment to serve Africa’s diverse markets. The Econet Group Founder and Executive Chai...

 The total contribution of travel and tourism to Nigerian economy has been estimated to be $1.1 billion. According to a report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global economy hit $7.6 trillion in 2016, about 10 per cent of the global GDP of $75.6 trillion. Tourism seems to be the way following the dwindling fortunes of oil and gas. The contribution of the tourism industry to Nation’s economy is not only a tiny fraction of the global industry but also shows the gulf between the present reality and the potential of tourism for Nigeria. The potential of tourism could be further enhanced with deliberate focus and more attention to turn around most of the nation’s tourist sites and turning them into wealth. The immediate past Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Sally Mbanefo said the sector generated the revenue from the more than 6.01 million tourists that visited the co...

The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, says Federal Government is working toward establishing specialised bank to assist innovators and entrepreneurs in science and technology ventures. The minister said this after listening to presentations by some student inventors and innovators at the ongoing 1 st  International Workshop on Science Parks and Innovation Eco-system for National Development (SPIE4ND) on Friday at University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). He said the delay in the coming on board of the specialised bank was due to the earlier economic recession in the country, noting that the bank should have taken off by now “but we had a challenge of recession and accompanying paucity of funds. “But I believe that with the picking up of the economy and other economic activities now; I believe it would not be long it would be a reality. “Talks were in progress with stakeholders and government partners on the specialised bank project.” Onu said that with ...

Mr Ekundayo Ayeni, Chief Innovation Officer, BusinessPlus Services, a digital marketing organisation, on Friday described social media as the fastest means to promote businesses. Ayeni told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday that business owners should interact with customers via social media since a large percentage of the public used the platforms. The digital marketer, however, said that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) must understand how social media worked and how to use them to boost sales. He advised that SMEs should invest in the platform where they would reach and engage with their audiences better instead of advertising on all social media. “Facebook is the biggest social network on the web, both in terms of name recognition and total number of users. “With over two billion active users, Facebook is a great medium for connecting people from all over the world with your business. “SMEs should familiarise themselves with suc...

Some Instagram vendors have blamed scammers for the skepticism shown by buyers on the platform, for the low patronage of their products. Vendors of various products and services such as hair, clothes, gift and luxury items, furniture, beauty products and automobiles have said that making sales on the platform has become `harder’ due to the overwhelming scam pages. A communication Expert, Chucks Orjih said that Instagram, a contemporary social networking application, has become one of the most popular market places in recent times, mostly due to its visual based content ability. “It is normal to see pages displaying items for sale with the use of videos and pictures, employing tags and promotions to attract the attention of buyers. He however, alleged that these scam pages lure most customers with beautiful pictures of goods in stock and proceed to collect payment without delivering the goods, leaving the customers stranded. The vendors stated that they have resorted to ...

Oyo Governor, Abiola Ajimobi has appointed Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, as the pioneer Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Technical University, Ibadan (Tech-U).  Ibidapo-Obe was a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Ibidapo-Obe’s appointment is contained in a statement signed by Alhaji Olalekan Alli, Secretary to the State Government in Ibadan on Thursday. Alli listed other council members of the university as Mrs Ibukun-Oluwa Awosika, the Chairman, First Bank Nigeria Plc, Abimbola Sangodoyin, a Professor of Agriculture Engineering at the University of Ibadan and Dr Tunji Olaopa, the Executive Vice-Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy. Also on the council are Mr Doye Ayoola, an oil magnate; Mr Jacob Ajekiigbe, a former Managing Director of FBN and Prof. Olanike Adeyemo, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnership, UI. Others are Dr Adetona Oladejo of the Department of Electronics an...

The Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) on Wednesday urged Information Technology (IT) practitioners to ensure they were registered and qualified to access contracts. From Google images The Registrar of the council,  Prof. Allwell Achumba,    said in Abuja that the registration of IT practice was the foundation for obtaining any contracts. “CPN is ensuring that due process is followed in the procurement of IT contracts. “The issue is that you cannot qualify for any IT contract without registering with the council. Registration is the starting process. “CPN is ensuring that professionalism is adhered to in the sector and the individuals operating in it are qualified,” he said. He said the council was running the data base of IT firms in the country to regulate the profession. Achumba recalled that the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) recently announced that it would register and issue licences to i...

India’s Home Ministry has planned a programme to train 37,500 law enforcement officials across the country to deal with the growing cases of cyber fraud crimes. The ministry said this in a statement released on Friday in New Delhi. “It has become imperative for the law enforcement agencies to have an in-depth understanding of the working of the cyber domain and the modus-operandi of crimes being committed therein,’’ the ministry said. A senior official said on Friday that the aim of the programme was to produce digital crime investigators who would be apt enough to respond to cyber fraud and crack down on the perpetrators of the crimes. “The first line of officials in a police station will benefited from it,” he said. An international research by Cyber Security Ventures has revealed that India is ranked fifth among countries vulnerable to cyber fraud, while the U.S. tops the list. 

The withdrawal of the U.S. as a financier of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2018 will impact negatively on UNESCO’s project in Nigeria, an official has said. The National Programme Officer of UNESCO, Dr Osuji Otu  made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja. Otu said the decision by the U.S. to occupy an observer status in the affairs of UNESCO would mean it would stop its donation of up to 20 per cent of the finances used for  implementing projects across countries. “U.S. pulling out of UNESCO indirectly affects us a lot because over 20 per cent of UNESCO funding comes from the U.S. “Some of those funds, when given to UNESCO find their way to projects in Nigeria; so for them to withdraw and just remain as an observer state, indirectly it affects some UNESCO projects in Nigeria. “That means we will not have enough to deliver some of the ...

It is an open secret to political conscious Nigerians that the brain behind the merger that produced President Muhammadu Buhari goes by the title Asiwaju. The body language from the Presidency until recently, had shown that the relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu as seen depicted to many Nigerians had gone sour. The reason behind such development was better imagined. Now, the rejected stone, has suddenly become the corner piece of rebirth, rejuvenation and definitely reconciliation. His appointment has been praised by many as long over due yet timely in face of the many lingering crisis in the party. But, what Augean stables has the All Progressives Congress, APC, turned into in the past two and half years of its being at the host in Aso Rock? Starting at the top, the rift between the Executives and Legislature had and is still affecting governance. The particularly, between the Presidency and the National Assembly. Many nominees of President Muhammad...

The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) says it trained 1000 students on how to be safe online between 2017 and 2018. Its Communications Officer, Adeyemi Odutola, said that the training was in line with the celebration of the 2018 Safer Internet Day (SID). According to a statement issued by him, there is need to strengthen knowledge and skills of Nigerian youths on ways to engage and use the internet positively towards socio-economic growth of the country. “The `Safer Internet Day’, marked on Feb. 6, is a day set aside to raise awareness for the empowerment of more people to using internet technology towards community development. “The focus of Facebook for the Safer Internet Day is making the internet safer for the youth. “To this effect, to mark the day in Nigeria, Facebook partnered with W.TEC to host a day of workshops and fun activities for secondary school students. Odutola said that the global theme for SID 2018 was “Create, Connect and Share Respect: A b...

Google has been fined 1.36 billion rupees (21 million dollars) by India’s anti-trust watchdog for abusing its dominant position in online search services, officials and reports said Friday. In its 190-page ruling, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) found that users searching for flight details were directed to Google’s own flight search page. “Google was found to be indulging in practices of search bias and by doing so, it causes harm to its competitors as well as to users,” the CCI said in the order posted on its website. Google, which has the right to appeal the order, said it was reviewing the CCI’s concerns, its spokesperson told the Economic Times daily. “The CCI has confirmed that, on the majority of issues it examined, our product complies with Indian competition laws,” the spokesperson said. CCI’s ruling is a result of a 2012 complaint by Indian matchmaking website Bharat Matrimony and a consumer protection group, Consumer Unity and Trust Society. The p...

The internet users increased marginally to 98.3million in November, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said. The NCC made this disclosure in its Monthly Internet Subscribers Data for December 2017 on its website on Thursday in Abuja. According to the data, Airtel, MTN and Glo gained more internet subscribers during the month in review while 9mobile was the big loser. The data also showed that overall, internet users increased by 98,391,456 in December from 94, 818,553 in November showing an increase 3, 572,903. The data breakdown revealed that MTN gained the most with 2,642.666, new internet users increasing its subscription in December to 36,069,597, from 33,426,931 in November. It showed that 9mobile lost 68,341 internet users in December decreasing its subscription to 11,338.839 as against November when it recorded 11,407,180. It said Airtel gained the most with 911,040 new internet users in December amounting to 23,985.203 users as against...