With Adeknle Adekoya

LAST weekend, the Minister of Communications & Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson addressed a stakeholders’forum in Lagos. At the event, all the parastatals under her ministry, from NCC and NigComSat to NITDA were present.

There, the minister, among other things informed Nigerians through her audience that if everything about the new policy thrust her ministry was pursuing gets the right attention, the economy would experience a boost from the contributions of ICT.

She also made what amounted to a big announcement — the Nigerian Communications Commission will now regulate the entire ICT sector.

All these sound great, but my fear is that the minister will have to work extra hard to ensure that the so-called Nigerian way of doing things does not stand in her way of achieving set goals. One thing is worthy of mention in this regard.

Before she happened onto that sector, there had been the ICT4D Strategic Plan for Economic Sectors of Nigeria. If not for the Nigerian way of doing things, shouldn’t that beautiful blueprint have been used to transform this nation?

I would think that the minister would do well in trying to find out what happened to the implementation of that plan, see the fault lines, effect the necessary amendments, and forge ahead with that plan, instead of a new one. Just a suggestion, anyway.

Feedback on the 0914111 death call scare

From 08034501362

Wukari is in Taraba, not Adamawa State.

I know, but I was simply reporting verbatim what I got. That was why I used the word sic, severally in reporting the body of the text message. Thanks all the same, and indicate your name next time.

From 07087982001

All your efforts to play down on the 091411 call simply exposed your ignorance the more. I received the call while in Jos on 09/09/11 at 19:56 and it lasted 1:59 minutes.

I listened to it but didn’t die as such. It was a customer service line received on my Airtel SIM as the computerized call simply gave instructions on how to access some of their services.

Thank God you didn’t die as such. You seemed to have missed the entire import of that article, which was to underscore the impression that mischief makers were at work.

If you didn’t die as such, where are the corpses of the 10 alleged to have died in Wukari, Adamawa, according to the text? Don’t forget that Wukari is in Taraba!

Also your allusion to ignorance may be two-way; it is the duty of journalists to bring matters controversial, even matters of conflict to the plane of resolution through a medium like ours.

By debating issues, we gain insight into matters that were hitherto unclear. The only position I took was that mischief makers might have been at work. Haven’t you heard of the phenomenon called hacking? Please indicate your name next time.

From 08034297372

You seem to have concluded that no such number like 09141 made calls to, and all ur efforts to justify your position exposed your ignorance the more….

Too bad your text arrived incomplete. My comments to our compatriot above should suffice. Next time please indicate your name.

What should customers do about cybercafes that offer poor services? — Feyi Akeeb Kareem.

You can complain to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). That is the government body in charge of regulating their services. Visit NCC website for more information.