A SEEMINGLY innocuous document, designed in the form of a bill to accentuate the beauty and brilliance of the broadcast profession suddenly gained traction penultimate week when the House of Representatives at the National Assembly, called a Public Hearing to put its contents to test.

IT was my friend’s day last week, July 7, 2022. Aaron Ukodie, Arumata, as I call him with fond love, excavated a piece of telecoms history and burnished it into the nation’s telecoms walk of fame, that will outlive all of us, even those who pray to live forever.

AS the nation hobbles towards a potentially explosive election period, there is the need to sound a note of caution that things may spiral out of control; desperation may push people to tread on the path of the unorthodox, and to manipulate information for their own inordinate end. A personal experience has informed this preceding cryptic opening.

SOME interesting developments are taking place before us. Elections come up next year, but the heat is on already. Young people are trooping out across the nation to register as a precursor to getting their permanent voter cards, PVCs.

AT a time men and women of fertile knowledge of history were celebrating Democracy Day penultimate Monday, a government agency, the National Information Development Agency, NITDA, was releasing a document that could have a very damaging impact on the ability of people to have a say on those who govern them.

THE past few weeks have been great moments for broadcasting, the TV genre to be specific. First was the PDP convention held in Abuja, which enjoyed live coverage on television.

. By Okoh Aihe THE nightmare which all regulators fear came upon the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, last week. Unable to accept the depth of weakness in the new Nigeria Broadcasting Code which was largely pilloried by all, the NBC allowed itself to be dragged to court by an aggrieved party who challenged some sections […]

LOOKING at the unfolding scenario in the telecommunications industry, it is coming home real strongly that there was always going to be a scramble for ownership in the deployment of 5G globally.

MY friend lives in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and naturally feels entitled to the good things coming from the seat of government; or modified slightly, feels entitled to the enhanced quality and bounteous provisions for the status of a country’s capital, the way other capitals of other countries of the world are treated. By way of living the life, he used to walk with some kind of gait, a little swagger which unfortunately has been humbled by reality.

IN the euphoric readiness to receive 5G services into the country’s telecom ecosystem, nobody is noticing the fast disappearing line between the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, headed by a Minister in the Ministry.

THERE is a level at which a point of advantage becomes a curse, especially if the possessor failed or refused to mine its advantages with the hope and prayer that it will last forever. They fail to observe the speedy evolutionary process of the world, especially in the tech ecosystem, with the fervent prayer that what they hold will become a holy grail. My mind is on the SAT-3/WASC undersea cable for which NITEL was the subscriber on behalf of Nigeria.

Spiritual Intelligence shoots Prof Aibinu to the summit

TWO significant projects of the Nigerian government hang on a cliff at the moment. The NIN/SIM registration which was supposed to be a 15-day quick walk in December 2020 has spiralled into the third year and current measures being taken to bring the process to conclusion are only indicative of desperation on the part of the government.

IT can be a puzzle sometimes how a seemingly good deed can generate so much controversy and even have a day in the court. It is even more puzzling when such a deed is anchored on the law setting up an organisation with a view to helping industry and its operators.

By Okoh Aihe IT was last week. I saw a copy of a national newspaper and my eyes were fixed on the picture of this generation of Nigerians – young men and women, and even boys and girls, who were rocking the investment world with their brilliance. The vivacity of that picture enchants. The rambunctious […]