As part of the activities marking the 2022 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, the management of ITREALMS Media is partnering E-waste Producer Responsibility Organisation of Nigeria (EPRON) and Ecofeld Nigeria Limited, for a day-long collection scheme of small electronic waste on Thursday, December 8, 2022.

This is coming as part of the commemoration of 2022 International E-Waste Day (IEWD) with the theme “e-Waste: Recycling it all! No matter how small” at Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos.

Disclosing this collaboration, the Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media, the organisers of the 2022 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, Mr. Remmy Nweke, encouraged mobile device enthusiasts to come along with their devices that have reached their end-of-life to the venue for proper disposition by professionals who would also be on ground to address some topical issues.

He said the collection of small electronic waste, especially mobile phones and like-devices, would be carried out by EPRON member organisation, Ecofeld Nigeria Limited as facilitated by ITREALMS Media Group as part of this year’s ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue on Thursday, December 8.

The exercise, he also said, would commence at Welcome Centre Hotel by 9am till close of work hours the same day.

Nweke revealed that the collection of small e-waste items would include mobile phones, pointers mouse, earpieces, rechargeable torches, phone chargers, to name a few.

He further said that this initiative has become expedient because some people may have missed the earlier opportunity in October and since this awareness on e-Waste has to be continuous, ITREALMS came up with this scheme.

Nweke enjoined Nigerians, especially mobile phone users to leverage the opportunity in disposing of their mobile devices they no longer use, of course in exchange for a voucher or gift item.

Reacting to the collaboration, EPRON Executive Secretary, Mrs. Ibukun Faluyi, described the initiative as a great idea capable of deepening the collection of end-of-life devices for proper disposition.

She also urged Nigerians to take advantage of this opportunity being made available by ITREALMS Media.

Faluyi recalled that last October, EPRON partnered SLOT alongside some UN agencies for collection of small e-waste items in Lagos, including the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Prof. Aliyu Jauro has been confirmed as the keynote speaker at the 2022 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue slated for Thursday, December 8, in Lagos.

L – R: Shahzad Manzoor Khan, Group Chief Technical Officer of Liquid, Ola Willams, Microsoft Country Director, Nigeria and Ghana, Wole Abu MD/CEO Liquid Intelligent Technologies in Nigeria, Ikechukwu Nnamani, President Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and Muhammed Rudman, Pioneer CEO, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) at the VIP Launch of Liquid Intelligent Technologies in Nigeria at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos recently.  

The quest to accelerate digital transformation in Nigeria received a major boost with the formal launch of Liquid Intelligent Technologies in Lagos recently.

A Pan-Africa company with a strong legacy and foundation, Liquid is already in 20 other African countries. Its formal entry into Nigeria, Africa largest economy is bound to enliven the nation’s technology ecosystem.

Speaking at the launch Wole Abu, MD/CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies in Nigeria said Liquid Intelligent Technologies was launched in Nigeria to tell the African story on digital transformation about the continent.

“Liquid Intelligent Technologies is part of a global power house called Cassava Technologies that is driving global digital transformation. The launch of Liquid Intelligent Technologies in Nigeria will further help to connect the rest of Africa to the internet and the digital economy space. Our desire is to transform the African continent by empowering Africans, Nigeria inclusive, as well as businesses with intelligent technology solutions.”

Abu  assured that the company will live up to its vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind. It’s Nigeria customers, he stated, will be availed good tidings that include secure network which has Cloud- delivered security at the core and this extends to network protection, penetration testing, secure web Gateway and Modern remote access.

Also available from the stable of Liquid is Cloud networking that ensures direct connectivity to multiple clouds; network within and between multi-clouds; cloud branch connectivity.  For secure cloud, Abu listed Identity Management, Cloud protection, Data protection and Bankups/ Disaster recovery as some of the service touch points.

Abu avowed that Nigeria is the first home for Liquid Intelligent Technologies in West Africa. Liquid, he disclosed, sees access to high-speed connectivity as a basic human right for all people in Nigeria. He reiterated his company’s desire to work with the federal government to achieve the objectives of the Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan (2021 – 2025) and to help transform Nigeria into a leading digital economy.

He noted that partnerships with international tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, AWS, and Oracle, has ensured for Liquid exceptional enterprise deployed to serve the customers’ best interest. He enjoined Nigerians who are desirous of reduced cost and complexity to partner with Liquid for both connectivity and digital service that are top rate.

To Abu, the size of the company’s network offers better economies of scale than multiple providers just as its infrastructure will enable enterprises across the continent to fulfill their digital transformation goals.

In his goodwill message, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Professor Isa Patanmi expressed optimism that the entry of Liquid Intelligent Technologies into Nigeria will help bring about more innovation into the sector.

He further hoped that the launch in Nigeria will deepen digital transformation in Africa. Pantami who was represented by the Digital Architect Manager, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Falilat Jimoh, said the launch of Liquid Intelligent Technologies in Nigeria, would further enhance internet connectivity in Nigeria and the rest of Africa, since connectivity has become a necessity in driving the fourth industrial revolution and the digital transformation agenda.

“In Nigeria, we have experienced the impact of digital economy that is driven by connectivity, which has accelerated the growth of several sectors of the Nigerian economy. In 2020, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), contributed 18.44 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP, which was the highest sector contribution to GDP. Again, ICT helped Nigeria to exit the recession triggered by COVID-19, much faster than was predicted by experts, Nigeria must therefore take advantage of the opportunities that Liquid Intelligent Technologies is bringing to the country,” Pantami said.

To Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the launch of Liquid Intelligent Technology would offer Nigeria the opportunity to become globally competitive in the 21st Century. Danbatta,  who was also represented at the launch by the Director, Technical Standard and Network Integrity at NCC, Wakil Bako, said that NCC would continue to encourage new players in the ICT sector to further drive digital transformation growth in the country. “As a leading provider of digital infrastructure, Liquid Intelligent Network is expected to leverage its cloud and cybersecurity services to further drive digital transformation in Nigeria,” Danbatta surmised.

President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Ikechukwu Nnamani, who gave the keynote address that  centered on the benefits of a digital economy, said the world had already entered into the digital era, and that Nigeria must be part of the digital transformation in the digital era.

“The future is digital and businesses have moved online. The benefits that come with digital economy are numerous, which includes transparency in governance, economic growth and job creation, among others,” Nnamani said.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a member of Cassava Technologies, Africa’s leading integrated technology company of continental scale. It focuses inter-alia on digital infrastructure and digital services and its string of firsts include First fibre to cross the Zambezi. First Cape to Cairo terrestrial connection, First terrestrial fibre to connect South Sudan, First cross continent East to West connections, First largest independent fibre network provider in emerging markets globally to achieve 100,000km fibre network. First to take Azure Stack hub to Kenya and Tanzania.

Its seamless, open access pan-African network, now over 100,000kms, is enabling people and businesses across the continent with unprecedented access to Cloud, Voice and digital services.

In connecting African countries to their neighbours and rest of the World, Cassava Technologies and its flagship company in Nigeria: Liquid Intelligent Technologies are evidently living up to its mandate of ensuring that Africa’s digital future is an intelligent one.

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, has reiterated the Commission’s commitment to ensuring there is a balance in the representation of females in the information technology (IT) ecosystem.

The EVC, speaking recently through the Head, Digital Media Management of the Commission, Nafisa Usman Rugga, at the ICT Quiz competition for Girl’s in Senior Secondary Schools organized by Nigerian Women in Information Technology (NIWIIT), said there was an urgent need to equip the girl child with adequate knowledge, access and use of Information Technology programmes and services which will give them the needed skill to compete in the digital space.

Danbatta further stated that the empowerment programme in commemoration of the International Girls in ICT Day, aligns with the Commission’s mandate of broadband penetration drive to women in rural and suburban areas for capacity building, employability, increased connectivity, and inclusion for gender equality throughout the Country.

The EVC also highlighted the Commission’s policies, projects and initiatives that show the importance of bridging gender disparity and ensuring that the Internet is a safe space for children. She laid emphasis on the Child Online Protection (COP) project of the Commission, which is aimed at educating children and their parents/caregivers on measures to safeguard themselves and their wards as they navigate cyberspace.

The CEO of NCC further informed the audience of the Commission’s commitment to re-skilling the girl child and women by collaborating with stakeholders in the ICT sector to create programmes to encourage, empower and expose them to the vast opportunities present in the digital world.

The two-day event which focused on creating awareness programmes for IT related services and products among women in the rural and suburban areas in Nigeria, targets special groups and students in secondary schools and tertiary institutions.

The event ended with the presentation of gifts to the winners from the quiz competition conducted at the forum.

Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta (Right) in a chat with the contractors during the inspection of the NCC Digital Park Project in Kano.

Ahead of the auspicious commissioning of the Digital Industrial Park (DIP) project in Kano State, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has, once again, paid an inspection visit to the site of the ongoing construction of the project in Kano State where he got an unequivocal commitment from the contractors that the project will be completed by January 2023.

The Friday’s inspection call by the NCC’s boss was part of the routine visits to ensure close monitoring and effective supervision of important projects that will have great impacts on the country’s socio-economic development.

During the visit, the EVC, who was accompanied by the NCC’s Head of Projects, Philip Eretan, and the EVC’s Chief of Staff, Malam Hafiz Shehu, among others, with the Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor, Prof. Yusif Alhassan, in attendance, emphasized the need for the contractors to expedite efforts in completing the project on schedule.

Addressing the contractors, Danbatta said that both the Federal and the State governments are following the progress being made at the construction site with keen interest owing to the value addition the project would make not only to the economy of the North-West geo-political zone but also to the country as a whole.

“This is a project that Nigerians are eagerly waiting to be completed. The Federal Government and the State government are following it with keen interest, and at NCC, our responsibility is to ensure that there’s no further delay in delivery as we have been doing everything possible to ensure that we have the project commissioned in the next few months.

“While I promise you that we will give you all the support you need, I also demand that progress report to be sent to me fortnightly over the two months period in order to ensure effective monitoring by us at NCC,” he said.

Speaking further, the EVC commended the State Governor for proving land at a prime location in Kano for the project, which he said is an indication of the value the government attaches to the project.

The DIPs currently being built across the six geo-political zones of the country by the NCC are expected to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by digital innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes. The parks are also designed to provide broadband services and to have access to constant power supply.

This is not the first time the NCC boss would pay a visit to the construction site of the project located at Audu Bako Secretariat in the ancient city, which doubles as the commercial nerve centre of northern Nigeria.

The EVC’s latest visit was sequel to a similar visit to the construction site in July 2022 and other visits he had made much earlier, essentially to assess the level of work that has been done so far to ensure that the project is delivered within the set deadline.

During the July 2022 visit to the construction site, Danbatta pointed out that the project was conceived to support the Federal Government’s digital drive by facilitating the availability and accessibility of digital services across the country, and promoting their adoption and usage across all sectors, as well as providing youth employment in the country.

“The idea of putting these two things (i.e., skill acquisition and innovation) at the forefront of this very important initiative is to produce youths that can be self-reliant, generate employment for themselves and other Nigerians,” he said.

Danbatta had also stressed that no part of the country would be left out in benefitting from the initiative. “The project is another move to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy agenda of the Federal Government,” he said.

L-R: Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer, ThisDay Newspapers, Eniola Bello; President, African Public Relations Association, Yomi Badejo-Okusanya; Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Adeleke Adewolu and Chairman, STB-McCann, Steve Omojafor, during the annual conference of the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) where the NCC received “The Regulator of the Decade Award” in Lagos at the weekend.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the ongoing process to auction two additional lots in the 3.5GHz spectrum for Fifth Generation (5G) is part of efforts that will further democratise access to high-speed mobile broadband for all Nigerians.

The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, stated this in Lagos over the weekend while speaking at the 10th Annual Brands and Marketing Conference of the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) where the NCC was conferred with the “Regulator of the Decade” Award.

Represented by the Commission’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu, the EVC noted that the ongoing process, for which arrangements are in top gear, followed the successful auctioning of two bands of the 3.5GHz spectrum in December of 2021.

Danbatta disclosed that the Commission is currently reviewing the licences and frameworks for fixed broadband to update them in line with current challenges and make them more effective as part of the pivotal initiatives deployed by NCC that are already bearing fruits.

The EVC was emphatic that the Commission, in pursuit of its mandate, has been relentless in creating the conducive atmosphere for the rollout and adoption of new technologies, and government has taken the firm position that the country must leverage digital technologies to grow the economy.

As such, he said the development of policies such as the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030 and the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025, which the NCC and other agencies and partners are assiduously implementing.

Danbatta informed the participants at the conference that content creation and consumption have grown around the telecommunications infrastructure provided by technology, which Nigerian entertainers have leveraged to become global brands.

“Due to heavy leverage on digital platforms, the Nigerian entertainment industry has gone global. Nollywood is one of the biggest movie industries in the world. In fact, more movies are produced by Nollywood yearly in comparison to Hollywood.

“Nigerian music stars are in hot demand worldwide because of their popularity and brand recognition on social media. We should add that many of these global superstars emerging from Nigeria launched into stardom by leveraging Caller Tunes and other mobile content platforms to grow their brands and huge followers online,” the EVC stated.

Increasing the intensity of his submission, Danbatta declared that “Digital platforms are fostering different types of systemic change, creating new brands, eroding the value of some brands, whilst at the same time increasing the value of other brands. The innovation-transformation-disruption cycle have come to stay and will be exacerbated as technology continues to evolve.”

The EVC left the impressive audience with reasons to be hopeful when he said, “Let me assure you that the NCC will continue to aggressively drive the roll out and seamless operation of infrastructure to drive new digital technologies for the benefit of all sectors of our economy. It is our hope that Nigerian brands will continue to leverage on robust infrastructure to grow their value and ensure that our country derives maximum benefit from unfolding digital transformation efforts.”