Tag: Technology - Page 3 - African News Today

El-Rufai Boasts of Nigeria’s Twitter Ban in a Tweet

7Jun

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

El-Rufai Boasts of Nigeria’s Twitter Ban in a Tweet

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has praised the country’s suspension of access to Twitter in a tweet posted on Sunday. The governor said that Nigeria has taught the United States lesson in how to deal with big tech tyranny. His tweet was in defilement of an order by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to prosecute any Nigerian caught using Twitter after its suspension. Malami in a statement gave orders to the director of public prosecution of the federation to “swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government de-activation of operations of twitter in Nigeria.” The governor in his tweet at 9:37 pm, violated the suspension of Twitter by the Nigerian government. He tw...

6Jun

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

Why FG Suspended Twitter – Presidency

The Presidency has explained that the decision to ban Twitter access in Nigeria temporarily was not just informed by the recent deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet by the microblogging platform. Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed announced the suspension of Twitter on Friday in a statement issued by his media aide, Segun Adeyemi. Telecommunication companies in Nigeria on Saturday confirm receipt of an order restricting subscriber’s access to Twitter. Justifying the decision, a presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, in a statement on Saturday said the decision was not based on just the removal of Buhari’s tweet. Shehu said the decision was a culmination of a myriad of problems with Twitter where he alleged misinformation and fake news spread through it ha...

Twitter Ban: Buhari Govt Has Very Thin Skin for Criticism – Ozekhome

5Jun

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

Twitter Ban: Buhari Govt Has Very Thin Skin for Criticism – Ozekhome

Human rights lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has said he was not shocked by the decision of the Federal Government to suspend access to Twitter, saying the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has a penchant for not tolerating punches, but delights in always giving punches to adversaries, real or imaginary. The senior advocate also dared FG to go a step further and “dissolve the Nigerian people which it has become so allergic to and no longer wants to see or hear about”. He disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday titled, ‘When A Tottering Government Twiddles Twitter’. Ezekhome also accused the government of trying to shield its atrocities from global exposure with its decision to indefinitely ban the operations of Twitter in the country. Recall that the Minister of Info...

Nigerians to Submit Phone IDs from July – NCC

21May

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

Nigerians to Submit Phone IDs from July – NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has announced that Nigerians will be required to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity, IMEI, of their mobile phones to the regulatory body with effect from July. This was contained in the commission’s Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration. The decision of the regulatory body to commence the implementation of the Device Management System (a Centralised Equipment Identity Register) is approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. The NCC said, “With the aim to curtail the counterfeit mobile phone market, discourage mobile phone theft, enhance National Security, protect consumer interest, increase revenue generation for the government, reduce the rate of kidnapping, mitigate the use of stolen phones for crime, ...

SERAP Chides NBC, Issues 48 Hours Ultimatum Over ChannelsTV Suspension

27Apr

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, Judiciary, Nigeria

SERAP Chides NBC, Issues 48 Hours Ultimatum Over ChannelsTV Suspension

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has issued a 48 hours ultimatum to the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to reverse what it described as the unconstitutional and illegal suspension and a fine of N5 million on Channels Television or face a lawsuit. Reports say the Acting Director-General of the Commission, Professor Armstrong Idachaba, in a letter to the Managing Director of Channels Television, referred to Channels 7pm live broadcast programme of Sunday, 25th April 2021, in which it indicted the TV station of interviewing a leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) allegedly without "caution or reprimand." Reacting to the suspension, SERAP, in a statement issued by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said: "The suspension of Channels Tele...

10Apr

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Communication, News, Nigeria, Press Statement

Ezekwesili Threatens to Sue Omojuwa

A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has threatened to sue a blogger and social media influencer, Japheth Omojuwa, for alleged impersonation. Ezekwesili, in a letter by her lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, on behalf of Falana and Falana chambers, expressed shock she was listed as a director in Omojuwa’s media firm, Alpha Reach. A foreign medium, BuzzFeed, had exposed the role Omojuwa and other influencers allegedly played in the social media campaign for the release of alleged fraudster, Alex Saab, a Colombian who has been declared wanted in the United States and is facing extradition charges in Cape Verde. Twitter suspended the accounts of some of the influencers, alleging they promoted an unjust cause. Documents circulating online show that Omojuwa’s company, which was re...

MTN snubs Banks, links 77 Million Subscribers to Fintech Platforms

4Apr

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, Interview, News, Nigeria, Press Statement

MTN snubs Banks, links 77 Million Subscribers to Fintech Platforms

MTN customers in Nigeria now have alternative electronic payment platforms to recharge their phones as the mobile network operator on Saturday announced that customers can recharge airtime through payment solutions platforms such as Flutterwave, Jumia Pay, OPay, Kuda, Carbon and BillsnPay. MTN in a statement on Saturday by its Senior Manager, External Relations, Funso Aina, also said customers could recharge airtime by dialing *904# and *606# This is coming barely 24 hours after commercial banks on Friday disconnected MTN customers from banking channels including the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data and banking apps, leaving millions of MTN subscribers frustrated as they were unable to recharge airtime via USSD amid the Easter celebrations. MTN, with about 77 million subscr...

Court Orders Extension of NIN Enrolment by Two Months

24Mar

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, News, Nigeria

Court Orders Extension of NIN Enrolment by Two Months

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the extension of the deadline for National Identity Number enrolment by two months with effect from Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The extension was granted by Justice Maureen Onyetenu while passing a ruling in a fundamental right suit file by a legal luminary, Monday Ubani, against the Nigerian government, the Attorney General of the Federation, Nigerian Communications Commission and the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy. Ubani had in the suit contested that the two weeks ultimatum previously issued (now extended to April 6, 2021) to telecommunications operators to block SIM cards of Nigerians who have not registered their SIM cards with NIN, will infringe on their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression, rig...

Our CCTV Cameras Not For Watching Students’ Nakedness – FCET Lagos

14Mar

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Education, News, Nigeria

Our CCTV Cameras Not For Watching Students’ Nakedness – FCET Lagos

The management of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos State has debunked a publication by a Nigerian newspaper, ThisDay, which claimed that the institution’s management installed CCTV cameras in hostels to watch students’ while naked. This was disclosed by the school’s provost, Wahab Azeez, during a press conference on Friday at its academic board hall. The publication had alleged that students protested the installation of the CCTV cameras which were installed to monitor students’ activities. It partly read, “According to some of the students, the CCTV camera was installed almost everywhere in the female hostel thereby denying them of personal privacy. “Some female students also revealed that the school management and lecturers had been watching their na...

Buhari approves Paternity Leave for NITDA Staff

10Mar

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, Nigeria

Buhari approves Paternity Leave for NITDA Staff

The Federal Government has approved paternity and compassionate leave, among others, for the staff of the National Information Technology Development Agency. This was disclosed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, at the unveiling and presentation of the NITDA’s Employee-Centric Condition and Scheme of Service in Abuja on Tuesday. In his address as the chief convener and host, the minister appreciated the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for his approval of both documents for NITDA on the 12th of February, 2021, as well as his general support for the digital economy sector. He stated that the scheme and conditions of service took almost five years to complete, adding that they presented a holistic approach to the development of t...