Postal Bill: Courier operators rue bill’s neglect, 10 years after

Worried by the huge financial losses lack of a credible regulator is causing postal and courier services operators in the country , some aggrieved stakeholders are set to brace all hurdles and canvass the passage of the Postal and Courier Services Commission Bill, after over 10 years of its submission to the National Assembly for enactment into law. ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN captures the position of the stakeholders on the pending Bill.

In what could be likened to a desperate move to get a credible regulator for the courier services sector in Nigeria, some key stakeholders have intensified pressure on the National Assembly

to pass into law, the Postal and Courier Services Commission Bill into law, after staying in its hallowed chambers for almost a decade.

The private courier services companies, which began operation in the country shortly after independence in 1960, have since then been operating without a regulatory framework with the attendant negative implications for the development of the sector and investment returns for operators.

After several years of waiting endlessly for a regulatory regime that would guide the players on how best to operate for national economic benefits, the operators and other stakeholders are set to pursue the agenda of a law for the sub-sector of the communication industry with renewed vigour before the end of this current National Assembly and by so doing, place the issue of the bill in the front burner of legislative deliberations whenever the 9th Assembly is inaugurated.

Investigations revealed that President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in 1985 split the then Department of Post and Telecommunication, P & T into Nigeria Telecommunications, NITEL and Nigeria Postal Service, NIPOST thereby placing the regulation of the industry in the hands of a department, Courier Regulatory Department, CRD, which is within the NIPOST.

The CRD since then has been regulating the sector industry but the enormous potentials of the industry as indicated by its sporadic growth as well as the currently dwindling fortune of the sector recently has prompted some stakeholders to call for an urgent reform. In 2002, a group of private courier operators got together in Lagos and formed an association, Association of Nigeria Courier Operators, ANCO, which today has become a mouthpiece for private courier operators in Nigeria.

President of the Association, Oladapo Siyanbola in chat said that the call for the courier industry reform was cardinal for the formation of the Association years ago stating that major landmark feat that the sector is waiting to experience is the passage of the Postal and Courier Services Commission bill into law.

According to him, what the industry has now as a regulator is the Courier Regulatory Department, CRD, within NIPOST, noting that it does not have the powers to regulate, transform and protect the postal sector.

The top industry player revealed that since the split of P & T and NITEL in 1985, there has not been an noticeable reform in the entire Postal sector noting that it has negatively affected the growth of the sector so much that the numbers of private courier operators in the country has dropped from 293 to merely 80.

National Mirror gathered that the agitation for reform in the sector began in 2004 when the first Courier Summit was held in Lagos, which culminated to the demand for a Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission.

Siyanbola explained that the Postal and Courier Services Commission bill was sent to the 6th and 7th National Assembly for debate and subsequent passage but was not passed until the end of the two Assemblies, expired.

He added that an executive bill was later send to the Assembly for consideration and passage stating that if not passed into law before the life of the current Assembly ends, it means sponsors of the Bill will have to start afresh thereby protracting the misfortunes of the Postal and Courier Services sector.

While expressing optimism that the passages of Bill will address the current problem of lack credible regulator for the sector, he cited the examples of countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tanzania and others with a regulatory Commission overseeing the sub-sector.

The Managing Director, Swift Couriers Limited, Mr. Toyin Olufade while also supporting the call for the speedy passage of the Bill, disclosed that the sector has the capacity to create over 200,000 jobs noting that it has great benefit to the economy.

He stated that the Bill will help to end unemployment in the country but that its impact on the economy is limited because it has no government saying that stakeholders in sector have visited the Communications Technology Minister, Mrs. Omobola Johnson but the visit did not change the status of the sector.

He stated that NIPOST is failing because Nigerians are no longer reading or writing adding that the sector needs an enabling environment for it to thrive.

Commenting on the issues, Executive Director, Moving Edge, a private courier operator, Mrs. Tolu Omamadaga, said the sector needed infrastructure revolution, which only the passages of Bill could guarantee saying that transport mode in the country is causing huge losses to operators due to the present state of the roads across the country.

“We still obtain trade permit or emblem from several sources even when our parcels are on transit, and if we fail to meet our delivery time, it affects our business. And most local governments across the country have formed the habit of damaging courier vehicles because of one form of taxes or the other”, she said.

Reacting to the campaign for the passage of the Bill, Managing Director, PTL Courier Limited, Ms. Lara Okuneye, said, “We want to plead with the National Assembly to pass the Bill before the expiration of their tenure. If we they have done that three years ago, we would have started reaping the benefit by now.”

Another stakeholder, Managing Director, TransRoyal Courier Limited, Mrs. Vivian Okeke blamed the proliferation of some online marketing portal that now engage in courier business on the lack of a credible regulatory commission. 

She said that all of them have added courier business to their core business saying that Ghana has a legal framework that is helping the sector there to grow while the government is also giving support to the operators.

Publicity Secretary of ANCO, Adeojo Toyin said that lack of a credible regulatory commission was creating frustration for the operators, saying that presently operators are worried about when Bill will be passed into law.

Poor Regulation Cripples Courier Business

"Business before now was booming for the private courier operators in the country, most whom left the big foreign names to start their own company after years of meritorious service. However the sub sector now faces serious challenges and operators blame NIPOST for their woes" 

MANY local private courier services operators in Nigeria are fast winding up their businesses due to the unfavourable business environment and poor regulation from the government owned Nigeria Postal service, NIPOST.

 Investigation traced the genesis of the calamity that has befallen the private courier operators to the improper regulation from NIPOST following its battle for survival when the telecoms revolution started affecting the business of NIPOST.

Business is no more booming for the private courier operators who once were actually the drivers of the industry, and the operators blame the dual personality of NIPOST as an operator and a regulator for their predicament.

It was gathered that the present state of regulation in the industry, as well as government’s unwillingness to respond to their plight made the fortunes of the sector nose-dive.

For instance, sometime in 2013, NIPOST introduced new regulations into the industry, which according to the small courier firms was cleverly designed to push them out of business.

NIPOST through its Courier Regulatory Department, CRD introduced new licensing and renewal fees under which, new companies or individuals seeking to float courier firm would forward application form to the Senior Assistant Postmaster General, CRD, with the license fee of N2m for domestic or national operation, or N10m for international courier operations together with a non-refundable fee of N20, 000.

An inspection team from CRD would visit at least five branches and head office of the prospective courier operator and the success of the inspection entitle the prospective operator to a new courier license.

Also, under the new fee regime, renewal fee was pegged at N500, 000 for domestic operators while their international counterparts are to pay N2m.

Some of the information required from the prospective companies include, but limited to Certified True copy of Certificate of Incorporation; Memorandum/Articles of Association; Company’s Tax Clearance for the last three years (originals to be sighted); Leasehold Certificate or Tenancy Agreement in respect of the company’s registered office and Evidence or information to show capacity to operate courier service including but not limited to indemnity insurance policy of Five Hundred Thousand Naira, capital base of Two Million Naira or a bond of that value, among others.

General Secretary, Association of Nigeria Courier Operators, ANCO, Mr. Okey Uba  revealed that courier business requires expertise to succeed but that government left the huge industry in the hands of NIPOST, which later considered it as an income generating business that resulted to the introduction of new fees.

The NIPOST regulation brought into the courier business a lot of businessmen who lack the expertise to manage a courier firm but had the money to pay for the fees.

Unfortunately, investigations revealed that the regulation from ANCO has not been able to flush-out the quacks because it lacks statutory responsibility to do so.

 Uba further revealed that regulation from NIPOST has also not been able to prevent local government officials and inter-state revenue collectors that harass courier trucks on delivery trips across the country.

Very often he said that the trucks were detained by the revenue collectors who are unaware of the importance of the content of the truck to the courier clients saying that the industry needs a separate commission for proper regulation.

Such commission, he should be able relate with the several government agencies that harass courier trucks on transit across the country.

He said that if there is a proper regulation from NIPOST, the revenue collectors across the country that harass courier trucks would be able to appreciate the difference between courier truck and other commercial trucks that ply the nations highway.

Presently, there are those who engage in courier business in the country without operational license from NIPOST, and the regulator has not been able to effectively address the situation, even ANCO has not been able to address.

It was discovered that there are corporate bodies across the country that operate dispatch services offering courier services. Such organisations include banks, eateries, transport companies, legal and telecoms firms as well as government agencies.

It was also discovered that the regulator is aware that almost every companies in the country have courier services department that ply the road engaging in courier services on motorbike.

According to Uba the pricing structure of these other bodies as well as that of the transport companies that engage in courier services is major a drain on their profit from the business.

According him, these companies can collect any amount from their clients noting that the business of the private courier services lacks professionalism.

Investigations revealed that NIPOST has been doing everything to ensure that the private courier companies are driven out of business by the kind of policies that is churned out by NIPOST.

Unfortunately, it was also discovered that the planned convergence championed by the Minister of Communications Technology, Dr Omobola Johnson in the draft national draft policy on ICT in 2012 did not favour the courier operators.

While the other sectors in the industry have an unbiased regulator, only the courier operators do not have such.

General Manager, Courier Services, Cross Country, Toyin Adeojo, who works for Courier Master, one of the indigenous courier companies said that the cry of the private operator is a Commission that will effectively regulate the industry.

He said that a level playing field must be created in the  sector so that there will be a restructuring avoid of overlapping interests saying that the present state where NIPOST is both a regulator and operator is contentious.

Adeojo who is also the Publicity Secretary for ANCO revealed that there are certain things that the Courier Regulatory Department, CRD of NIPOST should have been doing to protect their interest but the officials of the department cannot do such because of what may be the reaction of the top management of NIPOST.

Although Adeojo will not mention the things, he however said that the annual renewal fee has since its introduction affected the business of the operators.

He said that removing the sum of N500, 000 from their annual income at time when the fortune of the industry was dwindling was a hard knock on the operators saying that in Ghana annual renewal fee is in five years whereas for Nigeria it is once a year.

He disclosed that money bags make their way into NIPOST and get the courier license without the required expertise saying that their activities which are not checked by NIPOST is affecting the survival of the private courier operator.

According to him, the present unfavourable condition and the lack of proper regulation is responsible for the non-payment of salaries of private courier staff.

He said that if the industry has a regulator, individuals will not ply the road on motorbike as courier operators noting that a situation where medical diagnostic centres do dispatch services amounts to doing their job.

He explained that it is not the work of medical diagnostic centres to use motorbike to carry blood sample from one part of the city to another adding, “That is the work of courier operators. They are not trained to do that. It is because no one is regulating them that is why it is like that.”

He continued: “You can imagine Konga that came into the country not too long ago, got registered as courier operator because they can afford the N2 million”, saying that sometimes  Cross Country losses almost about N200.000 each week to the revenue collectors on the highway due to improper regulation.

Investigation also revealed that the failed privatisation plan of NIPOST is creating a major setback for the industry as it is not allowing NIPOST to develop as an operator.

Some ANCO members believed that if NIPPOST is privatised and a commission is established to regulate the industry, NIPOST will not be able to churn out policies that will affect the private operators.

For instance, in the regulation guidelines of ANCO, anyone that wants to join must have studied a courier related discipline in the university or worked in a courier firm for five years in a senior management position.

Unfortunately, most those being registered by NIPOST do not have such qualifications

He revealed that there is a Postal Service Commission bill that was brought to the National Assemble during the tenure of the later Minister of Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili noting that efforts by ANCO to get the lawmaker to look at the bill have proved abortive.

While the crisis in the sector continues and more private courier firms continue to close, ANCO said it has result to counseling of its members on how to survival.

One of such measures, the ANCO scribe said is the advice to its surviving members not to invest in opening of branches across the country but instead they should form synergy with other members that have business in other states of the Federation.

He said that the absence of an independent regulator is preventing its members from considering merger options adding that ANCO is working to protect its members from fraudulent clients.

He added that the complain that telecoms revolution is affecting courier services was not true because in the UK and America courier services is doing well despite the fact that the telecoms revolution took place years ago in those countries stressing that “ours is not doing well because courier services here is not organised.”

He said that while the foreign courier companies get a single digit loan from the banks in Nigeria, the local private operators get theirs at 30 per cent saying that that’s why we need a well funded courier industry.

A business development manager in one of the courier service company who do not want to be named revealed that sometimes to survive they had to use NIPOST facility to do their job, saying that that was why the industry needs the right kind of regulation.

When contact for comment on some of the investigation discovered by our correspondent, Senior Assistant Postmaster General and Head of the Courier Regulatory Department, CRD, Dr. Simeon Emeje declined to give audience. Also questions send by text message to his mobile phone were not responded to as at the time of filing this report.

However, Head of Enforcement, NIPOST, Andrew Ibiloma disclosed that as a regulator, NIPOST is up to the task of making sure that the environment is conducive for all operators to do business.

According to him, the enforcement team was in Ilorin, capital of Kwara State last December for its oversight function of the industry where six unregistered courier operators were clamped down on adding that same month two others had their business shut  down in Lagos.

Ibiloma revealed that very soon the regulator will begin to address the issue of dispatch riders that do not display stickers of the courier companies that they represent saying that NIPOST is aware that there are some organisation that have logistic department that engage in courier services and that it needs the support of the media to tackle the menace.

He explained that if they are not register with NIPOST to do courier service every courier job in that department must be given to courier service companies warning that it is against the law to engage in courier service without proper registration.

He said that there are banks like Union Bank, Union Express, and Access Bank with registered courier company engage in courier services adding that the Enforcement Team rely on the public for information for us raid.

Mobile Data: 'Tools for Business Efficiency, Money Spinning for Operators'

 V

oice and data are the key tools in the mobile world, however for Nigeria the trend has been tilted more to favour voice but some operators have been keying into the pontentials of mobile data. Ahead of the Mobile World Congress 2015, the key drivers for mobile data were examined along the money spinning opportunities.  

IN THE last few years across the global, mobile data has become the trend in the telecoms industry following the evolution of several value added services in the mobile services sector as well as the development of an electronic driven financial services economy.

In Nigeria, the trend just began in the early 2000 following the licensing of mobile telephone operators to run the Global System for Mobile communication.

Since then, the industry has been largely driven by voice with little attention being paid to huge potentials of the mobile data for a country that has been captured as the fastest growing in Africa.

The pitiable result was recently reflected in a mobile money report, which rated low, the adoption of mobile money by the Nigerians despite the growing awareness in the economy.

The report revealed that Nigeria has a huge addressable market and a large number of mobile money deployments, but low levels of adoption and usage. And this is just one aspect where mobile data is expected to play a key role.

The report, which was published by Mondato, a mobile financial services industry research and advisory company listed Nigeria among the countries in West Africa where the adoption of mobile money is still at infancy.

Deployments of mobile money have been on the increase of recent as several partnerships between the financial services companies and the mobile operators have been signed.

Access Bank Plc recently entered into an agreement with Airtel Nigeria for the deployment of its mobile money platform, Access Money.

In July 2014, MTN Nigeria launched the MTN Diamond Yellow account, offering mobile financial services in partnership with Diamond Bank.

Also Globacom launched Glo Exchange, a mobile money super-agent network that

created 500,000 mobile money agent outlets in the country through the Glo Xchange, Globacom in partnership with Firstmonie, a subsidiary of First Bank, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC and Zenith Bank.

A study conducted by a Nigerian research company, NOI Polls, showed that only six of 10 Nigerians know about the mobile money, which is 59 percent while only 13 percent use it.

The responses showed that majority of the 93 per cent operate such accounts in connection with their bank account, while only seven per cent operate their mobile money account separately.

The poll also revealed that 65 per cent use for funds transfer, 54 per cent for bill payment, 36 per cent for money withdrawal and 25 per cent for payment of purchased goods and services.

The opinion poll, conducted between August 5 and 7, 2013, involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1004 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country,

While the growth in terms of embrace mobile money still appears to be at its infancy due to its challenges as reported by Mondato, critical apps to drive mobile data is however also at its lowest ebb.

President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Engr Lanre Ajayi in an interview with National Mirror expressed worry over the lack of apps and content to drive mobile data in the country when broadband access becomes abundant in Nigeria.

According to him, the country is in dire needs of local apps and content to drive mobile data saying that the absence of such will amounts to waste of whatever broadband access increase that the country will experience this year.

And ahead of the Mobile World Congress 2015, which will be held on March 2-5 in Barcelona, Gartner, the worlds renowned market intelligence revealed that there are going to be key drivers of mobile data that will become money spinners for operators to key into.

According to Gartner, there are key factors that will drive the growth in mobile data traffic adding that communications service providers, CSPs and mobile app developers will lead the market.

Research Director at Gartner, Jessica Ekholm said that mobile data traffic will continue to show double-digit growth in 2015 noting that Gartner expects traffic to grow by 59 percent this year.

Gartner revealed that there will be newer and faster networks, a rise in the number of users of these networks, and more affordable 3G and 4G handsets will help to increase data traffic.

It however, said that the key driver of data growth on a global scale is mobile apps, particularly mobile video apps stressing that network speed and reliability are priorities for many mobile customers, it is really apps and content that are driving traffic volumes as people increasingly chat to friends and family, watch videos on the move, and listen to streamed music.

Gartner predicted that although 4G service prices are likely to fall to 3G levels to make them more affordable, 3G networks will continue to fuel worldwide data growth during the next five years.

“We predict that, in 2018, half of North American mobile connections will use 4G networks, but in the Middle East and Africa 4G users will amount to only 3.5 percent of the region's total. We expect 3G connections to grow by 45.7 percent globally in 2015. This double-digit growth shows the longevity and importance of 3G networks”, the report said.

Gartner further revealed that the availability of more affordable 4G handsets is also fuelling growth in data traffic saying that the increase in affordable 4G-enabled handsets and 4G services, which are becoming priced on par with 3G services, will collectively boost traffic.

For 2018, Gartner predicted that 4G users will generate 46 percent of all mobile data traffic explaining that this is because, by 2018, each 4G smartphone will use nearly 5.5GB of data per month, which is three times more than a 3G smartphone.

On what mobile apps will drive double-digit growth over the next few years, it was revealed that mobile video is by far the biggest driver of mobile data.

According to the global market intelligence group, data that was collected from various mobile providers suggested that mobile video is generating 50 percent of all mobile data saying that it expects video streaming to account for over 60 percent of mobile data traffic in 2018, as consumers increase the number of videos they watch and upload.

Gartner observed that fast, uninterrupted, video experiences encourage people to increase their video usage stressing that the growth in the number of users of video-calling services is also noteworthy.

In terms of traffic, Gartner said five minutes of 3G FaceTime video calling uses up to 15MB of data adding that there are many users, of which the collective total amount can be large.

In addition,

The report further revealed that mobile music streaming can easily generate hundreds of megabytes of data, but this varies greatly between mobile music apps for example, a user actively listening to music may consume more than twice as much data as a user of Pandora.

On what should CSPs and mobile app developers do to harness this growth, Gartner suggested that the amount of time consumers spend on the Internet, whether via mobile phone, tablet or PC, will continue to increase.

And as such CSPs will need to focus on creating new pricing with a focus on data access, such as shared plans saying that they will also need to refine the services they already provide, with a focus on creating richer, more immersive and more personalised experiences, to increase their customer numbers.

“As the mobile app market matures, app developers will have to sharpen their focus on the marketing and transparency of their apps, in order to retain customers”, the report.

 Gartner's research indicated that although affluent people and traditional early adopters are the leading users of new technologies and devices, younger, less wealthy people make greater use of mobile apps.

It observed further that young people's greater acceptance of apps and mobile content will require app developers to adjust their techniques to address the differences between user groups saying that the future will be tough for CSPs and mobile app developers that decide not to upgrade the user experiences they deliver on their services and products while the winners will be those providers best able to satisfy consumers' demand for high data use, while maintaining their margins.

MTN Nigeria became the first mobile operator in Nigeria to key into this unique opportunity this year when it launched the BetterMe Apps, an all embracing apps that explores the power and accessible via PCs and mobile devices.

2015 Elections: Study Suggests Social Media May Foretell Winners

It is so hard to predict for now how much impact the social media, internet tools may play in deciding winners of the 2015 elections, how there are suggest that Nigeria is no longer far from a situation where both will foretell the winners. 

LIKE never before in the history of electioneering in Nigeria, the social media has suddenly become a beehive of activities. It now seems to offer the permutations as to which candidate will eventually emerged as the winner of elections that will be held few weeks to come across the country.

While some political enthusiast are near jubilations that their candidate are now at the threshold of claiming their mandate even when the vote is not cast, others think that it is too early count chicks since the eggs are not yet hatch.

Google, Communication and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa,

Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade in an interview with the National Mirror debunks the claim that the social media has the capacity to determine the winner of an election.

According to him, “it is a bit hard to take one medium as the voice of the people, particularly in this part of the country where you have different views. The election is an activity that is coming up, while the social media is just a tool used to promote it.”

Kola-Ogunlade described the social media as one of the tools that Nigerians are using to promote the coming elections stressing that “this election is one of the most talked about in the country, and the reason is because the social media has played and still playing a big role.

Refuting further the claim that the current political discourse in the social media and the heat that social media campaign has created in the polity, he said that that the internet is a platform that enables democracy, stressing that “what that means is that power and knowledge is no more in the hands of the few, everyone now has access to power and knowledge meaning that everyone can talk.”

He added, “Before now it used to be one newspaper or broadcast station talking to everyone but now everyone, even there are Nigerians that have large followers more than some stations that are now forcing their positions on national issues.”

He explained that “there is now social capital as people are building online followers, so that is the advantage of the social media as it is making people to have a voice. And I am particularly please about that because young people are now speaking out, so it is no long all about age, experience or ideas.”
The Google spokesman said further that what is happening in the social media currently about the 2015 general elections is that ideas from sections of the society are being churned out through the social media.

He said, “the thing about ideas is that ideas can come from anywhere in the social media, such as the #thebringbackourgirls campaign and such other movement that have brought about changes that affect nations. The very recent one is the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris where people are unwilling to back down on terrorism.”

He however noted that the thought or ideas of people from the social media cannot decide who wins an election because of the present number of Nigerians on the internet, and the fact that not all of the will eventually cast their vote.

He stressed that “In this part of the world the internet is just growing, as at today, there are 49 million Nigerians online, and we are about 170 million. Let us assume that 60 per cent of that is of the voting age and that figure is still bigger than the number of people that use the internet but the internet does help to form and build opinion.”

Nevertheless, he said, “The potentials of the social media is a major reason why the presidential candidates have social media campaign strategy doing a lot stuff using all sorts of social media platform like Tweeter, Google+, Google hangout and Facebook.”

He stated that that was the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Jim Agbaja recently hand a Google hangout where he was discussing with people about his campaign promises noting that “since you don’t know what particular time people will be looking for content, it therefore becomes a multiple kind approach and it’s so good that we are seeing it at this time of our existence.”

According Kola-Ogunlade, recent studies showed that people are most receptive when they are online than when they are watching television or looking at billboard saying that “if It was strong enough to engender people to come out and protest during the fuel crisis, it could affect their decision.”

While assessing the performance of the two presidential candidates, Muhammadu Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan in the use of the social media to drive their campaign, he said that both of them have done very well stating, “I cannot say which has done better but it can only get better.

However, social media rating analysis result recently obtained using Tweet Archivist revealed that the People’s Democratic Party,PDP, candidate,  President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GEJ, was far ahead of his opponent of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari.

The tweet analysis for GEJ showed that he had 67 tweets with 483,128 impressions in the period between January 19 and 26 while his opponent had 2 tweets with 494 impressions for just January 25 meaning that Buhari was absence from tweeter between January 19 to 24 and 26.

The only Tweet on Buhari which had a message reads: #Muhammadu Buhari is only an agent 4 Change to reclaim Nigeria so that our country can rise again & be a source of our hope & pride.

While tweets on GEJ were mostly those confirming the authenticity of the GEJ which members of the opposition camp had being drumming during the period in other social media.

An internet tool but not a social media platform was also used to assess the presidential declaration speech so as to find out possible issues that their party will address if or when voted into power.

Known as Wordle, it is a tool for generating “word clouds” from text provided. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

The prominent words, that feature in  the speech of  contesting candidate tells a lot about the direction of the candidate, and can tell what to expect from the candidate when voted into power.

And because the apps also make it possible for the result of the Wordle to be shared online, it therefore makes it possible for it to be used as a tool to form voter’s opinion. Wordle uses the number of times a word appears in a text to determine its relative size. And so if you look at the Wordle image, it pictures some text larger than the others indicating the frequency of occurrence of the word in the text.

The declaration speech of the APC candidate, in Wordle format has been labelled Figure A while that of the PDP presidential candidate is labelled Figure B.

As seen in the Wordle of the APC candidate are in the order of the sizes are: Nigeria, PDP, Government, Employment, Corruption Economy, Growth, Injustice, Challenges and Community while some key issues based words that do not feature prominently  in the speech are: Oil, Integrity, Rights, Elections, Tracks, Development, Farming

For the PDP presidential candidate words that feature prominently in his speech are: Nigeria, Opportunities, People, Young, National, Nigerians, Expanding, Initiative, Children, Forward, Years, School, Naira, Hydro-Power and Support.

However, some key issues base words do not feature prominently in the speech such as: Peace, Daughters, Food, Hungry, Rural, Projects, Education, Constitutional and APC.

According to Kola-Ogunlade although these social media platform and internet tools have great role to play in forming the opinion as per the choice of candidate that the electorate may vote for but the fact that the numbers of Nigerians on the internet is not large enough to pull a vote for a candidate, it is obviously not likely to decide a winner.

He said that once the cost of internet access drops, there is a reliable internet access and more Nigerians that vote are aware of the potentials then we see social media and internet tools deciding the winning candidate in the country.

Google to Empower Nigeria Media With Election Reporting Tool

AS PART of its plan to ensure that the 2015 general election becomes a success, Google Nigeria said that it will empower Nigerian journalist with the required ICT^ tools to that will enable them to report the elections credibly.

The one day, workshop with the theme: data Tools for Election reporting is expected to avail journalist with the online tools for elections story telling.

Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa, Google, Mr. Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade said that in the last decade, social media and online journalism have played an important role in helping to build stable democracies resulting from informed voting.

He noted that as more people get online, this impact grows saying that the weeks leading to the Nigerian 2015 elections present great opportunities for media people to innovate on their story telling abilities through the use of online tools and social media.

“The Google for Elections workshop is a one-day, hands-on Certificate program focused on using Social Media tools, Visualisation and Citizen Reporting tools in 'unearthing' and telling elections-based stories. Participants will learn to use online tools like Fusion Tables, Polls, Trends and Tables to result and develop stories”, he said.

He added: “This program is ideal for editors, journalists, social media/digital reporters interested in becoming proficient in learning to leverage online/digital tools for better elections reporting.”

Kola-Ogunlade said that the training, which comes up Friday, 16, 2015 is for the first 100 journalist who register http://goo.gl/tjVwM3 adding that upon completion, participants will have the knowledge and tools necessary to apply their new skill set immediately and will also be issued with certificates from the Google Media Academy.

Shun Substandard Mobile Phones, Experts Warn Consumers

The ICT revolution kicked off a lot of business opportunities in the country making the Nigeria market to be referred to as the largest in Africa. Unfortunately, it opened up the nation to all forms of dubious business activities; one of such is the thriving trade of fake and substandard mobile phones.

THE MOBILE phone industry growth in Nigeria, which was kicked off following the revolution of the ICT opened the country to several business opportunity benefiting everyone but the nation is unfortunately likely to pay for it unless some key regulation ideas are urgently addressed.

One of such is the volume of unregistered mobile phones that are brought into the country by brief case carrying mobile phone dealers and mobile manufacturers who are taking advantage of the corruption in the Nigerian society.

Recently, a Chinese man identified as Lin Tian Huan, was arrested at the popular Computer village, home of ICT products in the country by the task force of the Phone and Allied Products' Dealers Association of Nigeria, PAPDAN, an association of traders in the computer village for being in possession of 10,000 substandard mobile phones.

He was found with fake and substandard mobile phones which passed for Nokia and Samsung brands.

Upon questioning by the police at the Computer Village, Huan said he illegally imported over 10,000 pieces of different models of mobile phones products into the country.

Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, recently sealed a Chinese warehouse stocked with suspected substandard phones during its enforcement exercise in Ikeja.

SON discovered that the warehouse had mobile phones that were not registered with it and could not be linked with neither registered manufacturer nor importer.

According to the director-general of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON,  Dr. Joseph Odumodu, more than 80 percent of the mobile phones and other related computer accessories at the market are not genuine.

In China, where most of the fake and substandard mobile phones were said to originate, a mobile phone recently exploded and caught fire in a bus.

Reported by the Guardian UK, CCTV footage from the bus in Nanchong city, in South-West China, showed the phone battery exploded in its owner's hand and caught fire. The incident happened as the passenger was changing her phone batteries.

The Daily Mail UK also reported that a shop worker died after his mobile phone exploded, severing a major artery in his neck.

It was believed that the 20-year-old man just finished charging the phone’s battery before placing it in his breast pocket. Alarmingly, local reports claimed the incident was the ninth recorded mobile phone explosion in China since 2002. 

In June 2007, a welder Xiao Jinpeng, 22, died from chest wounds when his mobile phone exploded while at work at a mill.

Although there are no record yet of mobile phones exploding and killing people yet the large number of mobiles that enter the country including the fairly used ones worries stakeholders.
And indeed, that worries the NCC too compelling it host on its website warning on the danger of fake or substandard mobile phones saying that beyond technical issues, it also has its health hazard.

The NCC said that before mobile phones are sold in each market all models of genuine phones are tested to ensure they are safe for users, including testing to make sure they meet national and international standards for exposure to radiofrequency emissions.

All mobile phone batteries and chargers must undergo the same stringent testing to ensure they meet all levels of safety. Genuine mobile phone batteries are tested under intense conditions to ensure they can handle varying conditions of use.

Counterfeit and substandard mobile phones, batteries and chargers on the other hand are not subject to such comprehensive testing and therefore the safety of fake phones cannot be verified or guaranteed.

According to the Commission, around the world, there are incidents where mobile phone batteries have exploded and injured people. Upon investigation these incidents have been linked to the use of counterfeit or sub-standard batteries. Counterfeit and some third party manufactured batteries do not meet all of the safety requirements that prevent these incidents. Non-genuine batteries may not have safety circuits which regulate voltage, current and heat within the battery, without these the battery can short circuit and explode or heat up and burn people.

The NCC stated that fake phones, batteries and chargers are made from cheap, substandard components and may contain chemicals, which are dangerous to the environment and human health.

It added that the cheap and low quality components used to manufacture fake phones and accessories are untested, uncertified and can be a safety hazard for users saying that the substandard components in fake phones often malfunction with the potential to injure users and damage property.

It said further that fake phones can also contain dangerous chemicals and metals, such as lead and mercury noting that these are associated with a range of adverse health effects.

Fake phones, the NCC observed have been known to cause  a drain on mobile phone networks thereby reducing network speed and reception for users stressing that some of them have unpredictably short lives.

The Commission said that they are not registered or certified to operate on cellular networks because they are produced from cheap and substandard components that can damage service in a network area adding that testing has shown that counterfeit and substandard phones experience high levels of dropped calls and failed connections.

Recently, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, said that the task of checking the in flock of fake and standard mobile phones into the country was beyond its power because several loopholes in the nation’s boarder make it possible for all kinds of phones to come into the country.

According to the Secretary General of the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, MMF, Mr. Michael Milligan some of the tell tale signs of counterfeit mobile phone products are  the price and the poor quality saying consumers should look for inaccurate printing, misspelled words, crooked label placement and signs of defective workmanship.

He added that they do not come with warranty saying that all genuine mobile phone manufacturers offer a limited warranty that covers the handset, software and accessories.

He said:“Look out for words like ‘Replacement battery for…’ or ‘Charger compatible with…’.. Genuine products tend to only state which model handset the product is for” saying that to avoid fakes, consumers should always buy mobile phone products made by registered manufacturers and sold by trusted retailers.

“If you are looking to replace a battery or charger then you should refer to the original manufacturer’s information to make sure you purchase the appropriate battery or charger for your model of phone,” Milligan said.

According to the International Telecommunications Union, ITU, One out of every five mobile phones sold in the world are illegal or unlicensed copycats saying that the Middle East and Africa which include Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt, Iran account for 38.2 million units.

Also shipments of gray-market China-made mobile phones reached their peak in 2011 with a total of 250.4 million according to IHS iSuppli report.

On the effects, the ITU  said that it results to loss of revenue due to non-payment of customs duties and sales taxes saying that the danger it posses to public security is the absence of valid IMEI or “no IMEI” number which are potentially attractive for criminal activity and terrorism.

Also on security and privacy issues, ITU said in cases of theft or stolen phone, it is difficult to track the phone with invalid IMEI or “no IMEI” number while the operator experiences lowering of QoS of mobile telecommunication services such as loss in voice and data capacities, data transmit speeds, reduced coverage

DEVALUED NAIRA: Telecoms Services, Product May Cost More

AS mixed reactions trail the devaluation of the Naira last Tuesday, the ICT sector, a money spinner is tipped to experience some hiccups when some key elements in the industry play, and the results suggests a possible increase in cost of services and devices, writes Isaiah Erhiawarien.

Reactions from stakeholders in the ICT industry suggestions that Nigerians may need to pay for telecoms services next year when the effect of the devalued Naira begins to affect   the economy.

Last Tuesday, the Naira was devalued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, by N13, from N155 to N168 to one dollar in order to strengthen the economy. The implication is that while more Naira will be need to buy dollar for import, local goods that are produced using imported raw materials will become expensive meaning that if earnings from income of Nigerians do not increase, they have to look more sources of income to survive.

Following the telecoms revolution over a decade ago, which kicked the national economy into a new dimension; the economy and the life of Nigerians now depend heavily on telecoms, and more recently the mobile money bug which is gradually eating deeper into social and economic fabric of national life.

Investigations show that the economy is now heavily depending on telecoms infrastructure such as telecoms mast and devices such as phones, tablets, PCs, POS gadgets as well as recharge cards.

In the last ten years, since the explosion of the telecoms growth, which is widely celebrated at telecoms forum, no efforts so far has been made to produce the devices locally, with exception of the recharge card.

For instance, the telecoms infrastructure companies, most them which are foreign required huge dollar to import every materials that they need to build telecoms mast, a very critical infrastructure for the effective delivery of telecoms services.

Recent development indicated that the mobile telephone operators opted for infrastructure sharing due to the high cost deployment of telecoms mast across the country to meet the growing depending of expanding subscriber’s base that all operators are experiencing.

Investigations revealed that telecoms operators in Nigeria currently have close 30, 000 base stations or telecom towers scattered all over the country which are build by local and foreign companies with materials that are imported a huge cost and high customers charges, and some cases the foreign companies have expatriate that are paid in dollars.

Speaking the National Mirror, the President of the Association Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, Engr. Lanre Ajayi said that the cost of the procurement of telecoms equipment and delivery of services by the telecos will go up saying that the impact of the increased cost will eventually be transferred to the final consumer.

His fears borders on the fact the telecoms industry is largely depended on import, even including personals. For instance, there are call centres that are currently owned by foreigners.

Reacting to the new Naira devaluation policy, a recharge card dealer, Biodun Ishola  noted that some may take advantage of the new policy to add a few kobo to it saying that presently some sellers are adding N10.00 to even the value of the N100, 200, even N500 denomination card.

Ishola who also runs a blog: http://rechargecardsmillionaires.blogspot.com/ aid that the virtual top may for sometime make it impossible for those who trade on the virtual platform to add money to it.

He dismissed fears about the possibility of the new CBN policy affecting the unit cost of producing a recharge card stating that if it does affect it will be so minimal not to necessitate an increase in the price of the airtime voucher.

Although it is not yet clear if operators may want to make a case for tariff increase bearing in mind the current trend at the nations seaport as well as the increasing electricity power failure across the country, which has made operators to be investing huge money in other power source, it is however remains unclear if the regulatory body, the Nigerian Communications Commission will grant such request.

The operators and the NCC as at the time of writing report are yet to make statement on how the new policy will affect their businesses.

However, the President of the Nigerian Internet Group, NIG, Engr. Bayo Banjo said that there will be a sense of insecurity of investment from investors adding that they will be nervous in bringing their fund into the economy.

He however said that the operators may not feel much of the impact of the devaluation of the Naira on their equipment since what they sell is services.

The telecos has however of recent been experiencing dwindling returns on their investment thereby resulting to the sale of towers by operators.

Last week, Airtel signed an agreement to sell 4,000 of its towers to American Tower Company, ATC so as to    Etisalat Nigeria has also sold  2,136 of its towers to IHS Holding Limited and MTN Nigeria is also in the league of tower seller with its figure standing at about 9,183.

A major reason for this is huge cost building and managing these towers.

Statistics indicated that the cost of building one mobile phone tower in Nigeria is about $150,000-$200,000.

 The telecoms industry has for long been groaning under the huge burden of the increasing cost of doing business in Nigeria.

For instance, in a memorandum submitted by ATCON to the Senate House Committee on Communication, the association highlighted that the industry was yet find a conducive ground to operate.

ATCON in the MO expressed surprise that the destruction of telecoms infrastructure remains a regular occurrence for all telecomm operators in Nigeria adding that  it costs about N24, 750,000 to install a single base station together with its tower, special antennas and two generators to power the station.

On power, ATCON laments that over N5 billion spent monthly by operators on power generation could be reinvested in further coverage expansion to address the congestion on the network which resulted to poor quality of service.

More worrisome, ATCON observed is the heavy taxes imposed on telecom companies at the federal, state and local government levels have placed major obstacles, which slows down network expansion thereby compromising quality of service.

Association noted that another problem in the industry is the challenge of conflict of roles and responsibilities amongst government adding that it has become a common phenomenon in the Nigerian Telecom Industry as there are overlapping and duplications of duties by federal and state agencies.

Reacting to the new policy, Africa's largest telecoms operator, MTN, put a positive gloss on the devaluation of the naira, saying the weaker Nigerian currency would also reduce costs in its biggest African market.

MTN is one of many South African companies tapping Africa's largest economy and most populous market.

In statement, MTN declined to quantify the impact on its revenues of the devaluation, which was triggered by a sharply weaker interbank naira rate over the last two months. However, it noted that the currency movement would also reduce its costs.

"We endeavour to have as large a portion as possible of our costs in each operation denominated in local currency, which would in turn offer some protection against the currency movement," it said in a statement.