WITH the recent successful launch of NigComSat 1-R satellite to geostationary orbit and its expected commencement of operation, Nigeria has made a strong statement that it had arrived in the commercial satellite business for the accelerated the development of the country. According to the government, the continued reliance of the country on Information Communication Technology (ICT) from other countries had militated against the rapid growth of the country. NigComSat is therefore government's intervention to domesticate ICT in the country and make Nigeria a key player in the ICT world.Although the satellite would go into commercial operations in February this year, already about 60 per cent of government entities have expressed interest in subscribing to the satellite's services. Among them are the Nigerian Television Authority, Nigeria Postal Service, Nigeria Customs Service, Galaxy Backbone, Nigeria Immigration Service, security operatives and several private sector Internet Service Providers.Once in operation, the satellite would accelerate the growth of the broadcasting industry with high fidelity transmission and also allow them to provide improved quality of programmes and get more revenue from their operations.It is heart-warming that the satellite would be of great benefit to the education and health sectors of the economy. In particular, it would boost the country's educational system through multimedia education over television and the internet, increase rich but low cost broadband penetration especially in schools across the country and the tertiary institutions in particular. It will also among others, create additional jobs, boost security and enhance communications in the country. However, it is bad faith for the government to limit access to the e-Library to public universities alone. If anything, such approach would exclude a huge number of students from exploring a world of knowledge. We believe that all undergraduates in the countrymust be granted access tothe e-library project envisaged by the Ministry of Communications and the Federal Ministry of Education. Other expected gains include the fact that its remote sensing platform would be of immense benefit to both the government and the oil companies operating in offshore Nigeria and it would also create more jobs and attract more businesses to the country within and from abroad. Already, Ghana has requested for access to two transponders on the satellite.Apart from making Nigeria to join the satellite owners' league, perhaps a major advantage of NigComSat is government's plan to use the platform of NigComSat to create micro ICT parks and hotspots in every local government in the country and through that offer software training to 10,000 youths per state annually for the next five years, thus creating a pool of 1.9 million ICT experts over the next five years. The world is in a digital age and countries are garnering billions of dollars from the software industry. It is an irony that while Nigeria spends about $500 million every year to import software applications, India rakes in about $50 billion annually from software writing. Already, Nigeria promises to be a giant in software development in Africa and the world. It must therefore not be left behind in the popularisation of ICT in the country.As Nigeria continues to look for new ways to diversify its economy, the training of young graduates in software writing and applications is an area which opens a window of opportunity for Nigeria, and is a step in the right direction. It will create a pool of young, highly skilled Nigerians who would be able to build small electronic products and write software applications that can be used locally and can also be exported overseas. However, while NigComSat seems to be on the way to a good start of business generation, we caution that government has no business staying in business. Every effort must be made to insulate the activities of NigComSat from inefficiency and corrupt practices. Private sector operators should be invited to manage the business aspects of NigComSat to maximise the returns on government investment in the satellite business and also ensure transparency in the management of the business. Nigeria's achievements in a satellite business must not be marred by wrong-headed implementation policies.
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