E-Business
Smile Boosts First Consultants’ Telemedicine with SMiFi
Smile Communications Nigeria Limited has provided First Consultants Medical Center (FCMC), Obalende, Lagos, with SMiFi routers, in ifurtherance of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
This latest donation by Smile is regarded as a huge boost to the highbrow hospital’s drive towards telemedicine practice.
FCMC was where Liberian-American and ECOWAS envoy Patrick Sawyer was admitted as the first Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patient in Nigeria, after he fell sick upon his arrival to the country from Liberia.
In all, he infected 11 workers at the hospital including late Dr Stella Adadevoh and late Justina Ejelonu, a nurse. Consequently, the hospital was shutdown and some of its equipment discarded due to exposure to the virus.
Smile Communications Nigeria Limited has therefore joined forces with the Nigerian Telemedicine Network (NTN) and other donors to equip FCMC with an All-Purpose Medical Solution System (APMS) as the hospital ventures into telemedicine services.
Speaking at the event, Tobe Okigbo, chief corporate services officer for Smile Communications Nigeria Limited, assured that the company would provide the hospital with connectivity capacity of 6mbytes per second.
He noted that Smile appreciated the hospital’s effort in saving Nigeria from what could have been a major health catastrophe.
“Smile identifies with you on the incidents that happened, at the same time appreciating your efforts in rescuing the situation. Now you are going into telemedicine, Smile’s SMiFi is the network enabler to reckon with,” he said.
Explaining the products’ uniqueness, Okigbo noted that the donated Smile SMifi“will eliminate the usual slow connection available in Nigeria, because telemedicine is most times, about being able to share ideas and information accurately and promptly.
The service we are bringing will ensure HD quality; so it is like talking to someone next to you.
The SMiFi is mobile in nature and connects up to 10 users.
“The critical thing”, he avowed, “is that in this day and age of Internet of Things (IoT), everything has to be driven by the internet. Now, this hospital was great for Nigeria owing to what they went through. FCMC was ground zero in terms of ebola outbreak in Nigeria. Other establishments might have concealed the fact that the deadly disease had appeared at their doorstep, but FCMC showed unusual integrity and humanity by not only reporting the fact publicly, but also suffering serious financialand personal hardship to ensure containment of the outbreak. Integrity and humanity are values that are core to Smile’s DNA so it was an easy decision to support this project.
“Smile joins other well-meaning organizations, and indeed the country in thanking FCMC for their role during the crisis. Leveraging on another of Smile’s core values, innovation, we expect this project to greatly increase the hospital’s ability to deliver healthcare services to Nigerians in collaboration with their partners worldwide.”
Dr. Dania Simpa, chief executive officer and lead consultant, Health Informatics, Sabaoth Technologies Ltd and coordinator, Nigerian Telemedicine Network, and the coordinator of the All-Purpose Medical Solution System (APMS) CSR projects, collaborated Okigbo’s remarks, adding that the tools provided will showcase how technology has transformed healthcare across board.
“Our partners comprising Smile Communications, Intel, Microsoft and Debonia came up with the All-Purpose Medical Solution System (APMS) as a collective Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Our goal is to ensure even better productivity through efficient delivery of services,” he said.
While receiving Smile’s SMiFi devices, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, chief medical director of First Consultant Medical Centre, chronicled the incidents that led to the hospitals’resolve to embark on telemedicine.
He said, “You want to partner with us viz a viz telemedicine. It is like you preempted us. We are already looking at commencing telemedicine. For instance, we created a knowledge center which includes an e-library. Knowledge is the most important commodity in the world and our goal is to ensure that requisite knowledge is at our finger tips at all times.”
He noted that “Nigeria is a great country, but some of us do not appreciate what makes us great. What makes us great is not that we are on uniform. The key is: the good Lord has kept us together in a way and manner that if we would simply have mutual respect for one another and value lives and be able to say “Sorry” and “Thank you” when needed, then the sky is our limit. So, I am saying Thank you for this symbolic act of magnanimity’.
Telemedicine involves the use of information and communication technologies to provide clinical health care remotely, eliminating the distance barriers.It can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in, not just distant, but also developing countries.
Smile Communications’ SMifi has invariably become pivotal in the quest for efficient communications services with the provision of superfast and super reliable internet access. The SMifi connects multiple users, comes in a pocket friendly size and has up to 10-hours battery life. More importantly, it can be used with any handset, laptop or device that is Wi-Fi enabled.
Nigeria has taken a major step toward strengthening its digital governance framework as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) officially assumes control of the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) infrastructure.
The handover ceremony held in Abuja, marks the culmination of a high-level partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
This transition signals a shift from fragmented IT projects to a unified, disciplined approach to national digital investment.
The NGEA initiative forms a core part of the e-Government Masterplan 2.0 (Ne-GMP 2.0), aimed at establishing a unified and structured approach to managing government IT investments and digital resources.
The framework is designed to ensure that technology deployment across public institutions aligns with national priorities while improving efficiency and accountability.
With the system now operational, government agencies are expected to adopt more integrated digital processes, allowing seamless data sharing and interoperability.
This is anticipated to reduce duplication, strengthen risk management, and translate policy objectives into measurable digital outcomes.
Over the past two and a half years, Nigerian technical experts worked closely with their Korean counterparts to develop the architecture framework, create reference models, and execute pilot programmes in key institutions.
These include the National Identity Management Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and NITDA.
Officials say the NGEA represents a shift from fragmented digital efforts to a more coordinated, citizen-focused system.
The infrastructure is hosted by Galaxy Backbone Limited, providing a secure and reliable platform for nationwide deployment.
Looking ahead, NITDA is expected to work with government stakeholders to expand and sustain the system, while the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy will provide policy guidance to ensure its adoption across the country.
Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said the government is shifting focus from expanding access to ensuring “meaningful connectivity” that drives economic growth and inclusion.
Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy
The minister made the statement on Friday while addressing stakeholders at the inauguration of board members of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Abuja.
He said that although Nigeria had made significant progress since the introduction of GSM services, millions of people, particularly in rural and underserved communities, remain either unconnected or unable to fully benefit from digital services.
Dr Tijani highlighted ongoing investments in digital infrastructure, including plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network and nearly 4,000 telecom towers nationwide.
He said initiatives under the USPF had improved access through projects such as rural connectivity and digital facilities in schools but stressed that the next phase must prioritise effective usage.
“It is not enough to connect a community. We must ensure that schools can teach with digital tools and that small businesses can access market opportunities,” he said, citing a pilot project in the Kura community where connectivity has enhanced access to communication, education and healthcare.
Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also called for a shift towards meaningful connectivity, noting that while data usage had grown significantly, it remained concentrated in urban areas.
According to him, recent data shows that telecom usage has increased by about 160% over the past two years, largely driven by urban demand.
“When we drill down, we see that a lot of that growth is actually in urban centres. So, the gap between those who are not connected or not meaningfully connected is growing,” he said.
Dr Maida added that the trend underscored the need for the USPF board to intensify efforts to bridge both access and usage gaps across the country.
Both officials emphasised the importance of collaboration, sustainable investment models and improved digital literacy to ensure that connectivity translates into real economic benefits for Nigerians.
A jury in Los Angeles has found technology companies, Meta and Google liable for contributing to a young woman’s social media addiction, in a case being described as a landmark ruling.
The 20-year-old woman, identified only as Kaley, argued that she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram from an early age due to their attention-driven design features.
According to her testimony, she began using YouTube at the age of six after downloading the app on her iPod Touch to watch videos about lip gloss and online games.
Kaley told the court that she joined Instagram at nine, bypassing parental restrictions put in place by her mother, and spent extended periods on social media.
The trial, which lasted about a month, with arguments and evidence from both sides.
Jurors also heard testimony from Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive, Meta and Adam Mosseri, Instagram head.
However, Neal Mohan, YouTube chief executive, did not testify.
The jury found that the companies were negligent in the design of their platforms and failed to adequately warn users about potential harms. Meta and Google were ordered to pay the woman $3 million in damages.
Jurors also recommended additional punitive damages, including $900,000 against YouTube and $2.1 million against Meta, according to company spokespersons.
The jury apportioned 70 per cent of the responsibility to Meta and 30 per cent to YouTube.
Kaley was present in the courtroom when the verdict was delivered, alongside parents of other teenagers who say they were harmed by social media use. Both companies said they plan to appeal the decision.
“We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online”, a Meta spokesperson said.
José Castañeda, Google spokesperson, said the case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.
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