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NigComSat Corporation Bill Rings Controversy

Industry experts have said that autonomy for Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited (NigComSat) was an invitation to failure and creation of another white elephant destined to go the way of the now moribund, Nitel, Nigeria’s beleaguered national carrier.
Failing to find justifiable reasons for the demands of autonomy by NigComSat, the experts said that the passage of the bill amounts to creation of a parallel space agency that will compromise the National Space Programme of the Federal Government.
The experts which gathered in Lagos tore the bill apart and insisted that the passage of the bill will also be a wasteful duplication as the functions of the proposed Corporation are being performed by the Nigerian Space Research and Development Agency.
Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, chairman Teledom Group fired the first salvo and cautioned that the bill, when passed, might give NigComSat the autonomy to operate as a business venture and as a regulator.
He noted that government has no business in doing business.
Ekuwem’s comment drew the ire of Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai, the chief executive officer of NigComSat who clarified that the bill, in contents, does not have anything to imply that the bill will grant NigComSat a regulatory status as it has no operator to compete against.
“Contrary to the thinking of the business community, government has a business in business,” He added
Ahmed-Rufai also stressed that the bill will build NigComSat into maturity before becoming players like the Intelsat and other global satellite companies owned by the governments.”
He had immediate support from Yele Okeremi , member, Executive Committee of Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (Ispon).
He said: “We must perceive satellite communication as critical national infrastructure which requires everything to protect including legislation and we must sit down to see that we do everything to see that this bill become a law.”
He listed technology, social perception and legislation as the tripod that must be present before a revolution can happen.
Victor Nwakesi , representative of Olisa Agbakoba & Associates, the law firm responsible for the drafting of the NigComSat bill, also explained that the bill is much desired and that passage will aid Nigeria’s emerging development issue.
According to him, the contents of the NigComSat bill have been developed to align with what the laws allow. “NigComsat should be protected in the best interest of the citizens,” he said.
Eng. Lanre Ajayi, president, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria and chairman of the occasion, noted that there was a need to guide the Senate, as citizens, to let them know the need for Satellite Company to be able to run businesses on its own with less government bureaucracy.
Ajayi noted that satellite technology is a very desirable technology in Nigeria, noting however, that this was not to say that other terrestrial technologies are not very relevant but they are complementary.
“The major advantage of satellite is its ubiquitousness. In a country like ours, where we have many rural communities, satellite becomes an option. If we must progress, we cannot run away from developing satellite technology and government must support this.” Ajayi
He, however, expressed the view that NigComSat might go the way of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, “because with the Act, it appears we are now putting it in the hands of the law makers.”
However, Bayo Banjo, president, Nigeria Internet Group, affirmed that the bill will transform NigComSat to a fully-owned government company.
“I do not see a reason for this bill because the company is already a limited liability. The bill is not in the interest of Nigeria. It will not serve the purpose of Nigerians.” Banjo noted.
He submitted that rather than having the NigComSat bill passed, it should be jettisoned with the best option to have it privatised.
Ben Nwaroh, partner, Crimson Partners Barristers and Solicitors stood up to say that the proposed bill is contrary to the new national ICT policy approved by the federal executive council.
Ahmed-Rufai sharply shouted him down in a desperate move to starve off further attacks on the bill.
He disclosed that the bill seeks to establish an Act to establish the NigComSat Corporation empowered to engage in, purchase and otherwise acquire or take over the assets, business, company, firm or persons and act in furtherance of all and any business associated and or relating to the satellite industry.
The bill has already been passed by the lower legislative arm, the House of Representatives as at March 2012.
The bill is now set for deliberation at the Senate before it will eventually be sent to the president for assent and the bill becoming an Act.
Ahmed-Rufai, said the Bill, if passed into law, will allow NigComSat Limited to engage in international business partnership for the benefit of the whole country.
He urged stakeholders in the nation’s Information and Communication Technology to support the bill, “as a corporation, the satellite company in about three to four years, would have achieved global satellite coverage.”
News
Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
News
Moniepoint Boosts UK Payments Security

African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.

The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.
The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.
Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.
Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”
He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.
Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.
According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.
The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.
Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.
News
Meet the 39-Year-Old Genius Replacing Oloyede at JAMB

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed 39‑year‑old Professor Segun Aina as the new Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), succeeding Professor Is‑haq Oloyede whose two‑term tenure expires on July 31, 2026.

Professor Segun Aina
Aina, who will turn 40 in July, will become the youngest registrar in JAMB’s history, marking a generational shift in the leadership of Nigeria’s premier tertiary‑admissions body.
In a statement issued in Abuja by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the new registrar was described as a distinguished academic and systems expert with extensive experience in national examination systems, digital infrastructure and public‑sector institutional reform.
A professor of Computer Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile‑Ife, Aina holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Kent, an MSc in Internet Computing and Network Security and a PhD in Digital Signal Processing, both from Loughborough University, United Kingdom. He also completed the Senior Management Programme at Lagos Business School.
His early career with JAMB began during his National Youth Service Corps scheme, where he gained foundational experience in national admissions and data‑driven institutional processes; those insights have since shaped his contributions to examination reform and systems optimisation.
At 39, Aina became one of Nigeria’s youngest professors of Computer Engineering and has advised federal and state governments on system design, digital transition and operational reform, while also consulting major examination bodies such as NECO and NABTEB on ICT systems and examination integrity.
He is a member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
President Tinubu expects Aina to leverage his experience, knowledge and practical insight to further strengthen JAMB’s operations and to build on the achievements recorded under Professor Oloyede’s leadership.
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