General News
Growing Content Among Mobile Phone Users
As mobile phone use has grown since the mid 1990s, the significance of the devices in everyday life has grown accordingly.
Owners of mobile phones can now use their devices to make calendar appointments, send and receive text messages (SMS), listen to music, watch videos, shoot videos, redeem coupons for purchases, view Microsoft Word documents, and so forth.
The use of mobile content has grown accordingly. Modern mobile phones can take photographs with a few million pixels. The Nokia N93 can create videos of comparable resolution to a DVD, storing up to 90 minutes on the phone memory.
Mobile content can also refer to text or multimedia hosted on websites, which may either be standard internet pages, or else specific mobile pages.
Mobile content via SMS is still the main technology for communication used to send mobile consumers messages, especially simple content such as ringtones and wallpapers.
Because SMS is the main messaging technology used by young people, it is still the most effective way of reaching this target market.
SMS is also ubiquitous, reaching a wider audience than any other technology available in the mobile space (MMS, bluetooth, mobile e-mail or WAP).
Although many say that SMS is an old technology that sooner or later will be replaced by fancier technology like MMS or WAP, the fact is that SMS reinvents itself continuously.
One example is the introduction of applications where mobile tickets are sent to consumers via SMS, which contains a WAP-Push that contains a link where a barcode is placed.
This clearly substitutes MMS, which has a limited reach and still suffers from interoperability problems.
It is important to keep enhancing the consumers’ confidence in using SMS for mobile content applications.
This means, if a consumer has ordered a new wallpaper or ringtone, this has to work properly, in a speedy and reliable way.
Therefore it is important to choose the right SMS gateway provider in order to ensure quality-of-service along the whole path of the content SMS until reaching the consumer’s mobile.
In Nigeria the use of mobile contents is also growing as the telecommunications industry matures, a recent study conducted by MobileMoney-Africa, Africa’s leading resource for mobile financial inclusion shared with Nigeria CommunicationsWeek shows that 65 percent of the semi urban and rural population that were interviewed completely choose to have mobile phones as the primary channel for financial services rather than visit a bank.
Another 95 per cent choose not to go back home to pick their cheque book/ savings books but will go back to pick their phones if left at home.
Emmanuel Okoegwale, lead researcher said that the study is direct attestation of the growing influence of mobile money which is a mobile content.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that though mobile phone banking is yet to take root in Nigeria, the initiative is however expanding across the African continent from South Africa to Kenya and is putting the poor directly in control of their own finances like never before.
Current trends suggest that mobile phone content will play an increasing role in the lives of millions across the globe in the years ahead, as users will depend on their mobile phones to keep in touch not only with their friends but with world news, sports scores, the latest movies and music, and more.
An increasing number of people are also beginning to use applications like Qik to upload and share their videos from their cell phone to the internet. Mobile phone software like Qik allows user to share their videos with their friends through emails, SMS and even social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook
The mobile content industry has for too long been just about ringtones and wallpapers.
The market reality now is that the building blocks for a great user experience of mobile content are in place high resolutions screens, mobile broadband network speeds, devices such as Apple’s iPhone and users are embracing their new found freedom to go off-portal in search of innovative mobile content.
Growth is stifled in the mobile content market in Nigeria because mobile operators are playing safe and concentrating only on mass services for which content is readily available and chances of failure less.
Entertainment content despite the fact that its practical value is minimal, is popular because of its mass appeal especially to the youth segment and it is promoted over Mobile commerce and infotainment which has the capacity to create real value for subscribers.
None availability of network supporting some mobile content posses a challenge, because of commercial value, network operators concentrate the deployment of 3G network which support advanced mobile content such as video, Multimedia service among others in major cities such as Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and few other cites thereby locking out people living in other cities where the technology is no available.
Prevalence of low end mobile handsets is a major factor in the uptake and penetration of advance mobile technologies.
Operators worldwide are taking initiatives to collaborate with Mobile phone makers to make 3G services available to more people with less entry cost through handset development, logistics and marketing initiatives.
Notable among such collaborations is the 3G for All campaign spearheaded by the GSM Association that will reduce 30% off from the LG phone that has been chosen. The 3G for All campaign is the second programme designed by the GSMA to create economies of scale for handset makers and their component suppliers.
The GSMA’s Emerging Market Handset programme stimulated the development of a range of ultra-low cost mobile phones aimed at first-time buyers in developing countries.
In most developing economies level of education also accounts for the use of most mobile content as owners of advanced mobile content enabled phones find it difficult to access such service from their phones.
This writer witnessed a situation where a man whose mobile phone has map was asking his way, when he was asked if his phone does not have map, he said it has but that he does not know how to use it.
This case is one out of many of such cases in Nigeria and some other African country which pose hindrance to adoption and use of mobile content.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to direct, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), attorney general of the federation and minister of Justice; Olatunji Rilwan Disu, inspector-general of Police, and relevant anti-corruption agencies to investigate allegations that more than ₦6.79 billion in public funds were missing, diverted or misapplied within the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs.
The allegations are contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2022 Annual Report, published on September 9, 2025.
In a letter dated August 1, 2026, and signed by Kolawole Oluwadare, deputy director, SERAP, the organisation urged the government to ensure that anyone implicated in the report is prosecuted and that all missing public funds, firearms and ammunition are recovered.
“Anyone suspected to be responsible—including contractors, companies and public officials implicated in the report—should be promptly prosecuted, while all missing public funds, firearms and ammunition should be fully recovered, secured and properly accounted for.”
SERAP described the Auditor-General’s findings as a serious breach of public trust.
“The Auditor-General’s findings suggest a grave betrayal of the public trust and raise serious concerns about corruption and the management of public funds, police exhibits, firearms and ammunition.”
The organisation also expressed concern over allegations involving missing firearms, unauthorised use and release of police exhibits, and poor storage of weapons.
“The report also raises serious concerns over missing firearms and ammunition, the unauthorised use and release of police exhibits, failures to properly account for exhibits, and the insecure storage of firearms, creating significant risks to public safety and national security.”
According to SERAP, the alleged diversion of funds meant for policing and the reported irregularities have weakened the operational effectiveness of the Nigeria Police Force.
“The diversion of funds meant for policing, abandoned security projects, missing firearms and ammunition, and the misuse of police exhibits undermine the operational effectiveness of the Nigeria Police Force, weaken public confidence and may contribute to Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.”
The organisation said the Auditor-General’s report documented several alleged financial irregularities, including payments for projects that were never executed, abandoned contracts, inflated contract costs, irregular procurement, unretired cash advances, unsettled insurance claims and payments for services allegedly not rendered.
“The report documented numerous alleged financial irregularities within the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs, including payments for projects that were never executed, abandoned contracts, inflated contract costs, and irregular procurement.”
“The report also documented unretired cash advances, unsettled insurance claims, payments for services allegedly not rendered, and other suspected diversion and misapplication of public funds amounting to over ₦6.79 billion.”SERAP further cited allegations of missing firearms and ammunition, failures to properly account for recovered weapons and exhibits, and insecure storage of firearms.
“The allegations also include missing firearms and ammunition, the unauthorised use and release of police exhibits, failures to properly account for recovered firearms and other exhibits, and the insecure storage of firearms, posing serious risks to public safety and national security.”
The organisation gave the Federal Government seven days to act on its demands, warning that it would pursue legal action if no response is received.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal action to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”
SERAP also argued that the allegations, if left unaddressed, would violate constitutional provisions requiring the government to combat corruption and safeguard the welfare and security of Nigerians.
Among the specific findings cited from the Auditor-General’s report were allegations of payments for abandoned and unexecuted police projects worth hundreds of millions of naira, inflated contract values, unretired cash advances, irregular procurement processes, unsettled insurance claims exceeding ₦681 million, over ₦1 billion in uncleared insurance policy liabilities, missing firearms and ammunition, unauthorised release of police exhibits, and contracts allegedly awarded without due diligence by the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs.
Sunday Dare, special adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, has faulted the criticism directed at President Bola Tinubu and his economic policies by John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).
Sunday Dare, special adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication,
During an interview with Arise TV, Onaiyekan, who had led Catholic Bishops on a visit to the President, revealed details of their discussion.
“When the nation is bleeding, you cannot expect a polite meeting with the Head of State. We told him the economy is not helping our poor people; he told us the economy is doing fine. Frankly speaking, he told us quite clearly that he did not agree with us,” Onaiyekan said.
He added, “We didn’t expect him to agree with us. We have done our duty, we have delivered our message, and we have a feeling that somehow, along the line, somebody will show him a few of the things we said.”
Reacting, Dare stated that while Onaiyekan and his cohort choose the easy path of populist lamentation, the facts of President Tinubu’s administration reveal a relentless, methodical restoration of the Nigerian state. He said that by courageously removing the petrol subsidy and unifying the foreign exchange windows within his first days in office, President Tinubu ended decades of economic illusion.
“State and local governments now receive record-breaking monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), enabling governors—including those in the Catholic heartlands—to pay salaries, fund local infrastructure, and service pensions promptly. The debt service-to-revenue ratio has been dramatically slashed to under 65%, pulling Nigeria back from the edge of default and restoring international credit rating confidence, he said..
According to Dare, the administration did not merely reform numbers; it invested in human dignity. He noted that through the landmark establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), millions of indigent students across tertiary institutions now access interest-free loans for tuition and stipends. “Academic calendar stability has been restored, ending the agony of prolonged university strikes that once paralysed national development,” he said.
The presidential spokesperson revealed that to counter global inflation and local supply shocks, the Tinubu administration deployed emergency agricultural interventions that involve direct distribution of hundreds of thousands of metric tons of grains and fertilisers to smallholder farmers nationwide, the multi-billion naira investments in dry-season farming, mechanisation hubs, and irrigation infrastructure aimed at achieving permanent food self-sufficiency.
He said to understand the weight of President Tinubu’s achievements, one must first measure the abyss Nigeria faced on the eve of his inauguration. He recalled that in May 2023, the Nigerian nation was hovering on the precipice of total economic collapse and structural paralysis.
“The unsustainable petrol subsidy regime was draining trillion-naira holes into the national treasury monthly, enriching a parasitic cabal of smugglers and middlemen while starving sub-national governments of basic infrastructure funding. A fraudulent multi-tiered foreign exchange system had turned the Central Bank of Nigeria into an arbitrage engine, crippling legitimate manufacturing, scaring off foreign direct investment, and burning through scarce external reserves.
“The nation’s debt service-to-revenue ratio had spiralled to an unsustainable 97 per cent, meaning Nigeria was literally borrowing money to pay interest on past loans while operational governance ran on fiscal fumes. This was the broken, bleeding nation handed over to President Tinubu. It required bold surgery, not diplomatic sedation. Yet, when the President applied the sharp scalpel of structural reform, armchair critics and political opponents decried the incision while ignoring the terminal tumour it removed,” he said.
General News
Lenacapavir, HIV Injectable Drug Offers Pregnant, Lactating Mothers 100 Percent Protection – Study
Lenacapavir, injectable HIV prevention drug, has been found to provide 100 percent protection against HIV infection among pregnant and breastfeeding women using it as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
This is according to sub-study of the landmark clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of the twice-yearly injectable HIV prevention drug.
The Phase 3 PURPOSE 1 trial results, published in the Lancet Medical Journal last week and presented at the ongoing 2026 International AIDS Conference Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, show the injection to be safe for use in pregnancy.
While Lenacapavir was previously studied and demonstrated high efficacy and safety as PrEP in cisgender women, its use during pregnancy and lactation, when women are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV acquisition, was not described in the initial studies that formed the World Health Organisation’s global recommendation for the drug.
Now, in the latest study, Dr Flavia Matovu Kiweewa, a senior Research Scientist at MUJHU, said they checked for drug traces in breast milk and exposure to an unborn baby and found drug exposure levels across all trimesters and postpartum were comparable to non-pregnant participants, confirming no dose adjustments are needed for this group.
Among 5345 women enrolled between Sept 28, 2021, and Sept 15, 2023, 487 participants, 184 allocated to Lenacapavir and 303 allocated to oral PrEP, had one or more pregnancies, resulting in 509 total pregnancies with 512 pregnancy outcomes, including three sets of twins.
While the study involved women aged between 16 and 26 years in both South Africa and Uganda, 80 percent of all the pregnancies recorded were in Uganda. Results show Lenacapavir was present in breast milk, but exposure in breastfed infants was minimal. Drug concentrations were measured in the blood of the mothers, breast milk, and breastfed infants’ blood.
Kiweewa said thatthese results are a breakthrough as pregnant and postpartum women face elevated vulnerability of HIV acquisition, yet historically they have been excluded from early prevention trials, leading to years-long evidence gaps.
The study compared twice-yearly Lenacapavir with daily oral PrEP in women who were not pregnant at enrollment.
But, unlike previous studies, women who got pregnant while participating in the study were, for the first time, left on their allocated study drug.
Now, because of the new findings, Kiweewa said at one of their study sites in Mityana District Hospital, they have decided to dedicate seventy percent of their drug supplies to women.
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