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MainOne Commences Route Survey Operations

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MainOne Cable Company has commenced the main route survey operations of its submarine cable project. This first phase is expected to extend from Portugal to Nigeria and Ghana respectively and will comprise 1.92 Terabits per second of bandwidth, more than 10 times the bandwidth currently available by the only other subsisting submarine cable in the territory.

It is also expected to crash internet bandwidth rates considerably.

This main route survey operation follows the completion of the 27 kilometers in-shore survey operation near Portugal, which commenced in January ahead of schedule, and was completed successfully in February.

“Kommandor Jack,” the MainOne Cable survey vessel started mobilization in Lisbon, Portugal on Wednesday March 25th and has since set sail from Portugal towards Nigeria and Ghana.  Over the next two months while en route, the vessel will survey the proposed route for the cable with multi beam scan and profiling tests of the seabed to ensure the optimal placement of the cable. In addition to the initial landing, the vessel will also survey four additional spurs on different West African countries, en route, for proposed future landings of the cable.

Funke Opeke, chief executive officer of MainOne Cable Company expressed delight at the remarkable progress that the pace-setting MainOne project continues to record.

Only last December, the company was a recipient of the first ever issued sub marine cable licenses in Nigeria and Ghana respectively, she said, while informing that the company has also secured survey permits from all the 15 countries en route from Portugal to Nigeria. 

“We are very delighted that the MainOne Cable project continues to progress in line with our projections,” said Opeke. “The terrestrial infrastructure is matching the progress on the submarine system, with the terminal station in Portugal already in place and new construction in Nigeria and Ghana passing through local planning and construction preparations many months ahead of the required implementation date.”

Even while the survey vessel, “Kommandor Jack” sails from Europe to Nigeria, manufacturing of cable and sophisticated electronics within the submerged repeaters are also proceeding ahead of plan, she said. “The various suppliers on the MainOne project are working steadily towards realizing the vital goal of on-time completion of a unique initiative that is expected to breathe a new life of vibrancy and reduced cost into the Broadband penetration regime in West Africa and subsequently, all over Africa.”

Opeke added that “MainOne Cable is benefiting from the latest proven technology from world-class system suppliers that include utilization of low-loss fiber and the option to add and drop traffic on a number of additional landings. This route survey will demonstrate the security and viability of the route for a 25 year design life.”

“As a business championed by Africans, MainOne will encourage local content development via skills transfer of critical networking technologies. We will also enhance job creation with the location of the Global Network Operational Centre (Gnoc) for the entire system, in Nigeria and a cable station in Ghana,” the MainOne boss stated.

Driven by a team of African entrepreneurs, the MainOne project ranks among the most ambitious projects to emerge from Africa in recent years. Its objectives include boosting Internet access across the continent, crashing tariffs providing open access to regional telecom operators and Internet service providers at rates that are less than twenty percent of current international bandwidth tariffs obtainable via SAT 3 or satellite service providers; and expanding skills transfer and the provision of jobs across the continent.

It will also ease the difficulties of switching traffic between African countries, eliminating the inconvenience and added costs of first routing traffic to Europe.

The first phase will span 7,000 kilometres and is billed for completion by May of this year..

 


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Students Loans’ Beneficiaries to Start Repayment 2 Years after Graduation-  NELFUND:

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Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said that students in tertiary institutions and approved vocational centres would start repayment of the loan two years after graduation.

Students Loans’ Beneficiaries to Start Repayment 2 Years after Graduation-  NELFUND:

However, NELFUND management specifically stated that the repayment of the loan would commence if the students secured a job or went into business.

Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, managing director, NELFUND, said the Act specify a moratorium of two years after graduation for the students to begin repayment of the loan.

Sawyerr said if the students start work, his employer would be expected to remit 10 percent into NELFUND dedicated account.

He added: “The loan does not have a specified repayment tenure. It makes it easy for students to apply for the loan. NELFUND would pay according to the documents provided by the institutions. We cannot put tenure on the loan; some will die, drop out, ‘Japa’ or refuse to pay. While those who went into business would pay into same account.

“It is a revolving a loan. We will not put students under pressure to get the loan and we are not going to state a tenure because it is not a commercial loan.’’

According to him, the loan is meant for students in public universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and vocational institutes, who apply via NELFUND portal and are expected to present their JAMB admission letter, NIN and BVN.

He explained that non-students would not have access to the loan and that NELFUND has put the necessary machinery in place to ensure that beneficiaries can be reached when the need arises.

His words: “We are using technology to run the new system. The process of application is online through our dedicated portal and we are limiting human contact as much as possible. Once you have a Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN), which are parts of the requirements, we will have access to your data and all your accounts. This will also help us to know if you are qualified or not,” Sawyerr stated.

The MD disclosed that students already in institution are eligible to apply for the loan at any level of their study and must be at the beginning of each academic session.

He noted that such students would have to provide their admission and matriculation details in addition to BVN and NIN.

Sawyerr added that about 1.2 million Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and government-recognized vocational centres would be among the first batch of beneficiaries and that the figure would increase as time goes on.

The NELFUND boss disclosed that the scheme would be funded from one per cent of the total annual revenue by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which would amount to N194 billion if the agency meets its projection.

Sawyerr observed that the loan would be paid in two segments, the first, being the school fees, which would be paid directly to the institutions while stipend would be paid into students’ account for their day-to-day upkeep.

He added that the amount individual students would access varies because of the course of study, school fees and geographical location of the institutions.

“You don’t start paying back the loan until two years after your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme and you have secured a job or business. A beneficiary can defer repayment if he has not secured a job, but if after due diligence, he/she defaulted, then the student becomes a criminal and we will work with government agency that can help us get the money back, for example, EFCC, ICPC,” Sawyerr stated.


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GPA Raises Alarm, Says Malaria Vaccine Can Cause Meningitis

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Global Prolife Alliance (GPA), global health organization, has told the National Assembly that the intended malaria vaccine currently proposed by Bill Gates, American billionaire, for Nigeria can trigger meningitis in the populace.

GPA Raises Alarm, Says Malaria Vaccine Can Cause Meningitis

Dr. Philip Njemanze, chairman of GPA, gave the warning in a statement released to newsmen in Owerri, the Imo state capital.

Njemanze, known for being pro-health in the Catholic church, charged the national assembly not to be in a hurry to succumb to the pressure of the bill currently before the house.

He said the vaccine may trigger the deaths of millions of Nigerian children prone to cerebral meningitis, especially in the northern part of the country.

Part of the letter read “Among the side effects is a tenfold increase in cerebral meningitis. Nigeria is endemic for cerebral meningitis. A tenfold increase could cause the deaths of millions of children, especially in northern Nigeria.

“Please intervene and call for a public hearing, for an open public discussion on the pros and cons with expert opinions from both sides. This will help the Nigerian people to be better informed about granting or withholding consent for the vaccination.

“Your intervention could save millions of lives, especially in northern Nigeria, where meningitis is most endemic, particularly at this time of serious insecurity,” Njemanze warned.

 

 


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NERC Cedes Regulatory Oversight of Enugu Electricity Market to State Government Agency

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The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ceded the regulatory oversight of the Enugu electricity market to the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC), which is owned by the state government with effect from May 1, 2024.

This is the first-ever transfer of regulatory powers from the NERC to a state government electricity regulator.

“On completion of the Transfers under subsections (2) and (3), whichever occurs later in time, the Commission shall have no further regulatory responsibility whatsoever for electricity market activities carried on entirely within the State to which regulatory responsibility has been transferred and for which the Additional Successor Company has been incorporated and conferred with assets, liabilities, employees, rights and obligations,” NERC said in a statement signed by Sanusi Garba and Dafe Akpeneye.


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