Governor Mamman Bello of Yobe State commissioned in Damaturu, the state capital, at the weekend, the state's Integrated Wireless Telephone and Internet Access project which is based on the cutting edge 'World Interoperability for Microwave Access' (WiMAX) technology. Yobe State is reportedly the first government or business organs to deploy WiMAX technology in Nigeria.
The project which cost N371 million was deployed by a consortium of Zinox Technologies Limited and GAAT Investments. To give teeth to its' vision, the project has obtained an operating licence from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The Yobe State Government is also in talks with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) to facilitate a massive (e-learning) human capacity building drive in the state, premised on its' new WiMAX driven communications infrastructure.
'WiMAX' broadband wireless access technology enables cable modem service, telephone digital subscriber line (DSL) or T1/E1 service. The technology has a broad range of applications. It makes broadband Internet access and Voice over Internet Access (VoIP) telephony services possible. It also enables Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and is a backhaul for WiFi hotspots, mobile telephone service and mobile emergency response services.
The Yobe State Government has also commissioned a 50 PC (Personal Computer) resource centre and will commission another 200 PC such facility in a few days time, said Governor Mamman Bello. In addition to this, over 100 civil servants in the state's employ are undergoing technology and related training in the UK, Ghana and the Administrative Staff College (ASCON) in Lagos, Nigeria. Also the state government will facilitate the acquisition of (laptop) computers with spread out payments and at 30 percent discount for certain categories of civil servants.
The governor said that while the facility would primarily serve to enhance education and e-government in the state, private enterprises can tap into it for a fee. He said the state government was offering free WiMAX services to businesses in the state for the next 30 days, after which those interested could then subscribe and pay.
Also speaking at the occasion, Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman of Zinox Technologies said he and his company were proud to have a hand in such an epochal event. He added:"This is a first in West Africa. What you have is a major backbone. On it, you can run e-governance, e-learning, telemedicine. The governor can sit in his office and talk to all the local governments. The strength in technology is in having the skill."
Governor Bello further said that the facility was an incentive fo businesses to invest in the state and that the state government was well disposed to offering further incentives such as land, free of charge to genuine and well intentioned investors.
Speaking at the commissioning, Governor Bello said:"I recall that at the inauguration of this administration, I did say that all ministries and departments would be connected to the Internet and that staff would go for training because of our zeal to provide high quality services. We are determined to be pace setters. We are committed to the development of our human resources. Various categories of our civil servants have been sent on training in and out of the country.
"Our schools will be equipped with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities so that our children will take the lead in the digital world. This undertaking is meant to expose our workforce to the use of computers and to give them access to information from all over the world. We want to make Yobe State the 'Silicon Valley' of Nigeria. We have a teeming population and we want to transform our populace into ICT people. We will train our peoplpe to get the knowledge power..
"We are very grateful to Chief Leo Stan Ekeh, the Chairman of Zinox Technologies who has been very very helpful and very kind to us. He started this project without a written agreement and without any money being paid up front.
"Permit me to appeal to the entire civil servants to work diligently to acquire computer and Internet skills for the advancement of the state. I share the opinion that a highly knowledgable civil service would surely assist the administration of the day in its' quest for the accelerated development of the state.
"Subsequent phases and connections to the Local Governments, Open University, video conferencing and medical diagnosis, via the Internet are some of the benefits from this project. We are calling on all other agencies to note that we have these facility, so that they can connect to it."
Leo Stan Ekeh described Yobe State as having become an investors haven because speedy, efficient and cheap world class communication had become available there. He admonished however that people needed to have the requisite skills to make the investment deliver on its promises.
Ibrahim Alhassan, Regional Manager for Afribank in Yobe State congratulated the state government for its foresight and achievement and announced pledged a donation of ten laptop computers to the project on behalf of the bank.
Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande,the Minister of State for Communications who spoke at the event promised that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Communications would do all in its power to support the Yobe State government in the initiative. His words:"The Ministry of Information and Communication will do whatever it takes to support Yobe State in the actualization of the vision of Governor Mamman Bello. The NCC has the Digital Bridge Institute for capacity building in ICT. We will support the resource persons of Yobe State by offering them training there.
"We will also digitalise any major secondary school that is put forward by the state and we will provide 20 computers for the school and a 15 Kva generator as well as scanners printers and networking".
Autor(en)/Author(s): Bill Okonedo
Quelle/Source: Business Day, 20.11.2007
