Poor internet connectivity worries Rufai

MANAGING Director, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat), Mr. T. Ahmed-Rufai has decried the lack of internet connectivity at all levels of education in the country, reports CHARLES OKOH.

Mr. Ahmed-Rufai who spoke during a recent chat with newsmen wondered what kind of learning would be achieved in this age without connectivity to the world wide web.

"We have about 6,500 primary schools in this country and less than one per cent of them have access to internet connectivity; the same thing is happening to our secondary schools and universities. Now tell me, what learning will anyone achieve in this age without connectivity to the world wide web," he lamented.

On how NigComSat could create jobs, he said: "if you are going to create jobs, you first need to have to create skills and if you are going to create skills, you have to create a knowledge and learning base for the entire country."

He said Japan, Singapore, Korea, England and the United States achieved their present status because of knowledge and technological innovation.

"The US has the world largest oil reservoirs. They are followed by Canada but they are under lock and key till date, particularly the off-shore. They are not exploring, so, oil is not the basis of their position in the world economy. They got to that position from the day John F. Kennedy made the proposition that they were going to put a man in the moon," he said.

As a result of that, Mr. Ahmed-Rufai said, more than 20,000 small and medium scale (SMEs) engineering companies were formed to achieve excellence in all their various areas and that had a spill over effect on micro-electronic industries.

He also decried the poor quality of graduates from our higher institutions of learning, adding that NigComSat plans to set up internet centres in select institutions so that students could have affordable access.

Incorporated on April 4, 2006 as a wholly government-owned limited liability company, NigComSat Limited, is the first African satellite communications company to manage and operate the first geostationary communications satellite (NigComSat-1) in sub-Saharan Africa.

NigComSat was established to carry on business for profit, manage, operate and maintain in orbit communications satellites in respect of; satellite to satellite services, telephony (urban and rural), television, HDTV, DTH, teleprocessing, telepresence, tele-education, telemedicine, e-government, e-commerce, satellite radio, mobile and paging, broadcasting, broadband internet services, Real time monitoring services in shipping, petroleum pipeline, navigation, global positioning systems, and services or facilities, earth stations, terminals, antenna, frequency bands (C, Ku, Ka or L bands).

NigComSat 1 has two ground control stations for the orbit maintenance and network operation services of the satellite. These two stations are located in Kashi, China and Abuja, Nigeria, with the latter being the stations main station and the former servicing as back up station.


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