General News
Nigeria Lacks Principles in IT Application-Asolo
Peter Asolo is chief executive officer, PetVini Global Concept Limited, a mobile payment solution provider, highly dependable in deployment of cross-border remittances and m-commerce solutions.
Asolo had worked as an assistant general manager at GistMe Communications limited, a sister company of Sage Metrix Company of USA where he was in charge of the Mobile Payment and e-Solution deployments to banks.
He later moved to FinBank as the product manager, FlashmeCash, the pioneer mobile banking/payment product in Nigeria.
Asolo spoke to peter ugwu highlighting that information technologies appear ubiquitous in Nigeria, however, the applications have foundational challenges.
Growing Figures on Technology Inclusion and Effects on the Society
The truth is that all those indices cannot be verified as the actual living standard and access to electricity shows otherwise.
When it comes to actual figures you will find out, we are not there. When it comes to technology, we are backward compared to some other African countries, which are even smaller compared to Nigeria.
I don’t just talk, I base my argument based on existing facts. If you are talking of technology growth, what are the yardsticks to measure the level of compliance or inclusion?
For instance, in the area of health or energy, in reality technology cannot be positive or qualitative without energy, because you need electricity to power them.
If we carry out a brief comparison between Nigeria and Egypt; as at 2009 CIA’s world fact book reported the following; population; Nigeria 149,229,090 and Egypt 83,082,869 but she is doing so much than us.
The energy oil consumption (barrel/day) was 697,000 while for Nigeria it was 286,000, but our daily oil production was 2,169,000 compared to Egypt’s 630,600, Nigeria’s index might have dropped drastically. This explains for the difference in GDP for both countries
.
So while Egypt was having a GDP of $444,800,000,000 Nigeria was only able to produce GDP of $336,200,000,000 when you compare Nigeria to Egypt, she is quite better than Nigeria. So, if the country with a population of less than 85 million people has more energy than Nigeria with close to 160 million people, where do we go from here?
Even Ghana, you will find out that they are doing better than us compared to their par capital usage or consumption of energy.
So, in reality, when you say technology, I have to ask this important question: what is technology? It is the automation of any type of manual process.
Recently, I asked myself as a technologist, are we doing well? We are starting to do a little, but the aggressiveness, hunger and thirst for a robust technology sector is still lacking.
Most of the technologies here are procured abroad, whereas some of the companies that are doing this type of businesses in other countries are indigenous.
Recently, a Ghanaian was celebrated in US, not because he contributed positively alone to the development of technology in US, but his home-country felt the impact.
He was ranked among the best five innovators in the world. His technology was even ahead of people like Google, Apple, et cetera.
I will not be surprised that Nigeria will go and hire that man tomorrow to come and implement his technology in Nigeria, whereas the same type of technology US is celebrating this man for was proposed here when I was working with GistMe Communication.
Emergency Rule in some States and Technology Adoption
It is a very big issue you have raised. My first allegiance as a Nigerian is to this country. The reality here is this: using technology to tackle terrorism is what every other country in the world is doing and it is paying off.
That is why the security challenges are minimized or handled promptly.
That is why the Boston bombing that killed not more than three people was broadcast all over the world.
In some suburbs of Nigeria, more than 20 people may die and no newspaper will mention it because of several challenges associated in covering such places.
There are several news you do not hear, because those remote areas are not covered by a reporter and to greater extent no technological Arial Radar to supervise what goes on there.
But America has been able to identify at any point in time what is a security risk and tackle it.
They have used combined security resources to do so; based on this you can say that technology is the foundation upon which any security infringement protection can be built on.
Sometimes I wonder why we overlooked such foundational issue in Nigeria; I keep telling people, you can never build a house without a foundation or you face the risks; when the challenges come the house goes under.
At the end of the day you have not achieved anything.
Nigeria’s Technological Foundation
It is only in Nigeria I hear “Our population is about.” We are not even sure of the actual figure of the country’s population, which is fundamental. When you talk about security, are you narrowing it down to crime only?
Crime is not the only security challenge we have. There is food security, health, education, etc., are people secured in these areas.
Population figure aids you in planning. It cannot be done in mere assumption. Ask development agencies in the country the data they use in planning.
It is only in Nigeria they will keep telling you, “about” or “estimated population”. In reality, this is not supposed to be so.
According to the registration act of Nigeria birth and death records are mandatory, but do we have them? For you not to register a baby at birth or the dead is a crime in Nigeria there is a law that say that, how many people are aware?.
We have to decide who will do the registration, the centres, how they should be designed, how to capture the data, the technology we need (which should be locally developed) and not to wait till 10 years before we can count how many we are. There are several issues untreated as far as this is concerned.
Most time, we just want to put programmes on ground and make noise to gather public applauses.
So, past and present governments have been building on nothing. Now, we want to combat Boko Haram with arms and ammunitions.
As a technologist I would ask, you gave guns to the army or police to chase after who? The police keep telling us they are not equipped, if they were equipped to arrest who? How do you even identify the culprit?
One way to tackle that is to identify who is a Nigerian first. Why is it not possible for me to travel to America and get mixed up with the crowed? It is because they know who an American is. Anytime you have a cause to face the law enforcement agencies, you cannot lie, your bio-data is there; that is the primary purpose of technology.
The day you are born, you are registered, the data bank is never corrupt, it is never mortgaged and never compromised, and no system or government will do away with it.
If I claim to be an American they will ask for my social security number which is your citizenship ID.
Immediately you issue the number they go to the databank and cross-check. If the ID’s code, or your DNA mismatch with the evidence you presented, then you are culpable and immediately you may face deportation to wherever you came from.
In Nigeria, we do not have that. Those are foundational issues. We are supposed to have a biometric record of Nigerians that cannot be mismatched or counterfeited.
The technology for enumerating, issuing or managing this part of the national cause is obtainable within the country, but somebody could even suggest to the National Population Commission to go after big names or foreign companies.
For instance, there is an issue with the former national identity card project; nobody knew what really happened or ready to talk about what transpired. Meanwhile, a reliable source (consultant) to the Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC) did say that the foreign company engaged to do the project fell out with the Commission, so they shutdown the server and all the data where either manipulated or destroyed. So we are back to square one.
Mistakes that Ruined the First National ID card Project
I must be sincere with you, I know MasterCard very well. They are known in the world for payment card manufacturing and issuance.
You will be surprised that even MasterCard itself is not a processor. MasterCard, for all I know is not a payment processor. It is a payment scheme.
For instance, we have Interswitch’s Verve Card, which is a brand for Interswitch card.
Despite the fact that Interswitch is a processor, Interswitch has just signed up to process for Union cards.
So, Interswitch as a switch is a processor of transactions, where its Verve card is just a brand.
So, MasterCard is a brand for Master Card payment scheme, I do not see the integration or possibility between a population (National) Identity Card and a MasterCard, which is just a payment card.
As one who had worked as a mobile payment solution manager in a bank and launched into the economy an e-payment card, the Flash-Wallet I tell you categorically that the card is a chip pin card, just like MasterCard or Verve.
The people that carry those cards, the authenticity of their identities is as assumed or as submitted by the bank that recruited them.
So, I am yet to see on what basis MasterCard is going to be used as a national identity card when MasterCard as a company has no specialised means of verifying the authenticity of the card holder or otherwise.
Somebody was telling me that NIMC that is partnering MasterCard has database, so the question I asked was when was it obtained? I also sought to know, if it is a biometric databank and no satisfactory answer was given in view of that.
What we are seeing here is that MasterCard said they want to issue national ID to Nigerians, why the duplication? Why do we always like duplicating projects?
We have a National Population Commission (NPopC), why not use it as the data search or gathering Bureau and let there be a department that manages the issuance of identity cards.
For the sake of explanation, if there were verifiable and authentic data secured by the NPopC I do not need to approach the National Immigration Service (NIS) to go and take pictures, finger prints and profiling for me to get my Nigerian international passport.
All I need to do is apply for a passport, then the immigration service connects to the server of the NPopC, pull out who I am, do their verifications and confirmations, and then issue me with the passport.
In US, banks pay to have access to the Bureau of National Population, so that when you want to open an account, they know who you are.
To verify who you are takes less than two minutes. With that it will be difficult to elude the security agencies. That is why forensic investigation is not difficult to conduct over there; your hair-strings can be used to trace you.
When an American says I will track you down, he means it and he will be aided by the foundational database. Such technology helps America to detect that citizen A, B or C is the likely suspect of a particular crime.
When they have identified the culprit, then they will apply the weight of the media to finish the job. I do not see crime fighting using the media in Nigeria rather news reporting on crimes.
America would go online, state and national television, the radio and lavish everywhere with passport of a fugitive. In less than 24 hours, in most cases, the person is turned in.
So, it is not an automatic processes or mere talks. Today, we blame aliens as saboteurs used to perpetrate crime in the society, but who is an alien in Nigeria?
The court of appeal in Lagos has asked the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to revoke the certificate of registration of “KPMG Professional Services”.
In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, the appellant court granted the reliefs sought by KPMG Nigeria against CAC and KPMG Professional Services.
The judgment was read by Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero, the judge.
The two other judges are Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and A.M. Talba.
In 2002, KPMG Professional Services was registered as a company with CAC despite the existence of KPMG Nigeria, comprising its audit, tax, and consulting arms.
The KPMG Nigeria has long been registered in Nigeria before 2002.
KPMG Audit was registered in 1969, KPMG Tax Consultants in 1990, and KPMG Consulting in 1969.
Displeased with the registration of KPMG Professional Services, KPMG Nigeria approached the federal high court.
The consulting firm had argued that the name “KPMG Professional Services” was deceptively similar to its long-established identity.
In 2005, the lower court dismissed KPMG Nigeria’s case, citing an alleged merger between KPMG Nigeria and Akintola Williams Deloitte as reason the company could no longer assert rights to the name.
The lower upheld the second respondent’s (KPMG Professional Services) counterclaim and ordered that KPMG Nigeria’s name be struck off the CAC register.
The lower court had premised its decision on newspaper articles stating that KPMG Nigeria reportedly merged with Akintola Williams Deloitte.
Delivering the judgment, Bayero ruled that the lower court erred by relying on newspaper articles to ascertain that KPMG Nigeria allegedly merged with another company.
The judge said the documents showing the alleged merger were not presented before the lower court, and the form of the alleged merger could not have been known.
“In any event, the only branch of KPMG, if any, that entered into a merger with Akintola Williams as stated in the newspaper articles 18, is KPMG Audit,” the judge ruled.
“The other spheres were totally unaffected. It would therefore be wrong to state that the merger (which has not been shown to this Court) of KPMG Audit with Akintola Williams means all the other areas of business, including KPMG Consulting and KPMG Tax Consultants, also ceased to exist.
“Even if the Appellants (KPMG Nigeria) had ceased to do business as the Court seemed to have held, the 2nd Respondents (KPMG Professional Services) should not have been carrying on business until the Appellant’s certificate of registration is withdrawn or set aside.
“They cannot use the name until the Appellant’s certification of registration is withdrawn or set aside. They cannot use the name until the name is removed from the 1st Respondent’s (CAC) Register of Names.
“The 1st Respondents can only assign the name to the 2nd Respondents after first taking it away from the Appellants.”
The court ruled that CAC erred by registering KPMG Professional Services despite the existence of a business name, which is already registered.
The judge reversed the earlier ruling of the lower court and reaffirmed the primacy of statutory protection for existing business names under Nigerian corporate law.
Air Peace has announced the launch of direct flights from Abuja to London Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with operations scheduled to begin on October 26, 2025.
The airline said in a statement on Sunday that round-trip fares for the Abuja–London service will start from N1m, making it the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct connections from the capital to both of London’s major international airports. This was contained in a press release issued on Sunday by the airline’s spokesperson, Efe Osifo-Whiskey.
“Direct international flight services from Abuja to both London Heathrow and London Gatwick Airports, effective October 26, 2025.
“Air Peace becomes the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct services from Abuja to both of London’s major international airports, further solidifying its role as a leader in regional and intercontinental aviation.
“Travellers originating from any of Air Peace’s domestic destinations across Nigeria can now book through fares via Abuja to either Heathrow or Gatwick using a single ticket, eliminating the need for multiple bookings or baggage re-checks,” the statement read.
Similarly, the new route opens convenient access for inbound passengers from the UK to cities across Nigeria.
“Travellers from London can access multiple destinations across Nigeria using a single Air Peace ticket through Abuja every morning. These destinations are Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Benin, Warri, Owerri, Kano, Yola, Gombe and Asaba, for now. Other destinations will be added later,” Osifo-Whiskey stated.
Air Peace is also offering what it describes as unprecedented value in pricing and service.
Osifo-Whiskey said, “It provides a distinct competitive advantage, enabling passengers to travel between Nigeria and the United Kingdom with greater ease, efficiency, and value, due to the possibility of choosing multiple cities entry and exit points.
“Has the cheapest fares ever, starting from only 1 Million Naira round trip. Huge baggage allowance.”
The Abuja–London launch comes months after the airline began Lagos–London Heathrow flights, which started earlier in 2024.
General News
Prateek Suri CEO Maser Meets Zambia’s Education Minister to Propel Student Housing and Education Projects
Prateek Suri, CEO of MASER and recognized as the richest Indian entrepreneur in Africa, was welcomed this week by Zambia’s Education Minister, Hon. Douglas Munsaka Syakalima, for a high-level meeting in Lusaka that focused on student housing and broader education infrastructure initiatives.
The meeting, held at the Ministry of Education’s offices, opened with warm greetings and a presentation by Mr Suri detailing Maser’s plans to support Zambia’s rapidly scaling education sector. Suri, who led Maser to become Africa’s seventh unicorn, emphasized the company’s commitment to infrastructure that benefits students, educators, and communities across the continent.
Minister Syakalima underscored the urgency of addressing Zambia’s student accommodation gap, citing the country’s expanding net enrollment and the need for safe, affordable housing for tertiary students. Under his leadership, the Government has embarked on a bold infrastructure agenda: over 82 secondary schools already completed, 46 set to be finished in 2025, and 120 new institutions under construction, alongside 169 ECE hubs and 145 satellite centers to reach underserved areas.
During the meeting, Suri shared Maser’s vision for modern student housing built through public–private partnership models. He outlined a multi‑phase plan utilizing sustainable building design, digital infrastructure, and vocational training facilities integrated into these campuses. “Zambia’s youth deserve world-class learning environments,” Suri remarked. “Maser is prepared to leverage its experience to co-create impactful educational infrastructure.”
Minister Syakalima responded positively, stating, “We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Maser. The CEO’s entrepreneurial success and the company’s commitment to Africa’s education development are exactly the kind of partnership we need to scale our infrastructure goals.”
Beyond housing, the dialogue extended to opportunities in blended learning, vocational skills, rural outreach, and digital inclusion. With Zambia implementing its forward‑looking 2023 Education Curriculum this year—including early childhood, primary, and Form 1 levels—the minister highlighted the need for supporting infrastructure at all levels to enable effective rollout.
Under Minister Syakalima’s tenure, the education sector has seen notable progress: 4,200 new teachers hired recently, bringing the total teacher workforce to over 40,000 in three years; strengthened focus on foundational learning via teacher training programmes like the “Catch Up Programme”; and ambitious expansion of school infrastructure across Zambia’s provinces.
Maser, co‑founded by Prateek Suri, transformed from an African startup in consumer electeonics and large infrastructure projects into a multi‑sector unicorn operating in real estate, renewable energy, mining and education technology. Its rapid rise and African focus have made Suri a leading figure in bolstering India–Africa economic relations.
As the richest Indian in Africa, Prateek Suri’s influence spans beyond business success—it represents growing bilateral investment aimed at credible, sustainable societal impact. His partnership with Zambia’s Ministry of Education signals a new era of cross-border collaboration in education infrastructure.
With both parties committing to inclusive planning and scalable implementation, the Maser‑Zambia dialogue could mark the beginning of transformative initiatives: from affordable student housing to cutting‑edge learning facilities, vocational training hubs, and digital classrooms.
In closing remarks on the significance of this dialogue, Suri stated, “Education infrastructure is the foundation for future growth. Our partnership with Minister Syakalima and the Government of Zambia is a testament to collective investment in youth, equity, and sustainable development.” Minister Syakalima echoed this optimism, saying that with strategic public–private investment, Zambia’s education sector is poised for a significant elevation.
This meeting lays the groundwork for collaboration that bridges government strategy and corporate innovation—ultimately aiming to empower Zambia’s students and accelerate national development.
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