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Philately Business is a Serious Business- Ugo

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King Fhud of Egypt describes philately as king of hobbies and hobby for kings. Postage stamps are considered the most effective medium for immortalizing monuments and past histories, yet not many people know that there is more to stamp than mere affixing it on the envelope as a postal condition for carrying of letters. The name philately may sound strange to some people who do not understand what the business is all about, but for those in the known are actually  making their millions silently in this business which A.U Okpara of the Dept. of Fine and Applied Arts, Imo State University Owerri once  described as treasure in the trash.
The implication of the definition of Treasure is that the philatelist collects stamps from the trash cans- the useful part of the discarded envelope and recognizes its value as a work of art and places value on it.
 In this period when the world is experiencing economic meltdown with its ugly consequence on the capital market, Mr. Ugo C. Ugo, manager Philately Bureau Lagos has said that attention is now shifting to philately as a cool and sure way of making money. He said philately business is all about collecting and studying of stamps.
In talking about stamps collection and sale, Ugo insists that first and foremost there is need to know how the stamp is produced. He said that all the postage stamps you see in Nigeria are printed for Philately Bureau by the Security Printing and Minting Company (SPCMC).
He went further to say that there are two different types of stamps namely the definitive and commemorative stamps. Definitive stamp, he said, is the one that is produced to last for about five years while the commemorative stamp lasts just for six months. But Ugo said that the Philately Bureau can still sell commemorative stamps beyond six months even when they are not available in the general post offices. In fact he said the office can sell commemorative stamps for up to two years saying that this differentiates Philately office from the general post office business.  When stamps are produced, he said the chief finance officer of Postal Order and Stamp Supply (the unit that distributes the stamps) will collect the stamps and distributes to territories.
Ugo agrees that not many people know about the business of stamp studying and collection in Nigeria and says the few people that know about it are among the literate class quite unlike in developed countries of U.S, Britain, Germany and others whose postal services make a whole lot of money from philately business. Ugo says that philately business is a serious business and that there are stamp clubs all over the world where people who similar interest can belong.
Tracing the origin of postage stamps, Ugo said that postage stamp was invented by Sir Roland Hills, an Englishman who lived between 1795-1879. In Nigeria, he said that the history of postage stamp dates back to 1859 when a hand struck stamp with the inscription “Paid in Lagos was used.”  In June 1874 the first consignment of stamps were released in Lagos.
Stamp collection as a hobby started in Great Britain around 1840 when the first stamp issue was released but Ugo says it is general belief that the idea of collecting  stamps came from a Belgium school master who asked his pupils to adorn their atlases with stamps . He said that  this adornment became so appealing that in 1854 stamp collecting  was taken  more seriously and stamp clubs started emerging afterwards. In Nigeria, philately as a hobby was run on a small scale before 1969. in order to improve the standard and quality of Nigerian stamps and provide adequate philately services to Nigerians and foreign collectors, the Nigerian Philatelic Bureau was established in 1969.
Awareness about stamp collection and study is generally low in the country and Ugo says his bureau has been making efforts in recent times to sensitize the people about what philately is all about through the print and circulation of flyers and corporate gift items to members of the public. “ In abroad most postal services make about 70 per cent of their revenue from philately but in Nigeria, the philately is not developed and we are not making the type of money we are supposed to be making”, Ugo said .
To register as a stamp collector, what you need to pay is just a thousand naira and account will be opened for you.  Those abroad pay a minimum of forty U.S dollars for the same purpose and they can do everything online. Ugo says that some of the two thousand eight hundred philately members registered with the Nigerian Philately Bureau are white people.  Each stamp collector, according to Ugo must have a particular interest of stamps  he is collecting whether on animals, telecommunications, music , costumes etc  saying that the longer the year of stamp produced, the higher the amount it can attract on sale.  He said that when one pays one thousand naira as registration fee that the bureau uses that money to supply the member with postage stamps of various denominations for almost a year and that as soon as the money is exhausted, the Philately accounts officer will alert the member to come for renewal. 
Nipost Philately position as the 196th member of International Philately Federation five years ago underscores the fact that philately is a growing business worldwide and Nigerians stand to gain a lot from it.  The biggest challenge therefore is creating of awareness by the Nigerian Postal Service to educate the people on what they stand to gain from the hobby.
Chief J. Ade Fagbeminro is in his seventies but he has been in the philately business since early sixties when he said a friend introduced him to the business. Then he said the money they were getting from the business was not much but had real value. He said he has a network of buyers and belongs to international dealership associations. We have dealership association all over the world and whenever there’s need for stamps they call me. I deal in Nigeria stamps and other countries as well. People from abroad contact me on email and telephone to request for stamps”, Fagbeminro disclosed to Nigeria Communications Week. You too can tell the same beautiful story in future if you start now to invest into this gold mine.


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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E-Business

Senate Votes to Compel Facebook, Others to Open Offices in Nigeria

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Nigerian Senate, on Tuesday, passed for first reading a bill aimed at amending the Nigerian Data Protection Act of 2023.

Senate Votes to Compel Facebook, Others to Open Offices in Nigeria

The amendment seeks to compel major social media platforms—including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and other independent bloggers—to establish physical offices in Nigeria.

The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Nigerian Data Protection Act, 2023, Mandating the Establishment of Physical Offices within the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Social Media Platforms, and for Related Matters, 2025.”

It was introduced by Senator Ned Nwoko, a lawmaker from Delta State.

The bill not only mandates that the social media platforms set up physical offices in Nigeria, but also seeks to regulate bloggers operating in the country.

It proposes that bloggers must establish verifiable offices in any Nigerian capital city, maintain proper employee records, and join a recognised association based in Abuja.

During the Senate debate, Nwoko highlighted Nigeria’s significant digital presence, referencing a report from Global Web Index shared by Business Insider Africa.

With a population of over 200 million, Nigeria ranks second globally in social media engagement.

Nwoko argued that having local offices is long overdue, noting that the absence of such offices creates challenges, including limited local representation and difficulties for users and businesses to engage directly with these platforms.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, acknowledged the potential benefits of having these social media platforms establish local offices, particularly in terms of improving regulatory oversight and ensuring compliance.

However, Akpabio urged caution regarding the regulation of bloggers, stressing the importance of protecting online expression.

“It’s beneficial to have an address, but bloggers are a bit different. The best approach is for the bill to go for a second reading, followed by a public hearing to provide more clarity,” Akpabio said.

He emphasised that the intent of the bill was not to suppress social media, but rather to improve taxation and record-keeping for digital platforms in Nigeria.

The Senate has also tasked the Committee on ICT and Cyber Security to conduct a thorough review of the bill and report its findings in two months.


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E-Business

Google to Buy Cybersecurity Company Wiz for $32Bn

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Google said Tuesday it will acquire cloud security platform Wiz for $32 billion, citing the need for greater cybersecurity capacity as artificial intelligence embeds itself in technology infrastructure.

Google to Buy Cybersecurity Company Wiz for $32Bn

The all-cash deal brings Wiz into the Google Cloud operation, boosting the capacity of consumers to use “multiple clouds” and providing “an end-to-end security platform for customers, of all types and sizes, in the AI era,” the companies said in a joint press release.

The deepening influence of AI makes “cybersecurity increasingly important in defending against emergent risks and protecting national security,” the companies said.

The transaction, the largest ever sought by Google or parent Alphabet, will test President Donald Trump’s openness to large takeovers after resistance to such deals by the administration of Joe Biden.

Alphabet had been close to a Wiz takeover last summer, but the deal fell apart due in part to regulatory concerns, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Started in 2020 by Assaf Rappaport, co-founder and CEO, and a team who sold a previous venture to Microsoft, Wiz will continue to work and provide services to platform led by other tech giants including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Wiz is based in New York, with offices in Tel Aviv and three other US cities.

In a webcast after the deal was announced, Rappaport said the service “continuously scans an organization’s code and cloud environments, monitoring them in real time” to “prioritize the most critical risk based on real impact and blocks active threats.”

 

 

 

 


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Telecom

MTN Group to Invest $10Bn in African Expansion by 2030

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MTN Group announced plans to expand its footprint on the conti­nent with a $10 billion investment by 2030.

MTN Group to Invest $10Bn in African Expansion by 2030

The International Telecom­munication Union (ITU), which relayed the information, said the company will inject $2 billion an­nually as part of the initiative.

According to the ITU, MTN Group plans to use these funds to expand and enhance its voice and data networks, aiming to provide better coverage and connectivity for its customers.

The company sees these invest­ments as key to driving digital in­clusion and supporting economic growth in its key markets.

Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 13 of MTN’s target markets, had 527 million unique mobile subscribers in 2023, with a penetration rate of 44%, according to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA).

The region also had 320 million mobile internet subscribers, rep­resenting 27% of the population.

This digital divide presents oppor­tunities for telecom operators.

The GSMA projects that the number of unique mobile sub­scribers in sub-Saharan Africa will reach 751 million by 2030, growing at an annual compound rate of 4.5% from 2023 to 2030.

Mobile internet subscribers are expected to increase to 518 million, with the mobile internet penetra­tion rate reaching 37%, up from 27%.

However, the GSMA estimates that telecom operators will need to invest $62 billion in their networks over the period.

By gaining new subscribers, MTN hopes to solidify its posi­tion as “Africa’s largest mobile network operator.”

The company currently has around 230 million subscribers, competing with Vodacom (205 mil­lion), Airtel Africa (163.1 million), and Orange (160 million).

Despite focusing on infrastruc­ture, MTN must also address chal­lenges hindering the adoption of mobile phone and internet ser­vices.

According to the GSMA, one key obstacle is the high cost of smartphones, which makes them difficult to access for many people.

The GSMA encourages tele­com operators to implement initiatives such as device financ­ing plans, installment payment options, and affordable smart­phones through partnerships with manufacturers.

 

 

 


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