Telecom
Nigeria Oils Machine for Launch of Sat2, 2nd Satellite — Pantami
Nigeria is to launch a second satellite (Sat 2) into orbit with a view to boosting the nation’s satellite communications capacity, according to Isa Ali Pantami, minister of Communications and Digital Economy.
Pantami said he has secured the approval of for purchasing the Satellite.
He disclosed this during a one-day working visit and interaction with the staff of the Nigerian Communications Satellite in Lugbe Abuja.
The minister also informed that he had gone further to lobby the Minister of Finance to ensure that this is included in the 2022 Budget.
Though the Minister refused to disclose the amount approved and how many satellites are to be purchased, our findings show that the Federal government earmarked the sum of N2.5 billion for the Satellite 2 project in the 2022 budget estimate.
The existing Sat1R, which was launched in 2011 with a life span of 15 will expire in the next four years.
Recall that the Federal government had in 2017 announced plans to raise $550m required for the construction of two new communications satellites for Nigeria, which the Chinese Export and Import Bank accepted to provide.
According to NIGCOMSAT, the approval of the Chinese bank followed representation by Nigeria that it could not afford the 15 per cent counterpart funding required for the country to access the loan of $550m for the construction of the two new communications satellites.
Also, the minister said he had approved the establishment of some subsidiaries under NIGCOMSAT, as part of the ongoing effort to revive the institution back to the part of progress and productivity.
‘‘Since 2019, I have been so passionate about the success of NIGCOMSAT. Starting with the suspension of the privatization of NIGCOMSAT. As a matter of fact, I have secured the approval of Mr President for purchasing another Satellite. I went further to lobby the Minister of Finance to ensure that this is included in the 2022 budget. I have also approved the establishment of some subsidiaries under NIGCOMSAT as part of efforts to revive the company and make it innovative and productive.’’
Pantami, who told the staff of the company that the innovation in the agency is not enough and needs to be improved upon, charged them to turn the institution around in order to justify the suspension of the proposed privatization plan.
The Minister said, ‘‘Core values should be the guiding principle that must be adopted without compromise, to ensure that any institution is successful. You need to be customer-centric, discover the failure of services before they realize it, fix the problem and come up with innovative ideas. The innovation in the agency is not enough and needs to be improved upon
‘‘You need to change your perception because you are not part of core civil servants, you are a company and should by far be above civil servants. One of the reasons our civil service has been failing is that feeling that we are government employees, we have nothing to lose and whatever happens, we will be paid our salaries.
‘‘There are other companies that are ready to come up and start providing similar services with you. The efforts made to stop privatization of NIGCOMSAT is for the good of the company and for the good of the country.’’
‘‘You need to turn things around through the Unique and effective service you are able to provide and revenue you generate for government. It is a difficult task to revive an institution and make it very successful, that you must make. The challenge of reviving NIGCOMSAT is not just a necessity but an obligation for all the staff,’’ he added.
Speaking on the revolution in NITDA, Pantami said through innovative policies and implementation, he succeeded in raising NITDA revenue from N7 billion to N19 billion annually, an agency that was supposed to be scrapped according to Orosanaya Report.
‘‘We revived NITDA and the agency has become a reference point for any IT project.’’
On NIMC, he said they had also secured the approval of N25 billion for the agency infrastructure upgrade.
‘‘Look at NIMC and what we have achieved, the NIN environment since the inception of National Identity Card to 2020 when I assumed supervision of the commission even after billions have been spent was below 30 million, and this is direct enrollment without leveraging on any database.
‘‘Before I assumed supervision, the annual enrollment used to be around 1.5 to 2million but between October 2020 to December 2021, we increased the NIN environment by 30 million in using the obsolete infrastructure. Mr President has approved N25 billion for the infrastructure but till today, no money has been released from October 2020 to date but we are still doing the work, that is why thinking outside the box is necessary.
‘‘The achievement of this one year has been better than the previous 10 years and within that 10 years there was a time N100 billion was released but this one no single Kobo was released to us. As the DG of NITDA, I increased the revenue generation of NITDA from N7 billion annually to N19 billion. Leverage the opportunity and turn things around.
‘‘Before I became the Minister, there was an Orunsanye report that recommended that NITDA should be scrapped and that the IT clearance should be given to Galaxy Backbone but today nobody is talking about the scrapping of NITDA because the institution has turned things around.
‘‘If you turn things around, you will go back and sleep but if you fail, you will be struggling So the challenge is on your table, the earlier you use 2022 and make NIGCOMSAT better the better for all of you but if you fail to do that, many people are there waiting for me to go so that they can execute their agenda.
‘‘2022 is the best year for you to turn things around but if you fail to do that, it will be the worst year for you I don’t pray for that, I pray for the best for you but you must get your priority right,’’ he said.
Earlier in her welcome address, Dr Abimbola Alale, managing director of NIGCOMSAT, said the coming of the Minister has raised the hope and confidence of the staff and management of the agency through his unprecedented support and increase in yearly budgetary allocation.
She expressed delight for the support being given to the agency by the Minister and assured him that her staff would take up the new challenge and ensure that they deliver on the mandate given by the Minister.
MTN Foundation has been spotlighted as a model for private sector-driven healthcare development in Nigeria, following commendations at the 6th Arthur Mbanefo Lecture held at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
Themed “A Healthy Nation is a Wealthy Nation: The Role of Impact Investments and Sustainable Financing in Nigeria,” the lecture featured Dr. Tolulope Adewole, Managing Director of NSIA Advanced Medical Services Limited (MedServe), as keynote speaker.
Dr. Adewole praised the Foundation’s strategic investments, noting that MTN commits 1% of its profit after tax annually to development sectors. “They’ve invested ₦31.75 billion, reaching over 32 million Nigerians. Though only 25% went to health, it accounted for 51% of all lives impacted. That’s catalytic,” he said.
He cited MTN’s dialysis centre programme as a transformative intervention for patients with kidney disease, and highlighted community-focused initiatives like the Y’ello Doctor mobile scheme and ‘What Can We Do Together’ (WCWDT) programme, which revitalised 164 Primary Healthcare Centres, including 44 in 2024 alone.
Executive Director of MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic’s exposure of systemic health vulnerabilities. “When COVID hit, we realised a health emergency is also an economic and social emergency,” she said.
Sanya revealed that of the 52 PHCs remodeled in 2024, only one had clean water. “I’m not a doctor, but I know you can’t live a good life without clean water,” she added, reaffirming the Foundation’s commitment to bridging healthcare gaps in underserved communities.
Hundreds of university students across Africa are set to benefit from a new gamified learning experience on digital rights and inclusion launched by the leading pan-African non-profit organisation, Paradigm Initiative (PIN).
The Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) is a game developed by Paradigm Initiative with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF). The custom-designed board game provides young individuals with a fun and engaging entry point into digital rights and inclusion conversations, training sessions and storytelling tools.
The board game aims to build digital literacy, deepen understanding of online safety, and introduce young individuals to the organisation’s tools of impact. Currently being piloted in three universities: University of Lagos, Nigeria, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi, Kenya and the Dakar American University of Science and Technology (DAUST) in Dakar, Senegal, it will enhance interactions and create a holistic experience.
Speaking at the event launch at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, ‘Gbenga Sesan, Paradigm Initiative’s Executive Director, said: “PIN’s vision is to reach 20 million people through our Digital Inclusion and Digital Rights interventions. From Lagos, to Dakar, to Nairobi.. we will use the vehicle of our new Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) which entails using gamification, training, multimedia materials, tools and other interventions to connect African youth with digital opportunities and protect their digital rights.”
‘Gbenga gave the keynote address on “Digital inclusion at PIN, our Past, Present and Future” and Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer, said the goal of the learning experience would be instrumental in raising awareness of digital rights among the youth, building their capacity to address digital rights and inclusion issues in their communities. Prof. Olunifesi Adekunle Suraj shared a goodwill message with the students and other stakeholders.
Paradigm Initiative, which has been operational since 2007, started in a tiny cybercafe in Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria. Today, the organisation has expanded its wings to cover six African countries; Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe, impacting the livelihoods of over 150,000 young Africans.
The launch of DRIBLE builds on the progress the organisation has made over the years in tackling the challenge of digital exclusion across Africa.
Paradigm Initiative’s tools of impact include Ripoti, a platform that enables individuals to report digital rights violations, Ayeta, a platform that provides digital security resources for stakeholders, more so human rights activists, defenders, journalists and other vulnerable groups, and the organisation’s latest short film, Whispers in the Wires.
Targeted at students, PIN rolled out a Campus Tour in the three universities on the continent starting July 15th, 2025.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has intensified its crackdown on fake accounts and spam, announcing it removed over 10 million fake profiles and roughly 500,000 spam accounts in the first half of 2025.
The sweeping purge is part of Meta’s broader effort to combat impersonation, fake engagement, and content duplication, aiming to elevate authentic creators and improve the quality of content across its platforms.
In a blog post, Meta said: “We’re making progress. In the first half of 2025, we took action on around 500,000 accounts engaged in spammy behaviour or fake engagement. We also removed about 10 million profiles impersonating large content producers.”
Meta stressed that accounts which primarily repost or recycle content without meaningful edits will face penalties such as reduced reach and the loss of monetisation tools.
The company also warned that repeatedly sharing unoriginal content — whether videos, photos, or text — undermines the platform’s integrity by crowding out genuine voices and making it harder for new creators to grow.
To support authentic creators, Meta is rolling out new tools that automatically trace reposted content back to its original source. The company says this will help ensure rightful credit and give higher visibility to original posts.
“Pages and profiles that post mostly original content tend to enjoy wider distribution across Facebook. Simply stitching clips together or adding a watermark will no longer count as meaningful editing. Content that provides real value and tells an authentic story is likely to perform better,” Meta explained.
Creators are also being cautioned against uploading content that includes watermarks from other platforms. Such posts could see their reach restricted or lose monetisation privileges altogether.
As part of its latest update, Meta introduced post-level insights on the Professional Dashboard, allowing creators to monitor how individual posts perform. They can also check their Support Home screen to see if their content or earnings are facing restrictions.
In a parallel development, Google’s YouTube updated its monetisation guidelines, stating that content deemed mass-produced or excessively repetitive will no longer qualify for ad revenue. The announcement initially sparked concern among creators, who feared it was a blanket ban on AI-generated content. YouTube later clarified:
“We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetise.”
Both tech giants say these new policies are aimed at raising content standards and safeguarding genuine creators in a crowded and rapidly evolving digital landscape.
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