The report that Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has announced plans to spearhead a global collaboration aimed at enhancing the protection of undersea cables is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Punch reports that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has announced plans to spearhead a global collaboration aimed at enhancing the protection of undersea cables.
The minister made this disclosure on social media platform, X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.
This comments came against the backdrop of undersea cable cut that has affected Ghana, Togo, Senegal, among others.
Recognising the critical role these cables play in the digital economy, Tijani emphasised the need to review international laws and foster partnerships with regional and global bodies to accelerate efforts to safeguard this vital infrastructure.
Assuring those affected by the disruptions, Tijani stated that the Nigerian Communications Commission was actively working with all relevant stakeholders to swiftly resolve the issues at hand.
According to him, the initiative marks a significant step towards ensuring the resilience and reliability of undersea cables, crucial lifelines in today’s interconnected world.
The newspaper says that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and the Senate, on Sunday, ordered the military to apprehend the killers of 16 Nigerian Army personnel who were on a peace mission to the Okuama community in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.
In carrying out the order, it was gathered on Sunday that the military combed the warring communities and arrested a lot of persons including three prime suspects, as the President declared that the Defence Headquarters and the Defence Chief had full authority to bring anybody responsible to justice.
Also, retired army generals and civil society organisations lambasted the killers of the soldiers and called for their apprehension and speedy prosecution in order to serve as a deterrent to other criminal elements.
Many residents of Okuama in the Ughelli South Local Government Area and Okolaba in the Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, fled the communities on Friday, as soldiers took over the area after the killing of the Army personnel.
Mutilated bodies of the soldiers were recovered by the Joint Task Force under the supervision of the General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, at the Okuama community.
A commanding officer, two Majors, one Captain, 12 soldiers, and one civilian lost their lives in the ambush on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
The neighbouring communities have been engaged in a communal land dispute since January 27, 2024, when some youths from Okoloba were said to have ambushed and killed three Okuama youths, Igho Meshack, Godspower Awusa, and Okiemute Agbabuleke, over an age-long land dispute in the area as they were returning from Okwagbe.
The Punch also reports that the Nigerian Government is in talks with the World Bank to complete the processes of obtaining over $1bn loans to address the challenges facing Internally Displaced Persons and their host communities, as well as bolster rural access and agricultural marketing in the country.
The request is contained in World Bank documents titled, ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project’ and ‘Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project – Scale Up.’
While the IDP loan is put at $500m, the rural access and agricultural marketing project loan is estimated at $550m.
Some of the World Bank loans that are being currently addressed by the global bank have reportedly been initiated under the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari
According to the documents provided on the bank’s website, the IDP initiative is meant to improve access to resilient and inclusive basic services and economic opportunities for IDPs and their host communities in displacement-affected local government areas in the northern part of the country.
The Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project, estimated for an appraisal date of February 11, 2025, and slated for approval on April 8, 2025, represents a targeted effort to improve the lives of millions affected by internal displacement due to conflict, violence, and climate challenges.
The Washington-based lender added that the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning would act as the borrower for Nigeria, while the National Commission for Refugee Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons and the North East Development Commission are the implementing agencies.
The Vanguard newspaper says that banks in Nigeria have been affected by a damage to submarine cables which has caused internet outages in parts of Africa.
The submarine cable cuts which occurred on Thursday affected subsea cable providers and disrupted internet traffic in major parts of the continent.
According to reports, the damage affected major undersea cables near Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, affecting submarine communications cables, including West Africa Cable System (WACS), the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, and SAT3.
The issue is said to be causing downtime across West and South African countries, affecting telecommunications network as well as banks in Nigeria.
In a notice to customers on Thursday, Sterling Bank apologised to customers over the effect of the network disruption affecting transactions.
“We are aware that you may be experiencing difficulties trying to transfer funds, reach our customer care team, or transact via USSD and genuinely apologize for the effect of this on your day.
“We are fully committed to providing the best service and are working tirelessly to resolve this issue. You have our promise to notify you as soon as it has been fixed,” Sterling Bank stated.
Rasheed Bolarinwa, President, Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), confirmed that the situation impacted connectivity across many banks.
“Yes, it did impact connectivity across substantial number, if not virtually all the Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria as banking operations were substantially affected for most parts of today,” Bolarinwa told TheCable.
He, however, said that substantial progress is being recorded in gradual resolution of the glitch.
GIK/APA