The report that MTN Nigeria Communications Plc kicked off the open 5G pilot today as it plans to roll out 5G services in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, and Maiduguri soon is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that MTN Nigeria Communications Plc kicked off an open 5G pilot today as it plans to roll out 5G services in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Owerri, and Maiduguri soon.
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission, 5G licensees are supposed to begin rollout commencement on the 24th of August. Mafab Communications Limited, the only other telecommunication firm with a 5G licence, has since announced that it will miss out on the commission’s target.
This is because the NCC granted it a five-month extension to roll out 5G services because of the delays in issuing the telco a Unified Access Service Licence and Numbering plan.
The Chairman, Mafab, Musbahu Bashir, said, “I have no doubt that the service will help deliver improvements in the fields of education, business, smart cities and entertainment. The goal remains to launch before the 5-month extension period, and we will be sharing more information in the near future.”
According to MTN, it is testing the new-generation network infrastructure in anticipation of its launch and customers with certain enabled devices will be allowed to connect with and try out the new service where coverage is available.
Speaking on the pilot test, the Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Adia Sowho, said, “Every major technological evolution redefines what is possible – changing the way we live and the way we connect.
“MTN Nigeria has been at the forefront of every leap in telecommunications: from GSM to 2G, 3G, and 4G. 5G has the potential to change everything.”
The newspaper says that aggregate foreign exchange inflows into the economy fell by 17.3 per cent to $6.58bn in April.
The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its April monthly report on foreign exchange flows through the economy.
It stated that, “The economy recorded a lower net foreign exchange inflow of $2.63bn, from $3.53bn in the preceding month. Aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the economy fell by 17.3 per cent to $6.58bn in April 2022, compared with $7.95bn in March.
“Similarly, total foreign exchange outflow decreased by 11.3 per cent to $3.95bn, from $4.45bn in the preceding month.”
The report said further analysis showed that foreign exchange inflows through the bank declined by 25.6 per cent to $2.47bn, from $3.32bn, attributed mainly to 54.3 per cent decrease in non-oil components as a result of inflows of $1.25bn proceeds from government debts in the preceding month, as well as TSA, third-party receipts and other official income.
Autonomous inflows also decreased by 11.4 per cent to $4.11bn from $4.63bn, due to a decline in invisible purchases, which included ordinary domiciliary account ($1.33bn) and non-oil export receipts ($0.49bn).
Foreign exchange outflows through the bank declined by 19.3 per cent to $2.86bn from $3.54bn in March, due, largely, to decreases in foreign exchange sales at the Investors and Exporters window, Small and Medium Enterprises intervention and interbank/invisible foreign exchange windows.
Autonomous outflows increased by 20 per cent to $1.09bn from $0.91bn in March, on account of increased invisible imports.
Consequently, net outflows of $0.39bn were recorded through the bank in April 2022, compared with net outflows of $0.23bn in the previous month.
The Guardian reports that disturbed by the migration of doctors, nurses and other medical workers to Europe and America for greener pasture, the Federal government has floated a policy to ensure that every deserting doctor or nurse is replaced immediately.
Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja, insisted that Nigeria does not have a shortage of doctors and other health workers.
Ehanire, who described the proposed policy as ‘one for replacing one, said: “I have heard the complaints that doctors are leaving the system. But actually, we have enough doctors in the country because we are producing up to 2,000 to 3,000 doctors every year in the country, and the number leaving is less than 1,000. Just that the recruitment process needs to be smoothened.”
Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ifedayo Adetifa, said there was no shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria, but rather, a paucity of arms to uptake the vaccine.
He, therefore, advised Nigerians to get vaccinated with the vaccine, as they are readily available at all designated centres and hospitals in all nooks and crannies of the country.
“Vaccines are available, but there is a shortage of arms to receive them. Please tell people to present their arms so that we can have more uptakes of vaccine,” he pleaded.
Adetifa cautioned that COVID-19 “is still around, hence, Nigerians should apply all protective measures when in an enclosed place with many people.
“More importantly, to protect ourselves and others on the need to ensure that we take public measures as recommended. Use of face mask, hand hygiene and physical distancing is appropriate.”
The newspaper says that the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) have blamed the rising spate of oil spills across the Niger Delta on sabotage and inequalities in the region.
The agencies stated this on Wednesday when a team from civil society organisation, Connected Development (CODE) and an international development organisation Oxfam, paid them a courtesy visit in Abuja.
The visit to the agencies by the CSOs was to collaborate with the government on issues pertaining to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) which gives a framework on how government and businesses are to protect and respect human rights, including mechanisms that are to be put in place to reduce, mitigate and redress business-related violations.
Speaking during the parley, Director General, NORSDA, Idris Musa, noted that most of the oil spills recorded in the Niger Delta were as a result of sabotage in the system.
According to him, out of the 1086 oil spills recorded in Bayelsa from 2015 till February 2022, 917 were as a result of sabotage, third-party breakage of pipelines with hacksaws or outright blowing up of pipelines.
He said the nation loses about 200 to 300 barrels of oil per day to the menace.
Musa said: “The Eni spill in Bayelsa happened a few weeks back and we constituted a joint investigation visit to the place that indicated that it was a result of sabotage.
“And this is exactly what we have been advocating against that we should put an end to sabotage, wanting the destruction of oil facilities because when this spill happens, three things happen. One, as a nation, we lose revenue, and individuals lose livelihood because the oil will impact on areas where they either fish or farm and then it’s also a loss to the oil company and the environment.”
The DG of NESREA, Prof. Aliyu Jauro, said the large-scale theft of crude and related pipeline sabotage in the Niger Delta was as a result of poverty and inequality in the region.
According to him, to combat the menace, transparency and accountability should be adhered to, adding that there must be a holistic approach to eradicating inequalities and poverty in the region
GIK/APA