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The Human and Environmental Development Agenda Resource Centre (HEDA), a non-governmental organisation, has invoked the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), asking for detailed information on the alleged resolution between the apex bank and MTN Nigeria relating to charges of improper repatriation of about $8.13 Billion. The FoI request to the CBN was signed by Olanrewaju Suraju, the Chairman of HEDA. According to the resource centre, the wide margin between the reported final payment and the alleged charged sum has left the public puzzled as to the procedure and steps taken to arrive at the resolution. The request read: “On the 4th day of September, 2018, the online platform of the Business Day Newspaper reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria, sometime in 2018, revealed that MTN Nigeria illegally repatriated foreign exchange of about $8.13billion with irregularly issued Certificates of Capital Importation (CCIs) by some commercial banks nam...

Teleology Holdings, the new owners of 9mobile, have withdrawn from further participation in the 9mobile project, SaharaReporters can exclusively report. Teleology acquired 9mobile, known then as Etisalat, in November 2018 — about eight months after it made an initial $500million non-refundable deposit to acquire the telco, and a cumulative 10 months after the takeover was billed to have been finalised. Etisalat, the fourth of Nigeria’s GSM service providers, began trading as ‘9mobile’ following the financial consequences of defaulting in the servicing of a syndicated loan of $1.2billion owed a consortium of 13 Nigerian banks. In the aftermath, its erstwhile technical partners Etisalat exited the business and requested that the use of the ‘Etisalat’ brand name by the company be discontinued forthwith. Teleology Holdings, a special purpose vehicle comprising telecom industry veterans and led by Adrian Wood, pioneer Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, eventually won the final bid — ah...

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to release the contract award letter to facilitate the collection of NCC's 2.5 per cent annual operating levy and other government taxes from the Nigerian telecommunication industry. He gave the ultimatum in a letter addressed to Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, dated December 18, 2018. Falana accused NCC of "deliberately refusing to issue the contract award letter to enable the successful consultant to deploy the software and save Nigeria from further loss of huge revenue". According to the lawyer, the refusal of NCC to issue the contract award letter is causing the nation to lose revenue of over N600billion per annum. The letter read: "We have confirmed that the Nigerian Communication Commission under your management has since concluded the procurement p...

If you have never been to the Lagos (Ikeja) Computer Village, what you are perhaps missing is a chaotic world of ICT gurus, a community of both computer and phone accessories and etcetera. If you have never been to the Computer Village, what you may be missing are fraudsters and tricksters, dubious traders whose businesses in the market are shady; hungry, angry Nigerians who are ready to turn one naira to one million within a wink of an eye. Again, if you are a first-timer at the market, especially in the beehive vivacity of the day, look very carefully at the people you see around. You will notice aberrant faces looking like the leftovers of a hunger's feast. Some of these people are victims of the day-to-day dishonest trading dominating the heart of the market. Discretion, they say, is the better part of valour, but Doicy, a Benin-based-man and first-timer in Lagos, was not discreet enough when he patronised the Computer Village at Ikeja; he was simply shown how to shine his eyes...

US chip-maker Qualcomm claims it has won an injunction against Apple that effectively bans the import and sale of a number of iPhone models, ranging from the iPhone 6S to the iPhone X in CHINA. The preliminary order, issued by a Chinese court, is the latest in step a continuing feud between the two tech giants over intellectual property. However, Apple says all of its iPhone models remain on sale in the country. The disputed patents relate to software rather than hardware. The injunction affects devices running older versions of Apple’s iOS operating system and not those running the latest version, iOS 12. The court found Apple had violated two of Qualcomm’s patents – one regarding photograph resizing and the other related to how apps are managed on a touch screen. “Apple continues to benefit from our intellectual property while refusing to compensate us,” said Don Rosenberg, general counsel of Qualcomm. However, Apple responded that the attempted ban was “another desperate move by a c...

Every Mars landing is a knuckle-whitening feat of engineering. But each attempt has its own quirks based on where a spacecraft is going and what kind of science the mission intends to gather. On Nov. 26, NASA will try to safely set a new spacecraft on Mars. InSight is a lander dedicated to studying the deep interior of the planet – the first mission ever to do so. Here are a few things to know about InSight's landing. Landing on Mars is hard Only about 40 percent of the missions ever sent to Mars – by any space agency – have been successful. The U.S. is the only nation whose missions have survived a Mars landing. The thin atmosphere – just 1 percent of Earth's – means that there's little friction to slow down a spacecraft. Despite that, NASA has had a long and successful track record at Mars. Since 1965, it has flown by, orbited, landed on and roved across the surface of the Red Planet. InSight uses tried-and-true technology In 2008, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in ...

Instagram just made it easier for you to verify your Instagram account. Now you won’t have to avail of those shady Instagram verification service just to get that highly-regarded blue tick. This article will guide you on how to get verified on Instagram for free. People used to buy Instagram verification service just to have that precious blue tick on their names. Aside from being highly likely that these services are nothing but scams, users may get their Instagram accounts at risk especially if the service requires users to provide their Instagram username and passwords. We can safely say that people who offer services and hacks to get verified on Instagram are only there to steal your money and your account details. How to Get Verified on Instagram For the longest time, Instagram did not clearly give ways for users to get a verified account. Only famous celebrities and businesses are rewarded with the verified icon. Now, things are changing. Instagram has made it easier for users to...

NEW YORK: You will hardly find anyone who owns a smartphone and does not use WhatsApp. In today’s age, when family members and colleagues share almost everything from pictures to documents with each other over WhatsApp, it becomes imperative to have an additional layer of security to protect all that information. There are quite a few WhatsApp hack tools out there in the market today, and at least some of them are simply too clever at what they can achieve as spy apps. We do not endorse looking at someone else’s messages, but you may just have a good reason to do so, and that is just what these WhatsApp hacker tools are for. While SIM and phone passwords are effective, WhatsApp has its own security measures to ensure that no one can access your data without your permission. Here are some simple steps to protect WhatsApp accounts: 1. Open the WhatsApp app 2. Tap on ‘Settings’ 3. Select ‘Account’ 4. Select ‘Two-step verification’ 5. Tap ‘Enable’ 6. Enter 6-digit PIN 7. Tap ‘Next’ and rep...

In today’s modern world of social media distractions and countless other applications and immersive gadgets to captivate our interests, it can be extremely challenging to retain one’s focus towards one task. Sometimes, we get distracted by notifications on our Facebook profile, some find themselves lost in planning vacations they can’t afford, while others can’t seem to get enough of the news updates. Given all the countless distractions that we all have in our lives, we need to consider using certain apps that can help keep track of our thoughts and regain our focus with increased concentration. We’re going to introduce you to three amazing apps that can help you improve your concentration span and exercise your focus. Here, take a look: 1. Focus An app, named as Focus, has made a game of planting virtual seeds that tend to grow only when you stay focused on one task and maintain distance from your phone. The less you turn towards your phone and start using the device, the greener and...