I hope you are ready to understand 5G and the Mobile Internet. The trio of Emeka Obiodu (King’s College London), Dr. Olayinka Oduwole (PhD Oxford University), and Olu Teniola (World Wide Web Foundation) will teach this course. This is a new course in Tekedia Institute.
We added it because the future of commerce is mobile and the nexus of Digital Transformation which our Faculty, Jude Ayoka [MBA, PMP, TOGAF] (Access Bank Plc), explains brilliantly, will not happen without mobile.
Great businesses are mobile – this is the mobile age. Learn from the best. REGISTER.
An appeal has gone to the Federal Government of Nigeria to either suspend or extend the deadline set for the registration of the National Identity Number (NIN) and its linkage to the SIM cards of Nigerian subscribers. This appeal was contained in an advisory released by a university don, Dr. Tunde Oseni, who is the Head of Department of Politics and International Relations of Lead City University, Ibadan, on his social media handles in the week. According to the Political Scientist and Public Affairs Analyst, the public health crisis that may result from the overcrowding seen at the National Identity Management Commission’s offices across Nigeria in the face of the rising cases of COVID 19 in the country is enough to prompt the government to soft pedal on the exercise.
Oseni said any government policy that will achieve its purpose must be focused on the convenience of the majority of people for whom such policy is intended. He therefore proposed four ways through which the government could achieve its aim of on boarding Nigerians into the identity management system. The university don proposed massive education for the citizenry on the need to have a central identity management system. He charged both the Ministry of Information and Culture as well as the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to use its wide network in the country to ensure a grassroots-based campaign reaches the people.
He thus advised a one-year extension to the exercise suggesting December 31, 2021 due date. The academician as well encouraged the government to make the process of registration bi-platform using both the online and offline registration points to make the process seamless. He said the NIMC should be empowered with the needed technology to do this. The scholar went down the memory recounting his experience while a student abroad.
He stated “I remember when I was based in UK and had to get the National Insurance number and the Resident Permit Card. It was seamless as most of the process was done online. I only visited the office once (for data capturing), having booked an appointment online as well. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) should be empowered along this tech line.”
Oseni equally urged the federal government to decentralize the registration process, leveraging on banks and telecoms companies. He said “recent crowding in NIMC offices across the country showcases one thing: facilities for registration are overstretched. If it is possible, and I think it is, telecoms can partner with the Commission to widen the access for identity registration. Even banks, is there any one now who has a bank account and not a BVN? By all means possible, decentralise the process.”
The Public Analyst advised the government to create a central database. He lamented a situation where Nigerians carry different means of identification. He queried “how many cards should one carry: voter’s card, national identity card, ECOWAS passport, which other one?” He then suggested that “it may take time, resources and expertise, but a one-stop tech solution is needed to integrate all necessary data of citizens.”
In his concluding note, Oseni averred that the government should implement the NIN project within the window allowed by the prevailing COVID 19 condition. He noted that “as laudable as the NIN project is, the COVID- 19 pandemic has affected governance, even life, across the globe. It is within the reality of what is obtainable and achievable that a policy should be anticipated and implemented.”
I was NOT a believer in crypto and I remain extremely suspicious of it. But looking at the trajectory, I invested in a crypto exchange and a mobile app to convert coins to fiat currencies. But many young people in Africa mounted pressure with “I do not keep my money in Naira but in BTC” – and you need to allow me to pay via BTC. BTC is Bitcoin.
We added bitcoin as a way for members to pay for our services a few weeks ago. Ladies and gentlemen, the data is unbelievable: a solid double-digit adoption.
For the integration, I took my time, read the manuals and did the coding, optimization and integration myself, without involving anyone. Not as hard as writing firmware for microchips. This thing is not as esoteric as it may seem.
If you are a merchant in Nigeria (and Africa), I challenge you to consider integration of BTC. The growth in Nigeria is evidential. I do not waste time on this feed – see this as another channel to grow revenue. You can make the crypto to settle in US dollars which means once they pay, the money drops as the US dollars equivalent in your digital wallet. You can then move it to your bank as USD.
Code
Description
Cost
MINI
Tekedia Mini-MBA. And WhatsApp School
US$170 or N120,000 naira
MINF
Annual Package: 3 consecutive MINI, and 2 optional capstones.
$340 or N180,000
MINR
(optional) Homework review; faculty will review your homework with feedback.
$30 or N10,000
CAPS
(optional) Tekedia capstone is a research paper, analogous to final college project.
$60 or N20,000 per track
Young people are smart: listen to them on what they want. I wish I did this integration many months ago. Click here to see how it looks.
You asked for it: we need to understand how to design, develop and execute an effective Enterprise Marketing. Today, we are very excited to announce that the General Manager, Enterprise Marketing of MTN Nigeria, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, will teach a course on Effective Enterprise Marketing in Tekedia Mini-MBA, a community service designed to make innovators and growth champions better.
Onyinye is a graduate of the University of Calabar (BSc) and University of Manchester Business School (MBA). She is a business leader and one of the finest operators in her domain. That record N1 trillion annual revenue remains in Nigeria; people made it happen in the land of y’ello.
Her course has made me better as I have told our startups and teams that to thrive, this is how to run an enterprise marketing. I invite you to join our Faculty and others as we begin Feb 8th.
Can you believe this Nigeria? Some workers in NIMC are on strike despite the urgency put on the NIN registration and integration with SIM cards. Yes, the “staff of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), on Thursday, embarked on an indefinite strike over poor funding…The Nigerian government had directed telecommunication operators through the Nigerian Communication Commission to block subscribers who fail to link their mobile numbers to their NIN…The directive said subscribers were given a period of two weeks to link their numbers but was later extended to January 18 2021. Subscribers without NIN have until February 9 to register and link it to their phone numbers”.
I truly sympathize with the NIMC staff members. Nigeria needs to fund and take care of them if we do hope for this NIN exercise to work. I mean you cannot expect them to work on an empty stomach and get the mandate executed.
Yet, NIMC should know that Nigeria’s purse is empty. Seriously, we need a national emergency on our priorities. NIMC should be the #1 funded agency in Nigeria because it is the only path to have a credit-driven economy which can add double digit growth in our economy within a few years. So, the National Assembly and the Presidency should find money and get NIMC working!
This strike is a national problem and should be immediately managed to ensure the workers return to work.
This comes after NIMC justupdated the community on the SIM card-NIN project.
National ID Card, Nigeria
“The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been drawn to numerous publications in both print and electronic media regarding the unfounded fears of mass disconnection of telephone subscribers as a result of the ongoing linkage of SIM Registration Records with the National Identity Number (NIN).
It is therefore necessary for the Commission to issue this clarification in order to allay the fears of subscribers and the general public.
Most of these publications are based on the erroneous assumption that for every network or SIM connection, there is one unique human subscriber.
However, with the advent of social media and App-driven digital environment, network subscription went beyond human subscribers to include machines like PoS, Routers, Wi-Fi devices, electricity meters, CCTV, tracking devices etc.
A recent survey conducted in Nigeria has shown that on average, there are now approximately 4 to 5 SIMs to every human subscriber. This explains the basis of allowing the linkage of up to 7 SIMs to 1 unique NIN in the recently launched Federal Government Portal.
Thus, if there are 43 million Nigerians with NINs, this could account for about 172 million SIMs already linked to NINs. It is very important to emphasize that the current exercise of linking NIN to SIM(s) is for the common good of all Nigerians, as it has far reaching benefits.
Apart from enhancing our general safety, this will help in such vital exercises like National Budgeting, Policy Planning, Social Intervention programs and many more.
The Honourable Minister of Communication and Digital Economy has assured that the Government will continue to review the exercise in the light of experiences to ensure its smooth implementation.
We call on all our media partners, publishers and reporters to always endeavour to seek clarification from the Commission before going to the press, especially on sensitive issues,” the statement said.
More so, do not sell your NIN, it could land you in trouble if a criminal uses the identity to cause trouble: “The EFCC wishes to alert Nigerians that it is not only illegal to sell their NIN, they stand the risk of vicarious liability for any act of criminality linked to their NIN.”
EFCC Warns Nigerians Against Sale of NIN
As Nigerians struggle to acquire the National Identity Number, NIN, from offices of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, across the country it has come to the knowledge of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.. pic.twitter.com/Qs0HyCklbL
