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Nigeria to Inaugurate Digital Migration Board

Nigeria Today
18th April '08

The federal government plans to inaugurate a digital migration board, according to Minister of Information and Communication Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande. The board will be chartered to ensure that Nigeria achieves the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for technology. Nakande said that the MDGs for the ICT (Information Communications Technology) sector are especially important since technology cuts across all sectors of the economy. Specifically, the board is expected to assist the switch from analog to digital television. Nigeria, along with other African countries, have agreed to peg the MDG deadline at 2012 instead of 2015, as defined by the U.N.

Nakande said that the government hopes to continue to encourage deployment of broadband. "We would continue to look at existing policies and make those policies better," he said. Nakande made the announcement earlier this week in front of industry officials and telecom market observers attending the launch of a book on Ernest Ndukwe, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country's telecom regulator.

The book, "Ndukwe & Telecom Regulation: A Walk In Tandem," was written by Aaron Ukodie, an editor for the Daily Independent. Nakande said the book is about a legend in his own time and the efforts he has made for humanity, adding that Ndukwe's tenure brought stability into the nation's telecommunications sector. Speaking on behalf of book reviewer Matthew Hassan Kukah, Mike Magaji noted that the transparent auction of digital mobile licenses helped fire a boom in telecommunications in the country. He advised that the book be made available in compact disc and electronic book formats so people outside Nigeria could easily access the work.

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May we be strengthened with the ability, willingness and capabilities to be good ambassadors of Nigeria contributing to its uplifting, rather than its detriment. - Cxsm