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Nigerian Communications Satellite-1 (NigComSat-1): Missing in Action (MIA) By Abubakar A Nuhu-Koko
This writer had on several occasions not long ago, commented on Nigeria’s lacklustre and muddled Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Policy that is more often than not, intertwined with the nation’s confused Science, Engineering and Technology and Space Research and Development and Telecommunications (Telecoms) Policies.
Of particular concern then and now, were (are): a) the issues of the mismatches in articulating clear, implementable and sustainable national ICT, Space Science, Technology and Research and Development, and Telecoms Policies for the nation and b) management of the nation’s critical ICT, Space Science, Technology and Research and Development and Telecoms infrastructures.
For instance, not long ago, two separate Federal Ministries were responsible for these activities; namely, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and the Federal Ministry of Communications. However, in the twilight of former President Obasanjo’s administration, in 2007, he reorganized the Federal Ministries and in that process, the Federal Ministry of Communications and the Federal Ministry of Information were merged together to produce the present day Federal Ministry of Communications and Information; muddling further, the already existing chaotic and confused situation.
In addition to these key ministries, several extra-ministerial agencies were created to translate the sectoral policies into programs and projects. Some of these agencies include the following: a) the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) b) the Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); c) the National Centre for Remote Sensing (NCRS) - all belonging to the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, and, d) the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) - the Telecoms sector and industry regulator under the Federal Ministry of Communications and Information and e) the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) established by the NCC.
In the same maddening and chaotic situation, a number of “well intended” (as usually claimed by Abuja policy hawks) programs and projects were initiated and implemented by the then President Obasanjo’s administration (1999-2007). This includes for example:
a) privatization of the nation’s flagship national telecoms companies and their must valued assets and infrastructures such as: 1.) the Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL Ltd.) and its cash cow - the South Atlantic-3 (SAT-3) undersea cable; and 2) Mobile Telecommunications Limited (M-Tel Ltd.).
b) The acquisition and launching of two Nigerian premier and flagship Satellites – the Nigerian Satelite-1 (NigeriaSat-1) and the Nigerian Communications Satellite-1 (NigComSat-1);
c) The incorporation of a new Federal Government-owned communications Satellite company – NigComSat Ltd; with mandate to commercially manage NigComSat-1; and the subsequent additional units to be added in the near future and
d) The incorporation of a new Federal Government-owned Internet Broadband Backbone company – Galaxy Broadband Backbone Plc (i.e., GalaxyBB Plc).
The policy inconsistency to be pointed out here is that, paradoxically, out of the ashes of the privatized NITEL Ltd/SAT-3 and its sister Mobile phone unit, M-Tel Ltd, the two new federally-owned companies that emerged as mentioned above, were crafted to provide the same and or similar functions; services and products which were hitherto being provided by the same NITEL Ltd/SAT-3 and M-Tel Ltd (now under the ownership of Transcorp, Plc).
In addition, these two new federal government-owned companies are to compete in the same markets for customers/clients for the same and or similar services and products for which several private companies have been handsomely licensed to provide by the NCC since 1998/1999.
Ironically however, all these activities have been taking place notwithstanding the federal government’s continued implementation of its existing neoliberal deregulation, liberalization and privatization agenda.
This further compounds the chaos. For example, there are bundles of confusion and contradictions going on here. And, no one seems to care a hoot in drawing the attention of the Presidency and or the National Assembly about it. But this is not surprising to say the least as there are a lot of economic rents being created from this deliberately created confused and chaotic situation.
The economic rents so created are creamed and siphoned by some special interests. This is the real situation as far as the fate of the much touted Nigeria’s “breakthrough” in the acquisition and launching of Nigeria’s flagship Communications Satellite – NigComSat-1 (now, a failed one, so far) and national and international chest-beating that Nigeria has joined other industrially and scientifically advanced nations in Space Sciences, Technology and ICT enterprises.
At least, India has recently successfully launched a Space Mission to the Moon and a number of Asian, Middle-Eastern and South American nations and private companies have various kinds of Satellites orbiting the space. Thus, Nigeria, the African giant must join the league by all means and at all cost according to policy hawks in Abuja.
There is nothing wrong in aspiring and be seen to be part of the global advancement in Space sciences/technologies and acquisition of other advanced technological knowledge, capacity and products. However, if this must be done, it must be done properly and in the nation’s overall national interest and not for the sake of blindly advancing and massaging some private egos, aggrandisements and interests as were (is) in the cases of the following seemingly likely ill-fated money guzzling “White Elephant” projects and program: NigeriaSat-1 (NigeriaSat-2 is on its very way soon); NigComSat-1; NigComSat Ltd and Galaxy Broadband Backbone Plc (i.e. GalaxyBB Plc) and the faulty privatization of NITEL Ltd/SAT-3 and M-Tel Ltd to the controversial Nigeria Transnational Corporation Plc (i.e., Transcorp Plc.).
As the ill-fated NigComSat-1 (and all the other similar projects listed above) were conceived as vanity “White Elephant” projects and programs, Nigeria is today faced with the grim prospects of losing it’s huge hurriedly invested funds in acquiring and launching these “White Elephant” Satellites that are likely to continue to disappear without trace in space as was the case last week with the ill-fated NigComSat-1.
Whichever arguments and reasons, that could be advanced by the managements and bosses of NigComSat-1, the state-owned commercial outfit created to run its affairs, NigComSat Ltd and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, the fact of the matter is that the immediate past administration of President Obasanjo was misadvised, “captured” by Abuja policy hawks and railroaded by contract pushers to embark upon the above listed vanity “White Elephant” projects and programs that now constitute a huge drain and sunk costs to the nation’s treasury.
For example, NigComSat-1, which reportedly cost the nation about N40bn, was launched amid fanfare in China during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in April 2007 by the Great Wall Industry Corporation of China. It is now presumably lost without any possible trace in space. It may be on its way down to the earth and be lost completely.
Looking back in history, this is not different from a similar sad incidence involving Obasanjo’s previous military administration’s poor handling of gargantuan money guzzling Telecoms project that was based on an untested technology then in the 1970s. That project was an ill-fated controversial “Aerostat Balloon Station Project” meant for the then defunct Nigerian Post and Telecommunications Company (P & T), the forerunner of the present day NITEL Ltd/Transcorp Plc. The project became a “White Elephant” and was later abandoned by the company contracted to build it after collecting all its mobilization fees etc.
Again, the nation is now back to the same old tricks of yesteryears and is now left second-guessing on what went wrong and why. The bosses responsible for the day to day running and upkeep of the now ill-fated Space junk are at the moment, busy churning out official statements trying to convince the largely ill-informed Nigerian generally public of what’s is going on.
Sadly speaking, they are even refusing to acknowledge the truth that the Satellite is lost for good. This is very sad and unfortunate development. However, the nation is used to such never-ending embarrassing circumstances. And generally, the public are not bemused either – it is business as usual. No one is going to take responsibility for what has happened and expectedly, no one is going to be asked to account for what has happened either. But some people will be smiling to the bank.
Already, some members of the National Assembly are positioning themselves to undertake an unnecessary jamboree trip to China on a “legislative oversight facts finding mission”! What a clever way of “cashing-in” and materially benefiting from a national malaise and disaster!!
While I am in total support for a thorough executive and legislative investigations into what went wrong and why, I don’t think undertaking an unnecessary trip to China is the best way to get the facts on the ground. For instance, broadband communications technologies available ubiquitously even in Nigeria have made it easier to communicate across the globe without physically travelling to places in order to engage in complex exchanges all over the world; even from the remotest crannies on earth and in space. After all, that’s exactly what the combined NigComSat-1/NigComSat Ltd business entity and GalaxyBB Plc and all the privately licensed Telecos in Nigeria were established to facilitate.
A mores sensible thing for President Yar’Adua and the National Assembly to focus attention upon is an urgent review of all the existing, planned and or proposed ICT and Space-based programs, projects and proposals. This is with a view to properly evaluate and understand their actual (not perceived) costs and benefits to the nation. Based on review and rigorous technical and cost-benefit analyzes, the government will be better positioned to prioritize on which ones should be continued as is, improved upon and or discontinued as the case may be.
It is in light of this proposition that I would suggest that the proposed scheduled launching of NIGERIASAT-2, in the last quarter of 2009 being proposed by the Hon. Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs. Grace Ekpiwhre, as disclosed at the weekend during a national media conference on space science and technology held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, should be put on hold until the clouds are clear as to what happened to the ill-fated NigComSat-1. Going ahead with scheduled launching of the NIGERIASAT-2 will amount to brazen disregard for caution and insensitive to wise senses of reasoning.
Certainly, there are duplications of agencies and conflicting mandates within the nation’s ICT, Telecoms and Space policies and initiatives. For instance, there are no clear distinctions and dividing lines between some of the ICT and Telecoms related activities of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and the parastatals under it and the activities of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Information and the parastatals under it. For example, NigComSat Ltd is now a new government-owned Telecoms company (i.e., a Telco); having being licensed by the NCC. However, it is under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (and not the Federal Ministry of Communications and Information where traditionally it should belong).
Similarly, GalaxyBB Plc (presently located in the Presidency) is also a new government-owned controversial and strange ICT company (it emerged from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)). The firm will be relaying upon the combined NigComSat-1/NigComSat Ltd business entity for its Broadband access. And at the same time, it is competing for individual, government and corporate customers/clients with the same combined NigComSat-1/NigComSat Ltd business entity and with the other privately NCC-licensed GSM-cum ICT based service providers.
The complication here is that, the combined NigComSat-1/NigComSat Ltd business entity was given a Presidential concession to operate as a last-minute service provider under a yet to be paid Unified Telecoms licence issued by NCC recently. The argument here is that, it should have been restricted to the provision of wholesale services to the Nigerian and foreign Telecos customers/clients.
However, a national security argument was advanced by the Abuja policy hawks and used it to justify the licensing of the combined NigComSat-1/NigComSat Ltd business entity to provide last-minute Telecoms services to customers/clients. This is a clear bastardization of the National Policy on Telecoms and ICT. Nevertheless, that is how things work in Nigeria.
Furthermore, GalaxyBB Plc prides itself as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) commercial outfit established to provide Broadband Internet and data warehousing services to all the three tiers of governments (i.e., Federal, States and Local Government Councils nationwide).
So also, the combined NigComSat-1/NigComSat Ltd business entity prides itself as a PPP and was also established to provide Satellite data, Broadband Internet and data warehousing services to all the three tiers of governments and the private sector.
However, the Nigerian public is yet to be informed of who the private partners/investors to these two entities are yet. The least I know is that there is a yet to be explained existing business relationship/partnership between GalaxyBB Plc and the multi-million American dollars Jigawa State government-owned Galaxy Information and Telecommunications Company Ltd (i.e., GalaxyITT [http://www.galaxyitt.com] - an ICT company formed by the Jigawa State Government during the time of former Governor Saminu Ibrahim Turaki’s administration).Therefore, at this juncture, I should task His Excellency Governor Sule Lamido to explain to the people of Jigawa State when, how and at what cost/price their company was acquired by GalaxyBB Plc?
Of recent however, GalaxyBB Plc has also started to forge a working relationship/partnership with the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), yet, another federal government fully-owned entity. The idea is to use nationwide facilities of NIPOST to provide broadband internet access to the public in both urban and rural areas (a strategy being used in the United Kingdom, which I earlier recommended for use in Nigeria).
Furthermore, it is only a couple of weeks ago that the Federal Government ceded 15% of its 49% stake in the troubled and controversially privatized NITEL Ltd/Transcorp Plc., to the now troubled combined NigComSat-1/NigComSat Ltd business entity. Therefore, with the present predicament facing the flagship NigComSat-1, one wonders as to what becomes of this newly formed business relations between NITEL Ltd/Transcorp Plc, and the combined NigComSat-1/NigComSat Ltd business entity. Probably the federal government should re-open and conduct a fresh and credible privatization of both NITEL Ltd/SAT-3 and M-Tel Ltd to give a new lease of life.
In conclusion, I would say that let the apparent failure of NigComSat-1 serve as an eye-opener to Nigeria that what needs to be done must be done properly and diligently. While there is an urgent need for the country to hurry up and catch up with other emerging nations in all fields of endeavour by the year 2020, however, this must not be done at the detriment of wasting the nation’s scarce financial resources as a result of incompetence and or pursuing personal agendas, vanity and aggrandisements.
Thus far, in the immediate past eight years or so, Nigeria wasted colossal amounts of money in pursuing “White Elephant” vanity projects that cannot be reasonable justified. Even though the report of the missing satellite is disturbing and a national disgrace, it should serve as a lesson to the nation.
We flunked it in 1976 with the failed Aerostat Balloon Station project, and now in 2008, we are repeating the same mistakes, yet again. This shouldn’t be so. President Yar’Adua needs to question, review and restructure the entire existing National Space, Telecoms and ICT policies and their institutional and management set ups, in order to avoid the repeat of the past and present needless and embarrassing mistakes. |