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FEC Approves N24.2bn Free Internet For 20 Airports, Varsities Markets

Published

3 years ago

March 29, 2023

Photo: file copy

The Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday, approved two contracts worth N24.20 billion for the provision of broadband for free internet in 75 public places, including 20 airports, tertiary institutions and markets nationwide.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantam disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said, “The Federal Executive Council today approved two memos for the Nigerian Communications Commission, a parastatal under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

“In these two memos, certain intervention projects are going to be implemented by the federal government of Nigeria, through the Nigerian Communications Commission, of providing internet in 20 selected airports in Nigeria and higher institutions of learning and also some markets to support micro, small and medium enterprises.

“The two memos are interwoven and related. Memo number one is the award of a contract for the provision of broadband in some selected domestic and international airports. Twenty of them are going to be covered in the first phase of the project.

“In each geopolitical zone, you have around three airports. Like in the southwest, you have two in Lagos, you have in Ondo. For Southeast you have Imo, you have Anambra, you have Enugu. For South-South. For example, you have like Port Harcourt, Akwa Ibom. For North-Central you have like Abuja, Ilorin. For Northwest you have Kano, Sokoto and Kebbi. For Northeast you have like Yola, Maiduguri and Gombe.

“So all these airports are going to be covered and the federal government of Nigeria will provide broadband for free for passengers that are coming through the airports and particularly in Abuja, sometimes you will discover you will land and there is no any internet for free to even allow you to communicate.

“So, we have set our team in order, we have developed the sustainability model, so that even after the deployment, the maintenance will be very effective.

“In the same memo also, there is going to be a provision of broadband to 43 higher institutions of learning at federal and state levels. Some of them are universities for federal government, some states, some polytechnics and many more. You may recall that last year, the federal executive council approved a similar memo for the provision of unlimited internet in 18 universities (17 universities and one college of education).

“So this one is the second phase of the project and in the first memo approved today, we have 20 airports, both domestic and international and in addition, we also have 43 institutions of learning. So if you add you will discover 63 institutions are going to benefit, accommodating higher institutions and local and domestic airports and the price for this is N18.95 billion.

“The second memo is very similar to the first one; it’s the provision of broadband to some selected markets. Last year, the Federal Executive Council has approved the implementation of that by providing broadband to 20 markets in Nigeria, where you have a minimum of three markets per geopolitical zone.

“This one is to complement the earlier approval, where six markets are also going to benefit from this in addition to six higher institutions of learning; two federal universities, one state university and polytechnics and the this one the price is N5.25 billion.

“So both memos, you will discover that they will provide broadband to these institutions at the price of approximately N24.20 billion and the project is going to be implemented by the Nigerian Communications Commission.

“The duration for the project four months minimum and maximum of five months and there is a budgetary provision for that. Also, the fund to sponsore the implementation has been secured by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

He further said, “For universities, it’s because we have learned bitter and better lessons during the COVID-19, so we don’t want to go back to that, we want to ensure that students and staff benefit from unlimited internet. For airports, we know the difficulty when you land without any connectivity.

“So it will even at least make our airports more lively, if there is at least internet connectivity that is for free.

“Thirdly for market, it’s to support innovation-driven enterprises that are being championed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where we try to give global visibility to our innovators, to our micro, small and medium enterprises, so that their market is not going to be narrowed and restricted only to our local communities.

“So besides the internet, we have been giving them domain name for free and also supporting them to establish website so that they will be able to have global visibility and also it will support Nigeria, even in the process of transition to cashless policy. When internet is free and it’s effective in our markets, it will support online activities, online payments, among many others.”

Headline

Morocco Jails Student One Year Over Gen Z Protest

Published

1 day ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A student arrested during Morocco’s youth-led protests has been sentenced to one year in prison, his lawyer told AFP on Friday.

The case marks the first publicly known prison sentence linked to the kingdom’s Gen Z demonstrations, which have been held near-daily between late September and last week to demand social and political reforms.

The student was charged with “participating in an unauthorised and unarmed gathering” and “insulting the judicial police by providing false information”, lawyer Mohamed Nouini said.

“The ruling is unfair, and we will appeal,” he added, arguing that sit-ins did not require authorisation as per a Supreme Court precedent.

The lawyer said his client was arrested on September 30, three days after the protests erupted in the North African country.

According to a report by news website Hespress, citing another lawyer, the student’s arrest was “an unfortunate coincidence” as he was in Casablanca for a family visit.

The other lawyer, Mohamed Lakhdar, told the judge the student had “not insulted” police nor provided false information, telling them he “was just a student”, according to the report.

Hundreds were arrested during the early days of the largely peaceful demonstrations.

Some cities had seen spates of violence and acts of vandalism, while authorities have said three people were killed by police acting in “self-defence” during clashes in a village near Agadir.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said roughly 550 people are facing prosecution on suspicion of joining the protests, with some still in detention.

The organisers of the online-based movement behind the nationwide protests, the GenZ 212 youth collective, remain unknown.

The collective has called for “peaceful sit-ins” on Saturday and demanded the release of those arrested during the demonstrations.

The protest came after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir.

But protesters have also demanded reforms to the education system and a change of government.
AFP

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Trump Refiles $15bn Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

Published

1 day ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge.

Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organizations he accuses of bias against him.

The Times’ complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump, and its excessive 85-page length.

The suit filed Thursday in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.

It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.

The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.

It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Trump “with actual malice.”

“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.

The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

AFP

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Italian Journalist’s Car Bombed, No Casualties

Published

1 day ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A bomb destroyed the vehicle of a prominent Italian journalist overnight, without causing casualties, his investigative television news show announced Friday.

Sigfrido Ranucci’s car blew up in an explosion in Pomezia, near Rome, that also damaged the family’s other car and the house next door, according to Report, which broadcasts on RAI public television.

“The force of the explosion was so strong that it could have killed anyone passing by at the moment,” it said in a statement on X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly condemned what she called a “serious act of intimidation”.

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“The freedom and independence of information are non-negotiable values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend,” she wrote on X.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he had ordered an increase in the journalist’s security “to the maximum”.

He called the attack a “cowardly and extremely serious act that represents an attack not only on the person but on the freedom of the press and the fundamental values of our democracy”.

The Report show is known for its in-depth investigative reports.

According to the campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Italy ranks 49th in the world in terms of press freedom.

“Journalists who investigate organised crime and corruption are systematically threatened and sometimes subjected to physical violence for their investigative work,” it said in its latest update.

About 20 journalists currently live under permanent police protection after being the targets of intimidation and attacks, it added.

AFP