1、INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN NIGERIABYOLIVER E. OSUAGWU, Ph.D, FIDPM, MNCS, MCPN, MBCSJIMSON OLUFUYE, M.Tech, MNCSOBI OKONKWO, M.Sc, MNCS, MCPNfor and on behalf of the National Executive Council, Nigeria Computer Society,1.0 INTRODUCTION,NIGERIA WITH A POPULATION OF OVER 125 MILL

2、ION PEOPLE IS INDEED THE GIANT OF AFRICA. REGARDED AS MOST LIKELY BLACK POWER IN THE 21ST CENTURY BUT YET TO BE EMPOWERED TECHNOLOGICALLY,INTRODUCTION CONTD,I.T. IS THE NEW EMPOWERMENT TOOL AND FAILURE TO MASTER IT WOULD MEAN A LIFE OF PERMANENT SUBORDINATION TO THE MORE POWERFUL NATIONS OF THE WORL

3、D MBOW FORMER UNESCO SCRIBE APTLY CAPTURED THIS THUS:,INTRODUCTION CONTD,“Information Technology has opened up such a tremendous vistas for modern societies that any failure to master it would mean a life of permanent subordination. For Information Technology is more than a form of power, it is a po

4、wer system. The Technology which it involves is not just one form of technology amongst others, but an ability to make use of other techniques to give or to refuse access to a whole range of scientific data and knowledge and thus to design new models of development” (Natrarajan 1980).,1.1 PRESENT MA

5、RKET SITUATION,AWARENESS OF IMPERATIVES OF DEPLOYING ICT FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GAINING GROUND HOWEVER DETERENCE TO MASS ADOPTION OF IT CULTURE IS HIGH TARRIFF OF ACQUISITION OF TECHNOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATION,MARKET SITUATION,THIS IS DUE TO PREPONDERANCE OF WIRELESS LINK AS A RESULT OF ABSENCE OF

6、IT INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE FIBRE OPTICS BACKBONE, WEAK TELECOM SECTOR, POOR POWER SUPPLY AND ABSENCE OF WORKING SUPERSTRUCTURE 120,000,000-1,000,000 IN USE = 119,000,000 DEMAND GAP FOR INVESTORS,HIGH COST OF DEPLOYMENT,NITEL LINE (DIAL-UP) COSTS N150,000 TO INSTALL IN SOME CITIES A PC OF 500MHz 20gb and

7、 128 MB RAM PLUS A PRINTER MAY COST UP TO N100,000 FOR NON-BRANDED SYSTEMS AND MORE FOR BRANDED SYSTEMS LIKE ZINOX,IBM,COMPAQ DELL, ETC,OTHER PROBLEMS,LOW COMPUTER LITERACY RATE COMPUTER SCIENCE CURRICULUM IS YET TO BE INTRODUCED AS EXAMINAB LE SUBJECT AT PRIMARY & SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVELS WHICH SHOU

8、LD HAVE ACTED AS A CATALYST FOR GALVANIZING IT AWARENESS IN NIGERIA.,PROBLEMS OF DEPLOYMENT,HOWEVER SSS COMPUTER SCIENCE CURRICULUM HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY NCS AND CPN AND MAY BE SOON IMPLEMENTED BY WAEC, NECO AND NABTEB. EDUCATION COMMITTEE OF NCS IS WORKING ON JSS SYLABUS RIGHT NOW,INFRASTRUCTURAL H

9、ICCUPS AS INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY,PREPONDERANCE OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY INVOLVING VSAT, RADIO/MICROWAVE IS COSTLY BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR LICENSE, PAY MONTHLY FEES WHICH IS RECOUPED FROM END-USERS LATENCY PROBLEMS DUE TO ECOLOGICAL PERTURBATIONS,INFRASTRUCTURE GAP,ECOLOGICAL PERTURBATIONS CAN LEAD

10、 TO BREAKDOWNS TO LINKS REQUIRING REGULAR REPAIR NO FIBRE OPTICS BACKBONE NO DOMESTIC COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE NO INDIGENOUS GATEWAY HUB,AREAS OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES,INTERNET SERVICE PROVISION - AT LEAST TWO ISP IN EVERY STATE CAPITAL DEPLOYMENT OF INDIGENOUS GATEWAY AND FIBRE OPTICS BACKBONE LIN

11、KED TO AFRICA-1 BACKBONE THROUGH EFFECTIVE FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION & COLLABORATION OF STAKEHOLDERS,OPPORTUNITIES,INTERNET VIRTUAL CLASSROOM MODEL (OSUAGWU/ABASS 2001) OR E-LEARNING WITH NUC, NBTE,CPN, AS SYNCHRONIZING AGENTS SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT - UNTAPPED GOLD DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF

12、 LOW-ORBIT SATELLITES,IT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES,FINANCING IT R&D THROUGH CONSORTIUM OF FINANCE FIRMS AND NIGERIAN BANK FOR INDUSTRY SIMULATION AND MODELING OF OIL EXPLORATION THROUGH HIGH TEK CONSTRUCTION OF WIRELESS TELEPHONY/INTERNET LINK IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA.,CONCLUSION,NIGERIA & NIGER

13、IANS ARE VERY DESIROUS OF JOINING THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY BUT ARE HELD BACK BY: HIGH TARIFF OF IT DEPLOYMENT & APPLICATION ABSENCE OF IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUPERSTRUCTURE,CONCLUSIONS,VERY LOW COMPUTER LITERACY RATE INADEQUATE LOCAL PC ASSEMBLY PLANTS TO CHEAPEN THE PRICE OF PCs to ENCOURAGE M

14、ASS IT CULTURE LOW FUNDING OF IT R&D,RECOMMENDATIONS,FG SHOULD ENCOURAGE ESTABLISHMENT OF MORE LOCAL PC MANUFACTURING PLANTS WITH HIGHER VALUE-ADDED CPN TO VIGOROUSLY PURSUE ACCREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS TO RAISE STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONALISM,RECOMMENDATION CONTD,WAEC, NECO AND NABTEB TO BE ENCOURAGE

15、D BY GOVERNMENT TO COMMENCE EXAMINATIONS IN COMPUTER SCIENCES ENSURE DOMESTIC COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE IS LAUNCHED IN 2003 AS PROMISED,RECOMMENDATIONS CONTD,RELIGIOUS IMPLEMENTATION OF IT AND TELECOM POLICIES BY THE FG THROUGH EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION WITH NCS AND CPN MOTIVATE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO C

16、ONSTRUCT FIBRE OPTICS/GATEWAY BACKBONE FOR NIGERIA,RECOMMENDATION CONTD,FG TO PROVIDE INCENTIVES TO INVESTORS TO DEPLOY ICT IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA THROUGH SATELLITE/WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY FG SHOULD INSTRUCT WAEC, NECO AND NABTEB TO COMMENCE CS EXAMS IMMEDIATELY,RECOMMENDATION CONTD,NCS, CPN AND NITPA SHOULD SUSTAIN CONTINUED COLLABORATION IN R&D IN AREAS OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, VLSI, MEMORIES, AI, VIRTUAL REALITY, IVC AND NANO-TECHNOLOGY FG IS