PRESS RELEASE

(Prepared for USIA intern Nicci Kang Yang on 11/5/99)

In October, Cliff Missen, a Systems Analyst and instructor at the University of Iowa, toured several Nigerian universities and Internet Service Providers to investigate options for providing Internet access to prominent Nigerian institutions of higher education. 

Sponsored by the US Information Agency and the Global Technolgy Corps , Missen visited the University of Lagos, the University of Abuja, the National Mathematical Centre in Abuja, the University of Jos, Bayero University in Kano, Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, and the Nigerian Universities Commission in Abuja.  He met with the vice-chancellor of each institution as well as an array of deputy vice chancellors, librarians, computer center directors, and department chairs.

“Only one university in Nigeria has direct Internet access at this point,” reports Missen. “And their connection is expensive, inconsistent, and slow.” 

Several universities use a telephone-based email system sponsored by the Nigerian Universities Commission that routes email through the International Center for Applied Physics in Trieste, Italy.  Others have a handful of email accounts with Nigerian Internet service providers.  But on the whole, there’s very little access to the broad array of Internet offerings that have become the mainstay of academics in the West.

Missen reports that four of the universities he visited have intentions to install satellite ground stations, but that only two had gone so far as to collect bids from vendors and prepare a plan. 

Satellite connectivity is the only current viable option for most Nigerian universities since the telephone infrastructure is in poor condition and the distance between campuses is great. 

“I heard reports of two federal universities – with over 10,000 students apiece -- that did not have a single functioning phone.” Says Missen.  “Other institutions subsist with a handful of working telephones and barely functioning intercom lines.”  While the new democratically-elected government is making telecommunications a priority, it is expected to take years before most of the trappings of conventional Western Internet connectivity – leased lines, T1 connections, ASDL, etc. – will be available in Nigeria.

All Nigerian universities face a major hurdle in connecting to the Internet via satellite: licensing.  The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which is charged by the Ministry of Communications to authorize new satellite installations, currently charges $42million for permission to connect with Internet services outside of Nigeria.  The only internal option for Internet connectivity is the national telecommunications monopoly, NITEL.  However, NITEL’s connection to the Internet is limited and overburdened already.  Those who use NITEL’s Internet service report dramatic delays and frequent outages.

Missen visited the NCC and was briefed on the changes expected from a presidential commission reviewing the federal communications policies.  He was told (as it has recently been announced in the press) that the commission would move to deregulate telecommunications, allowing two or more competitors to enter the Nigerian market, but that data communications (Internet connections) would remain under the control of NITEL. 

Several university vice chancellors expressed their intention to protest this policy and push for unfettered Internet access for higher education when the new policy is debated in the legislature this month. 

Missen also visited the new legislature building and congressional library in Abuja to discuss Internet connectivity.

While in Lagos, Missen toured three of Nigeria’s most successful Internet service providers: Cyberspace, Motophone/Hyperia, and MicroCom.  All three reported over 1,000 dial-in clients and a handful of commercial clients in Lagos.  A brief session at the keyboard revealed that throughput was no better than a slow modem. 

Each of the ISPs have attempted to expand their services to other cites in Nigeria, but have been hampered by poor telephone infrastructure and management problems.  Like many small businesses in Nigeria, the ISPs are owned and operated by one or two individuals who maintain a tight rein on the operations and manage most of the business themselves.

At the invitation of the Nigerian Universities Commission, Missen assisted with designing a plan to connect several campuses to the Internet directly and to provide drive-in or dial-in connectivity to those at the remaining institutions.   (See  http://www.widernet.org/proposals/satellites)  One of the key components of this proposal is capacity building.

“Every institution I visited – the national legislature, the universities, the NCC, and even the ISPs – bemoaned the lack of networking technical expertise in Nigeria,” reports Missen.  “Those ISPs that had satellite ground stations acknowledged that their dishes had been installed by a foreign contractor.  Everyone I met offered me a job and then implored me to help them find trained technicians.”

Nigerian universities, having been so long neglected by previous military administrations, have had a difficult time attracting and training their information technology staff.  While many universities have computer science programs, they are staffed with professors who have outdated degrees and very little contemporary equipment to work with.  Those universities that have sent technicians for training elsewhere report that the trainees are frequently “poached” by the private sector as soon as they return. 

Most of the administrators interviewed by Missen concurred: training a cadre of network and Internet technicians in Nigerian universities and civil service is vital to the sustainable and vibrant utilization of the digital communication technologies offered by the Internet.