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NigComSat-1R was launched with the usual pipe dream grammar you hear from Nigeria government official about four years ago. Has any of the dreams since 1976 become a reality?
Nigeria started and sank huge fund in a satellite project in 1976 called “Aerostat Balloon Station Project”. It was abandoned.
At the cost of $30m, Surrey Space Technology, a UK company built NigeriaSat-1 which was launched in 2003 from Russia.
NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X were built at the cost of over $54m by Ukraine I think, and launched from Russia in 2011.
Built by the Chinese, launched by the Chinese from china and managed by the Chinese till it disappeared from space, the NigComSat-1 cost some $200m. It was launched in May, 2007 and failed in November, 2008.
In December 2001, NigComSat-1R was launched as a replacement for the failed NigComSat-1. According to the Nigeria Authorities, it was replaced by insurance.
The combines objected for the monumental waste of resource on these ‘white elephant’ projects includes; Discovering early warning signals of environmental disaster, detecting and controlling desertification in parts of Nigeria, especially the North, bringing down the cost of bandwidth in the country, ensuring easier access to broadband services nationwide, assisting in demographic planning, establishing the relationship between vectors and the environment that breeds malaria and giving early warning signals on future outbreaks of meningitis using remote sensing technology, application in e-medicine, providing the technology needed to bring education to all parts of the country through distant learning, aiding in conflict resolution and border disputes by mapping out state and International borders, monitoring pollution, land use and other medium-scale phenomena, boosting telecoms, digital broadcasting, education, national security, economic development, and so on. In fact, it seem the satellites were supposed to solve all Nigeria’s problem!
I looked around trying to find evidence about any of these objective ever realized. I am unable to find any individual or organization who could say they derived any benefit from these satellite projects. I stand to be informed of any if I’m just being ignorant.
Albert Einstein said the difference between genius and stupidity is that genius have limit! Nowhere is the limitlessness of human stupidity evident as it is on the corridors of power and policy making in Abuja. I often ask myself if there is something there that make most people stupid when they get to top positions in government. We are no strangers to the ridiculousness of unrealistic and non-impactful projects embarked upon by our government at all level all the time but in my view, the satellite projects are the dumbest ever.
A country that can’t make the most basic provisions like roads, safe drinking water, primary health facilities, housing and power available for its people is sinking millions of dollars into massive ‘white elephant’ projects.
Imagine the economic impact these projects have on the countries that built them and the employments generated.
As of now I’m wondering; where is the latest NIgComSat-1R and what is it doing?

http://bluestocker.com/where-is-nigcomsat-1r/