₦airaland Forum

Dear Volunteer MR. Bleep.Thank you for volunteering for me and our great party;The PDP.Pls Campaign vigorously for us to win the election on the 14th-July-2012.I promise to transform Edo State into the best developed state in Nigeria.From CHARLES EHIGIE AIRHIAVBERE

This is the message mobile subscribers are receiving and is disturbing. We did not volunteer for anybody and are surprised that we are addressed by name in the text. Who gave out our names and numbers, the mobile operators or NCC? What other information have they given out? Do we start assuming all our personal data - current addresses, dates of birth, mothers’ maiden names and all the other private information we provided when we registered our SIMs are out there all over the place?. Don’t we the subscribers have any right to the privacy of our personal data as collected during the SIM registration exercise? Are our personal data going to be available to just anybody that ask for it? Is this what the SIM Registration is all about?

A lot of the comments said are true. Yes Bauchi has portable water and good roads. It is also a fact that most of these developments preceded both Mu’azu and Yuguda’s administrations. Mu’azu improved on the physical development of the state through the construction of new roads and rehabilitation of old ones. He provided electricity to many communities (especially the ones by the road side). He was very prudent. He has taste being an architect and brought it to bear on all his projects. He used reputable contractors to execute his projects (Julius Berger did most of them). He really turned Bauchi around.

Yuguda on the other hand is very passionate about human empowerment. He rode to power on popular demand and must have decided to compensate his followers for the favor. He appears to be taking good care of the civil servants in the state (at least going by the number of Chevies he “dashed” them). But he doesn’t appear to be financially prudent, he is known to approve anything that comes his way without consideration for the financial backing, very unlike a banker. Is the amount of money he is spending on empowerment vis-à-vis the number people being empowered justified? His policies and expenditures are not sustainable, and may actually be setting up the government to come after him for failure.

The governor is also known to travel a lot. It is as if he is running away from something (Boko Haram?) You hardly hear of any positive developmental news coming out of the state. The last time I watched a news on Bauchi on network news was when he was graduating rehabilated sara-suka boys, an unknown phenomenon before he came to power. How pathetic. He is more apt to be seeing loitering around other governors as they show case their projects to the world (http://odili.net/news/source/2011/sep/18/802.html ) making one to wonder when he will be inviting others to Bauchi.

I am on the fence about the aides though. The only industry in Bauchi is government. I look at the money paid to these aides as their social security. Just that I could have wished it is spread to all unemployed persons in the state and not just the selected few. In any case, I am better off with 924 persons being paid to stay at home than throwing them on the roads at motorists as traffic officers!

Lastly, and still on the water. Was in Bauchi on 18-Apr-12 and was disturbed to observe people running around with jerry cans looking for water. I observed lines of people by Tambari estate fetching water and also behind the governor’s house. Yes behind the governor’s house! They parked right on the road from Yelwa and they must be GRA residents. Is it a temporary upset or is Yuguda no longer able to sustain the operation of the state water board? I hope not.

Discovered the hard way that unlike Etisalat, Glo do not roll over data balance when they auto renew your data plan at the expiration of your validity period. For a company with its own fiber optic gateway, that came as a surprise and I am done with them data wise. Anybody knows the roll-over policies of the other operators?

It is obvious, Glo are having issues with their billing system. I was using one of their business lines as my primary line, have been using it since they commenced operation, but had to drop it finally two months ago due to issues with their billing system that they simply could not resolve. You load the line and you have to wait hours or days to have it credited, you call customer services and they can only apologize to you that it is because of a “system upgrade”. Finally got fed up and had to let them go.

To say that the new plate numbers are being introduced so as to have a comprehensive data base of all vehicles in Nigeria is disturbing. Are we saying that all along there is no such database? That certainly was not what Nigerians were made to believe.  If it is a case of just having a database, why don’t FRSC initiate a vehicle registration drive that would ensure that all the old plate numbers are captured in the database? The police attempted something like that (during the time of Tafa Balogun I think) which they called ECMR, just that they didn’t have the resources to implement it. Naturally, the idea expired when the IG left office.

If FRSC motive for the changes is not to generate funds, then there are other ways of achieving the same results without costing the populace a kobo. FRSC could request all owners of vehicles with the old number plates to update the database online and print out a confirmation slip which could be checked for correctness when the particulars of the vehicle are being renewed or during traffic stops. I am sure our friends the police would gladly perform this function even without being asked.

FRSC also tends to forget that our society is peculiar and it is not everything that works elsewhere that would work here. Here, number plates are part of the security of our vehicles. The first thing a Nigerian does after registering a vehicle is to have the numbers inscribed on all possible places on the car. It secures the car and its parts. A policeman would suspect a car if the numbers are not inscribed on it as that could mean the car is not properly registered or could be using a borrowed (or stolen) number plates. Cars without the numbers inscribed on them are prime targets for thieves and are hardly recovered once stolen. If the number plates are now personalized, it will no longer be possible to inscribe them on the cars, the cars and their parts would then be at the mercy of thieves. Also, what are we supposed to do with the numbers already inscribed on the car?
It was mentioned that with the new plate numbers people would have to take them off when selling their cars since they are personalized. Would that then eliminate the need for a change of ownership when a car is being sold? If not then what is the advantage?

To say that we suspect all these changes is an understatement. We believe there is more to it than we are being told. We believe another change is in the offing, like the plate numbers having expiry dates! We believe it is just a matter of time.

It is a pity that Dr. Reuben Abati could no longer see the many problems of Nigeria and would be surprised at anybody who does. He has decided to pick on good old Prof. Achebe for daring to embarrass his boss by refusing a second time to receive a national award. He and his boss might have thought they have succeeded where Obasanjo has failed and decided to try their luck with Achebe. Well, wake up from slumber Abati and Goodluck, things are so bad today that Nigerians are beginning to look back at the Obasanjo years with nostalgia, despite his shenanigans.

Prof. Achebe’s decision not to receive the national honor should be respected. The Prof observed that continued violence, leadership failure and the many intractable and self-inflicted crisis in the country would not allow him to accept any national honor. He has chosen not join the bandwagon praise singers like Abati who would rather sing uhuru even when the contrary is the case. He is speaking the mind of many voiceless Nigerians who observe the country degenerating on daily basis. Boko Haram and kidnapping among others, have become the order of the day, two phenomenon that were not even news 7 years ago when the Prof. rejected the first offer.

Abati invited the Prof. to come home and see the progress being made by the Jonathan administration for himself and we beg to ask what progress? The electoral reforms that produced a 35% voter turnout? Or the Introduction of new drivers’ license and vehicle registration plates that are being forced down the throat of hapless Nigerians? Give us a break.

Looking at the picture again, it appears the bicycle was involved in an accident. The front wheel appears bent. Probably the LASTMA guys were trying to resolve the issues around the accident, seeing how they could help cyclist.

It shows that there is CPC in Uganda too! But seriously, I still couldn’t understand why GEJ should fraternize with people like Museveni. When OBJ started hobnobbing with such sit tight leaders, flags were raised. It was the signal his fronts needed to start seeking for a third term for him. He will always boast that he has never asked for a 3rd term, who said he did? Show me your friends and I will tell you the type of person you are as the saying goes.

Perhaps GEJ sees his trip to Uganda as a good opportunity to meet with other African leaders to be congratulated for his victory at the polls and also to invite them to Nigeria for the swearing-in. Well, we believe we command enough respect not to go that far to invite all these heads of states, they should in fact be beaconing at us to invite them, this is Nigeria we are talking about for goodness sake, the giant of Africa. Or are we not any longer? Please, let him not belittle us in the eyes of these African countries.

We are waiting to see the friends he will invite come May 29, it will tell us whether he will keep all the promises and alliances he made before the elections, including the fact that we will run for only a term!

Another opportunity to sell government assets to friends and cronies.

Thanks Buddy, it worked for me as well.

The issue of rip-off on data calls is not limited to Zain alone, it is something that virtually all the operators are guilty of. A lot of them deliberately make it difficult for one to know the data balance at anytime during the subscription so that one can overshoot the plan and fall prey to their outrageous out-of-plan charges. They will tell you that their modem tracks the data usage, which may not be as accurate as the record on their servers. Zain is even doing better in this regard as you can always check your data balance using the appropriate codes.

I use Zain a lot, I use a dedicated line for the data, that way I only load the required amount for the plan. Anytime the plan is exhausted, the connection terminates. If you have any spare change in the line, they would not inform you that your plan has ended and that they are now charging you at out-of-plan rates, and they won’t allow you to top-off the data without first exhausting the current plan. So you are better off not having any money in the line.

I believe NCC should make it mandatory for all the service provides to enable the topping of data plans when the current plan has not been exhausted they way we do in cybercafes, and to cut the service if the data for the plan is used up if not topped. They should also make it mandatory for the operators to enable the free checking of data balance using codes. Also, NCC should ensure that 24hr plans lasts just that, and not till midnight. Unless these are done, the service providers will continue to fleece us.

The issue of rip-off on data calls is not limited to Zain alone, it is something that virtually all the operators are guilty of. A lot of them deliberately make it difficult for you to know your data balance at anytime during your subscription so that you can overshoot your plan and fall prey to their outrageous out-of-plan charges. They will tell you that your modem tracks your data usage, which may not be as accurate as the record on their servers. Zain is even doing better in this regard as you can always check your data balance using the appropriate codes.

I use Zain a lot, I use a dedicated line for the data, that way I only load the required amount for the plan. Anytime the plan is exhausted, the connection ends. If you have any spare change in the line, they would not inform you that your plan has ended and that they are now charging you at out-of-plan rates, and they won’t allow you to top-off the data without first exhausting the current plan. So you are better off not having any money in the line.

I believe NCC should make it mandatory for all the service provides to enable the topping of data plans when the current plan has not been exhausted they way we do in cybercafe’s, and to cut the service if the data for the plan is used up if not topped. They should also make it possible to check data balance on their servers at anytime and not through their silly modems. Unless these are done, the service providers will continue to fleece us.

Anybody knows any ISP that offers DVB Broadband Insternet Service incountry? I.e the type of service where the downlink is via satelite but the uplink is through GPRS?

Please try again Mavor. I really need the answers.

Trying to upgrade to 3G.  From the various blogs I read at Nairaland and elsewhere, I narrowed down my choices to MTN and Glo. MTN appears to be having the upper hand in the reviews, they are said to be the most data friendly – i.e. ignoring the infamous 3GB limit! Checked the websites of the operators and again MTN had my scores. I then bought both SIM cards and went about activating them.

MTN was fun, it hit the ground running. Immediately I switched on the phone after installing the new SIM card, I received a text message welcoming me to the network. Other text messages followed supplying and installing the settings for data. The only snag was that the 3G icon on the handset did not come on making me to wonder if my area is not covered by their 3G network. I checked the balance and discovered it came preloaded with N50. I then decided to use it to try-out the data capability of the network. An E icon then showed up and I connected immediately. I guess that means I am on their EDGE network. It was a first for me, all the other networks I tried before showed G (GPRS?). I was very impressed with the speed. I wanted to know if my area is covered by their 3G service, so I called 181. It was Friday in the evening and either the automated answering machine would say that all the customer service reps are currently busy (closed for the day?) or begin a very lengthy replay of the various customer service options available. Next I tried searching online for the MTN 3G coverage areas to know if my area is covered without luck.

It was then Glo’s turn. I inserted the new SIM card, switched on the phone, and nothing happened. That was not good, not after being spoilt by MTN. To be frank I wasn’t expecting much in the first place. Their website tends to lay more emphasis on one visiting their office for the setup. And visiting people’s offices is not something I like doing. One because I don’t have the time, two because I don’t want to make the person I am visiting feel too important, and three because the technology is there for me not to have to leave my house before I could be set up. MTN just proved that to me only a few minutes ago. The 3G icon came up on the Glo network though, which is something I always knew since they are my preferred voice network (voice wise, I am yet to forgive MTN for telling us, before the advent of Glo, that per second billing is not possible in Nigeria).

I will appreciate information from the house on the following before I commit myself to any of the operators.

1. I am domiciled in Benin City, anybody knows if the city is covered by MTN 3G, or 3.5G as they prefer to call it?
2. For those already using Glo 3G, how easy is it to enroll? Are they serious about the deposit they mentioned in their website? If yes what is the money meant for? When we paid (caution) deposit in school, it was because the school authorities were afraid we may go berserk and break things. What could I possible break in their 3G network by merely connecting to the internet through it to warrant them requesting such a huge amount? Since it is a deposit, under what condition can one get a refund?
3. The Glo website also has it that 3G Packages are a Postpaid offering only. Is that still the case? Although I have a Postpaid Glo line, I like keeping my data plans away from the voice plans.

I am shopping for a 3G wireless router preferably with an embedded SIM slot. Any information will be appreciated.