Nigeria comes second in most internet addicted countries in the world

The country most addicted to the Internet is Brazil, according to a new study from business consultancy A.T. Kearney. The study surveyed people who go online at least once a day, and found that 51% of Brazilian Internet users said they were online all day long, while 20% go online more than 10 times a day. This is largely due to access to smartphones; the country has the second highest smartphone penetration in South America.

Unsurprisingly, most of those who spend the most time online are young (53% were aged 16-35) and unmarried (also 53%). And a lot of Internet use is driven by social networking: In Brazil, those surveyed spend 58% of their time online on social networking sites—more than in any other country.

Nigeria and South Africa, where 66% and 61% of survey respondents respectively go online at least once an hour, come in second and third for heavy Internet use. Their rates are nearly double that of China, where only 36% of respondents reported hourly use.

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Bitcoin exchange market coming to Nigeria

 Nigeria bitcoin users will be happy to learn that we are pleased to announce the launch of the the Naira market on ICE³X. The Market will officially begin trading on the 12th January 2015, but users are able to sign up and verify their accounts from today.

An exclusive agreement with Nigerian payment processor, VoguePay, now allows clients to trade bitcoin in their native Naira using their existing VoguePay wallets to fund their transactions, which execute on the robust trading platform that ICE³X have been developing over the last 2 years.

Being a full order book exchange, ICE³X affords VoguePays’ clients in Nigeria the opportunity to place buy/sell orders for bitcoin instantly with further integration possibilities already in place to provide full crypto-merchant services to customers.

According to the Nigeria Communications Commission, in June 2013 the country had 48.1 million active internet subscriptions through mobile phone networks, yet this space has been largely ignored by the internet currency advocates.

“As the biggest economy in Africa, with over 40 million people connected to the internet in one way or another, it’s only natural that Nigeria is looking to take part in the opportunities that the internet affords everyone around the world. With our daily lives becoming more global and the world population & migration statistics ever increasing, it makes perfect sense to have a global mechanism, accessible by all, which operates in a self regulated eco-system, as “payment rails” for the masses connected via the web.

We have to be realistic though, the Bitcoin technology has yet to be packaged and applied correctly for it to be a mainstream alternative currency, but as an agnostic payment settlement mechanism within a larger framework it ticks all the boxes and could perhaps have a significant impact on shaping the Nigerian digital economy landscape. It is a market that simply just cannot be ignored any longer” – Gareth Grobler, Founder ICE³.

VoguePay is an online payment processor whose vision is to offer buyers and sellers a secure and easy-to-use means of transacting business online. They combine local and international knowledge and apply this to keep business connected with cutting edge financial technology. Their executive and research teams are based in Canary Wharf, London’s financial district with their development, operations and professional services groups located in Lagos, Africa’s largest market.

Through this unique opportunity VoguePay are pioneering cross border processing capabilities using Bitcoin in Africa and not just Nigeria Bitcoin businesses. The company is dedicated to bringing secure and effective payment processing facilities to Nigeria and is rapidly expanding their product offering to include alternative currencies.

“It’s been an amazing year for VoguePay. As we recently launched our latest platform (V 2.0), thousands of transactions have already experienced our unique service that our platform has to offer; and we are excited to be recognised as the best Nigerian online payment platform. Building relationships with reputable companies such as iceCUBED in South Africa, who are also focused on making e-payment accessible to as many people as possible; we will continue to set the pace of the Nigerian online payment industry. The example we are setting will pave the way for young African entrepreneurs to foster better business relationships, making the online markets more accessible to millions of Africans.” -VoguePay Compliance and Marketing director, Geoffrey Weli Wosu.

The Naira Market on ICE³X is currently live in the production environment and users are currently being verified in anticipation of the official market opening on 12th January 2015. ICE³X have been operating a successful bitcoin exchange in their native currency, Rand, since August 2013 and are also launching the Dollar and Sterling markets on the exchange at the end of January 2015.

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United Nations possibly stepping in to avert execution of Nigerian soldiers

The UN may have stepped in to avert the execution of the 54 Nigerian soldiers who were recently convicted and sentenced to death for refusing to fight against the insurgent group Boko Haram, if indications from a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) are anything to go by.

According to the Nigeria-based Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary or Summary Executions, Mr. Christof Heyns, has promised “appropriate action including communication to the government of President Goodluck Jonathan'' to avert the soldiers' execution.

SERAP said in a statement sent to PANA Sunday that the promise followed a petition submitted to Mr Heyns in December 2014 in which the group asked five UN human rights independent experts to individually and jointly use their “good offices and positions to urgently request the Nigerian government and its military authorities not to carry out the mass death sentences imposed on 54 Nigerian soldiers for what the government claimed was disobeying a direct order from their commanding officer.”

“SERAP has been in discussion with Johel Dominique at the Office of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions both on the telephone and via email. Johel Dominique has confirmed that the Special Rapporteur is considering appropriate action to avert the imminent execution of 54 soldiers on death row in the country.

''We have also confirmed to the Special Rapporteur that SERAP has the consent of Mr Femi Falana, SAN, the legal counsel to the 54 soldiers to file the petition,” the NGO said.

It welcomed the decision by Mr. Heyns to intervene in the matter, saying given his longstanding human rights commitment and achievements, ''we have absolutely no doubt that Mr Heyns will work assiduously to ensure that justice is done in this matter and we wish him well as he strives to do that.”

On 17 Dec., 2014, a Nigerian military court convicted 54 soldiers for conspiracy to commit mutiny and sentenced them to death by firing squad.

The facts of the case indicate that the soldiers, from the 111 Special Forces, were charged for disobeying a direct order from their commanding officer, Timothy Opurum, a Lieutenant Colonel, to take part in an operation to recapture Delwa, Bulabulin and Damboa in North-east Borno State from Boko Haram terrorists on 4 Aug. 2014

The conviction and sentence have generated controversy in Nigeria, with key opposition leaders and some retired military officers saying the soldiers, who claimed they were poorly equipped, were right to refuse to fight against a better-armed insurgent group.

Nigerian military courts have been engaged in a spate of trials resulting from the actions or inaction of troops deployed to battle the insurgency. Twelve other soldiers were sentenced to death in Sept. 2014 while many other trials are pending.

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President Goodluck Jonathan sister passes away

President Goodluck Jonathan’s younger sister, Nancy Jonathan-Olei, died on Sunday, a statement from the family said.

The announcement is contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, in Abuja.

According to the statement, Mrs Jonathan-Olei, 52, passed on in the early hours at a hospital in Yenagoa after a brief illness.

It said that the burial arrangements would be announced later by the family.

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Boko Haram seize army base in north-eastern Nigeria

The militant group Boko Haram has seized a town and key multinational military base in north-eastern Nigeria, officials and eyewitnesses say.

A senator in Borno state said troops had abandoned the base in the town of Baga after it was attacked on Saturday.

Residents of Baga, who fled by boat to neighbouring Chad, said many people had been killed and the town set ablaze.

Baga, scene of a Nigerian army massacre in 2013, was the last town in the Borno North area under government control.

It hosted the base of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), made up of troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger.

Set up in 1998 to fight trans-border crime in the Lake Chad region, the force more recently took on Boko Haram.

Boko Haram attacks towns and villages on an almost daily basis, abducting people including young boys and girls, BBC Africa analyst Mary Harper reports.


The military, which includes Western advisers and surveillance, seems incapable of dealing with the problem, she adds.

'Helter skelter'

Residents who fled to Chad said they had woken to heavy gunfire as militants stormed Baga early on Saturday, attacking from all directions.

They said they had decided to flee when they saw the multi-national troops running away.

Maina Maaji Lawan, senator for Borno North, told BBC World Service civilians had run "helter skelter" - "some into the forest, some into the desert".

Communications with the town were cut off and exact information about casualty numbers could not be confirmed, he said.

"We are very dispirited," the senator added.

Confirming that the military had abandoned the base, he said people's frustration knew "no bounds" over the apparent fact that the military had not fought back.

"There is definitely something wrong that makes our military abandon their posts each time there is an attack from Boko Haram," the senator said.

BBC

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