Category: Science & Technology

Nigeria Wins Bid To Manage Belintersat-1 Satellite For 15 Years

Nigeria wins bid to manage Belarus’s satellite for 15 years providing In-Orbit test (IOT) and carrier Spectrum Monitoring (CSM) services for the Belintersat-1 Satellite.

The history making event in the global space technology market, makes Nigeria the first country in the Sub-Sahara Africa to manage a foreign satellite.

This followed the emergence of Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComSat) limited, the operator of NigComSat-R, the Nigerian Communication Satellite as the winner of a bidding process to provide In-Orbit test (IOT) and carrier Spectrum Monitoring (CSM) services for Belintersat-1 Satellite.

This was announced by China Great Industries Corporation (CGWIC), a renowned satellite manufacturing company in China and a technical partner to NigComSat.

The Head Public Affairs, NigComSat, Adamu Idris, said the operation will commence on 16 January 2016, the official date for the launch of the Belintersat-1 in Belarus and will last for a period of 15 years. Adamu said the bid was a keenly contested exercise between Nigeria and other bidders with over 20 years of experience in satellite management.

According to the General manager satellite Operations, NigComsat, Danjuma Ndihgihdah, Nigeria won the bid due to the high capacity of her ground facility at NigComSat base in Abuja, her human capacity resource, and the confidence reposed in NigComSat by the Chinese giant (CGWIC). With this feat, Nigeria becomes the first African nation to compete at the international stage as a major player in space technology.

Idris said, the winning of the bid by Nigeria represents a milestone for the country and a clear manifestation that NigComSat and indeed Nigeria has developed the capacity to provide highly technical services in the satellite communication industry. On the benefits derivable from the leasing services, he said Nigeria would rake in revenue from the 15 years service provision to Belarus and build more capacity for Nigerian engineers, as well as open more frontiers for Nigeria as a global player in the space. In addition to the traditional services of transponder leasing, he stated that NigComSat would be providing broadband services, enterprise solutions, secured communications and solutions amongs others over Nigeria and other 35 African countries such as Gabon, Cote D’Ivore and Ghana. On security, he said that the agency has been offering the security agencies with communication services. Belintersat-1 is a communication satellite owned by the government of Belarus, manufactured and due for launch in January 2016 by CGWIC.

The NigComsat-1R was launched in November 2011, as a replacement to the NigComSat-1 shortly it was de-orbited by the agency at no cost following its technical failure. It was designed as a regional satellite with four bands to serve about 35 African countries.

Nigerian Eco-Friendly Houses Made Of Recycled Plastic Bottles And Mud

Nigerian eco-friendly houses made of recycled plastic bottles and mud with fireproof and bulletproof features are being increasingly built.

With the help of Development Association for Renewable Energies (DARE) and London based Africa Community Trust NGOs, Nigeria is now setting up homes that are made of plastic drinking bottles to find an end to the increasing plight of plastic dumping.

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UNIZIK Students Build Autozik II Mini-Bus

A group of seven Engineering students of Nnamdi Azikiwe university (UNIZIK), Akwa has built Autozik II, a mini-bus tailor-made for Nigeria usage and they say, is the first of its kind in Nigeria.

The team under the supervision of the Head of Department Dr. C.H Achebe, comprises Ezeigwe Chitto Callistus, Obinani Victor Chimdike, Ezeanolue Ifeanyi Emmanuel, Okoro Chinaza, Ominigbo Fidelis Igho, Nwobodo Nnamdi Miracle and Ogbu Thaddeus Ikenna.

The mini-bus, nicknamed Autozik II comes after a formula 1 car called Autozik, designed by a group of five engineering students in the same institution. The innovators, whose nearly five months effort in building the bus boast the invention stands out from what is currently available in the country, having being made using the Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) software.

The sheer amount of brilliance put in by this team goes even beyond the entirety of designing a mini bus in itself, but in the creativity coverage of the mini bus’ ability to fit or work better in some some situation or some specific purpose. The design takes into consideration the topographic environment and the weather condition, a mini bus designed to understand various Nigerian road conditions, and easily adapt to all. While echoing the team’s sentiment, Ezeigwe Chitoo lauded the mini bus good seating arrangements, better fuel conservation, bright aesthetics and a well set passenger view are all part of the distinguishing feature of the Autozik II aimed at aimed at advancing the ergonomic standard of the existing shuttle buses.

Commendably worthy of note are the fact that every material used in the design were locally sourced from start to finish, a bold effort that warrants emulation from all other indigenous manufacturers.