Dright MATA

06/06/2024

03/04/2022

Know your rights today!

04/08/2021

:

__Product, People, Process… and !

Most of you know by now that my vision for Africa is of a digitally connected continent where each and all of our citizens can have affordable access to use new technologies with the potential to improve their quality of life, create businesses and open up more prosperous opportunities to build Africa's century -- opportunities that benefit ALL our people, rural and urban alike.

To this end, today I am excited to share the news that Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Facebook have agreed to partner to build a fibre network in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help connect East and West Africa by land. This partnership will improve internet access for more than 30 million people across Central Africa!

Facebook will invest in the fibre build and support network planning, while Liquid Intelligent Technologies will own, build and operate the fibre network. Liquid will also provide wholesale services to mobile network operators and internet service providers.

The network will help create a digital corridor from the Atlantic Ocean through the Congo rainforest, the second largest rainforest after the Amazon, into East Africa, and then onward to the Indian Ocean. This new corridor will connect DRC to its neighbouring countries including Angola, Congo Brazzaville, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

__Liquid will employ more than 5,000 people from local communities to build the fibre network.

As our Group CEO Nic Rudnick said, this is one of the most difficult fibre builds ever undertaken and will cross more than 2,000km of some of the most challenging terrain in the world.

The shared vision of Liquid and Facebook in this partnership is to build affordable infrastructure and bridge gaps in Internet access [which those of you here on the page from Central Africa know all about]. It is also to help lower the cost of data and improve connectivity. You can read the statement here: https://www.africanews.com/2021/07/05/liquid-intelligent-technologies-and-facebook-partner-to-build-a-fibre-network-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo/

So who are your business partners?

I have always stressed to you the importance of understanding your business:

# What business are you really in?
# What industry are you in?

In any business, having a clear understanding of these questions allows you to forge partnerships that are as important as having equity investment partners. No business operates in an Island; every business operates in an industry cluster, supported by other businesses to deliver that service.

Let me give you an example: As a Mobile Network Operator [MNO], we do not manufacture the equipment that actually delivers the service. We are service providers, not manufacturers. We might sell mobile phones, but it’s actually not our business.

The more you understand what business you are in, the more strategic you become in your approach. Scaling up a business requires a deep understanding of how non-equity partnerships really work. Can you identify something that someone else needs for their business, which you need for yours?

# Facebook needs as many people as possible to access the Internet, as cheaply as possible. The biggest provider of the Internet in Africa is Liquid Intelligent Technologies; what can we do together?

# MasterCard provides payment services, so does Sasai App; what can we do together?

# Vodacom is the largest MNO in DRC, we are the largest provider of Fibre optics; what can we do together?

# The Chinese company ZTE manufactures network equipment for mobile services; what can we do together?

Developing “strategic” partnerships requires that you have something to trade that enhances the other party’s business. Do you know how many strategic partnerships are used to develop the car you drive in?

Car manufacturers are masters of Strategic Partnerships in business. Decades ago they made everything; today they own almost nothing, except the brand!

Think about the strategic partnerships behind a business like Uber. There is something I’m trying to tell you today; I hope you get it?

Partnerships like this one with Facebook will help bring connectivity and all the entrepreneurial opportunities that come with it, to millions in DRC and nations beyond... including some of youngsters in this photo I imagine! This is how we build Africa's century, together.

Image credit: Ryan Carter Images. Pappy Orion and young friends in DRC. [Image found on Instagram; with thanks for permission to use]. https://www.facebook.com/pappy.orion

26/07/2020

Every hospital in Nigeria whether private or public shall accept or receive ,for immediate and adequate treatment with or without police clearance, any person with a gunshot wound.
Section 1, Compulsory Treatment and Care for victims of Gunshot Act 2017.

27/06/2020

22/06/2020

YOUR DIGITAL RIGHTS

Are digital rights part of the rights you should enjoy as citizen of Nigeria ?

Well ! Digital rights are basically human rights in the internet era. It is the right to your online privacy and freedom of expression. These rights are the extension of the equal and inalienable rights laid out in the united nations Universal Declaration of Human rights,vide Article 19 (UDHR)

Digital rights are those legal rights that allows individual to access,use,create and publish digital media or to access and use computer, other electronic devices and telecommunication networks.

It is imperative to note that one of the most basic means through which the citizens have been able to meaningfully participate in governance in democracies has been through guarantee of human rights and by extension the digital rights and freedom of expression.

As a result of the above,digital rights ,particularly the rights to privacy and freedom of expression matters and of essence because our lives and activities are shaped or conducted via the internet. Hence, we need to understand how important our data is and how our data is being used by companies, government, and internet paladins such as Google and Facebook, whether it is been handled fairly and honourably or sold or given out without your consent.
Have you ever asked yourself if your digital rights are being respected ? This is a question you'd answer after considering some of the things you venture into or accept out of negligence or ignorance, I.e.the terms and conditions u accept without reading etc...

Who is looking at your (my) data ?
Government, companies, and cyber criminals can easily collect your data, (personal data) and track your movement and communications. Should we be worried about all these ? Well ,this has to do with (y)our personal details. Have you ever cared to know how NCDC /government got your number to send all those messages across to you...have your details been handled scrupulously?

Privacy is one of your most important right vide section 37, Nigeria constitution 1999, see also section 39 which provides for right to freedom of expression and press. Of a truth ,in the digital world, privacy is a question of personal information, automated judgements and profiling.

Conclusively, digital rights and freedom of expression antagonize any attempt to limit free speech under any guise.
So, disconnecting people from the internet violates these rights and goes against international law.

18/06/2020

What do you know about your digital rights ?
Dright MATA is here again to educate you on your rights to online privacy and freedom of expression.
Pls stay tuned !

16/06/2020

The right to life - A constitutional right
Part 2
EXCEPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS TO THE RIGHT TO LIFE AS PROVIDED IN THE CONSTITUTION
Consequently, as stated in the above, right to life is not absolute, because there are exceptions.
Thus, section 33 (2) provides that ,
A person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of this section, if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law,of such force as is reasonably necessary-
(a) for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property.
The above subsection covers self-defense which is a complete defence to a charge of murder or manslaughter, resulting in the acquittal of the accused person, when successfully pleaded. See Ajumva v state (1988) 4 NWLR (Pt. 89) 380.
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained. see Ibikunle v state (2018) All FWLR(Pt.354) 309 SC.
(c) for the purpose of suppressing a riot, insurrection or mutiny.
The above subsection covers defence of accidental discharge by law enforcement agents which depends on the involuntariness of the act.
It is important to bring to your notice five (5) offences in Nigeria which are punishable by death. These are : treason, murder,treachery, directing and controlling or presiding at an illegal trial by ordeal from which death results and conviction under the Robbery and Fi****ms (Robbery special provisions) Act. In such instances, taking the accused person's life is considered justifiable ,vide section 208 of the criminal code.
It is of essence for us to know that ,where someone life is intentionally taken in the ex*****on of a sentence of a court, in respect of a criminal offence ,it would be said that the right to life is not violated in any way but the accused must be found guilty.
What this part tries to clarify is that there are exceptions and limitations to the right to life.

14/06/2020

THE RIGHT TO LIFE - A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT
PART 1

Every constitution of the world includes fundamental rules and principles which are essential and pivotal for the society and for the citizens,including those regarding to the fundamental rights and freedoms.( they are fundamental because they have been guaranteed by the fundamental law of the country which is the constitution.)
The centre of these rights and freedoms is the right to life, an absolute right to every human being.

By virtue of the rights to life,individuals enjoy all the other rights and freedoms as stipulated or spelt out and warranted by the fundamental law. These enshrinement in the constitution is of the fact that the fundamental right to life is protected by the States by means of explicit mechanisms.

Flowing from the above, it will be true to say that right to life is the most important fundamental right, yes , it is because a person has to live to enjoy all other rights.

Section 33 (1) , under the constitution of Nigeria, 1999,provides that :
Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprive intentionally of his life,save in ex*****on of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.
From this provision, two core elements could be extracted "every person has a right to life" and "no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life "

The above provision seeks to emphasize the sacredness of the human life and how unjust it will be for a man to wake up on a certain day to take a life he didn't give ab initio.

Thus, where a person life is taken or deprived unlawfully ,it means that the right to life of that person has been violated .

This right is to be enjoyed by all human beings (including I), it is not a gift to be withdrawn, withheld or granted at someone's whim or volition .

However , their are exceptions and limitations to this right which will be fully discussed in the second part . stay tuned.

We are in this together !
Know your rights
MATA