[afnog] [Fwd: [Fwd: Press Release: NIRA President, Engr Ndukwe Kalu, passes on]]

[Sunday Folayan]

Dear All, the Nigerian IT Community lost a key member this week.  Find
below, the press release. I thought I should share the information..

Eternal Rest grant him O Lord. Amen.

SF.


[From Shina Badaru included below]

Dear All,
This is for your information from the Vice President, Nigeria Internet Registration Association of Nigeria (NIRA), Mrs Mary Uduma on the demise of pioneer NIRA President, late Engr Ndukwe Kalu

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NIRA President, Engr Ndukwe Kalu, passes on

Lagos. Wednesday 9 September, 2009. The Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NIRA) regrets to announce the demise of its pioneer President, late Engr Ndukwe Kalu, who died in Lagos yesterday.
According to Vice President, NIRA, Mrs Mary Uduma, with the death of late Engr Kalu, “the country has lost a dedicated ICT professional who dedicated his expertise, resources and short presence with us to the overall growth and development of the information and communication technology (ICT) industry in Nigeria.”
Under the leadership of late Engr Kalu, Nigeria recently recorded the successful full redelegation and local management of Nigeria’s country code top level domain name, the .ng.
“With his passing away, we have lost an irreplaceable individual who was passionately committed to ensuring the growth and development of the Nigerian Internet community and pursued this with zeal to his last day on earth”, added Mrs Uduma.
“For us at NIRA, we were shocked to learn of his demise but have taken comfort in the conviction that it was the way his Maker had willed it. But we remember him for the zeal he has contributed to the activities of NIRA particularly the landmark achievement of full control of Nigeria’s domain name on May 13, 2009
leading to full local management of the registry ”, added Mrs Uduma.

According to the NIRA Vice President, the body will liaise with the family which is expected to announce further burial arrangements in due course.
Before his passing on, late Engr. Kalu was into design and installation of various networks for over a decade. Also noteworthy was the fact that Engr. Kalu pioneered IT publications in Nigeria.
This was through the publishing of Nigeria’s first IT magazine called IT WATCH AFRICA in 1994. From there, late Engr. Kalu revolutionized newspaper IT reporting by conceptualizing and commencing the first robust IT section in the Nigerian Newspaper history, tagged InfoTech ThisDay in 1998.
He was a member of several professional bodies some of which are Nigeria Society of Engineers, Nigeria Computer society, Nigeria Institute of management, Chartered Institute of Administration, Institute of Data processing and management (IDPM) London, among others.
Late Engr. Kalu also served on various boards some of which are Amsco Telecoms Limited, Amsco Nigeria Limited, Admiral Insurance Company Limited, Pricehouse Communication Limited, Alphastream Solutions Nigeria Limited, among others.
He also recently served as a joint committee of the Nigeria Communications Commission and ISPN on developing a suitable regulation for the use of ISM band. In 2004 he was elected as National Vice President of the Internet Service Providers Association of Nigeria (ISPAN). Also he served on the NCC Industry committee set up to advise on VoIP regulation.
Late Engr. Kalu also served on the National Cyber crime Working Group, a body set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to fashion out effective legislation and system to fight cybercrime in Nigeria.
Engr. Kalu has recently spearhead several initiative to improve teledensity and Internet penetration in Nigeria, one of which is Naijawifi, an alliance of Nigerian ISPs set to blanket all of Nigeria with Wi-Fi Internet Access. He was also the Chairman of NCC/Presidential Committee to actualize a sustainable Internet Exchange for Nigeria.