Monday, 11 October Republic of Nigeria Mr. Chairman, Nigerian Government joined ITU in 1960 and has been participating actively in all its activities. health, e-commerce and distance learning. Nigeria has therefore initiated several projects aimed at accelerat-ing the use of broadband services in Nigeria. Submarine Currently, Nigeria is a member of ITU Council, and also Vice Chair of TDAG and ITU-R Study Groups 3, 4, 5 and 6. Cable Landing Rights Authorisation was issued to three operators, and one is currently operational, thus making the bandwidth prices more competitive. The Nigerian government has also equipped and connected over 5,000 secondary schools, and over 1,000 tertiary institutions with computers. Our own son Mr. Shola Taylor was also elected and re-elected as Member of the Radio Regulation Board, and he also had the privilege to serve as the Board Chairman. I sincerely thank you for this opportunity for Nigeria to serve as a member of Council and the RRB. Furthermore, the Federal Government of Nigeria will be launching another Disaster Monitoring Satellite, and has a comprehensive Rural Telephony Scheme to ensure that all parts of Nigeria are connected by 2015. Nigeria intends to contribute more to the work of ITU, and support the dynamic work of the Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Toure and his team. In particular, we con-gratulate Mr. Valerie Timoviev for his excellent contribu-tion Distinguished delegates, the Nigerian Government has set the target of 2012 for switch over from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting to meet up with the dead-line to the work of ITU and Mr. Shola Taylor who has con-tributed immensely to the work of RRB. It is also worthy of note that Nigeria is one of the highest contributors to ITU in the African region, and will continue to contribute towards the development of the Union. In this regard, we re-confirm our level of contributions at 2 units. of 2015 given by ITU. In recognition of the need to have adequate manpower, the Federal Government established the Digital Bridge Institute in 2004, which now offers a broad range of cut-ting May I seize this opportunity to appeal to all member na-tions edge professional training and academic courses, to vote Nigeria into the ITU Council. Once again I seminars and workshops. congratulate all the elected officials, and congratulate in advance members of the RRB and Council that will soon be elected. In a bid to ensure an enabling environment on a con-tinuous basis, Nigerian current Telecom Policy is being re-viewed to achieve a more robust Communications Policy I thank you all for listening. that embraces convergence and other global develop-ments in the ICT sector. Nigerian Government is committed to partnering with ITU in establishing e-library for Africa. In this regard, President Jonathan has approved the sum of $1.9m as Nigeria’s contribution. In addition, Nigeria proposes to offer the Digital Bridge Institute as Centre of Excellence to ITU. 219