Lagos Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved 1.7 billion naira (10.7 million U.S. dollars) for the procurement of surveillance aircraft for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The aircraft will facilitate effective surveillance and management of the country’s borders to deal with economic sabotage and other cross-border crimes, Minister of Information Labaran Maku told reporters on the outcome of the council meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan. Maku said the aircraft, Cessna Citation CJ4 Acquisition, would be fitted with surveillance equipment, photographic and communication gadgets for detection and nipping-in-the-bud activities of smugglers. In the same vein, the Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama, said the ministry presented the memo for the procurement of the aircraft on behalf of the customs. China Mobile ‘in talks’ with Apple to offer iPhoneThe world’s biggest mobile phone network, China Mobile, could soon offer its customers Apple’s iPhone.The Chinese carrier’s chairman has confirmed the two firms are in talks.Compatibility issues between the iPhone and China Mobile’s 3G network mean that currently Apple’s handsets only work on the much slower 2G service.The problem could be resolved with the launch of the next iPhone, rumoured to happen this summer, and when China adopts the 4G standard, analysts say.China Mobile is the country’s biggest mobile phone network, and in terms of users the world’s largest, with more than 660 million customers.Even though the iPhone is not yet in China Mobile’s official product line-up, about 15 million of the company’s customers are thought to be iPhone users already, having bought the phone through different channels.
