Once Upon A Time When Space Was A Thing in Nigeria

Back in the days when current affairs was a thing among Nigerian primary and secondary schoolers, I won a competition by correctly answering the date when Nigeria launched its first satellite. September 27, 2003! By the time I was in junior secondary school two (JSS 2), I learnt that NigeriaSat–1 wasn’t the only satellite launched because NigComSat–1 joined space in 2007. I also discovered that it later experienced a technical failure and had to be replaced with NigComSat–1R because the fault developed within the guaranteed period.

Reading about the replaced satellite was how I knew about what years of guarantee are and how the policy enabled the Nigerian government to contact China Great Wall Industry Corporation Limited (CGWIC) again – the company that built it initially.

You might be wondering what got me interested in space and satellites again. Well, the devastating and frustrating state of network connectivity got me looking up for the last time our communication satellites were serviced – if there’s a word for that in space. I’m yet to get an answer, but I discovered something funny and interesting at the same time.

Do you know that Nigeria once had space research ambitions in the 1970s? I’m still in awe of how a country struggling to provide basic internet services to its citizens can be linked to ambitions like this. Usually, the United States, Russia, and China are the names that pop up when it comes to global space exploration. But I’m not so much surprised because Nigeria could afford such ambition given the 1970 oil boom.

It is worth noting that Nigeria has not launched a satellite since the 1970s, yet countries interested in space exploration were seen as scientifically sophisticated and powerful. Nigerian policymakers at the time followed the trend and began laying the intellectual groundwork for future space programmes. Slowly, this vision evolved over the years and eventually led to the establishment of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) in May 1999. It became the official Nigerian space agency, coordinating all its space activities.

Years have passed, and the space agency has not made progress on its ambitions as expected. Somehow, I wonder if there is a way we can bring Nigeria up the ladder as one of the space contributors, as they did with NigeriaSat-1 in disaster surveillance. The anticipated milestone for Nigeria is to send astronauts into space, which NASRDA intends to achieve before 2030.

Well, I think we have something to look forward to when it comes to nigeria’s space sector.