MILLIONS of Nigerians sat glued to TV sets last Saturday as they watched a live broadcast of their nation鈥檚 first satellite being launched. The 拢13 million Nigeriasat-1 took off from Russia鈥檚 Plesetsk Cosmodrome, before being placed in a polar orbit. It was one of six satellites on board the two-stage Russian rocket.
But there were mixed feelings about the project. Normally, 拢13 million for a satellite would be a bargain, but for a developing country like Nigeria it鈥檚 a bit of a gamble. The satellite will help monitor water resources, soil erosion and deforestation. It will also watch for droughts, earthquakes, fires and other disasters as part of the seven-nation satellite network called the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. But in a country with 30 per cent illiteracy, where few people outside the cities have access to running water, and fewer than 1 per cent own a computer or phone, some argue the money could have been better spent.