In line with the present administration’s policy on public health for Nigerians especially the youth, the Honourable Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim has called for the need to build a strong partnership with private organisations to discourage tobacco use by the youth.

The Minister made this call in her office while granting audience to a delegation led by the Regional Programme Director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, ( CTFK), Bintou Camara Bityeki that paid her a courtesy visit.

Dr. Ibrahim said research has shown that tobacco kills about 8 million people annually, and most of them are not active smokers but passive ones. She stressed the need to take all necessary steps that will discourage the use of it.

The Minister added that the Ministry will focus on adolescent health as part of its functions, knowing that some of them already fall within the age bracket of the youth while others are going to grow to become part of it

Dr. Ibrahim promised to engage with the NYSC to see that the menace of public smoking in its camps across the nation is put to a stop.

Speaking earlier, the leader of the team, Bintou Camara Bityeki argued that tobacco is the gateway to other drugs that generate negative consequences such as mental health problems and early deaths among the youth.
She said that her organisation in partnership with World Health Organisation (WHO), is working towards enacting a strong tobacco control law.

She however noted that enacting the law is not the most important thing but ensuring its implementation and enforcement, especially among the young people who are targeted by the tobacco companies.

Speaking further on the activities of CTFK, one of the members of the delegation Mr. Michael Olaniyan noted that though there are existing laws such as the prohibition of smoking in public and work places, his prganisation is more focused on the ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship especially in the entertainment industry.
He said, “We see alot of tobacco use in movies and musical videos that target the young people, encouraging them to take up this deadly habit, that is why we are doing a lot of work with the youth to discourage it.”

Another member of the delegation, Maryam Ahmed expressed concern over the flagrant smoking of tobacco in NYSC camps across the country in violation of existing laws and called on the Minister to take action against it.
Maryam Umar Yusuf

Picture 1: L- R: Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim; Hon. Minister of Youth Development; Bintou Camara Bityeki, Regional Director, Tobaco Control Program and Maryam Ahmed of GATEFIELD during the courtesy call on the Minister in her office today, 27th October.2023.

…Calls for Unity and Patriotism.

As a show of gratitude to Almighty God and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for her appointment as the Honourable Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim has distributed 2000 packs of food items as parliatives to the less privileged in Abuja.

The occasion which took place serially at the National Ecumenical Centre and the National Mosque Yesterday, 28th October, 2023. was marked with prayer and lecture sessions with the theme: Unity and Patriotism.

Speaking at the occasion the Honourable Minister explained that she decided to share palliatives instead of organising parties because she believes that her appointment is a call to serve and there are a lot of less privileged people who are living below the poverty line due to the economic situation in the country.

She said, ” I reflected deeply and realised that it is not really time for me to celebrate because of the situation of the country, and because my appointment is a trust bestowed on me, sometimes I consider it a burden but I am delighted to serve as I represent 75% of Nigerias population many of whom are living under the poverty line”.

The Minister disclosed that she intends to donate a total of five thousand packs of food items to be distributed to beneficiaries in Abuja and her home State, Kwara.

Dr. Ibrahim urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the administration of President Bola Tinubu to be able to steer the affairs of the nation in the right direction so as to move the nation to greater heights.

She handed over one thousand packs of food items to the representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Apostle Samson Fatokun, to be distributed to the needy among the clergy, women and youth members of the church .
In response, Apostle Fatokun who is also the General Secretary of CAN, appreciated the Honourable Minister for her kind gesture and promised that the palliatives will be given to the people they are meant for.

At the National Mosque Abuja, the Minister reiterated the reason for her decision to reach out to the needy instead of a jamboree adding that as a Muslim, she knows that her creator will question her on the way she handles her appointment as a Minister.

She called on Nigerians to put aside their differences and come together to build a greater and stronger nation.
One thousand packs of food items were also donated to the Mosque for unward distribution to the needy.
Imam Adeyemi and Hajiya Maryam Lemu who spoke on leadership, called on the nation’s leaders to lead with the fear of God and asked Nigerians to pray for their guidance and success.

Employee monitoring, also called bossware or tattleware, is more popular than ever. Bossware is used to describe various tracking tools to monitor employee activity. It’s mostly used to track productivity and mitigate risk by monitoring email content, browser history, location, app usage and phone use through software, webcams, CCTV, GPS, fitness devices, and access control hardware.

Increased remote working driven by the pandemic has seen around 60% of companies with remote workers implement some form of bossware. Over half (53%) of those companies have found that workers are spending three or more hours per day on non-work activities.

Additional studies conducted support these findings. One study reported that up to 40% of employee internet usage was not work-related, while global analytics firm Gallup estimates that disengaged employees cost the world a jaw-dropping $8.8 trillion in lost productivity annually.

Bossware can help employers spot productivity issues and is often also used to monitor security. Between 88-95% of data breaches are caused by employee errors such as recycling passwords, clicking on links in phishing emails, or failing to update security patches. Humans are indeed the biggest threat in the cybersecurity space and bossware can shine a light on areas where security training and awareness may be lacking.

While bossware could be one way to boost productivity and examine security issues, it requires some forethought, says  Carey van Vlaanderen, CEO of ESET Southern Africa. “If implemented properly, bossware can help to protect your company against security and legal risks. But it should never be considered a replacement for robust security software and practices. Employers should nonetheless still respect the privacy of employees and be wary of potential privacy concerns that could demotivate employees and damage your relationship with them.”

What you need to consider when it comes to bossware

There are several benefits to bossware, including:

• Discovering workplace practices that hinder productivity,
• Identifying tasks that could be automated,
• Building a fairer workplace by ensuring equal duties,
• Mitigating security risks, and
• Monitoring employee stress levels.

But there are also some potential cons, such as:

• Limited insight into time spent problem solving and on non-digital tasks,
• Increased performance pressure on employees,
• Privacy and legal concerns,
• Low employee morale due to feeling untrusted or undervalued.

Legal and ethical implications

In South Africa, employee monitoring is mostly legal as long as the employer complies with certain aspects of the law. The two applicable laws are the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), which requires that an employee must be informed if they are being monitored, and the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act (RICA), whereby a business may only intercept communications as it relates to the business and during the carrying on of business.

So, employers may not access or seek access to employees’ private email or social media accounts, for example, or monitor them after hours. Typically, employers also stipulate any monitoring terms in the employment contract so that it is agreed upon by both parties in writing before any work commences.

Just because something is legal, however, doesn’t mean it’s always ethical. Van Vlaanderen says employers should take care to ensure monitoring is proportionate and doesn’t unnecessarily intrude in the lives of employees. “Take time to outline a framework that stipulates the extent of the monitoring and the reasons for tracking those activities. Make sure employees are aware of any monitoring and how it may be used, and encourage them not to conduct personal affairs on work devices.”

Good policies, she says, will strike a balance between business demands and privacy concerns. “Most importantly, transparency and dialogue will be key in maintaining trust between employers and employees, as is ensuring that any collected data is safe and only available to authorised users. Remember that monitoring on its own is also not enough – whether your concerns are security or productivity. Regular training, clear guidelines, and a robust software framework should always be the priority.”

Three companies, out of 81 companies that contested at the Nigerian Communication Commission’s inspired technology innovation talent hunt competition, shared the N30 million prize money equally.

Nine other shortlisted companies went home with N500,000 consolation prizes each.

Solaris GreenTech Hub, Knownow Africa Limited and Specxs Care Limited, came bright at the 2023 NCC’s Annual Hackathon Competition, adjudged by an independent Panel of Judges chaired by the President of Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Prof. Mohammed Ajiya.

Solaris, whose team comprises Chiemela Anosike, Ineke Chinecherem and Onoh Chiemela, won in the Renewable Energy Solution category of the hackathon with their green energy solution that provides clean energy hubs for people in rural communities to be able to charge their phones and other mobile/electronic devices.

Knownow, with a team consisting of Abdulazeez Abiola, Dr. Mudasiru Taiwo and Dr. Oluwaseun Ojerinde emerged winner in the Blockchain Solution category for their fraud-detection and prevention solution.

Specxs Care Limited, also a winner, with team members comprising Isah Dahiru, Ameenat Bala and Musa Gambo, lifted the trophy also with their wearable devices called ‘Smart Bladder’, which can help manage urinary incontinence in elderly people and reduce the cost of their daily spending while ensuring proper personal hygiene.

Prof. Ajiya said the panel was painstaking in assessing all the submissions/entries, diligent in shortlisting the 12 participants and meticulous in determining the three winners through strict compliance with the requirements stated by the Commission for the exercise.

Earlier in his keynote address at the event, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, who was represented by the Director, Research and Development, Ismail Adedigba, said the event aligns perfectly with one of the core objectives embedded within the new Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) of the Commission for the years 2023-2025, which speaks to fostering the development of cutting-edge technologies through rigorous research to catalyse sustainable economic growth and overall development within Nigeria.

He noted that this year’s event focuses on three pivotal thematic areas that not only pertain to Nigeria but also resonate with global concerns. The themes, he said, are:  Blockchain-enabled Data Protection Solutions for Enhancing Regulatory Compliance; Assistive Technology Solutions for the Elderly and People with Disabilities; and Technology Solutions for Renewable Energy in Rural Areas

Adedigba said Talent Hunt Research through Hackathon is just the inception of the Commission’s unwavering commitment to nurturing innovation and nascent ideas, the way it has been doing for previous winning innovative solutions and ideas that had emerged through the annual hackathon.

“The culmination of this competition is not confined to the grand prize of N10 million awarded to each winner from these three thematic areas for the development of their solutions, but goes beyond this, as the Commission takes a holistic approach to support these promising innovations. We closely monitor the progress of these solutions as they evolve into full-fledged prototypes,” he said.

He added that in a world where innovation is paramount, NCC often witness the remarkable potential of Hackathons to showcase fresh perspectives on existing challenges, adding that the NCC’s annual hackathon serve as instrumental tools in sustaining innovation and mobilising the collective intelligence of the innovators to tackle pressing real-world issues, both in the business realm and within our social fabric.