Digital security for the new entrepreneur

Digital security for the new entrepreneur

 

 

As South Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit blossoms, digital security is more important than ever, warns Steve Flynn, Sales and Marketing Director at ESET Southern Africa.

 

The pandemic fundamentally changed the working world forever. Not only are more employees working remotely, but more people are starting their own businesses – often from home. There has been a significant increase in new entrepreneurial activity amongst working age South Africans, from 10.8% in 2019 to 17.5% in 2021, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report 2021/2022 released by Stellenbosch Business School.

 

The digital work landscape also looks very different today. With affordable, high bandwidth connectivity more readily available in South Africa, we are now more marketable than ever before to take on remote, higher paying jobs for foreign entities. Covid-19 also necessitated more complex collaboration in the form of virtual meetings, ultimately improving our ability to work and communicate in isolation.

 

But, of course, all this digital growth has created a fertile breeding ground for new threats. ESET’s T2 2022 Threat Report, released in October, examines threats mostly impacting individual and home users. ESET phishing feeds showed a sixfold increase in shipping-themed phishing lures, with most presenting victims with fake DHL and USPS requests to verify shipping addresses. A web skimmer known as Magecart constituted three-fourths of all banking malware detections.

 

Furthermore, misconfigured remote access services continue to give bad actors an easy access path to company networks as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) attacks continue to grow. According to ESET’s threat report, for the first four months of 2022, over 100 billion such attacks were attempted, over half of which were traced back to Russian IP address blocks.

 

Start-up security mistakes

Small businesses or new entrepreneurs often make the mistake of thinking that they don’t need paid cybersecurity – that software from the world’s trusted vendors is secure, or that their small businesses won’t be an attractive target.

 

That, unfortunately, is a mistake as small businesses are easy targets. Threat actors are targeting smaller companies at scale, making it well worth their while. There are so many risk vectors today that everyone, from the sole proprietor selling wares online to large corporations, must adopt a sensible, pragmatic, and responsible approach to security.

 

And though the scale, expertise required, and products used will differ significantly depending on company size, the basics remain the same. By using strong passwords, reputable cybersecurity software, backing up and encrypting data, and being on the lookout for social engineering, you are already a long way towards an effective security posture.

 

When it comes to home-based employees and small entrepreneurs, there are some habitual mistakes that often open the door to threats. The most common is using very simple, easily cracked passwords. Some people even use the same password across all sites, therefore leaving every site open to being compromised by bad actors. Use a password manager and password best practices, with multi-factor authentication wherever possible.

 

The same can be said for storing and saving data, from storing on unsecured physical devices through to cloud environments. Use reputable companies to store your data in the cloud and use encryptions for all physical devices. Backup your data on a regular basis, and upload to an offsite location, should a situation arise where your local storage and devices are compromised.

 

Lastly, even when home office environments have some form of security such as a router, antivirus, and secured WiFi or a hardwired connection, many entrepreneurs and employees work from coffee shops or restaurants that have open, unsecured WiFi, exposing their data to risk. Never use open WiFi as it is not secure and leaves you and your device open to prying eyes and potential attacks.

 

How to choose security

Take your time researching options. You want to ensure your working environment is secured with best of breed cybersecurity software that can cover the entire infrastructure, requires little to no maintenance, and is easy to install and implement from the get-go.

 

ESET’s bundles provide protection across all devices, are easy to install and configure with best practices out of the box, making it easy for entrepreneurs to concentrate on their business, and not on their security posture. It’s light on resources, operating with high efficiency and low impact on hardware. Depending on which solutions you choose, we offer world leading cybersecurity software, banking and payment protection, device control, webcam protection, password manager, encryption, firewall, and access to live grid.

 

You’ll also have access to local support, in local languages, from a very experienced team of engineers. When starting a new business, you should be spending your time building your business and not on security. Luckily, there are highly skilled companies out there offering secure environments, incredible security services, and expert help. Recognise their importance and use them.

NCC Disowns Circulating “Certificate of Site Ownership for Mass Transmission Antenna”

NCC Disowns Circulating “Certificate of Site Ownership for Mass Transmission Antenna”

 

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has discovered, through social listening and environmental surveillance that a fraudulent letter, titled: “Certificate of Site Ownership”, for clearance of “Mast Transmission Antenna”, are being circulated by some unidentifiable individuals, and purporting that the letter was issued by the               Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.

The fraudulent letter claimed that the Commission had conducted an inspection on a certain site which is for “9-Mobile Telecommunications Company G.P.R.S”. The fraudsters also gave conditions that the unsuspecting recipient of the letter would meet to make the certificate valid and effective for use by “10th November 2022”. It is possible that several and variants of the fraudulent letter may have been sent to individuals, and organizations, with the intent to defraud, using the name of the Commission.

The Nigerian Communications Commission, therefore, wishes to dissociate itself from the import, and content of this letter, or similar ones, which may have been sent out by the faceless individuals.

For the avoidance of doubt, the design and format of the forged letterhead bears no similarity with those of the Commission. The department quoted in the fraudulent letter is non-existent at the Commission. The signatory to the letter is also not known to the Commission.

The public is hereby advised to note that telecommunications services are offered by companies which are issued licences by the Commission. The Commission also maintains a register of all telecommunications companies in the country. Suffice it to say, that, the process of initiating, or exchanging correspondence between the Commission, and the licensees, has definite and distinct standard and style.

In addition, the Commission has very open and credible channels of communication, through which all information about it, and its activities, including matters relating to correspondence on any subject matter, can be leveraged for verification.

While the Commission frowns at the nefarious activities of these fraudsters, telecom stakeholders, the Nigerian public, and corporate organizations, are advised to be wary of the wiles of many fraudsters prowling in the streets with all kinds of illegitimate documents, to avoid being victims of their nefarious activities.

BaaS: Tomorrow’s financial solutions, today

BaaS: Tomorrow’s financial solutions, today

 

 

The world of financial services is changing – for the better. A multitude of virtual banking and payment options, cardless and accountless services, and now, Banking as a Service (BaaS) are making financial inclusion the norm instead of a privilege, says Anton Coertzen, CCO of leading fintech enablement partner Ukheshe. 

 

BaaS is the latest technology making waves in the financial services world and Gartner predicts it will hit mainstream adoption within two years. BaaS is one of four technologies that Gartner says have the potential for high levels of transformation in the banking sector – the others being chatbots, public cloud for banking and social messaging payments apps.

 

A Deloitte report also says BaaS is becoming ubiquitous. “It’s reconfiguring the banking value chain, opening the door to disintermediation, and enabling new sources of growth,” it notes.

 

How does BaaS work?

BaaS came about because the ability to offer banking services such as cards and loans as a non-bank enterprise improves the customer experience and boosts revenue. However, offering banking services requires a banking licence that is difficult to obtain – it also requires significant capital and compliance with strict regulations.

 

BaaS allows licenced banks to integrate their services directly into the products of non-bank businesses. This means any business can offer its customers digital banking services such as mobile bank accounts, debit cards, loans, and payment services, without needing to acquire a banking licence. The non-financial business can also distribute these financial products under its own brand.

 

All of this happens through third-party distributors. These distributors build tech that allows digital banks, fintechs, and other third parties to connect directly with a bank’s systems via APIs.

 

In a nutshell, it enables embedded finance: banks integrate fintech or other FSP products into the banking journey (BaaS), while non-financial companies embed banking products into their own services (embedded finance).

 

The benefits of BaaS

BaaS is reconfiguring the banking value chain by enabling third-party distributors to offer banking products and services. It’s opening the door to disintermediation and enabling new sources of growth for all parties – whether the bank, the fintech enabler, or the third party.

 

Ukheshe offers banks and other financial institutions a cloud-based API-first BaaS platform that can be white-labelled – essentially allowing the bank’s customers to offer embedded finance offerings to their own customers, under their own brand. Examples include wallet as a service, card as a service, KYC as a service, and more.

 

Here are just some of the benefits of Eclipse within BaaS:

 

For banks:

  • Increased sources of revenue: Banks BaaS with Eclipse offers increased sources of revenues for their customers. Not only are banks able to enhance their value proposition to their existing consumer and merchant base, but they could also pivot to be the bank of choice for other Fintechs and Telcos in the market.
  • Cost savings: Banks can leverage third-party technology and infrastructure. Eclipse provides a dedicated environment with a frontend that is specific to banking institutions’ specific needs.
  • Increased customer insights: more customers mean increased insight into customer preferences and experiences. Eclipse provides exactly that – BaaS that has the customer at the heart of every solution, with less hassle, all through a single platform.

 

For non-banks and fintechs:

  • Less red tape: BaaS allows fintechs and businesses to bypass banking licence regulation by integrating directly with a bank’s system through banking APIs.
  • Increased customer trust: businesses can leverage consumers’ trust in banks to increase their customer base.
  • Higher competition: BaaS enables competition in financial services by enabling non-banks to offer core banking services. This means that more players can enter the market, innovation gets a push, customers get access to new products, and it leads to greater financial transparency.

 

The future

BaaS will become to fintech what Amazon Web Services is to data centres – a game changer; an absolute essential.

 

Through its multi-functional platform, Eclipse, Ukheshe has long been ahead of the fintech curve by offering both BaaS and embedded finance – even though it falls under the Software as a Service (SaaS) category.

 

Our strategy has always been to partner with banks, telcos and fintechs to shape their digital payment offering to their customers. It is core to our services to help shape their BaaS solution. We, in effect, enable the enablers and increase financial solutions to banking customers.

PRESIDENCY HARPS ON NIGERIA’S UNITY IN DIVERSITY

PRESIDENCY HARPS ON NIGERIA’S UNITY IN DIVERSITY

 

The Presidency has stated that the country stands to benefit more when we are united in confronting the ills besetting the land rather than sectionalising it.
The spokesman of the President, Femi Adesina, said this Wednesday at the State House while receiving a delegation of Igbo Friends and Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora (OCI) Foundation, that came to felicitate with him on the conferment of the National Honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“I am very happy to have you as my guests. It gives me great joy when I receive visitors from other parts of the country. One of you is from Benue (State) and others are from the Southeast.

“It shows the brotherhood in us; Nigeria is one country, indivisible. You have demonstrated it by coming to congratulate me for the National Award. I took two chieftaincy titles (Nwanne di Namba from Mmaku, Enugu State, and Ugomba of Isieketa, in Abia State), because of where they came from; to show that we are really one.

“At the Sun Newspapers, I used to write about the Southeast and the need for a President of Igbo extraction and what the people of the area needed to do to achieve it. I know that it would be a reality in this country.”

In his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Rev. Austin Ify Epunam (JP), who doubles as President of the SweetHome Africa and National Champion of Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora (OCI) Foundation, said he was excited for the well merited honour bestowed on the Presidential spokesman. OCI Foundation is a non-governmental, non-profit and non-political organisation established with the aim of breaking down barriers to the attainment of excellence.

“I have always followed your write ups especially about President Buhari way before the elections that brought him to power during your days at the SUN. I enjoy your calmness while dealing with individuals and issues. You are a problem solver.
“We should look at antecedents, the foundation of everyone before giving appointments. You were appointed spokesman, it’s God that sent you here and He will see you through, successfully,” Rev. Epunam said.

Other members of the delegation include; Chief Basil Onuoha, Engineer Chijioke Ojukwu, Ikenna Onuzulike, Comrade Mcgoshen Onwunzo, and Luter Ikyobo

The short answer to long passwords

The short answer to long passwords

 

 

 

Our digital world has become increasingly risky where hackers access personal data and steal identities with little effort. It’s said that nearly half of all South African consumers have either been a victim of ID theft, or know someone who has, costing in the region of R1 billion a year to the economy. Identity theft is big business – where a fake ID can cost just R3000 on the dark web or in the dark alleys of the city. But are longer, more complicated passwords and security measures the answer for South Africans?

 

A recent Google survey revealed that more than half of the respondents admitted to reusing the same password for multiple accounts. Around 80% of hacking breaches can be attributed to reused or stolen credentials.

 

Pan-African fintech innovator, iiDENTIFii, however, has developed an enterprise-grade face authentication platform, which closes the identification gap in seconds.  “We’re creating a safer world where everybody, everywhere and on any device, has an authenticated face and a name,” says Gur Geva, Co-Founder and CEO of iiDENTIFii.

 

iiDENTIFii recently took top honours in the KPMG Private Enterprise Tech Innovator Africa award, and is currently used by three of the top five banks in South Africa as part of their Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance.

 

iiDENTIFii uses biometrics with liveness detection, protecting against impersonation and deep fake attacks. “Even facial recognition with motion requirements are no longer enough to ensure that you are dealing with a real person. Without high security liveness detection, synthetic fraudsters can use photos or videos to spoof the authentication process,” says Geva.

 

This tech innovation paints a password-less future, where security is cost-effective, quick, and convenient for business and customers alike.

 

Authentication minimises the “attack window” for cybercriminals. Since it eliminates the use of passwords as a security model, it also eliminates the traditional threats associated with the username and password logins such as phishing and man-in-the-middle cyberattacks.

 

“Imagine a world where one does not have to remember different passwords for every site. Imagine a world where your face selfie proved who you were, and gave you access to valuable transactions.” says Geva.

 

Remote biometric authentication helps bridge the digital divide by reaching under-served communities with the benefits that technology can provide – without the risk of losing a password or identity fraud.

 

“Biometric authentication has a crucial role to play in bridging the digital divide,” adds Geva.  “Many of us take digital inclusion for granted. There are many who do not have consistent, reliable access to the advanced technologies that make our lives easier and improve our quality of life,” he adds.

 

This inclusive digital identity approach can open doors to basic critical government services such as labour markets, government benefits and financial services, without the risk of impersonation or fraudulent funding.

 

“Extending the length or complexity of passwords, or adding two-factor authentication, is merely making technology more complex to use, extending the challenge to hackers and excluding the digitally challenged. We see a safer world where everybody, everywhere and on any device, has an authenticated face and name – in just a few seconds,” says Geva.

 

Phoenix Closed a 100-million Round as It Grows to Be the Go-to Content Distributor of the Emerging Markets

Phoenix Closed a 100-million Round as It Grows to Be the Go-to Content Distributor of the Emerging Markets

rowser-derived super app, Phoenix (https://Phoenix-browser.com/), announced recently that it has closed a 100 million USD Series-A fundraising round. A renowned sovereign fund participated in the round alongside previous strategic investors including top internet companies and tech-focused funds. Since its Nigeria launch in late 2019, the super app has served over 400 million users in Africa, Asia, and Latin America with a built-in search engine, content feeds, productivity tools and a range of localized in-app features.

 

The company combines its edges in AI-powered algorithmic personalization — both the content feeds and app functionalities are highly curated based on users’ preferences. Local and global hits juxtaposed with light-relief entertainment, and this helps win over millions of African people as Phoenix becomes their go-to place for daily information and entertainment. Users are propelled to search, surf, learn and kill time in the hybrid super app, and are able to manage local docs, unzip files, and edit Offices as well. Phoenix also goes out of its way to enhance user experiences and address inadequate digital infrastructure in Africa, as it is developed to enable browsing with low network latency and unstable connection.

Home to the world’s youngest population, Africa has witnessed a booming mobile economy and rapid growth in smartphone penetration. Digital content consumption is also on the rise. However, the shortage of aggregation and distribution channels left a large number of contents and creators buried. The market thus needs more efficient indigenous platforms that can provide seamless browsing experiences and tools that help users easily access all kinds of information in the digital world.

 

As it leaps to become the leading super app in emerging markets, Phoenix strives to remain localized as much as diversified. It now supports over 20 languages, including vernaculars like Amharic and Oromo. With teams in 17 countries across Africa, Middle East and Latin America, and staff members made up of 20 nationalities, Phoenix thrives as a global cohort that balances international and local perspectives.

Phoenix is thrilled to partake in the digital transformation in Africa and beyond

 

To help creative industries germinate locally, the company sponsored Edo State International Film Festival 2022 in Nigeria that exposes young filmmakers and video creators to world-class directors and their masterclasses. Phoenix believes in the unlimited potential local creativity is able to unleash and is thrilled to contribute to the vibrant cultural scenes in the continent.

Phoenix reaches over 400 million Appstore downloads and over 100 million monthly active users in less than three years. The one-stop experience the app provides guarantees high user engagement and stickiness, as it rises as one of the fastest growing mobile apps worldwide and the Top 5 most actively-used mobile apps in Africa according to DataSparkle. As users spend more time on the app and their appetites for digital contents grow, online marketing on Phoenix emerges as an effective channel to reach customers for brands and companies. Benefiting from the highly personalized recommendation engine, they are now able to communicate with consumers more intimately and creatively.

 

“Phoenix is thrilled to partake in the digital transformation in Africa and beyond” said Oluwatosin Sawyerr, the global head of strategic partnership of Phoenix, “we will help more mobile users in the developing world discover and access the best and the most relevant content available. We also aspire to serve our business clients with the most customized and high-quality services, providing them with cutting edge marketing tools and helping them reach users in ways unseen by conventional advertisements.” With the new round of funding, the team expects to further harness the recommendation engine, refine in-app functions, provide better marketing services and gear up for global expansion.

Treten Networks Partners with Africa Data Centres

Treten Networks Partners with Africa Data Centres

 

 

Treten Networks offers specialist business advisory services that provide advanced network and security solutions, helping its customers in both the private and public sectors do business more securely and efficiently. In addition to its existing services, Treten will now leverage Africa Data Centres’ physical infrastructure and ecosystem of connectivity partners to support cloud deployments for its customers.

Both organisations aim to solve customer’s business challenges with this partnership by providing sustainable game-changing technologies and solutions. Operating the continent’s largest carrier-neutral data centres, the Africa Data Centre has access to tens of thousands of connections to cloud, content, and network providers from Africa and across the globe. As a result, Treten’s customers will reap the benefits of connecting directly with secure, low latency connections to key providers and business partners.

Africa Data Centres is unquestionably the largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities on the continent

“The last two years have proven that access to cloud infrastructure is imperative to ensuring that African businesses grow their revenue and can compete with companies in the European and US markets. In addition to benefits like low latency and compliance with data storage laws, the proliferation of data centres on the continent is a vital ingredient to ensure the easy availability of cloud services locally,” said Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres.

Treten’s customers in every industry have accelerated their journeys to the cloud, and as they have done so, they have accepted the reality that hybrid cloud and multi-cloud strategies are here to stay. Together, Africa Data Centres and Treten can provide organisations with secure private infrastructure and access to hyperscale cloud providers through numerous interconnections and exchanges.

“Africa Data Centres is unquestionably the largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities on the continent, and furthermore provides expert quality and next-level service crucial to our datacenter needs,” says Karo Esemitodje, Head of Cloud Services from Treten Networks. “From the reliable uptime on facility, cooling, state-of-the-art monitoring, and expert level security in the LOS-1 DC facility, Africa Data Centres is the industry leader by leaps and bounds. “The amount of detail they deliver daily in all areas is why Treten Networks chose Africa Data Centres as our partner for our digital future. As a result, all our data centre needs have been addressed.”

Treten Networks is rapidly expanding its footprint with its bespoke cloud service offerings, including compute, storage, networking, backup and recovery, and so much more. “We already boast of an extremely low latency and the fastest cloud service in Nigeria, and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership with Africa Data Centres”.

In closing Karo Esemitodje from Treten, says that through the partnership with Africa Data Centres his organisation will meet and surpass the expectations of its clients. “As the leading cloud service provider in Nigeria, our vision is to be the premiere customer-centric cloud provider of choice, enabling enterprises to meet their business goals”.

Buying a home with a partner? Here’s everything you need to know first

Buying a home with a partner? Here’s everything you need to know first

 

With volatile interest rates, a soaring cost of living and an overall challenging economic outlook for the foreseeable future, sharing the costs of getting into the property market seems like a perfect solution for many South Africans.

For married couples, entering into a purchase jointly may be entirely natural, with any unforeseen circumstances being covered by pre-nuptial agreements, as long as you’ve thought through your marriage contract carefully. But when friends, siblings, parents and children or an unmarried couple enter into such an arrangement, it is just as important to ensure a watertight contract is in place to cover all eventualities.

“We should never be lulled into a false sense of security because we are related or in love with our purchasing partner; life may throw any of us a curved ball at any time and the circumstances of one or other or both the partners may change,” says Andrea Tucker, Director of MortgageMe. “Drawing up a partnership agreement may not feel very conducive to a harmonious relationship, nor very romantic for couples, but life happens, and we must be realistic in creating a document which protects both parties equally,” she adds.

Joint finance

Not all parties, however, are necessarily equal. This may be a 50/50 arrangement or there might be disproportionate contributions by each of the partners, depending on the individuals and circumstances at play. “Purchasing partners can decide whether to ‘pool’ their salaries or contribute to the property proportionately to their individual earnings. Financial institutions are very amenable to granting mortgages to more than one party for a single property, providing each complies with their qualifying criteria, which includes having a good credit standing,” Tucker explains.

Another financial consideration to talk about at the outset is the possibility of opening a joint bank account to pay for property-related costs like bond repayments, insurance and rates and taxes. When managed well, a joint account can make splitting costs fair and easier to track, and a great way to keep money aside for a rainy day, or an unexpected home repair.

So, other than how to finance the deal, what else do we need to consider and to include in our agreement before making an offer on a property together with someone else?

What exactly is each party bringing to the deal?

The percentage of ownership needs to be very clearly defined, from the deposit, to the respective shares of the repayments, running costs etc. Even who brings what items of furniture into the house. “In the offer to purchase, and more importantly, on the title deeds, the shareholding of each person should be recorded, and this will go a long way to mitigating any issues when the time to sell the property comes. If the shareholding transfers into one of the names only, it’s important to be aware that a lawyer would need to do this and that costs will be incurred,” says Tucker.

Keep in mind, however, that no matter what your percentage ownership in the property is, you and your co-owner are equally responsible for the repayment of your monthly bond instalment. Banks insist on joint and several liability, which means that both you and your partner are responsible, together and individually, for the full loan amount

Dissolution of the agreement

When entering into a purchase agreement, think ahead to the eventual sale, which may be a mutual decision, but which may come about when one of a non-romantic partnership meets someone, or gets a new job and needs to relocate, or is retrenched and can no longer afford their portion. Or even death. “How will you dissolve the partnership and divide any proceeds of the sale needs to be included in the contract? Property is not a short-term investment, so forward-thinking is imperative. In order words, make sure you have an equitable exit strategy,” she adds.

Decision making

In between the purchase and the sale, and assuming you will be living together in the house, another factor to consider is how major decisions will be made. Examples include property upgrades, decorating, and rules around shared spaces such as the kitchen and bathrooms.

These are just some of the potential sticking points in buying a property jointly with someone else. But, provided you think and act carefully, it is an excellent way of entering the property market and getting a start using the power of two incomes.

Tucker says, “If approached in the right way joint purchasing is a way of encouraging more people to own their homes. This roots them in the community and in the country. It’s good for the economy and enables more entrants into the property market. If buyers pick their partners – and their houses – carefully, it is a win-win situation for everybody!”

HOW WOMEN CONVENTION 2022 ENDED IN FCIM EGBEDA, LAGOS

HOW WOMEN CONVENTION 2022 ENDED IN FCIM EGBEDA, LAGOS

 

Faith Cathedral International Ministry women recently held their annual festival. The two day event was held in the church auditorium, there was a seminar on Saturday and on Sunday with a Thanksgiving service tagged “Love is kind.”

Speaking during the service on Sunday, the General Overseer, Fred Obetoh said that ” there us need to have a forgiving spirit and also know that charity is love. It isn’t all about the gift of prophesy but the gift of love. God is love.”

The greatest of all is love. Jesus Christ you on earth preaches loved and he was specific that we should love our neighbor the way we love ourselves. When all the commandments are looked at, when you collapse it, it is basically love… The love of human and that if God.

“1st John 4 is clear. In this verse it clearly said that God is love. If you don’t love, you don’t have God it is as simple as that”, Fred Obetoh added.

“Many of us want to help God! We can’t help God to do anything, but all we can do is to show love and let God manifest himself. Love is sacrifice! When you love you can’t disobey God or your husband as a woman. You can’t respect your pastor more than your husband. Many women have formed the habit of respecting their pastors more than their husbands and that is a Wong attitude! They kneel in front of their pastors and don’t respect the husband and that us had and hippocrisy of the highest order”Obetoh opined.

WOMEN CONVENTION 2022 OF FAITH CATHEDRAL INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY COMES TO AN END!

John 3 VS 16,for God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son. This is to show the level of love God has for us and it is left for us to redistribute this love to others. We can’t be taking things that aren’t filled in love seriously. God’s word is love and we must follow it.

These days many of our women rarely do the right thing due to their penchant for watching what the media is dishing out. Why call your husband names etc. A Godly woman doesn’t curse either the child or the husband. People that love don’t curse. We must understand that, so for you to curse you lack love!

A godly woman must understand the term of love which is peaceful the pastor told the women. He said that Women must always show love. If you are humble, your husband will adore you. Women must show humility!

It is only a foolish woman that is troublesome! Why go for material things and not show love! Why fight for earthly things when you can show love to people by giving it out.

The Women of Destiny is the women group of the church. This group has dedicated themselves to the upliftmemt of the church and also reaching out to the members either spiritually or financially.

 

Faith Cathedral International Ministries
Egbeda
Lagos

Telecom Infrastructure Critical to Successful 2023 Elections – Danbatta

Telecom Infrastructure Critical to Successful 2023 Elections – Danbatta

 

 

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, has said telecom infrastructure is very critical to successful 2023 elections, therefore, every Nigerian in every community should join hands in protecting it for the benefit of the country.

 

Danbatta, who was special guest at the 6th Edition of the Annual Conference of Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Lagos at the weekend, with focus on the forthcoming election and the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu in attendance, said with the planned transmission of election data and results riding on telecom infrastructure, there was need to ensure the fidelity of the transmission systems to enhance the credibility of such data.

 

“If telecom infrastructure is vandalised or damaged, it would create problem in the area of the data transmission during election; citizens will find it difficult to use their phones to seamlessly communicate and the journalists too might find it difficult in being able to access their web platforms to disseminate necessary information which members of the public require to make informed decisions at every point in time,” he said.

 

Danbatta recalled that, over the years, the telecoms sector has continued to face destabilising situations arising from negative attitudes and actions of hostile communities; theft of diesel, batteries, and power generators from telecom base stations; digging up and cutting of fibre optic cables by construction workers; indiscriminate sealing/locking-up of Base Transceiver Station (BTS) sites by state governments, other governmental and community stakeholders; as well as other disruptive activities which must be decisively tackled.

 

While reiterating the importance of telecommunications in all aspects of human lives, including the forthcoming election and other national activities and programmes, Danbatta said that without telecom infrastructure, it will be difficult to communicate with family and friends over long distances or conducting banking, insurance, or accessing government and other social services, including education, entertainment, and other essentials services that enhance quality of life.

 

“This means that telecom infrastructure is important, and we must all ensure that we guard and protect those critical national infrastructural assets now, during the upcoming elections and thereafter. So, every citizen in Nigeria must take responsibility for the protection of telecom facilities for the benefits to all,” Danbatta said.

 

He enjoined GOCOP members to use their credible media platforms and enviable experiences to collaborate with the NCC in creating greater awareness and public enlightenment on the need to protect telecoms infrastructure.

 

At the event, which was chaired by the Founder, Centre for Alternative Policy Perspectives and Strategy (CAPPS), Dr. Umar Ardo; with other personalities including former Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase; Regional Director Ford Foundation, Dr. Chidi Aniagolu-Okoye; and distinguished members of GOCOP, most of who are senior media professionals, Danbatta commended GOCOP members for their contributions in the promotion of awareness of derivable benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) through their online platforms.

 

“The NCC would like to commend the leadership and entire members of GOCOP for the good work you are doing in your professional practice of disseminating timely and accurate information to Nigerians to enable citizens to take inform decisions,” he said.