The National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, is leading by example for being the first agency of government in Nigeria to implement a major aspect of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) by launching the NDPR complaint visitors’ book today in Abuja.
The launching of the booklet was performed by the Director General of the Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, shortly after the agency’s first staff meeting of the year 2022 with all staff in attendance physically and virtually, especially for those outside the headquarters on official assignments, zonal offices or on leave.
According to Inuwa; “It is NITDA’s mandate as enshrined in NITDA Act of 2007 to inter alia; develop regulations for electronic governance and monitor the use of electronic data interchange and other forms of electronic communication transactions as an alternative to paper-based methods in government, commerce, education, the private and public sectors, labour and other fields, where the use of electronic communication may improve the exchange of data and information”.
He said, “Recognizing that many public and private bodies have migrated their respective businesses and other information systems online, information solutions with both the private and public sectors now drive service delivery in the country through digital systems. These information systems have thus become critical information infrastructure that must be safeguarded, regulated, and protected against atrocious breaches”.
“Data protection applies to all transactions intended for the processing of Personal Data, notwithstanding how the data processing is being conducted or intended to be conducted in respect of natural persons in Nigeria’’, he said.
The DG stated that organisations in Nigeria were caught scrambling to comply with the NDPR when it was launched in 2019. “Most organisations especially Small and Medium Businesses (SMB) are finding it difficult to comply with some of the basic requirements of the regulation due to financial constraints,” he added.
Inuwa disclosed that a recent study has revealed that many Nigeria Public Institutions and small business owners are still confused by the rules around data protection and privacy regulations.
“Disturbingly, out of 30 surveyed, 100% confirmed their paper visitors’ books are not confidential and do not protect the visitors’ personal data. Another 98% admitted they do not dispose of paper visitor books securely and confidentially – leaving the personal data of millions of employees and customers at risk,’’ he lamented.
He explained that when putting NDPR procedures in place, it’s very likely that many organisations did so with one big misconception that the new law only affects data collected online. The NDPR is technology-agnostic. It applies to all acts of personal data collection and processing, no matter how and where it takes place, visitor data, employee personal data, etc.
Inuwa submitted that the Data Services Protection Limited (DSPL) patented visitor’s book was selected amongst the most innovative NDPR product at 2021 Privacy Week organised by NITDA. The visitor’s book pages are duplicates and works by making personal details on the visitor’s book invisible on the first page while capturing the data on the duplicate page. This basic but ingenious visitor’s book is cheap in comparison with the expensive digital visitor’s management solutions.
He, however, noted that the visitors’ book is an addition to the processes of computing the visitors’ data electronically.
Among the highlights of the staff meeting was the presentation of a plaque of recognition to the staff of the quarter Mr. Peter Chucks Emakpor, a staff of the e-Government Training Center, Kubwa, Abuja, by the Director-General.
I have received many requests to summarize my recent experience in Nigeria. In order to avoid an unnecessary expansion of this post, my experience can be summarized as being 98% good to great. The remaining 2% are flaws. Yes, Nigeria, like all other places, has flaws. However, our flaws don’t have flaws, making them easily addressable. This post is about the people of Nigeria (I may address other specific issues in subsequent posts).
There isn’t very much I would change about the people of Nigeria who are easily the most resilient, kindest, and happiest people on earth. Two of a few things I would tweak:
EXCESSIVE REVERENCE: I know that our culture demands respect for our seniors (which is a great thing), but we have recently expanded it to include excessive reverence for the rich and powerful. Some of us cower too much in the presence of such people, thinking that prostrating and showering them with titles and praises will get us ahead. Breaking news: trashing your dignity (no matter how impoverished you are) gets you no where. The easiest way to get in the circle of such people is by displaying confidence, being conversant with a wide range of subject matters, and not seeking direct material favours. Just like a bank will more likely lend you money when you don’t need it, a rich person will more likely take your phone call, if they believe you don’t need them. They don’t like to be pestered with constant requests for material favours, and will most likely invite you to cookouts and other events, if you don’t appear too needy. Such events are where you could possibly be exposed to profitable ideas, not to mention the possibility of expanding your network and possibly getting life changing referrals. You simply can’t get rich by selling your dignity and expecting unfettered access to a rich person’s vault.
Excessive reverence is also one of the reasons we don’t adequately hold our elected officials accountable….a post for another day.
“WE THANK GOD”: Is a phrase we overuse and abuse in addressing all manner of questions and comments. Comment: I am so proud of you; your business is doing so well (response: we thank God). Question: you look so fit; how do you do it? (response: we thank God), etc. Thanking God is a given, and is something we should do all the time, but that phrase alone usually isn’t sufficient enough answer. You will probably teach and/or encourage someone to do better by expanding that standard response a little bit. Slight modifications that can be impactful: “we thank God, but my business is successful because I wake up early every morning to work hard at it”; “we thank God, but I try to stay fit by exercising three days a week,” etc. It’s a wonderful thing when we all learn from each other.
If you are wondering why I’m awake at 4 a.m. Chicago time, blame it on jet lag 😃.
GENE NONSO MOJEKWU A Nigerian based in the USA recounts his experience when he came back for Christmas holidays
The Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE has today received the newly appointed MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr karl Toriola and his team at the Agency’s corporate headquarters.
Mr Toriola was at the Agency to familiarize himself with the activities of NITDA and to further strengthen the partnership already existing between the Agency and organisation The DG NITDA while addressing the team stated that MTN is one of the supporting organisation that has helped the Agency in achieving some of its set goals. Adding that “as such, we need to find ways we can work hand in hand in terms of regulations and make sure what we do is in the best interest of the public.”
“The regulation we do is not to discourage innovation or to limit you rather our regulations are developmental regulations which helps to unlock opportunities and to also create an enabling environment for you and others players”, he added.
Mallam Abdullahi said that NITDA’s regulations are form in two ways either the Agency deciding on what and what to set as regulations or they sit with the industry players to decide on what kind of regulations can be made.
He said that human capital development is one of the key areas the agency is focusing on “as we need to train our people to understand the new technologies before we develop and use it.” In this regards, the DG NITDA urged MTN to collaborate with the Agency to train as many persons as possible.
“In terms of infrastructure, we have done a lot in that aspect as we have provide infrastructure to under served and unserved communities because you need to have infrastructure to be able to connect to the service. As business people, I urged you to create an avenue where people are easily and freely connected to the service as it will create more users and in turn generate more fund”, he said.
NITDA Boss applauded MTN for doing its best in the area of compliance and commended the company for the prompt payment of its levies. Speaking earlier, Mr Toriola asserted that the MTN Nigeria Privacy and Data Protection service has been developed and adopted by the board. He said, “It has been deployed across our business and with constant engagement with NITDA officials who have provided us with necessary support and guidance, we have carried out an audit of our privacy data compliance practices with the Nigerian Data Protection Regulations requirements.
He stated that the data breach management has been developed and deployed adding that the company has embarked on a programme that will promote local content in Nigeria which includes ecosystem support to provide ICT innovation, STEM to accelerate local innovations.
The Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru Abubukar, has urged Nigerian youths to key into the digital technologies and focus more on critical thinking in order to find solutions for Nigeria’s economic and security challenges, according him that is the only way to move the country forward.
Governor Badaru made this call at the 1st Jigawa Innovation Summit with the theme: ‘Creating a Viable Innovative Ecosystem for Economic Development’ organised by the state government in collaboration with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Youth Coalition for Development (YCD), an NGO that canvasses youth engagement in changing the status quo for the betterment of Nigerians.
The governor said it is only through critical thinking that the minds of Nigerian youths can be opened, so that they can look around their environment and see the opportunities around them that they can turn into business and create jobs, adding that the more problems are being solved, the more income can be generated.
He further said that the vision and focus is to bring world of innovations to the state, noting that oil economy is almost over because of what is happening around the globe – electric cars are on the rise, solar energy is becoming cheaper, wind energy becoming supportive, and the unknown fuel energy-drive currently ongoing can surely drop the demand of oil, and if this happens, national income will continue to decline and that will affect all the states of the federation, including Jigawa.
“We have to look at the areas where we have competitiveness and see how best we can make our economy work through those areas. Like I have always said, we can achieve this largely in Agriculture. We have vast land and water for irrigation in Jigawa. We will continue to focus on how to develop Agriculture and its value chain.
“I want to challenge this Summit to see how best we can to improve in what we are doing and how best we can to create jobs around the value chains in Nigeria digitally.
“We have Informatics Kazaure that produced so many IT professionals in the country. So I expect this Summit to bring to our table advises in our educational arena so that we can do more in developing our youth by making them employers, not just employee,” he added.
While delivering his speech, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), commended Jigawa State for its drive in Digital Economy, noting that the State Government showed its willingness to support the effort of the Federal Government and collaboration in order to develop indigenous digital economy in the country.
Dr Pantami said the rate of unemployment in the country motivated Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to think outside the box by focusing more on creating potential employers rather than potential employees.
He said, “If you enrolled people in university and they graduated without sufficient skills, they will never be self-reliant, they will always go around looking for jobs. But when you provide digital skills for your citizens, they will be employers of others, which Jigawa Innovation Summit should also focus on.
The minister cited Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, second richest person in the world, as the perfect example potential employer, who million of people are working under him.
He stated how Netherland used digital technology to boost its agricultural activities despite having lesser landmass compare to some states in Nigeria. He added that if Jigawa State deploy digital innovation to agriculture it will go along the way in creating many jobs and generating revenue for Federal and State Government.
On his part, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, while giving a Keynote Address, recalled that the journey to Innovation Summit is more exciting than the theme of the event, because the journey started in January last year when the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) commissioned Hadejia Community IT Centre.
He said, “While delivering his Keynote Address at the commissioning, the Honourable Minister explained potential benefit of Digital Economy in our country and Jigawa State in general. Our governor showed interest in Jigawa State’s readiness to embrace the initiative, and the Honourable Minister responded positively by directing me to engage all the stakeholders to ensure Jigawa benefit immensely from Digital Economy.”
“Whatever the state government, ministry and NITDA are doing are in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic diversification agenda, therefore all the credits should go to Mr President, because he campaigned before election and after he was voted to lead the country, he appointed my boss and mentor as minister, who also recommended me for this position,” he added.
Mallam Abdullahi opined that with new measures being put in place in regard to innovation and also what Governor Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar is doing in the state, Jigawa is in the forefront of zero-oil revenue.
He explained that innovation has been generally defined as the processing and taking idea from inception to impact, adding that innovation is not all about Information Technology, it is also something that has to do with invention, in terms commercialisation, business model, customer experience and organisational structure.
The DG said the event organised by Jigawa State Government in collaboration NITDA and YCD, attended by IT experts, entrepreneurs, academia, private sectors and other stakeholders is put heads together and look for competitive advantage in Jigawa; look at what each local government has, and come up with a strategy that can help unlock opportunities and create prosperity for the citizens.
“Jigawa State has a lot of potentials in terms of agricultural resources. Jigawa is the largest producer of dates, hibiscus and gum Arabic in Nigeria, and largest producer of sesames in the whole of Africa. The state also stands third in rice production, and we are utilising less than 10% of our arable land. Recently, His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Jigawa, Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar negotiated with stakeholders from Mexico to boost hibiscus production, which is a big plus for us as a nation.”
“All these can be achieved through digital technologies; this is why we are building IT centres across the country. So far, we have established 18 IT community centres out of 27 local governments, and we will build in the remaining ones. This is to prepare our future generation and create job opportunities, not only government jobs, but for youths to become self-reliant.
“We are coming with strategy where the state government can provide enabling environment that will unlock opportunities. In some countries, government job is the last resort, because you will make more money in business than in government; you will have more time in your private business than government,” he concluded.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the recent attack on The Nation Newspaper and Television Continental (TVC), during the EndSARS protest in Lagos, as an attack on free speech and democracy.
The Minister made the assertion in Lagos on Saturday when he visited the two media organizations in Lagos to commiserate with their management and staff over the attack.
He said the action of the arsonists was a premeditated attempt to silence the voice of reason and stifle press freedom.
“We believe that the attack on the Nation is not just an attack on the Vintage Press, it’s an attack on the free press, it’s an attack on democracy, because there can be no virile and robust democracy without a free media.
“Therefore, an attack on the Nation or any media house is a direct attack on freedom of speech and also democracy and, honestly, we believe that there is no justification whatsoever for the attack,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
He however expressed his delight that a few days after the attack, the two media houses bounced back, a development which he described as a sign of the commitment and sheer determination by the organization’s management and staff to continue to promote democracy in the country.
“The fact that within a few days you were able to return to the stand and on air, I think it’s a big blow to the attackers, who thought they could shut out the light of press freedom,” the Minister said.
He strongly and unreservedly condemned the attack on the media houses, saying the attempt by the arsonists to stifle press freedom has failed woefully.
Alhaji Mohammed, who expressed sadness at the extent of damage to the corporate headquarter buildings and other properties of the two media houses, said there was every reason to thank God that no life was lost in the attack.
The Minister assured that the Federal Government will continue to support responsible journalism and wished the two media organizations a quick rebound in terms of properties, equipment and revenue losses.
The Chairman of The Nation Newspaper, Mr. Wale Edun, and the Managing Director of TVC, Mr. Andrew Hanlon, conducted the Minister round the premises of the two media organizations, respectively.
The Minister was accompanied on the visit by the Director General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Dr. Mansur Liman; Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria, Mr. Buki Ponle; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Press Council, Mr. Francis Nwosu; Registrar/CEO of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo and the Acting Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba.
Segun Adeyemi Special Assistant To The President (Media) Office of The Minister of Information and Culture
In this interview, the Chief Executive Officer of Silex Secure Lab Limited, Nsikak Joseph Nelson talks about the information technology (IT) ecosystem in Abuja, how the company has been able to develop home made solutions that have enables organisations to scale up their businesses in Abuja and Northern Region. He also talks about the need for government to create an enabling environment through policies that would encourage indigenous software development firms. Anthony Nwosu captures this in an exclusive interview.
Tell us more about Silex Secure Lab Limited?
SILEX SECURE LAB LIMITED is a leading Nigerian IT company duly registered in 2014 with its office in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. Silex Secure Lab offers services in Cyber Security, Software development, Programming, Data analytics, Cloud computing, Animation, Website development, Fintech, business processes and solutions. We blend Business and Internet Intelligence by developing innovative cyber investigative, encrypted communications and business solutions that are targeted at enabling our clients operate more efficiently.
Over the years, we have offered our services to Nigerian Government Agencies, Private companies and individuals. As a CSR company, we have trained over 200 web developers in Abuja, the Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna, Jos and other cities.
As an IT firm based in Abuja, how has it been appreciating your services in the Northern region?
It has been pretty good and you know this is the Federal Capital City where a lot of people including governmental and corporate organizations think the best IT companies are in Lagos, but you won’t blame them. A lot of Information Technology (IT) firms in this area have their existing customers most of them have been focusing on governmental project, while others are servicing the informal sector however you look at it, we have got a lot of clients whom we have served and appreciate us for rendering exceptional services and giving them value for their money in a simple and effective way. We strongly believe that the IT ecosystem is robust and there is no need heading to Lagos for IT solutions.
Do you have these solutions and software developed in-house?
All our software solutions are developed in-house. From UI/UX to front end, backend and Mobile Apps are done in-house; as a matter of fact, we have a vibrant and energetic team comprising of developers, UI/UX designers, Cyber security experts, Mobile App working on various innovative solutions and products. As a software development & a cyber security company, we totally understand the importance of intellectual property especially with the uniqueness of the products we develop. So as an organisation, we ensure we develop and build capacity around these areas in line with the global best practices. We deliver these solutions to our clients and we are proud that we developed them in-house and they have been working efficiently.
How efficient is your Self Tracer software and do you think that government facilities can deploy them for security purposes?
As guardians and parents are busy today, we understand that they need to keep a tab on their wards and kids so we developed such a solution. Our self-Tracer apps is so special to us, we developed this app basically for parental control but as time evolved, we saw the need of extending the services to corporate organisations and government agencies. Talking of effectiveness, the app is so effective, the sole purpose is to monitor the movement of yourself and family especially in this current security situation, there is need for self-tracing and when there is an emergency with a click on the apps you can notify your family member or anyone you add on hotspot on your current location and if for any reason your phone is turned-off and SIM card is changed, Once the phone is turned back on the apps will notify the admin through the cloud-based system.
Again, this can be fully effective for law enforcement agency for tracking of asset and monitoring communication against insider threat. Other components of the app include Internet Filter, communication filter on social media etc, Website Blocker, GPS Tracking, Remote Control. But again, there is always a privacy to talk about which, in developing this app, we also took into consideration.
Again, this can be fully effective for law enforcement agency for tracking of asset and monitoring communication against insider threat. Other components of the app include Internet Filter, communication filter on social media etc, Website Blocker, GPS Tracking, Remote Control. But again, there is always a privacy to talk about which, in developing this app, we also took into consideration.
As Nigerians are more into mobility, what is the unique feature of your phone encryption technology and how can you work hand in hand with Telcos?
Wow! Our end-to-end encryption is one of the best things that has happened to Silex Secure and one of the local products in Africa cyber security arena. What we have done as a company is not all about call encryption but more of a state-of-the-art mobile security solution. Some of the amazing features are listed on; http://silexscrypt.com.ng/. Let us take a look at Secure File sharing, one of the key features of the app, which guides against data leak in organisations, you know as at now any information that comes to your phone can be easily shared to others, I mean important documents but we made it in such a way that the original owner of the data has the right to grant permission to a recipient of the file and if permission isn’t granted from the owner, that file can’t be shared, so in a way the originator of the file has full control on who gets access to the file.
Our primary goal of making an encrypted solution for mobile user is to provide Total Privacy and absolute security to mobile users which also applies to calls and also solves the problem of leaked conversations which is often so common in our society today, at least we have seen and read on the news on how High profile, politicians and celebrities and business executives’ private conversations are leaked to the public domain, including personal information, business transactions etc. Working with telecoms provider will be a welcome development we can provide this service as an exclusive product to subscriber.
You develop software in house; can we know what you have developed and where you have deployed?
Yes, we have developed innovative Mobile Apps projects. We currently features a number of projects, but let’s look at just a few: The Towing Apps; this is the easiest and most convenient way to request for a Tow Truck; Just Tap and Tow! Once you set your pickup location, select a Tow Truck of your choice to help you when you need a Tow Truck to rescue you or you just need help with a flat battery or flat tire. Another one is the “Barber Apps” this app is designed for salons. The Salon.ng is a mobile platform for barbers and clients, modernizing the barbershop experience. With Salon.ng you can turn on your apps location, send a request within your location, a close barber sees the request, accepts the request and moves to your location to cut your hair.
We aslo have the “eCounsel Apps”: the eCOUNSEL is an online platform set up to revolutionize the way legal service is accessed. The world of work is evolving and to thrive in this new reality, we are focused on using data and technology as a tool to make legal help more easily accessible by all Nigerians. Then we looked at the cooking gas supply chain ecosystem and built a solution around that space. We called it “Gas Apps”. This is an On-demand gas/fuel/diesel delivery service that delivers fuel to vehicles and diesel for generators and gas for cooking cylinders in any location. This service could come in handy in case of emergency where perhaps a person is stranded on the highway or at home or work. It works in a similar pattern like Uber & bolt Apps.
What about solutions built around intelligence and information gathering, now that we are trying to deepen our security apparatus in the country?
We have designed the OSINT SOLUTIONS that offer direct solutions to the questions around intelligence and information gathering for security agencies. This is a Social Media Intelligence and OSINT products that makes use of and transforms public data such as Social Media and Deep & Dark Web into valuable intelligence. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) platforms support collection and analysis of relevant and targeted information relating to criminal and political open sources. This tool has wide benefits for a number of industries, including; Government and Defence Intelligence agencies, Law Enforcement, Commercial Risk Management companies, and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). We also have developed an End-to-Encryption Solutions.
Through our flagship “Invest in Technology” Initiative, which gives people the opportunity to invest in innovative solutions targeted at various sectors, some of our commercial apps are open for outright sales or investment, i.e. for people who are willing to invest their funds in smart technological solutions like ours. Most of our application are being deployed to Private companies, Public sectors, individual and multinational companies.
Do you think that the government is doing enough to ensure that indigenous IT firms like yours scale?
Well, for us as a company, we look beyond government knowing that government can’t meet everyone’s demand. However, government has a major role to play in policy making, provision of infrastructure & patronage and open access to local companies. But this is where we are now, At Silexsecure we build most of our products for international Market not depending on Nigerian government to do business. That is the beauty of Technology. Policy wise not much is being done, intervention funds nothing much is done and in terms of palliative, not much is done either.
Take for example, during this lockdown most of our developers were working remotely, we had to make sure we provide alternative sources of power like Generator and Solar Power for our developer so as to meet projects schedules. Again, you should understand the impact of that to our business if most of our developers staying in various places have access to power and good internet, we won’t spend so much on running cost as a company.
Capacity building and training are the things you do. Can we know how this has been?
Capacity building can’t be over emphasised. As a company, we have done tremendously well in that aspect, we started by training Students in Nigerian universities narrowing down to Government agencies and Law enforcement agencies. Right now, we are doing tailored training based on the products we develop. So we feel training should be attached to a product. Take for an example, Our OSINT project enables us set up training in the area of intelligence and information gathering for security agencies. While we are still accommodating student in Cyber Security, which is a core area of specialization, overall remark has been very impressive, the testimonials are there for people to see.
What are we to expect from you this last quarter?
This is mind blowing, you should expect more innovative solutions from us. As a company we are diving deep to international markets. Right now I am sure sooner or later we will tell you of our ground-breaking technology in the international scene. But be rest assured that we are making Nigerians proud, we are focusing more on Artificial Intelligence which will majorly be used by Defence and military operations, community policing and the AVIATION Sector. So, there is more to expect from us.
Do you think that the Covid 19 will make Nigerian firms to deploy robust IT solution for greater productivity?
This is the time for everyone to think deep. I am sure you have read of innovative and robust solutions that have been developed by various companies in Nigeria within the lock down, though productivity has increased since a lot of companies like ours adopted personal and meaningful products. Imagine all technology companies in Nigeria having their products, I mean personal products not client product knowing fully the impact of this to the economy. But I must tell you productivity in the technology space is very high right now. We have seen clients who have spent so much on freelance platforms, outsourcing jobs to Indian guys, come to us, people really want to take control of most of the product they are developing so on that note I could say Covid-19 is a blessing in disguise. So, I think personally, this is when African countries should really overtake the west.
What are the challenges that you face as an IT firm?
They are the normal challenges that every growing businesses face in Nigeria such as poor Infrastructure, non-existent Government policies/ Enabling Environment, Competition. Though we can’t assume to be a monopoly in a capitalist setting but a bit of protectionist policies matter. Also, Market Access-Intra Africa Trade, Access to capital and Finding the Right developers or skilled I.T personnel to help us scale.
If you are to advice government on IT, what would be your take?
It is a straightforward thing, I would say, that they should encourage local technology and setup an innovative centre where they can easily access local software and purchase some of these great technological solutions for local consumption and deployment. They should also fund local companies to meet government demands. invest in idea, build a better frame work for funding local technology. And lastly, proper policy frame work to guide local content.
“THE WORLD OF WORK IS EVOLVING AND TO THRIVE IN THIS NEW REALITY, WE ARE FOCUSED ON USING DATA AND TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL TO MAKE LEGAL HELP MORE EASILY ACCESSIBLE BY ALL NIGERIANS. THEN WE LOOKED AT THE SUPPLY CHAIN ECOSYSTEM AND BUILT A SOLUTION AROUND THAT SPACE. WE CALLED IT “GAS APP”. THIS IS AN ON-DEMAND GAS/FUEL/DIESEL DELIVERY SERVICE THAT DELIVERS FUEL TO VEHICLES AND DIESEL FOR GENERATORS AND GAS FOR COOKING CYLINDERS IN ANY LOCATION. THIS SERVICE COULD COME IN HANDY IN CASE OF EMERGENCY WHERE PERHAPS A PERSON IS STRANDED ON THE HIGHWAY OR AT HOME OR WORK. IT WORKS IN A SIMILAR PATTERN LIKE UBER & BOLT APPS.”
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai yesterday, Monday, 14 September 2020, commissioned some landmark Special Intervention Projects in Osun State. At Asamu, Ola-Oluwa Local Government Area (LGA), the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai commissioned a hospital, and, at Kuta, Aiyedire LGA the COAS also commissioned a Bailey Bridge constructed across River Osun at Kuta on KUTA-IKOYI-EDE road.
The two completed projects are named after the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai. The hospital and bailey bridge projects had been initiated and sponsored by the Chief of Army Staff. The projects are part of the COAS several contributions in support of the Nigerian Army non-kinetic line of operations.
The citing of the hospital in Asamu was much welcome by the people. “The hospital and bridge will promote our health, the standard of living of our people and also increase commerce in our area” His Royal Majesty, Aafin Olowu of Kuta, Oba Hammed Adekunle, Makama Oyelude, Tegbosun III stressed.Despite the Nigerian Army giant combat approach to tangling insecurity, the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General TY Buratai identify the vital role of civil military cooperation (CIMIC) projects in deepening Nigerian Army civil military cooperation posture, bridging gap between the Nigerian Army and the civil population, and, curbing the menace of hate speech syndrome.
The Nigerian Army under the present leadership of Lieutenant General TY Buratai has exhibited high level of commitment, dedication, preparedness and above all; resolve in drawing the civil populace closer to her army, the Nigerian Army through projects targeted towards winning hearts and minds.
These CIMIC sponsored projects are very core to creating strategic naratives and winning hearts and minds. The battle of naratives is crucial to the fight against insurgency. Non-kinetic line of operations is a force multiplier and enabler in revising civil populace narative.The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai in his remarks expressed appreciation to all the State Governors within 2 Division AOR for their selfless contributions and support of Units and formations under their respective domain.
The COAS also thanked His Imperial Majesty O’oni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II for his contribution to boosting the Nigerian Army against COVID-19 epidemics. It is worth noting that at the heat of the epidemics His Imperial Majesty O’oni of Ife donated the motorised modular fumigators to the Nigerian Army. A concept initiated and developed by House of Oduduwa Machine and Tools under the supervision of His Imperial Majesty O’oni of Ife, to fight against the spread of the epidermic.At the commissioning ceremony His Excellency the Executive Governor of Osun State Mr Adegboyega Oyetola was present.
His Imperial Majesty O’oni of Ife Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II was ably represented. His Royal Majesty Aafin Olowu of Kuta Oba Hammed Adekunle Makama Oyelude Tegbosun III added colour and wealth of experience to the ceremony. Senior Government officials, senior military and paramilitary officers serving and retired were also present.The commissioning ceremony climaxed when His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Osun State, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola received the COAS in a dinner organised in honour of the Chief of Army Staff, at the Government House, Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
During the party, among senior officers present was the Chief of Policy and Plans, Army Headquarters, Abuja, Lieutenant General Lamidi Adeosun, former Chief of Defence Staff Lieutenant General Ipoola Alani Akinrinade, the Chief of Training and Operations, Army Headquarters, Abuja, Maj Gen NE Angbazo, Commander Infantry Corps, Maj Gen SO Olabanji, and many other senior officers (both serving and retired) were in attendance including senior Osun State government functionaries, to mention but few.
The need to build capacity in an economy has been noticed to be the most important part in national building and economic emancipation not hope in natural resources. Nations today are tilting from dependancy on resource like crude oil, ore etc to knowledge ! Having noticed this,under able leadership of Kashifu ,the current Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The agency recently embarked on a grand scale capacity building in the area of mobile phone technology.
The ongoing training of Artisans (phone repairs) taking place at Suleja, Niger State, facilitated by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s Digital Economy agenda and lifting 100m Nigerians out of poverty. It is strongly believed that the graduands would add value to the society with their skills.
Nigeria is a massive economy that is dependent on mobile telephony for broadband and internet connection and also for phone calls! Work over 130 million Nigerians connected to the world via mobile phones and smartphone useage about 70 million plus, NITDA has seen the gap and the market demand for qualified smartphone technicians especially in the Northern Nigeria where dearth of skills is alarmingly high.
Not only this, NITDA has been building capacity in virtually all the sphere of ICT from establishment of incubation centres and hub, deepening the appreciation of local software and apps to interventionist policies for the tech space.
National Information Technology Development Agency is a public service institution established by NITDA Act 2007 as the ICT policy implementing arm of the Federal Ministry of Communication of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In a post Covid 19 workplace and era, information technology, communication and data will be the critical drivers that would power the era. Having seen the change of narrative, the Association of Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ATCON) headed by Olusola Teniola invited the key stakeholders in an online forum tagged “ATCON’ Sectoral Virtual Forum 2020.” Isa Pantami ,the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy in Nigeria, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Office (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and host of others looked at how ICT will play a vital role in post Covid 19 economic realities.
Taking to zoom conference, Isa Patanmi promise to look at the cost of broadband deployment, the minister said that the ministry is looking at reviewing the taxes that are collected by various states of federation to the Infracos and also promising to look at giving preferential treatment to indigenous firms using the Executive order 003 and Presidential order 005.He also buttressed the need for patronage for the local Telco firms, a policy is being formulated to this regard. The Minister said that the government is doing the desired intervention to ensure that the indigenous telecom firms which ATCON is the body would be looked at.
On the interest of consumers, the Minister said that it is in the interest of the Ministry to protect the subscribers and consumers of telecommunication products and services is paramount to the Government. The Minister is working with NCC Operators to ensure a robust framework that would protect the interest of consumers. The minister used the forum to harp on the quality of service, though in most cases are caused by vandalization. The QoS is key to the government, especially the price of data will be looked at. The minister made it known that the right of way has a way of impacting on the price of data and there are efforts made to come up with packages.
The leadership of ATCON, is the body that helped to push the National Broadband Plan and the minister is looking at 70% penetration rates in the next 5 years. The Minister promised to work with ATCON members to ensure that this is feasible in a few years’ time. Speaking on the forum, Olu Teniola, the President of ATCON said that the organisation is desirous to assist the ministry on the issue of right of way and double taxation. The Minister said that telecom infrastructure is seen as national infrastructure. The minister said that the issue of Right of Way has been lingering and he is working with governors on this.
Prof Danbatta, opined that the Covid 19 impact affected the whole economy and there is need to utilise the power of Information Technology and in the heart of ICT, infrastructure is the key. He said that NCC is striving very hard to meet up especially in the area of broadband deployment. On the issue of underutilisation of submarine broadband and landing capacity, the EVC said that the Commission is in the process of reviewing the Infraco framework as mandated by the National Bureau for Privatization (NBP). He said that the spectrum utilization especially 800MHz CDA, 1800MHz for LTE and Spectrum auctioning, the EVC reassured Nigerians that the NCC is in the process of issuing last mile satellite operators’ licenses to provide broadband services.
On the protection of consumers, NCC has brought out measures such as DND lines 2442 and a toll-free line of 622 has been in place. Over two hundred and seventy thousand complaints have been received by the commission. On the issue of Mobile number portability, over 1.1 million have utilised this service. The commission also launched a web portal as an alternative platform where consumers can lay their complaints. The draft review of consumer code of practice is being concluded for publication.
The teething problem of Right of Way, the Commission has made tremendous strides in this regard. This year alone, NCC resolves Right of Way (RoW) disputes in Ekiti, Imo, Kaduna, and Plateau states and is working towards the harmonization of right of way charges. As a proactive agency, The NCC has allowed mobile numbers operators (MNOs) to participate fully in the provision of mobile money services through the National Financial Inclusion Strategy. This is designed to achieve an 80% financial inclusion target of the Federal Government. The EVC lamented on the huge debt being owed to telecommunication firms by many agencies, saying that over 17 billion is being owned and this has hampered the full capacity utilisation.
Kashifu Adullahi, the Director General of NITDA in his remarks said that “In a post covid 19 era, the economy would be powered by information technology. “We are witnessing the emergence of new trends such as remote work, conferences and meetings. There is a need for government intervention here because strains are being put on existing infrastructure. With over 30 million subscribers using smartphones to access the internet, there is a need for a robust framework which the president did by launching the national broadband plan”, he said.
The DG of NITDA said that the Agency is involved seriously in the area of developmental regulation especially in the area of privacy and trust. The data assets guidelines, blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are the frameworks that the agency is working on. The agency has built about 3 IT hubs, 80 Digital learning centres and other key infrastructures.
ANTHONY EMEKA NWOSU
On the issue of underutilisation of submarine broadband and landing capacity, the EVC said that the Commission is in the process of reviewing the Infraco framework as mandated by the National Bureau for Privatization (NBP). He said that the spectrum utilization especially 800MHz CDA, 1800MHz for LTE and Spectrum auctioning, the EVC reassured Nigerians that the NCC is in the process of issuing last mile satellite operators’ licenses to provide broadband services.
President Muhammadu Buhari felicitates with Olumide Akpata on his election as the President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), wishing him every success in the new position of leading Nigerian lawyers to chart a path of professional development and fulfilment.
As a lawyer of over two decades who has held several strategic positions in the legal association, President Buhari trusts that Mr Akpata’s vast knowledge and experience in litigation, corporate world and engaging with government at different levels, will greatly benefit the Bar and indeed all Nigerians, who look up to the learned fellows as crucial stakeholders in a modern democracy.
President Buhari assures the new leadership of the NBA of the continued cooperation of his administration in addressing the broad range of challenges and opportunities facing the legal profession and the country.
