By Olasunkanmi Onifade

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has appealed to the Federal Government to withdraw the controversial National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) bill, before the National Assembly.
It is recalled that the 2007 NITDA Act is currently awaiting passage, following its amendment at the National Assembly.
President of the NCS, Prof. Adesina Sodiya, at a news conference in Abuja on Saturday said the bill lacked stakeholders’ input and was hurriedly put together by vested interests.
According to him, some stakeholders had condemned the bill for attempting to arrogate the powers of other government agencies to NITDA.
“Unfortunately, we got to know from the social media that the bill was being proposed and it had gotten to the advanced stage by the time we got our information.
“We saw that the bill was not good for us as a nation, we called on NITDA to arrange for stakeholders meeting.
“The meeting was held in some cities, but all our inputs, as stakeholders were not considered.
“We have asked questions, if the new bill is for all of us, we are all part of government.
“Even the operators in the digital space must make contributions, but we discovered our position was not considered by NITDA,” Sodiya said.
He said there was public hearing about two weeks ago on the matter, saying what the social media said concerning the bill remained the same.
Sodiya said even if the bill was to be upgraded, there was need to consider all stakeholders.
He noted with concerns, that the bill, if passed into law, would lead to multiple regulations for telecom operators and other service providers in the ICT sector.
Sodiya urged NITDA to focus on its core mandate of Information Technology development in Nigeria.
He said having NITDA as another regulator in the telecom sector would send wrong signals to investors, as they would be subjected to multiple regulations and fees, if they invest in the industry.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NITDA Act 2007, which established the agency, says its main objective was to use ICT as a tool in tertiary institutions, to drive the mechanism of the education sector in the country.
“As the agency of the Federal Government, responsible for developing Information Technology in Nigeria, NITDA is empowered by its enabling Act to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardisation, application, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of IT practices, activities, and systems in Nigeria”. (NAN)(www nannews.ng)

Edited by Idowu Ariwodola/Maureen Atuonwu

By Olatunde Ajayi

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has been inundated with frequent complaints from consumers on fast depletion of their internet data.

Its Chairman, Board of Commissioners, Prof. Adeolu Akande, made this known on Thursday at the NCC fifth edition of Campus Conversation held at the University of Ibadan.

The commission, however, sensitised students of the university on how to manage their data usage on mobile telecommunications network to reduce the rate of data depletion.

Akande, represented by Mrs Afure Iloka, Special Assistant to the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, said that consumers’ complaints were the reason why NCC, through its Consumers Affairs Bureau (CAB), embarked on sensitisation exercise.

According to him, this is to educate telecommunications consumers on various ways to manage their internet data.

He said that the campus conversation initiative sought to educate students on the various consumers centric initiatives of NCC toward protecting the telecommunications consumers against unfair practice by Service Providers.

“This initiative is consistent with the mandate of the Commission to Protect, Inform and Educate the Nigerian Telecom Consumers.

“One of the mandates of the commission is the ‘Protection of the rights and interests of Consumers’.

“This can only be achieved when consumers are well informed and educated on their rights and obligations as telecom consumers.

“This conversation is also in tandem with the Strategic Management Plan (SMP 2020-2024) of the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, which is to improve quality of experience and stakeholders’ satisfaction.

“The conversation strengthens our focus on the protection of the rights, privileges and interests of telecommunications consumers, including people living with disability and the elderly through information dissemination,” Akande said.

Also, the Head of Consumers Affairs, Mr Ayanbanji Ojo, said that a consumer would experience high rate of data depletion when such consumer turn on automatic updates of apps, videos and pictures to the cloud on smartphones.

Ojo said that faster download speeds due to 4G coverage and downloading on higher defaults video formats like 5G and 4G compared to 3G and 2G mobile network could also result to high rate of data depletion.

He noted that consumers could manage their data usage by the use of data compression in phone browsers, disable mobile data when internet connection not needed and by reducing video streaming quality from video sites such as YouTube.

In his remarks, Mr Babagana Digima, Team Lead, Nigeria Office for Developing Indigenous Telecoms Sectors(NODITS), said that Nigerian youths remain greatest assets within the telecom ecosystem in the country.

Digima, an engineer, noted that involvement of youths in indigenous telecommunications innovation would bring fresh perspectives and new ideas, which would drive meaningful change in the indigenous telecommunications sector.

Responding, Mrs Adewole Adeyinka, President, UI Students Union Government (SUG), lauded the efforts of NCC on data usage sensitisation initiative and other programmes targeted at youths development.

Adeyinka urged NCC management to improve on its support programmes for students through provisions of Laptops and other educational materials that would ensure smooth academic process.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conversation also featured cyber security and child online protection lecture. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Olagoke Olatoye

By Olasunkanmi Onifade

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has called on the Federal Government to invest more in cyber security to avoid attacks on Information Technology (IT) systems.

The President of NCS, Prof. Adeshina Sodiya, made the call at the opening of a three-day Cyber security Forum and workshop on Thursday in Abuja.

“Some people in government still do not know the level of threats that we have in this country.

” When some IT professionals are mentioning these threats, they feel that they want to use the opportunity to get money.

“But the truth remains that, we need to invest more on cyber security,”he said.

Sodiya said every business had sensitive information and digital equipment such as smart phones, laptops, desktops, servers that need to be protected from unintended or unauthorised access, change or destruction.

He said as companies get exposed to new technologies, their level of exposure to cyber-attacks increases, adding that there was need to protect vulnerable online information.

Sodiya said: “The issue is that, lso many of our young men, mostly due to unemployment are going into cyber crimes. If you know what our youths can do, you would be amazed.

“We also need to truly make cyber security a business. Some of these guys that are experts, we should find a way of harnessing their skills for something that is positive for the nation.

“Governments at all levels should take the issue of IT very seriously. The issue of IT is not something they should play with.”

He said there was need for more experts in cyber security in the country, adding that some of the experts were leaving the country for greener pastures.

“We thank the Ministry of Education and the NUC for the approval of cyber security studies in our universities.
“9We now have BSC in cyber security that will also assist in developing experts, ” Sodiya said.

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who was represented by Head, Cyber security operations Centre, Mr Ifeanyi Muonagor, said IT education was important as almost everything was now digital.

” While much has been done so far, it’s obvious fact that the war is far from ended.
“The more digital innovations we adopt to make life easier and better, the more the bad actors search for ways.

” It is expedient that we do not relent in the quest for better education in computing, IT and cyber security,”he said.

The Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Limited, Prof. Mohammed Abubakar, who was represented by the Chief Information Security and Business Continuity Officer, Nasir Shinkafi, said there was need for more awareness on cyber security and more collaboration among the stakeholders.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some representatives of various Ministries, Departments, Agencies, banks and private sector, among others, were in attendance. (NAN) (www.nannews ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

By Bridget Ikyado

The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) for the training of 500,000 public service workers on digital literacy and skills.

The Director-General, BPSR, Mr Dasuki Arabi inaugurated the team on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to him, the training is to close the growing gap in digital literacy among public service workers.

He said digital literacy proficiency was vital to a 21st century public service regime, as such all federal workers should be conversant with digital service development, security and innovation.

Arabi said the 500,000 civil servants drawn from 794 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), would go through Learning, Practice Test and Certification in a maximum of four competency areas.

Arabi said the areas include ICT Digital Literacy, Communication Skills for Business, Entrepreneurship and Small Business and Career Specific certifications.

The D-G said members of the IMTT, drawn from the private and public sector, would work with the BPSR in driving the implementation process.

He said the team was expected to achieve the vision of a modern public service in Nigeria that is digitally literate and ready to rise to challenges of work, life and advancement in the decades to come.

He added that it was also to “improve the digital skills of public servants to help supercharge efforts to modernise governance.

“Align Nigerian Public Service workforce with the standard of 21st century public service regime.

“So that they are better able to sustain the underlying cultural change that needs to be sparked to create a government that can operate effectively in the digital era.”

Prof. Mohammed Ajiya, President, Digital Bridge Institute commended government plans to ensure effective service delivery.

“The launch of the IMTT is a clear demonstration of the BPSR’s foresight and proactive approach to addressing the digital skills gap that exists among public servants in Nigeria.

“The enhancement of the digital skills and competence level of public servants has become imperative, especially in today’s world where organizational processes are hugely dependent on ICT tools and platforms.

“Government operations and processes significantly impact all other sectors of the nation; therefore building the digital competence and capacity of public service officers would go a long way to simplify government operations.

“It would eliminate bottlenecks and deliver the needed value-added services to the public and private sector,’’ he said.

Also, Mr Umar Yakubu, Executive Director, Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch, said digital skills would enhance public service delivery.

“We are hopeful it would enhance the skills to empower the public servants and enhance more transparency in MDAs,’’ he added. (NAN)(www.nananews.ng)

Edited by Fatima Sule Abdullahi/Maharazu Ahmed