The fair will showcase leading technological innovations that cut across Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Risk Management, Compliance, Financial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, and Communication Technologies, among others.

The event will also feature a Start-up Pitch Competition – Zecathon – to identify innovative startups, panel discussions, masterclasses and exhibitions.

Among the rich lineup of activities, the event will feature opening remarks by Jim Ovia, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank and a welcome address by Dame (Dr.) Adaora Umeoji, Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc.

There will also be a goodwill message to be delivered by the Vice President Kashim Shettima and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-olu.

The keynote address, “Banking Transformation in a Digital World”, will be delivered by Robin Speculand, a renowned Strategy & Digital Implementation Specialist.

READ ALSO: CBN warns against fraudulent contracts, project funding claims

Other prominent IT practitioners who represent top global brands will make presentations.

These include Danillo McGarry, Global Expert in Digital Transformation & AI; Jania Okwechime, Partner, Africa, AI & Data, Deloitte and Rupert Nicolay, Director, Microsoft Worldwide Financial Services, amongst others.

The panel discussion which has Wole Odeyele, Client Technology Lead for Microsoft Inc. as its host, will feature six discussants including Ada Jabaru, Founder & Director, Nistad Limited; Funke Opeke, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, MainOne; Guy Futi, Chief Executive Officer, Orda; Dr Auwal Adam Sa’ad, Founder, ZamzamPay; Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, Director General/Chief Executive Officer, National Identity Management Commission, NIMC.

The masterclass will be divided into seven different classes, and facilitated by key industry players that cut across renowned tech giants such as: Microsoft, Oracle, CyberSoc, IBM, Google, Huawei & Amazon Web Services.

To register and participate, visit www.zenithbank.com/techfair.

The fair will be live on Zoom and streamed on the bank’s social media pages.

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This commitment is the outcome of discussions between the two chief executives in Abuja on Friday when the EVC/CEO of NASENI visited the REA office as part of his efforts to engage with stakeholders to promote the adoption of NASENI’s technologies.

Halilu, who assumed office two weeks ago as NASENI’s chief executive, said, “The focus is to hit the ground running by nurturing effective collaborations with the right stakeholders who will assist NASENI to fulfil its mandate of providing the science and engineering infrastructure base for Nigeria’s businesses and economy to thrive.”

According to him, “The strategy, going forward, for NASENI includes knocking on the doors of potential end-users of the agency’s technology and engineering products, making off-take of our Research & Development (R&D) easy, while also bringing the direct impact of our work to bear on the Nigerian economy.”

The two chief executives pledged to work together to bring down the cost of solar power installation in rural areas, through efforts such as increased local production of solar panels by NASENI.

The overall goal, according to the REA MD, Ahmad Salihijo, is to facilitate the federal government’s ambition to achieve the electrification of Nigeria’s rural areas in record time.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Halilu visited the Director General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Mr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, on a similar mission.

READ ALSO: To Tinubu on ASUU: A reminder, By Bola Bolawole

The two CEOs emphasised the need to look inward and develop local content (human and material) capacity to transform the economy.

Halilu sought to leverage the long-standing relationship between himself and the NITDA boss, and also between the two organisations, to share experiences and best practices in management and in resource optimisation.

Abdullahi disclosed that NITDA’s strategy of focusing on changing both the mind-sets and skill-sets of its staff were two critical factors that had helped the agency achieve up to 62 per cent of its goals and objectives within two years, ahead of its four year projection.

He noted that the same approach would work for NASENI, as long as there was a well-thought-out strategic plan, and clarity of vision and goals.

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The committee is led by the chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande.

The minister, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, announced that the constitution of the committee was on the directive of Mr. President that he put in place a committee that would work to coordinate computer security centres in the Information and Communication Technology, ICT, industry in collaboration with other relevant institutions towards intercepting potential cyber-attacks.

He said with the increased role of ICT in online activities, and its crucial role in the conduct of the 2023 general elections, in line with the Electoral Act, as amended, the job of the committee would assist the nation in conducting free, fair and credible elections.

He directed the committee, to which he also belongs alongside the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, and the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi, among other CEOs in the ministry, to work round-the-clock from Friday, February 24, 2023 till the morning of Monday, February 27, 2023.

He said the committee would also ensure it received complaints around any attacks to critical infrastructure and ensure such complaints were escalated to relevant institutions, public or private, for necessary remedial actions.

The CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Prof. Mohammad Abubakar, and the Special Assistant to the Minister on Digital Economy, Prof Aminu Ahmad, are members of the committee, including key directors in the agencies.

“Our main responsibilities in this committee are more of advisory, firstly, when it comes to intercepting potential attacks that may come to our cyberspace. The committee will coordinate the NCC’s Computer Security Incident Response Team at NCC; the Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team at the National Information Technology development Agency, NITDA, and the Galaxy Backbone’ National Cybersecurity Centre.

“These three centres must work together, complement each other and ensure they intercept any potential attacks on our cyberspace particularly on our Critical Infrastructure during the election so that we could either take action or provide necessary advice to the government,” Pantami said.

He said the committee would work closely with institutions such as the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA; the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN; the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC; Mobile Network Operators, MNOs, among others, to collectively safeguard the Nigeria’s cyberspace from potential attacks or cases of vandalism and fibre cuts during the election.

“The challenges of protecting our cyberspace is a collective national responsibility; it is a national assignment. As a sector, we would play our own responsibility objectively and professionally. We would work collectively rather than working individually as agencies since we are in the same sector,” he added.

Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Prof. Adeolu Akande, expressed gratitude to the minister for finding him and others worthy to be saddled with the national assignment, and assured him of the readiness of the committee to work hard towards delivering on its mandates of ensuring, in advisory capacity to the federal government and other relevant institutions, the protection of the nation’s cyberspace and ICT infrastructure during the elections.

“The committee members will do everything in their capacity to deliver on their Terms of Reference,” he said.

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According to Nigeria Digital ID4D Communications Manager, Dr. Walter Duru, in a press statement he signed, the Award was received by the Nigeria ID4D Project Coordinator, Musa Odole Solomon, at the 2023 edition of the annual National Privacy Week Dinner/Award and First Year Anniversary of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau, held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, weekend.

Presenting the award, National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, commended the Nigeria Digital ID4D project for its support to the bureau, reiterating commitment to continue to partner with the project.

Olatunji, who thanked the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami, for his leadership roles, described the Nigeria Digital ID4D as a Pillar of Support to the Bureau.

He reiterated the commitment of the NDPB to creating awareness on data protection and privacy in the country, urging stakeholders to continue to support the bureau to achieve results.

“The journey of the NDPB started under the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). NDPB is a year old. In the last one year, a lot has happened. We are grateful to the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, who stood by us all the way. Awareness creation is very important to us. The task requires collective efforts. We are here today to thank you for your support, and we are looking forward to the future.”

Receiving the award, Project Coordinator, Nigeria Digital ID4D project, Musa Odole Solomon, described the NDPB as a “worthy partner”, pledging the project’s continued support to the Bureau.

“From the inception of the NDPB, we have been working with them. From day one, we knew they were worthy partners. The achievements recorded and level of collaboration could not have been possible, without the kind of leadership in place at the Bureau. We will continue to support the Bureau.”

Delivering his keynote address, Nigeria’s Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, described data privacy and protection as critical to the nation, assuring that the data protection bill was set for transmission to the National Assembly for consideration.

It would be recalled that the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau had communicated her intention to honour the Nigeria ID4D project at the Bureau’s one year anniversary.

In a letter dated January 26, 2023, with the subject “Conferment of Institutional Pillar of Support Award”, signed by the National Commissioner/CEO of the NDPB, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, the Bureau expressed appreciation to the project for her invaluable support.

The letter reads in part: “I am pleased to convey the decision of the Bureau to confer on your highly esteemed institution the ‘Institutional Pillar of Support Award.’

“This award is in recognition of your invaluable support towards the establishment and growth of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau.”

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The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said this on Thursday in Abuja, while interacting with newsmen after receiving notification letter of his nomination by Sun Newspaper Publishing Limited for the award of ‘Public Service Icon 2021’.

The striking lecturers have been on strike for months to press home their demands.

The lecturers are agitating for the implementation of the memorandum of action agreed between the government and ASUU, including improved funding and removal from IPPIS.

However, the minister called on ASUU to return to their students for resumption of academic work in the public universities.

Ngige said the federal government remained unrelenting in its efforts towards addressing all the industrial disputes in the university system, involving ASUU and the other unions.

“Everything contained in the December 2020 agreement were religiously executed to the extent that the federal government aggregately paid N92 billion from the 2021 budget.

“This is to cover the revitalisation funds and Earned Academic Allowances/Earned Allowances for non-teaching staff,” he said.

Ngige also maintained that regarding the renegotiation of conditions of service of the university lecturers, it should be guided by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) principle of ability to pay.

He recalled that the former renegotiation committee headed by Prof. Jubril Munzali made a proposal of 200 per cent rise in emoluments of university workers, but the federal government through the Ministry of Education said it could not pay.

The minister said the university system and the teaching hospitals consumed two thirds of all the emoluments currently paid from the national budget of the country.

That, he said, meant that an increase for the lecturers would occasion upward review of the salaries of allied professionals in the health sector, based on their different salary structures.

“There is no point giving you percentages on paper that nobody can pay. Munzali worked out a percentage which placed the university workers on about 200 per cent pay rise.

“The federal government through the Education Ministry said they cannot pay. The Ministry of Finance said they cannot pay. They came to me and I said nothing is wrong with renegotiation because even if a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is signed, it could be renegotiated.

“The document produced by Munzali was not signed by both ASUU and the Federal Government. It is a proposal. Munzali’s committee had elapsed.

“The Education Ministry didn’t act as I wanted. The Minister was away and his lieutenants didn’t do anything for five months, contrary to my expectations.

“The minister has set up another committee headed by Prof. Nimi Briggs. They have been working and I have given them six weeks to come up with a proposal,” he added.

On the payment platform for university lecturers, Ngige said NITDA informed him that UTAS proposed by ASUU passed user acceptability test but failed integrity and credibility test, which form the bulwark against hacking.

He added that “NITDA said UTAS failed, ASUU said we didn’t fail. As we were discussing, ASUU went on strike.

“In the face of this disagreement between ASUU and NITDA, we are talking with NITDA to bend backwards so that there will be a handshake between UTAS and the government certified IPPIS platform.

“After embarking on strike, ASUU has gone back to what I proposed to them,’’ he said.

Ngige also faulted the demand by the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, for a High-Powered Panel constituted of members with requisite mandates to resolve within 21 days the foregoing issues militating against industrial harmony in the system.

NLC and its  affiliate unions in the education sector held a meeting on April 13, to take reports on the ongoing industrial dispute cum action in Nigeria’s university system and resolved to make the call.

According to Ngige, President Muhammadu Buhari had already put in place his own high-powered team, comprising his Chief of Staff, the Ministers of Labour, Education, Finance, Communication and Digital Economy.

Source: NAN

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His commendation was given in his tweets on Thursday.

He said the lifting of the ban was in recognition of the usefulness of the social media and indeed all media as means for all to communicate, report, share and engage with stories and each other, with the aim of enabling economic and social empowerment for Nigerians.

His tweets read: “Social media – indeed all media – including Twitter, are a means for us to all communicate, report, share and engage with stories and each other; to enable economic and social empowerment for Nigerians. But they can be & sometime are misused.

“I commend the FG for recognising these aspects and most importantly, concluding negotiations for the safe return of access to Twitter to the millions of Nigerians who use it, daily. Welcome back one and all!

“-Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Media Office

“#BAT2023 @ekometa.”

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The lifting of the suspension takes effect from 12 a.m. on the night of 13^th January, 2022.

The approval was said to have been given by President Muhammadu Buhari in the announcement made by the Chairman, Technical Committee Nigeria -Twitter Engagement and Director-General National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE.

According to a report monitored on the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, Wednesday, the approval was given following a memo written to the president by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim, to that effect.

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Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCC, stated this in his presentation at the Civil Society Roundtable on Digital Economy on Tuesday, in Abuja.

The title of his presentation is: “Understanding the Gains of the Department of Digital Economy towards Economy Diversification and Social Prosperity.”

The event was organised by the Civil Society Group for Good Governance, CSGGG, with support from NCC, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, among other partners.

Danbatta said Nigeria had 187 million mobile lines with 98.39 per cent tele-density in the country, adding that Nigeria, therefore, possessed all that it took to reap huge gains from the digital economy.

“The Digital Economy offers Nigeria the opportunity to grow and diversify its economy from over-dependence on oil and gas.

“The Digital Economy is worth over $11.5 trillion globally, accounting for 15.5 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product. Nigeria can tap into this.

“However, we have three components of the Digital Economy and they are Infrastructure, Innovative services and Entrepreneurship products/digital skills.

“Capitalising on the digital economy to improve the economy is a great possibility because you can see that Uber, the world largest taxi company has no vehicle. Facebook has no content, but yet they are making billions of dollars,” Danbatta said.

The NCC boss disclosed that the federal government had launched two strategy documents for the development of the digital economy that include the National Broadband Plan, NBP, 2013-2018, and 2020-2025.

“The second document is the Nigerian Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030. This has about eight pillars which have to do with digital regulations, literacy and skills, solid infrastructure, content promotion and adoption and many others,” he said.

Danbatta explained that the challenges facing the commission included vandalism, infrastructure gap, right of way, Forex issues, and duplication of functions.

He, however, said that in spite of the challenges, there was hope for a digitally mature structure in Nigeria to solve issues, promote collaborations on a larger scale and prospects of e-governance.

Danbatta was represented at the event by Dr Augustine Nwaulune, the Director, Digital Economy Department at NCC.

Speaking, the Director-General of NITDA, Dr Inuwa Abdullahi, represented by Dr Aminu Lawal, observed that digitisation had come to stay in Nigeria and that “it is for us to follow the trend”.

“NITDA is doing a lot to ensure that Nigeria achieved its goals as set out in the National Digital Economy Policy Strategy Document.

“On digital innovation and entrepreneurship, we are doing a lot to promote and see that more jobs are created; currently we are collaborating with MIT, Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and scholarship scheme and many others.

“The agency has trained over 6,000 youths on Digital Entrepreneurship across the country. We taught them how to develop content and sell their products and services online.”

Also speaking, the Convener and President of CSGGG, Mr Dominic Ogakwu, said that there were gaps between those with digital literacy and those without.

He stressed that the essence of the programme was to create awareness in the youths to seize on the opportunity of the digital space to do legitimate business, create wealth and positively contribute to the economy of the country and the world in general.

Dr Ahmed Adamu, a lecturer at Nile University, in his presentation on “Maximising the potentials of digital entrepreneurship for youth empowerment and self-reliance” called on youths to use the Internet to make a decent living.

Adamu said Internet fraud did not pay, and that youths should develop digital skills and be courageous to delay gratification for a better future.

Meanwhile, Mrs Theresa Ushie, the President and Founder of the Nigerian Rural Women and Girl Child Initiative, noted that during census, women and girls were counted, and so they also needed to be carried along in digitisation.

Ushie noted that the Digital Economy had changed “the way we work, talk and relate with each other in the world, which made life easier and more interesting.”

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It said they were through prompt awareness, leveraging trusted resources and implementing a response plan for Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of government.

The Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, revealed this while participating in a Webinar organised by Digital Jewel Limited, an information value chain consulting and capacity building firm.

The webinar, monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, was in commemoration of NITDA’s 20th anniversary.

The anniversary is under the theme: ‘Cyber Risk and Cybersecurity; for Cloud Governance and Security, Cybersecurity Trends, Threats and Failsafe Measures.’

Inuwa explained that Cybersecurity was very essential for Digital Economy and Digital Transformation within the government, thus making the cyber space secured by building the confidence of citizens.

“NITDA’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERRT) has been playing a critical role toward curbing the menace of cyberattacks.

“This is through prompt awareness, cybersecurity tips, monitoring intrusion, leveraging trusted resources, and implementing a response plan for Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

“The Federal Government has put in place policies that will curb the menace of cyber attacks through Cybercrime Prohibition, Prevention, Act 2015, and National Security Agency  Computer Emergency Response Team.

“Also are NITDA’s Computer Emergency Response Team (MDA’s), Central Bank of Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team, and others.

“Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility and requires the attention of a broad range of stakeholders.

“It requires an effective public and private partnership that incorporates businesses and institutions of all sizes along with national, state, local, tribal and territorial agencies.

“This is to produce successful outcomes in identifying and addressing threats, vulnerabilities and overall risk in cyberspace,” he said.

Similarly, Ms Adedoyin Odunfa, said in her presentation that the top 2021 Cybersecurity threat prediction from the Rise of Ransomware made every employee susceptible to ransomware attack, regardless of roles.

According to her, with the remote workforce exploitation, having employees work from home, there is the temptation for hackers to target vulnerable remote workers.

Adedoyin, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Digital Jewels Limited, advised that there should be Cyber Hygiene whereby weekly scan should be done to ensure nothing was left exposed on the computer.

She added that biggest threats of cyberattacks emanated from humans, while the biggest assets were also people and human capacity and should be put in good use for safer cyber space.

Adedoyin, however, commended NITDA for the various initiatives put in place toward the growth and development of Information Technology across the country, hence, changing the way things were done.

Mr Yahuza Ahmed, Assistant Director Cybersecurity Department of NITDA, said that ransomware attack was on the increase, affecting the operations of internet activities around the world.

Ahmed said that government organisations that provide services such as National Identity Management Commission, Galaxy Backbone, among others, needed to check delivery channels.

He added that the organisations also needed to check online presence, mobile presence, Automated Teller Machines, amongst others, to improve services that were being rendered to the general public.

NITDA was established April 18, 2001 with the mandate to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co-ordinate general IT development in the country.

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The projects include the NCC’s Emergency Communications Centre, Ado –Ekiti; the Digital Awareness Programme, DAP, for Secondary Schools, whose beneficiaries are Methodist Girls’ High School, Yaba, Lagos State and Bishop Okoye Girls’ Secondary School, Ukpor, Anambra State; as well as the School Knowledge Center, SKC, at Ijaloke Grammar School, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, executed by the USPF.

The minister also flagged off the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture, NAVSA, initiative located at the Jewel’s Suite, Okoe Urejee, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, which was executed by the National Information Technology Development agency, NITDA.

Speaking at the 7th phase of the virtual commissioning of digital economy projects for a digital Nigeria by agencies under the Ministry on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at the NCC’s Communications & Digital Economy Complex, Abuja, Pantami said the NCC’s ECC project was critical to enhancing the security of lives and property of Nigerians.

He also said that the DAP by USPF was an initiative designed to expose students to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) awareness and usage. “The DAP is a programme by which the NCC, through the USPF, contributes to the digital economy by ensuring inclusive growth of human capacity development as well as economic development of the Nigerian population.”

Accordingly, Pantami said the SKC is very key to the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government. “This is because FG understands that demand for jobs in the nearest future, as predicted by the World Economic Forum (WEF), would change completely. As such, job demands would be more on soft skills such as critical thinking, collaborative thinking, agility and adaptability among others, all of which can be aided by ICT.”

While stating that the NAVSA project by NITDA was also in line with the Federal Government’s economic agenda to diversify the economy by driving agriculture with ICT, the minister said the projects, altogether, were a demonstration of accountability and transparency on the part of government for ultimate promotion of a digital economy in Nigeria.

The special guest of honour and Minister of State for Health, Senator Adeleke Mamora, as well as the Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, commended the Ministry and its agencies for the ICT projects and expressed optimism that the projects would help in human capital development through driving innovations in the ICT sector.

Fayemi, who doubled as the chairman of the occasion, expressed satisfaction at the various ICT initiatives implemented in his state.

With respect to the ECC project, he said the “the ECC will help in strengthening the security architecture of the state and we will put it to utmost use.”

Mamora said the various ICT initiatives introduced in the wake the COVID-19 pandemic had been very helpful to the Federal Executive Council, FEC.

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