61st UNWTO-CAF Meeting: Minister satisfied with preparations

ITREALMS:

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has expressed satisfaction with the level of preparations for Nigeria's hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Commission for Africa (CAF) Meeting 4-6 June, 2018 in Abuja, reports ITRealms.

The Minister gave the assessment when he inspected the venues of the event at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, on Friday.

“I am very satisfied and I want to take this opportunity to thank the Committee and the various Sub-Committees that have been responsible for this arrangement. We have been working very closely with the management of Transcorp in the last two and a half months, and we are satisfied with what we have seen.

“So what we have come to do is just to ascertain that everything is in place and adjust what is necessary, and you can see that we have made some adjustments because we looked at how practical the arrangements are,” he said.

SA to Hon. Minister of Information and Culture, Segun Adeyemi, quoted Alhaji Mohammed as saying that they will use the occasion to highlight the giant strides of the Buhari Administration, especially in the area of fighting insecurity.

The Minister said Nigeria will use the opportunity offered by the meeting to tell the world that the country is at peace and that it is ready to host the world, particularly having recorded tremendous success in defeating the insurgency, revamping the economy and improving governance.

“It’s a global platform for you to tell your own story and what story are we telling? We are telling the world that in the last couple of years, especially three years, Nigeria has been on the mend. We made tremendous progress in our fight against insecurity. We have made progress in revamping the economy and in governance. But for the efforts of this government in the area of fighting insecurity, nobody will be hosting this meeting here,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said since culture drives tourism, Nigeria will also use the occasion to showcase its rich and diverse culture.

He listed some of the cultural performances billed to feature at the event as the Seki Dance Drama from the South-South; Bolanle Austen-Peter's 'Fela and the Kalakuta Queens', the Ikemini drummers from Akwa Ibom State and the Virgin Dance from Ebonyi State.

The Minister, who was accompanied by Deaconess Grace Isu-Gekpe, and some management staff of the ministry, said at least 180 foreign delegates, including 26 Tourism Ministers from Africa and the entire secretariat of the UNWTO, have confirmed their participation at the three-day event.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Pix1: Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed (left), and the Conference and Event Manager of Transcorp Hotel Hilton, Abuja, Mrs. Mary Nwoye, when the Minister inspected the venue of the 61st Meeting of the UN World Tourism Organisation Commission for Africa taking place in Abuja 4-6 June 2018....on Friday.

Pix2:  Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed (right), and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Deaconess Grace Isu-Gekpe, when the Minister inspected the venue of the 61st Meeting of the UN World Tourism Organisation Commission for Africa in Abuja 4-6 June 2018.... on Friday.

Movements of Nigeria’s ruling class

Commentary@ITREALMS:

To appreciate, more fully, the current wave of political re-alignments in Nigeria and be able to make informed projections, we may need to go back to the Nigerian Civil War of (1967-1970) and the long preparation for the Second Republic (1979-1983). 

When the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo finally, in August 1978, lifted the ban on political activities imposed in January 1966, two main political tendencies emerged in Nigeria’s reconstituted national ruling class. 

The first tendency was thoroughly conservative and aspired, and largely succeeded to be national in composition, character and formal leadership. Call it A. The second tendency was progressive both generally and within the context of Nigeria’s political history. It was more modern. It also aspired to be national in composition, but was more limited in national spread than the first tendency—for historical reasons that may be put aside for now. Call this second tendency B. Tendency A, though national, had its centre of gravity in what is now known as the Northwestern zone of the country while Tendency B, though also national, had its centre of gravity in Southwestern zone.

I proceed with four propositions. One: Tendencies A and B were in real ideological opposition to each other. Two: All the other political tendencies in the national ruling class which were, at this time, in preparation for the Second Republic—were either factions of, or protest groups from, tendencies A or B or both. Tendency A transformed into the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) which produced the only president of the Second Republic, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Tendency B transformed into the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Three: These two main political tendencies in Nigeria’s post-Civil War national ruling class were not subjective or arbitrary creations. Rather, they were objective products of Nigeria’s political history, class formation and social formation. They have survived all the succeeding stages of our political history since the Second Republic. Their organizational forms have however changed several times. So, have the relationships between them.

The fourth proposition—which can be attached to the third proposition as an explanatory note—is that Nigeria’s ruling class is characterized by this duality: On the one hand,  as a national ruling class, it is fundamentally united by capitalism (as the dominant mode of production) and capitalist rules and logic (which run the entire economy). On the other hand, the class is divided by many things: history; places and roles in the economy; primitive/primary accumulation of capital; ethnicity; regionalism, religion; culture; etc.

The fifth proposition is that at least twice during this post-Civil War period, circumstances and opportunities have arisen for tendencies A and B, through crises, splits combinations and separations, to transcend their old political forms and produce two new ideologically distinguishable political formations each of which would be more truly national. The first opportunity, ironically, was General Babangida’s creation of the National Republic Convention (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1989 and the second was the emergence of All Progressives Congress in 2013. The first opportunity was lost and the second is now under severe test.

A reader may remind me here that during the Second Republic (1979-1983), parties opposed to the ruling NPN announced attempts to “come together” in an alliance. All I can say, in response, is that until those attempts irredeemably collapsed not even the most elementary physical structure was set up for fighting a common foe as powerful as the NPN!

We may now elaborate. In September 1989, during the military dictatorship, the military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, dissolved all the political parties whose autonomous formation the regime had earlier permitted. The country was then being taken through a long, convoluted transition-to-civil-rule programme. In a presidential statement the regime announced the establishment, by decree, of two national parties: a “little-to-the-right” National Republican Convention (NRC) and a “little-to-the-left” Social Democratic Party (SDP). Nigerian politicians who were free and able to do so were advised to join either of the two parties. It was an act of monumental humiliation which politicians largely resented. Eventually, however, the military-decreed two-party system took off and the transition continued.

Two points are important here. The first is that the National Republican Convention (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP)—though state-formed—became national political formations of Nigeria’s ruling class. This had happened by the middle of 1990. The second point is that by some decisions and processes large segments of the Nigerian Left embraced the SDP, but only for the purposes of the return-to-civil-rule transition programme and—in particular—for the presidential election in which Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola was the presidential candidate. However, although these segments of the Nigerian Left constituted a powerful political force in the SDP—in fact, the decisive operational force—it did not constitute a power bloc in the sense of being able to determine policy, leadership and distribution of benefits.

Until November 1993 when they were both dissolved by General Sani Abacha, both NRC and SDP remained, in character and by definition, national parties (or formations) of Nigeria’s ruling class. We do not have the space here to digress to what happened to the transition programme, to the June 1993 presidential election and to SDP’s presidential candidate, Chief Abiola. The closing point is that Nigeria’s ruling class, as a single national ruling class, lost an opportunity to produce two ideologically distinct, but national political formations for their dominance and rule.

The most recent opportunity which history has so far presented to the ruling class of Nigeria to evolve two ideologically distinguishable national political formations came in 2013 during the Jonathan presidency: the following opposition parties and formations of the ruling class came together: the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) plus fractions of the governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). The first three parties (ACN, CPC and ANPP) actually dissolved themselves and were joined by fractions of PDP and APGA (which, on breaking off from their parent parties, also dissolved themselves) to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), the current central governing party of Nigeria’s ruling class.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) was, right from the start, a nationally-based party which, mainly on account of the antecedents of the ACN and the reputation of CPC’s leadership, was seen as potentially progressive. Later, as the 2015 general elections drew closer, the newly-founded APC was joined by some activist groups and elements from the Nigerian Left—making the new party more potentially progressive in the context of Nigerian history and politics. The result was that Nigerians were presented with two main choices in the 2015 elections: The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the newly-created All Progressives Congress (APC). The former was created in 1998 as a conservative party of Nigeria’s ruling class. It had remained so. The latter emerged, as earlier stated, as a potentially progressive party of the ruling class. Both were large and nationally-based. Thus, with the emergence of APC/PDP in 2013, Nigeria’s ruling class had a “re-birth” of NRC/SDP of 1990.

The questions now are: Will Nigeria’s ruling class—presently in political turmoil—reconstruct their political formations but still maintain two main parties, or will they return to the multiplicity of (1999–2013)? Will the two parties be ideologically distinguishable? Will any of them seriously put the main questions before the nation on its agenda? Will they both be truly national? And, finally, what will the Nigerian Left be doing as the ruling class, again, takes the popular masses of Nigeria through another long round of un-redeeming ride? In particular, how does the Left intervene in this current process of separation and combination?

*Edwin Madunagu, mathematician and journalist, writes from Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. 

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Minister showcases PMB achievements, slams opposition

ITREALMS:

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has slammed the country's political opposition for downplaying the unprecedented achievements of the Buhari Administration, saying they are being deliberately and perpetually blind to the achievements, reports ITRealms.

The Minister made the assertion while inaugurating the 22-member newly-elected Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), under the chairmanship of Mallam Mukhtar Sirajo, in Abuja on Thursday.

He described the opposition as unserious, very disdainful of the truth, lacks ideas and believes that being in opposition means crying wolf where there is none and spewing out fake information at the speed of light!

''Where is the seriousness in an opposition party throwing out a spurious figure of N10 trillion as the amount of money that has been looted under the present administration? What is Nigeria's annual national budget? How do you react to an opposition that is deliberately and perpetually blind to the monumental achievements of this Administration?'' Alhaji Mohammed queried.

He said while naysayers might pretend not to have seen all these achievements, ''Nigerians who are benefitting directly from them have testified to the reality of the successes.''

 Listing some of the achievements of the Administration, the Minister said it had taken power generation from 2,690MW to 7,000MW, moved Nigeria closer to self-sufficiency in rice than any Administration before it, increased the number of rice farmers from 5 million to an all-time high over 11 million and cut Nigeria's rice import bill of $1.65 billion annually by 90%.

''We are feeding 8.2 million pupils in 45,394 schools in 24 states, employing 87,261 cooks in the process; we are paying conditional cash transfer of N5,000 monthly to 297,973 poorest and most vulnerable households, never before done in Nigeria; we are building roads, rail and power, spending an unprecedented 2.7 trillion Naira on infrastructure alone in just two years; we have raised capital expenditure in the yearly national budget to an unprecedented 30% on the average, our Social Investment Programmes have benefitted 9 million people.

''The school children who are being fed, the unemployed graduate who has now been employed under N-Power; the small business owner who has benefitted from the GEEP loans and the thousands of people who have been rescued from the clutches of Boko Haram know that these achievements are real,'' he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said the economy is also back on the path of growth, after the recession of 2016-17, ''and we have the figures to support this assertion''.

He said the economy grew 1.95 percent in Q1 2018; Inflation has fallen for 15 consecutive months, from 18.7 percent to12.5 percent as of April 2018; External Reserves of $48 billion are the highest in 5 years; Total exports in 2017 were 59.47% higher than for 2016; Agriculture exports grew 180.7% above the value in 2016; Raw material exports grew 154.2% above the value in 2016; Solid minerals exports grew 154.2% above the value in 2016; Exports of manufactured goods grew 26.8% above the value in 2016, And the first quarter of 2018 saw the fourth consecutive quarterly increase in capital importation since Q2 2017.

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National Assembly: Pass other Petroleum Industry Bills - Stakeholders

ITREALMS:

Members of the National Assembly (NASS) have been tasked by stakeholders in the oil industry to pass other components of the Petroleum Industry Bill, just as it has done with the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), reports ITRealms.

The call was made at a roundtable dialogue organized by Centre for Financial Journalism (CFJ) and Facility for Oil Sector Transformation (FOSTER) in Lagos, Wednesday which attracted stakeholders from the oil and gas industry, the media and non-governmental organizations.

Other components of the Petroleum Industry Bill, ITRealms gathered, are Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill; Petroleum Host Community Bill; and Petroleum Industry Administration Bill.

The Petroleum Fiscal Bill will ensure progressive framework that encourage sustained investments, growth and revenue to government; serve the socioeconomic needs of all stakeholders; and clarify legislative aspects of the fiscal regime from the negotiable aspects of contractual obligations.

On the other hand, Petroleum Host Community Bill will ensure shared prosperity and sustainable development of petroleum host communities; provide direct economic benefits to host communities; and assure inclusiveness, enhance peaceful co-existence and harmonious relationship, while Petroleum Industry Administration Bill will enhance efficient, effective and sustainable development of the sector; encourage and facilitate local and foreign investment; promote transparency and accountability; promote liberalization of the downstream sector; and ensure best practices in petroleum operations.

The stakeholders noted with dissatisfaction the long delay that has characterized the passage of these crucial bills, noting further that their non-passage so far has deprived the country enormous potential for the growth of the sector.

Since the Petroleum Industry Bill was initiated and introduced in 2000, it has been gridlocked in the politics between the contending forces within the Nigerian oil and gas industry such that so far, three successive governments have not been able to pass any component of the PIB into law.

Stakeholders also noted that the passage of these bills is urgently needed in view of current dynamics in the global oil market.

The Federal Government, including the National Assembly, should expedite action on concluding the necessary reviews of these bills so that they can be passed into law as soon as possible, the stakeholders insisted.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Sundiata Scholar, Nigeria's first educational social network debuts

ITREALMS:

Abuja-based leading Nigeria's online news platform, Sundiata Post Media Group has launched the country's first specialised social network, Sundiata Scholar, an educational social media platform, reports ITRealms.

Sundiata Scholar, ITRealms gathered, provides an avenue for people in the education industry namely students, teachers, lecturers, professors, administrators, alumni groups and education stakeholders, among others, to connect and interact with their contemporaries and other acquaintances within and outside the country.

Sundiata Scholar, which takes off on Friday on beta version for a period of three months from June 1 to August 30, 2018.

During this 90-day test run period users’ feedback as well as suggestions regarding possible improvement will be received for inclusion in the mobile app being planned.

According to the chief executive officer (CEO) and Editor-In-Chief of Sundiata Post Media Group, Mr. Max Amuchie, confirmed this development to ITRealms, and expressed excitement over the company's latest introduction, which he said, would provide the much needed platform for more enriched interaction among the education community within and outside the country.

He enjoined the public to send in useful feedback during the test run period to enable the developers come up with a final product that will meet users' expectations.

"We are excited about Sundiata Scholar. We believe that the networking interface coupled with the highly educational information and compendium of rich resource materials available on the social network will allow our visitors to have a very good experience as we continue to grow and increase our market presence,” he said,.

Sundiata Scholar offers a wide range of features that are very appealing and user-friendly. These include, free web space, content upload, build conversations, chat client, email, conferences and events, but must register first to be able to logon.

Further, he explained that the free web space, allows each member a web space to publish content. “With the web space they can also build their profiles which will serve a dual purpose of, allowing friends or contacts to identify members from their profiles; while the data entered by the members is used by can be used to connect with other members who have a similar background.

On the content upload, he said, Sundiata Scholar also allows members to upload photographs, audio and video files, as all posts are arranged in descending order with the last post coming on top.

“Every content is published in real time, and becomes visible instantly,” he declared.

For the ‘Build conversations’ Mr. Amuchie said that content posted by members could be browsed and commented upon by all members who form part of the community, even as content could also be tagged from third party sites on subjects that interest the group.

Also, the ‘chat client’ he said, has affords members to chat with each other in real time.

On e-mail, he said, members of the network could send mails electronically to one another. The Site also sends e-mail alerts whenever a member is tagged in a third party post. This enables members to learn when a fellow member has connected to them.

Equally, Amuchie said the ‘Create Pages, Conferences and Events’ menu on the platform allows members to create pages where they could post articles or photographs related to a theme. Stressing that they could also post events and conferences invite for members and the public to attend.

“Those interested can indicate their intension to attend and event organiser is notified,” he said.

Along with all these, he said, the site will continue to offer high quality education information as well as fellowship and scholarship opportunities.

Sundiata Post was officially unveiled in Abuja as an online news platform on July 7, 2015. Since then it has grown steadily to become a most reliable source of authentic news and informed commentary about Nigeria, Africa and the world, in that order. 

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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African media icon, PUNCH chairman, Wale Aboderin, dies at 60

ITREALMS:

An African media icon and chairman of Punch newspapers, Mr. Wale Aboderin, has died on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, at 6.05am, at the age of 60 after a brief post-surgery ailment, reports ITRealms.

His death, ITRealms gathered, is coming barely a year after Mr. Aboderin was elected the Board chairman of the African Media Initiative (AMI) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Late Mr. Aboderin, ITRealms also gathered, was a trained commercial pilot at the Burnside-Ott Flying School, Florida, United States. The former student of Government College, Ibadan, Wale, was appointed chairman of the company’s board of directors in 2012.

His tenure witnessed groundbreaking changes in the editorial quality, management and fortunes of PUNCH, including a hugely successful redesign, the launch of several digital initiatives and the newspaper’s win of several local and international awards.

A popular sports enthusiast in Nigeria, late Mr. Aboderin is the founder and owner of Dolphins Basketball Club, a leading African female basketball club, with local and continental honours. He is a former chairman of the Lagos State Basketball Association and a former member of the Nigerian Handball Federation.

Late Mr Aboderin, ITRealms gathered, passed away after a heart surgery at the First Cardiology Consultants, Ikoyi-Lagos and was the older brother of actress and singer, Wunmi Obe. He is survived by a wife, Titilayo, and two children.

 Ayo Midele/GEE

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Inkjet market sees growth as Lasers misfire continues

ITREALMS:

The overall Egyptian hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market, which comprises single-function printers, MFPs, and single-function digital copiers for both office-based and production segments, experienced a year-on-year decline of 19.2% in Q1 2018 to total 26,139 units, according to the latest insights International Data Corporation (IDC), reports ITRealms.

The global technology research and consulting firm's recently published Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker shows that the inkjet segment once again recorded strong growth in Q1 2018, with shipments rising 26.5% year on year to total 12,725 units worth $1.16 million.

"The stellar growth seen in the inkjet segment can be attributed to the improved performance of the retail sector and a steady easing of inflation rates since August 2017," says Samar El-Sayed, a senior research analyst for imaging, printing, and document solutions at IDC Egypt. "Vendors also supported the market's growth by introducing affordable new inkjet models targeted at consumers and small office/home office users in an attempt to boost their own shipments and compensate for declines in the laser market."

Shipments of ink tank devices increased 72.0% year on year in Q1 2018 to total 3,049 units, accounting for almost one-quarter of the overall inkjet shipments for the three-month period. "The growing uptake of ink tank printers was driven in large part by increased awareness among end users of the lower costs per page offered by such devices when compared with traditional cartridge-based inkjets," says El-Sayed.

The mono laser segment continued its decline in Q1 2018, with shipments down 44.0% year on year to total 12,265 units and revenue falling 30.9% to $6.09 million. In contrast, the color laser market recorded year-on-year shipment growth, spurred by the government's relaxation of color laser device import rules.

In the 21-30 ppm A3 mono laser segment, shipments increased 27.2% to 1,526 units, although the value of these shipments declined 5.3% to $2.39 million, which indicates a decrease in average selling prices. IDC expects the A3 laser segment to see steady growth over the coming years, driven by increasing interest in print service contracts from both the public and private sectors.

In terms of vendor unit rankings for the Egyptian HCP market in Q1 2018, HP Inc. and Canon remained in first and second place, respectively, together accounting for around two-thirds of overall shipments. However, both vendors suffered declines in the quarter, with HP Inc.'s overall HCP shipments down 9.9% year on year to 10,140 units and Canon's shipments falling 23.0% to 6,827 units.

While Xerox ranked third in terms of unit share, it placed first in value, accounting for around 41% of the market's total. Xerox's shipments and revenues more than doubled year on year in Q1 2018 to reach 3,386 units worth $4.28 million, spurred by strong sales of its midrange mono and color laser devices.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Freshworks delivers Artificial Intelligence-powered experiences

ITREALMS:

Against a background where market disruption is key to creating new opportunities, Freshworks has embraced Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help keep their clients relevant, competitive and profitable, reports ITRealms. Having identified Twitter as a key channel through which customers often engage companies, Freshworks has developed a social AI entity called Social Signals. This AI tool helps filter relevant and important messages from the volume of Twitter messages that may be directed at any one company. Social Signals works by going through a company’s entire feed, where it understands and filters out tweets asking for help. These tweets are then converted to a task for a customer support agent to remedy, while disregarding all other tweets. By filtering tweets, the Social signals AI seamlessly enhances Freshworks’ cloud-based engagement platform, Freshdesk. This integration empowers businesses of all sizes with the kind of next-generation customer experience and innovation that modern society demands. To further refine the effectiveness of Social Signals, support agents can train the AI to recognize new types of communication thus improving its learning, resolution and decision-making skills. In an extensive research, Freshworks found that smart automated programs called chatbots, responded to a significant 40% of questions asked through Freshdesk. Furthermore, chatbots could dramatically improve the quality of exchanges between customers and support agents. This was achieved by the chatbots requesting basic information first to collect necessary customer data. Significant benefits from time and cost savings were also recorded with increases of 15% to 20% more customers being helped. Arihant Jain, Business Head - Middle East & Africa at Freshworks commented, “AI has immense potential to add real value to the customer experience journey irrespective of the industry. However, AI must be viewed as a complement rather than as a replacement for people. This is something we are passionate about at Freshworks, where we look to technology to combine the ingenuity and efficiency of automated solutions with the irreplaceable empathy of the human touch. Freshworks prides itself in offering its growing number of customers and partners, solutions that enhance their service offering without negatively impacting the bottom line.”

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DigitalSENSE Forum 2018: Igbalajobi, Sesan, Amana to speak on IPv6, GDPR

ITREALMS: 

A cyber security expert and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of CyberCode, Mr. Olatunji Igbalajobi and President of the Nigeria Internet Group, Mr. Destiny Amana would be leading speakers at this year’s Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) series slated for Lagos on Wednesday, June 6, 2018, reports ITRealms.

The Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) and Nigeria IPv6 Roundtable 2018, slated to hold at  Cooperative Hall Oshodi-Isolo Secretariat, Oshodi-Lagos, would also have the Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative, Mr. Gbenga Sesan; as part of the panel on IPv6 and GDPR: Issues and Challenges in Nigeria.

Disclosing this, the Executive Director, Operations at DigitalSENSE Africa Media, the organisers of NDSF series, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, said that 2018 edition would be presided over by the chief executive officer, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) Mr. Muhammed Rudman.

She noted that Mr. Igbalajobi is also the national programme director and membership coordinator of the Cyber Security Expert Association of Nigeria (CSEAN).

A seasoned information security specialist, Igbalajobi, she said, specializes in security assessments, vulnerability assessments and penetration testing, as well as Information Technology (IT) risk management. Even as he is a certified ethical hacker, QualysGuard certified specialist, and a qualified ISO 27001:2013 lead auditor cum implementer.

Further, she said Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur, Gbenga Sesan of Paradigm Initiative, who originally trained as an Electronic & Electrical Engineer at Obafemi Awolowo University, would join the panel.

Sesan, she pointed out is had completed Executive Education programmes at Lagos Business School, New York Group for Technology Transfer, Oxford University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Santa Clara University and University of the Pacific.

His consulting experience includes assignments completed for numerous institutions, including Microsoft, Harvard University and United Nations agencies, among others, in over 30 countries; and former member of the United Nations Committee of eLeaders on Youth and ICT, he is a CyberStewards Fellow, Crans Montana Forum Fellow, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow, Ashoka Fellow, Our Common Future Fellow and Cordes Fellow.

Equally, Gbenga served as a member of the Presidential committees on Harmonization of Information Technology, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Sectors (2006) and Roadmap for the Achievement of Accelerated Universal Broadband Infrastructure and Services Provision (2013), and was listed by CNN as one of the Top 10 African Tech Voices on Twitter and by Ventures Africa as one of 40 African Legends Under 40; Gbenga, is a member of the Freedom Online Coalition Advisory Network.

NDSF series is hosted in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Galaxy Backbone, Teledom International, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) among others.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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Ramadan: Muslim faithful reaffirm commitment

ITREALMS:

The month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; where Muslims refrain from taking any morsel of food or a sip of water the entire day until sunset in the evening. It is a period of reflection, patience, self-restraint and generosity that is intended to bring Muslims closer to Allah. 

ITRealms notes that Ramadan is a very significant month in Islamic faith, it is said that during this pious month, the gates of heaven are open while the devils are chained behind the closed doors of hell.

Also, it was believed that God revealed the first verses of the Qur'an, Islam's sacred text to Mohammed on a night known as "The Night of Power (Laylaf al-Qadr).

The practice of fasting serves several spiritual and social purposes to Muslims of human fragility and total dependence on Allah for sustenance, to demonstrate what it feels like to be hungry and thirsty thereby having compassion for the poor and needy, also to reduce distraction in life so one can be more clearly focus in relating with God.

In essence, Muslims eagerly look forward to Ramadan each year because it is one of the five pillars of Islam along the testimony of faith, prayer, charitable giving and making a pilgrimage to Mecca.

All Muslims faithful are required to take part every year though with an exceptions to those  that are ill, pregnant or nursing mothers, menstruating or travelling or for young child and the elderly.

A quick check on the time Ramadan was held last year revealed that, it was observed between 27 May-27 June 2017, while this year Ramadan started on the evening of 16 May, 2018. Contrary to public beliefs that it might commenced on 15 May, 2018. However, the dates vary each year depending on the moon sightings. Muslims waited to start fasting until small silver of crescent moon became visible for the commencement of the Holy Month.

ITRealms gathered from some Muslims faithful how the economic situation in the country has affected their purchasing power for food items and essential commodities as against the previous year.

Commenting on this, Mr Taofeek Ridwan said that he was able to stock up his home last year even in recession unlike this year when he cannot even afford to get enough money to buy in bulks.

Alhaja Memunat Oyedun, a civil servant, said the economy has not been favourable which has affected her family,there is no money in circulation unlike last year.

However, with the fear of inadequate money in circulation expressed by many interviewed this has not affect Muslims faithful in observing the Ramadan as they sees it as one of the pillars of Islam.

Mr Suraj Oyetunde, an oil dealer said this is the best time to exercise one's faith as a true believer of Islam, so as to place the economy in Allah's care.

However, during Ramadan, a Muslim is expected to refrain from eating any food, drinking any liquids, gossiping, backbiting, smoking and engaging in any sexual activity from dawn to sunset. Doing any of those things invalidates your fast for the day.

Also Muslims are to focus on prayer and recite the Qur’an, while generosity and giving to good causes or neighbour or less privilege is expected. And as noted by Zainab Adadeji, Muslims normally break fast with water, dates or fruits, of which the dates or fruits must be in odd numbers, for instance, 3, 5, 7 etc; after which they would pray then take pap, rice etc. While in the early morning between 4am-5am they opt for solid meals.

A market survey conducted,  revealed that the economy downturn has affected the purchasing power of most families, just as the prices of food items have not increased contrary to what usually happens during Ramadan period.

In some of the major markets visited by our correspondent, gathered that essential commodities usually taken by families during Ramadan remain unchanged.

At the Mile 12 market in Lagos, ITRealms gathered that there is an increase in the prices of goods including a bag of rice which is between N13,500 and N14,000, as against the former price of N12,500 and N13,000 being sold early this year. While a bag of beans is between N40,000 and N42,000

Mr Ifeanyi, a foodstuff seller informed that current high prices are not attributed to the Ramadan period. 

A quick view of other food items and essential commodities remained the same. A 25litres, for instance, of sealed groundnut oil is between N9.800 and N10,000, while five litres is N2,100. Also 10 tubers of yam is between N3,500 and N4,000 for the small sizes while the big tubers of yam is between N10,000 and N13,000.

The survey showed that the prices of perishable foods like tomatoes which was on a high price has drastically reduced while Bell pepper(Tatashe) and scotch bonnet(Rodo) remains stable.

 A big basket of tomatoes is now between #15,000-#17,000 while the small basket is #7,000  against the former price of #27,000-#30,000 sold last week. Also onions price remain static despite the Ramadan. 

However, some traders complained of low patronage especially as Ramadan approaches unlike in the past where people troop-in to stock up their home with bulk purchasing.

In his words, Mallam Habeeb of Kantargabas (onions section) at Mile 12 said that patronage for onions was not high this year as many people where buying in small quantities.

In the same vein, Mrs Odunayo Ibrahim, a business woman, said it is a normal sale despite the commencement of the fasting claiming people are no more buying in bulk but in pieces.

Mr Mojeed Abidoye, a hotelier said, "there is little money in circulation in the country, therefore there is no way I can give my wife a large amount of money to buy food items in bulk. We will manage with whatever we can afford during this Ramadan, probably something bigger can happen in my business then we can stock the home in bulk purchasing."

However, the people frowned at the epileptic power supply especially during Ramadan, as this sometimes hinders their “wake up" in the early hours 4am-5am to observe their prayers and meals.

At Ladega market,Ikorodu (popularly known for beverages and provisions), there is a slight increase in the purchase of beverages and provision by people unlike last year  where there is a large influx of people buying in cartons however the prices of beverages remains stable. 

Contrary to some beliefs that economic situation in the country may affect people participation in this Holy month of Ramadan. According to Alhaji Jelili Olabisi, who said, that being involved in more than one job does not affect ones participation in the fasting once Nigerians are used to hard labour. 

For Alhaja Azeezat Oni, the change in the economy may affect the numbers of Muslims because some artisans engage in more than two jobs to make ends meet thereby discouraging their full participation.

Imam Abdulsalam Taofeek, therefore enjoined all Muslims to see this period as a time of reflection, in which good deeds done to the less privilege or ones neighbour is rewarded by Allah between 70-700 depending on your ‘giving,’ adding that Muslims should not desist from Zakat-a giving to the poor and needy.

*Contributed by Gbemi Omotosho/ED, Ops

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Vodacom supports next generation ICT girls

ITREALMS:

The Vodacom Business Nigeria has organized a one-day industrial visit for female students from Grace High School, Gbagada and Lagoon Secondary School, Lekki as part of planned activities for the celebration of the recently concluded 7^th Edition of the International Girls in ICT Day, reports ITRealms.

Female students from the schools participated at the celebration where they won the Coding and STEM quiz competitions, respectively.

The International Girls in ICT Day Celebration was organized by e-Business Life Communication Limited, publishers of e-Business Life Magazine at the Oriental Hotel in Lekki, was part of a global campaign that seeks to encourage young girls to consider ICT as a profession and to contribute their quota to the growth of the industry in Nigeria while also actualizing self-development.

International Girls’ in ICT Day is an initiative launched through the Information Technology University (ITU) with the idea of creating a global environment that will empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the ICT field. With the number of school girls opting to study technology-related disciplines in decline in most countries worldwide, ITU has committed itself towards championing the mindset change required to open the minds of young women to the role a career in tech can play in creating exciting, far-reaching opportunities for women.

In fulfilment of goal five of its Sustainable Development Goals, Vodacom Business has created various empowerment programs such as the Women in Leadership Programme aimed at creating leadership and personal capacity in women across all employee levels; the #ConnectedSheCan campaign, a socially driven campaign aimed at celebrating the accomplishments of women within the Vodacom Business Nigeria workforce; and the youth empowerment program, the ‘Power to You’ project under the umbrella of which the Girls in ICT Day is activated, to enable both girls and technology companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT sector.

Speaking at this year’s Girls in ICT Day, Vodacom Business Nigeria’s Senior Manager for Product Development, Funke Atanda said: “Vodacom is committed to accelerating the change needed to create relevant opportunities for women through the use of ICT.”

“By supporting ICT skills acquisition for young girls, bringing them into our organizations and opening their minds to new technologies that exist and continue to develop, we are able to encourage more girls to choose courses in the ICT sector. This will help increase the number of women in the ICT sector in the near future,” Atanda said.

Moreover, Atanda alluded that “Initiatives like the ITU Girls in ICT Day would go a long way towards encouraging this change, thus strengthening the sector while continuing to improve social and economic progression in the country.”

By providing donations, training and support to ICT driven programs, Vodacom Business Nigeria is accelerating the removal of barriers for girls and women in the ICT industry.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

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mCoin set to debut with virtual SMS wallet

ITREALMS:

The chief executive officer (CEO) of ONEm Communications, Mr. Christopher Richardson, has disclosed the company readiness to unveil its mCoin’s Virtual SMS Wallet, reports ITReaLms.

The mCoin, is the world’s first cryptocurrency which works on any mobile with or without the internet, is pleased to announce the release of the virtual SMS wallet to thousands in the mCoin community globally who are keen to participate in this new technology.

According to Richardson, connecting people with financial services is a key challenge in Africa, but with this wallet innovative service allows people to use an ordinary mobile for business and complex financial transactions. 

“Soon we will be announcing significant government partnerships in Africa regarding support for the ONEm ecosystem,” he said.

Unlike other tokens and cryptocurrencies, mCoin is taking a completely new approach with a technology that works outside the domain of the internet. mCoin's Virtual Wallet provides the 3 billion who are unconnected, a way to participate in the cryptocurrency revolution.  mCoin is already integrated with the ONEm ecosystem services for Pseduo Mining, a novel method of mining to earn mCoins.

Anyone with a mobile phone will be able to access the Virtual Wallet and interact via SMS interface. mCoins can be transferred to another virtaul wallet owner by using ONEm’s global identity names instead of the traditional long cryptocurrency addresses. This approach will make trading more feasible and user friendly. 

mCoin's Virtual Wallet creates credit card-like transactions that lets users build their own credit history. These credit histories can be used for lenders to determine lower lending rates based on transaction merit.

To get a virtual wallet, customers will be able to join mCoin's Airdrop Program and earn free mCoins. Anyone willing to own more will have to join the ICO and wil be able to acquire mCoins at 3¢ now before the price increases to 5¢ on 3rd of June.  Any customer can from now on sign up on mCoin website and get a refferal link to share with their network so that they can get an additional 5% bonus.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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