Zinox shakes GITEX Nigeria'25 with ₦15m donation to NCS, CPN, boosts digital education - ITREALMS

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The 2025 edition of GITEX Nigeria ended on a remarkable note with a strong show of corporate philanthropy from Zinox Technologies, Nigeria’s foremost indigenous ICT company and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), reports ITREALMS.

At the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos, Zinox Chairman, Leo Stan Ekeh, stunned stakeholders when he announced a combined ₦15 million donation to two key professional bodies driving Nigeria’s digital ecosystem; the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) and the Computer Professionals (Registration) Council of Nigeria (CPN).

Uwadia sets up 7 standing, 3 adhoc committees @CPN

ITREALMS:

The Professor Charles Uwadia-led Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN), has set up seven standing and three adhoc committees respectively to assistant the council in reposition during his tenure, reports ITRealms.

According to Prof. Uwadia, who is the CPN president and chairman-in-council the inauguration of the standing committees have become expedient to assist the Registrar and chief executive, Mr. Allwell Achumba and the leadership in delivery of the objectives of the current leadership.

He listed the standing committees to include “Education and Manpower Development (EMDC), Registration, Regulation and Control (RRCC), Finance and Administration (FAC), Research, Innovation and Strategies (RISC), Public Relations and Corporate Affairs (PRCA), Investigation Panel, Disciplinary Committee.

The three Ad-Hoc Committees, he listed to comprise that on “Standards for Online programmes in Nigeria; Standards for E-Government programmes in Nigeria, and the 25^TH Anniversary of CPN.”

He also said that in the last 10 months of the council under his leadership that CPN hosted various-Meetings of the standing committees of the Council including the 83^rd regular Council meeting which was both physical and online.

CPN, he said, hosted two Membership Continuous Programme on “Big Data Analytics & Mobile Applications Development at the NUC LAB, University of Calabar, Cross-Rivers State on Tuesday 25^th – Thursday 27^th July, 2017 with eighteen (18) participants.

Equally, he said, CPN hosted “Corporate Data Management, Cyber Security & Forensic Computing at the Sharna Place Hotel, Plateau State on Tuesday 12th – Thursday 14th September, 2017 with twenty-six (26) participants.”

Uwadia revealed that CPN has accredited four tertiary institutions on Computer Sciences and related courses between July and October, 2017, with Interim and full accreditation respectively.

These institutions, he said include Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, B,Sc Computer Science, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, and Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

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CPN, not NITDA has mandate to register, license IT contractors – NCS insists

ITREALMS:

The last may not have been heard of the controversial registration and licensing of Information Technology (IT) contractors embarked upon by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), as the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has insisted that only the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) has the power to conduct registration and licensing in IT industry, reports ITRealms.

NCS, ITRealms recalls is the umbrella organization of all Information Technology professionals in Nigeria and diaspora, interest groups and stakeholders in the country.

Anything other than CPN registration, NCS told ITRealms is tantamount to double registration and contravenes the Federal Government policy on ease of doing business and lacks due process.

The latest is coming in reaction to NITDA insistence in carrying on with the so-called registration and licensing, this NCS decried, saying it may lead to the registration of quacks and non-professionals because the exercise is devoid of due diligence as enshrined in the CPN Act 49 of June 1993.

As alluded by NCS President, Prof. Adesola G. Aderounmu to ITRealms, is self-serving and any undercurrent discovered in the industry should be have been reported to CPN promptly.

NCS further argued that based on CPN mandate of Act 49 of June 1993, only the Council has the authority to register and license IT contractors, citing the CPN Act section 2, subsection 2 on membership registration, which states inter alia:

“Persons admitted to the membership of the profession shall be registered as members of the profession in various categories including the corporate member category.”

Also NCS cited section 8 (1) on the list, which states thus, “CPN has the mandate to keep, publish, print the list of all registered professional and is available for inspection for members of the public at all reasonable time. This has been in operation since 1998.”

And finally, NCS cited the CPN Act section 18, subsection 2b, which focused on licensing and asserted that “It prescribes the form of licence to be issued annually.”

NCS president, a professor of computer science, pointed out that the call for another registration and licensing of IT contractors by NITDA is equivalent to double registration which is contrary to the Federal Government’s policy on ease of doing business.

“Furthermore it may lead to the registration of quacks and non-professionals,” NCS president declared.

Aderounmu who also is the Director, African Centre of Excellence in Software Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, maintained that the failed and substandard public IT projects alleged by NITDA as basis for current controversial registration and licensing, should have been reported to CPN for necessary action.

“IT contracts should only be awarded to CPN registered members; the list is available online and in accordance with Public Procurement Act 2007,” NCS president said

Prof. Aderounmu emphasised that registering and licensing IT contractors is not within the mandate of NITDA, which is to create framework, guidelines and policy to develop IT.

“When properly implemented, it will solve the problem of unemployment in Nigeria which is the focus of the present administration,” NCS president insisted.

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NCS faults NITDA registration, licensing of IT contractors

ITREALMS:

Umbrella organization of all Information Technology professionals, interest groups and stakeholders in the country, the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), has faulted the registration and licensing of Information Technology (IT) contractors in the country by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), reports ITRealms.

According to the President of NCS, Prof. Adesola G. Aderounmu, this exercise was never in the mandate of NITDA but that of Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN).

This, he said, follows a policy statement released by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Director General, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami on the 12^th February, 2018, which on general principle is to register and license all IT contractors in Nigeria.

“Our position is that this is not part of NITDA’s mandate because as the name suggests this agency is to plan, promote and develop regulatory framework and guidelines as stated in NITDA Act 2007, section 6a,” he said.

NCS also pointed out that the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) Act 49 of 1993 is saddled with the mandate to register, license, supervise and control the profession as stated in CPN Act section 1 (2).

Therefore, NCS, he said, frowns at the policy state, which is capable of confusing the general public to create an uncoordinated approach to policy issues and both Acts of Parliament as stated earlier.

NCS, he further said, belief that NITDA’s mandate is to ensure seamless cooperation and interaction towards the use of IT as a development tool for the country.

In addition, NCS commends the approach and wisdom of the Presidential Executive Order 005 of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, which emphasized professionalism, stressing that the Public Procurement Act 2007 with particular reference to section 19 if properly implemented will promote best practices professionally.

“On a related note CPN Act section 22, states that failure to engage professional practitioners is an offence in Nigeria punishable under the Act,” he declared.

NCS, therefore advised NITDA in its advocacy capacity not to embark on registering and licensing of IT Contractors and service providers (Registered IT professionals) activities and instead concentrate on developmental issues which could be jointly achieved collaboratively.

“CPN is the only agency with the mandate to register and license IT professionals and contractors in Nigeria,” NCS insisted.

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CPN refutes media reports, insists not slated for scrap

ITRealms:

The Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN) has refuted the news making a round in the media of its being slated for scrap by the Federal Government (FG), reports ITRealms.

The rebuttal came on the wake of a media report attributed to a cross section of Nigerian media based on Stephen Oronsaye’s presidential committee report on proposed scrapping of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

According to the Registrar of CPN, Mr. Sikiru Shehu in a rejoinder made available to ITRealms, said that one of such report entitled “REJOINDER TO THISDAY NEWSPAPER STORY ON PAGES 23 AND 24 OF THURSDAY, 26TH FEBRUARY, 2015 TITLED ‘ORONSAYE'S REPORT: FG MOVES TO SCRAP COMPUTER PROFESSIONAL COUNCIL.’”

He said the story was totally false, untrue and a misrepresentation of facts.

“It is not true that government is considering or ever considered the scrapping of CPN,” he declared, stressing that CPN is an agency under the Federal Ministry of Education duly established by law [Act No. 49 of 1993] with a very clear and unambiguous mandate to regulate, control and supervise the Information Technology profession in the country.

CPN, Shehu insisted, has been faithful to its mandate and “so government is not considering scrapping it.”

On the issue of salary stoppage of its staff, the registrar alleged a misunderstanding of a circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in 2014, which has since been corrected.

“In fact, CPN will be defending its budget at the National Assembly in the first week of March, 2015,” he declared.

As said by him, CPN remains the only Federal Government Agency charged with the responsibility of regulating, controlling and supervising the computing industry in the country.

Maintaining that CPN is busy engaging in the discharge of its duties and responsibilities to its members, students, partners, affiliates, organizations, institutions, etc., and even looking forward to hosting its annual flagship event ‘The Information Technology Professionals Assembly’ in Calabar, Cross Rivers State from 10th-11th June, 2015 at the Transcorp Hotel.

Shehu further insisted the report was erroneous and beckoned its members to disregard any such report, while soliciting journalists to always confirm their facts from authentic and reliable sources within the organization rather than patronizing faceless and uninformed 'anonymous' sources before rushing to press, especially for the growth of the IT profession.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) @CPN
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CPN, CAC to register cyber-cafes over cyber crimes

ITRealms Exclusive:

With the newly passed bill on cyber-crimes in the country, the Computer Professionals’ Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) may commence the registration of cyber-cafes across the country as soon as its signed into law, reports ITRealms.

A cybercafé also known as internet café is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name. The fee for using a computer is usually charged as a time-based rate.

 

This, ITRealms gathered was part of the charge contained in the bill passed on October 23, 2014 by the Senate to checkmate cyber-crime and related offences, otherwise known in the local parlance as ‘Yahoo, Yahoo.’

According to the bill extract made available to ITRealms which provides for the compulsory registration of all cybercafes as business concerns with Computer Professionals’ Registration Council (CPN), the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) would ensure that those operating as cyber-cafes are well registered as business names.

Violators of this regulation provisions, ITRealms gathered would be jailed for three years or a fine of N1 million for anyone who perpetrated electronic fraud through a cybercafe.

Additionally, ITRealms where the fraud was perpetrated in connivance with owner(s) of the cybercafe, such owners would be liable to a fine of N2 million or three-year jail term.

Equally, ITRealms reports that the bill also provided for punishment of 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine against anyone who committed any offence in relation to critical national information infrastructure and 15 years imprisonment for any person who committed such a crime resulting in bodily harm and life imprisonment for such crime if it resulted in death of another person.

ITRealms recalls that the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) was established by Decree No. 49 of 1993, promulgated on June 10, and gazetted on August 9, of that year.

CPN is therefore a body corporate with perpetual succession and common seal, a legal entity charged with the control and supervision of the Computing Profession in Nigeria.

While the Corporate Affairs Commission was established by the Companies and Allied Matters Act , which was promulgated in 1990 to regulate the formation and management of companies in Nigeria.

+Remmy Nweke +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) @CPN @SenateNG @DigitalSENSEng @NaijaAgroNet @Nkemdilim Nweke @NGRCommTech @NgComCommission @ITU #Nigeria


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CPN CEO calls on African TLDs to create demand

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The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Computer Registration Professional of Nigeria (CPN) Mr. Sekiru Shehu has called on the African Top Level Domain (AfTLDs) to create more demands, reports ITRealms.

Speaking to ITRealms in his keynote to the 2014 Africa Domain Name System (AfDNS) forum holding at the Nicon Luxury Abuja on “Monetizing the Africa Domain Name Space” Mr. Shehu noted that there are two sides to a business, namely the supply and demand sides respectively.

According to him, the problem is not supply so “we have not done well in creating demand – And so, we have to wake up.”

Members of the African TLDs community need to develop capacities for business development, take seriously the issues of quality of service (QoS), quality of experience (QoE) and put in place friendly operational policies and procedures.

He pointed out that as many Africans go online, African businesses and governments are turning to the internet and in particular the domain name industry to help them elevate their work to the next level, to help them grow and increase impact.

“The domain name industry is increasingly becoming a major contributor to our countries, Gross Domestic Products (GDPs). This has brought about the need to look at ways of taking advantage of the new opportunities through investment and monetization,” he asserted.

In addition, Shehu said there are many different categories of domain investment and monetization, with some being easier than others.

“Some methods have a higher return than others. They all have their pros and cons, and they all take time and hard work to utilize effectively. This will form the basis of our discussion in the next three days,” the CPN boss said.

Monetisation within the domain name space include developing affiliate websites – Think of a good domain name, register it, and then build a website filled with various advertisements for other sites that bear a similarity to your domain name, making money off anyone who clicks on the ads and purchases the advertised products.

As said by him, by developing Pay Per Click (PPC) websites people make money one, which means these are very much like affiliate sites, except the revenue generated comes from PPC advertising systems like Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network.

Additionally, domain parking – There are several services, like sedo.com, where you can “park” your domain. The domain will have a variety of keyword targeted ads, similar to the ppc and affiliate sites mentioned above. You make money off the ads that your parking company puts up. Additionally, you can also list your site for sale at the same time.

For him, domain leasing, which entails renting the domain name out to advertisers or other interested parties, could be a source of monetisation, just as domain purchase and resale – register use domain or buy an existing domain with hopes of reselling it to other domainers.

“Domain Development – Register a domain name and develop a website for it, with unique content and some sort of business model,” he said.

Remmy Nweke

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Pix Mr. Shehu, CPN, CEO

CPN ready for IT Assembly 2014, Prof. Bacon leads keynote

ITRealms:

The Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) has advanced plans for the hosting of its 2014 edition of the Information Technology (IT) Assembly slated to hold between June 18 and 19 at Nicon Luxury, Abuja, ITRealms reports.

Confirming this, the chairman in council of CPN, Hajia Sekinat Olusola Yusuf, told ITRealms the assembly is an exclusive networking event for senior and upcoming IT decision makers, consultants, entrepreneurs, practitioners, teachers, students, systems administrators and other interested members of the public, on the theme: Harnessing the potentials of IT professionals for national development.

She disclosed ITRealms that President, British Computer Society, Prof. Liz Bacon, would give the keynote at this year’s IT Assembly.

Mrs. Yusuf also told ITRealms that the rationale for the assembly is based on the fact that development of any nation is usually measured by the degree and extent of the socio-cultural, economic and political improvements that are brought to bear through the enterprises of IT.

“There is no gainsaying that the present world order is one strictly ruled by the power of information,” she declared, adding that there is a direct link between a nation’s material prosperity and that of her information-wealth, hence, IT is the vital resource which provides impetus for a nation’s technological advancement.

She described this year’s IT Assembly as unique in many ways including that it’s issue-based and topic focused.

“We’re doing so many things differently this year. There will be no parallel sessions this year. This is to enable all attendees participate fully in all the plenary sessions,” she said, pointing out that this would enable all attendees to participate fully in all the plenary sessions.

Mrs. Yusuf accompanied by the CPN registrar, Mr. Shehu Sekiru, Head, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Idowu Olusile and Head, Technical, Mr. Ibrahim, emphasised that IT Assembly believes that it is time Nigeria begins to take advantage of its vast resources and enormous potentials in IT to address daunting national challenges.

In furtherance of achieving its theme, CPN, she said, would be comparing notes with the keynote address to be delivered by the President, British Computer Society, Prof. Liz Bacon, to ensure that CPN approach is in tandem with the global best practices.

Equally, the Assembly, she said, would provide a platform for some industry innovative showcase of products and services, thus offering participants the opportunity to appreciate emerging technologies, trends and risks associated with transformation of various industries using IT.

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All is set for IT Assembly 2012 - Tizhe

Mr. Tizhe and his vice chairman in council

All is now set for the 2012 Information Technology (IT) professionals’ assembly and Annual General Meeting (AGM) hosted by the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

President, CPN, Mr. Ibrahim Tizhe gave this assurance at a media briefing on the readiness of the 2012 IT Assembly kicking off Thursday, June 7 through 8, 2012, with the theme: Information Technology and National Transformation.

He explained that the annual CPN Information Technology Professionals’ Assembly is a yearly gathering of Information Technology practitioners in Nigeria and diaspora with the objective of discussing and strategizing on emergent issues in IT in order to come out with recommendations and decisions that will impart positively on the industry and the nation.

He said that the programme is always preceded by the induction of new members into the profession and the newly-admitted members of the profession would be comprehensively briefed on their duties and obligations to the society and profession.

Tizhe also said that different speakers have been confirmed to make presentations to the new inductees on the ethics of the profession, tips for running a successful IT organization as well as other issues that are germane to their professional growth.

IT Assembly, he noted is the flagship of all Information Technology programmes in Nigeria, including networking event for senior Information Technology (IT) decision makers, IT consultants, upcoming IT entrepreneurs, start–ups, IT practitioners, teachers and IT Systems administrators.

Additionally, he said, the assembly is a platform for some of the industry’s most innovative technology distribution and service providers to showcase their products and services; and for participants to appreciate the emerging technologies, trends, and risks that are associated with transforming the various industries using IT.

According to him, the IT Professionals’ Assembly would take place on Thursday, June 7, while the AGM holds on Friday June 8, 2012.  

He pointed out that the theme of this year’s Assembly is informed by the transformation agenda of the present administration and the need to correct the flaws inherent in the country’s drive for development where there is absence of long term perspective and lack of continuity, consistence and commitment to agreed policies.

A critical examination at the priority areas of the agenda, he said, shows that Information Technology is treated as one of sectors to be given priority attention by the administration and not the sector that will drive the activities of other sectors.

“There is no doubt that Information Technology is the prerequisite for real growth, sustainable development and the accomplishments of the objectives of governments as stipulated in the agenda,” he noted, adding that IT deserves to be given a prominent and adequate attention in the agenda.

Remmy Nweke

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