Damning Mirror: What U.S. travel advisory says about Nigeria by Okechukwu Nwanguma - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The latest travel advisory issued by the United States government, urging its citizens to reconsider travel to Nigeria, is more than a routine security alert. It is a stark indictment of Nigeria’s persistent governance failures and a sobering wake-up call for those in charge.

Citing rampant kidnapping, armed violence, terrorism, unreliable healthcare, and the absence of basic emergency services, the U.S. government has placed Nigeria in the “Level 3 – Reconsider Travel” category, with 18 states essentially red-flagged as no-go zones. These warnings are not based on speculation. They are grounded in observable realities that Nigerians themselves endure daily — a reality marked by insecurity, neglect, and erosion of public trust.

Much ado about single-use plastic by Elvis Eromosele - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!


Nigeria, a nation experiencing the twin problems of population explosion and urbanisation, is at the crossroads in its battle against environmental degradation. One of the most widespread threats is plastic pollution, particularly that of single-use plastics (SUPs), which clog water bodies, contaminate soil, and pose a serious public health risk.

Throughout Nigeria, there is a growing awareness of environmental issues today. Many states are waking up to the grim realities of plastic pollution. A number of states are now banning single-use plastics. While it is a commendable first step, it’s largely contentious.

Not about Natasha by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed a number of events at the Nigerian Senate, which have left some of us shell-shocked. It is quite common for arguments and battles of all kinds to break out in the National Assembly. 

It is not easy for so many representatives of their people to get along without ruffling each other’s feathers. However, what we have all witnessed recently cannot be considered normal. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, wanted to speak from the floor of the Senate. She was not recognised to speak because her seat had been moved. She refused to proceed to her new seat because she felt undermined and disrespected. 

What you should know about Kegites 'Palmwine' Club - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

History of Kegites Club International:
Kegite Club International known also as Supreme Comradium can be traced to thirteen students of the then Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, who gathered themselves every evening to relax after a hard day's work in the College in Ibadan then. However, upon hearing that their college would become a university the next morning, their excitement metamorphosed into ecstasy for being the first set of undergraduates of the new University of Ife Ile Ife.

The thirteen foundation students became the executives and membership of the Club which the christened The Palm Wine Drinkerds Club. Periodically they donated palm wine for the consumption of the group in turns. History was made as they became founding members of the first higher institution socio-cultural club in the world. All this occurred while they were at the Ibadan campus before they were moved to the permanent site in Ile-Ife.

Viral rape video: Lagos DSVA declares boy wanted - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency has reacted to a viral video of a boy boasting to his friends about raping a girl, reports ITREALMS.

In the  video which went viral on Tuesday, the boy was heard narrating in Yoruba, how the girl refused to have sex with him and told him she was afraid of getting pregnant.

Things Fall Apart: Facts about Igbo translation by Chuks Iloegbunam - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The following is Chuks Iloegbunam's response to a recent Facebook lamentation on the matter:     

The story that Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe’s 1958 masterpiece of a novel, has been translated into all the world's languages, but Igbo, the language of its author, is fanciful.

Why 2022 DecemberIsSavybe by FirstBank wasn't only about excitement - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The 2022 edition of “#DecemberIssaVybe” by FirstBank, Nigeria’s premier financial institution, has stood the test of time as it yet again created exciting opportunities for individuals and families to come together to celebrate the end of the year. The listed events promoted by the Bank birthed memories that will be hard to fade off one’s mind for many years.

From Culturati to Beeta Arts Festival Abuja, Koffi Tha Guru Unorthodox, Duke of Shomolu Production’s Encore, Our Duke Has Gone Mad Again and Ufok Iban, FirstBank had fun goers granted opportunities to relive many exciting moments. These had many people memorably end 2022 as they were able to see their favourite act perform Live for the first time.

ITU-led Partner2Connect records about USD 30bn in global commitments to bring the world online

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

A total commitments worth USD 29.92 billion, about N13,314,998,400,00 trillion, have been pledged since March to bring the world’s hardest-to-connect communities online, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies.

The total commitments, coming in 578 pledges from around the world, include cash funding as well as policy, programme and advocacy efforts mobilized since the launch of a dedicated pledging platform to extend Internet reach around the globe.

NCC urges NSSB to create awareness about digital literacy - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged the Nasarawa State Scholarship Board (NSSB) to support the NCC in creating awareness about the intervention projects of the Commission concerning research and digital literacy in order to provide more opportunities for the citizenry.

Director of Digital Economy at the Commission, Dr. Augustine Nwaulune, who hosted a delegation of the Board, led by the Board’s Executive Secretary, Hajia Saadatu Yahya, on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, recently, recalled that Nasarawa State is one of the beneficiaries of NCC’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) intervention projects such as the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP) for secondary schools, the Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI), the Wireless Cloud, as well as the E-Health programme.

Okowa: Five valid facts about a solid achiever - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The Delta State governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa was recently selected by PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar Abubakar as his running mate. The choice of the 63year-old medical doctor over other prominent rivals has understandably elicited a lot of interest across the nation. Here are some interesting facts about PDP vice presidential candidate, Ifeanyichukwu Arthur Okowa.

1. OKOWA HAS ACHIEVED A LOT AS GOVERNOR:
Okowa’s SMART Agenda development focus has delivered 120,000 direct and 1,000,000 indirect jobs through targeted job and wealth creation programmes. 13,000 entrepreneurs have also received targeted government support.

What you should know about Ike Cubana - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

Chief Ikenna Iyiegbu, alias Ike Cubana is a younger brother of Chief Obi Cubana, reports ITREALMS.

He is a graduate of University of Lagos and former student of Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS) Onitsha in Anambra State.

Much ado about digital loan apps by Elvis Eromosele - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

Today, everyone is talking about digital loan apps. They have been branded as villains and evil entities. This is not the complete story.

*Elvis Eromosele

Digital loan apps provide a useful financial function. They provide loans. This is an important financial inclusion service. When people talk of financial inclusion, it is usually only in the context of opening a bank account. But it should be more.

Much ado about cybersecurity - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS: 

These terms: cyberspace, cybercrime, cyberattacks and cybersecurity are increasingly gaining grounds in today’s society. They are readily on the lips of individuals, ranging from small businesses and corporations to governments. The entry of these terms into the common lexicon shows the pervasiveness of internet today.

While cyberspace, according to Wikipedia, refers to the virtual computer world, it is today a conventional means to describe anything and indeed everything associated with the Internet and the diverse internet culture. It has become evident that the growing access to mobile internet services and the widespread, interconnected digital technology brings cyberspace within the reach of millions of Nigerians and businesses. Today, the cyberspace is the go-to-space for work, play and relaxation.

However, sadly, because people with evil intentions would always seek to take advantage of this space as it contains data of any kind, systems security has become the most important element for all the players in the cyberspace. These so-called evil people launch attacks and commit crimes on the internet, this is done in cyberspace is called cyberattacks or cybercrime. This means more and more individuals and businesses are susceptible to cyberattack.

To curb this act, the emergence of the digital economy has led to a growing urgency to protect players in cyberspace. The urgent need therefore is to protect players in cyberspace and ensure integrity of information which is the basis of the digital economy.

Today, while it is clear that almost everyone has an idea about cyber security, it is still doubtful if anyone is really doing enough to guarantee it. The truth still remains that the threat of cyberattacks is real and this growing threat is with the potential to stall progress or cause the collapse of the digital economy.

This is certainly a multi-faceted challenge. Individuals, businesses and the government have to be prepared against its onslaught. The question however is: What sort of damage can result from cyberattacks and cybercrime in general? Hard to tell until its experienced.

Consider the result of a recent survey conducted by International Monetary Fund (IMF). It indicates that “cyberattacks are bringing in $100 billion in losses to financial institutions (FIs).” This is due to the fact that FI’s play a vital role in procuring and handling funds.

According to the IMF Staff Modeling Exercise report, “hackers choose FI’s as easy targets due to the fact that they can spread the attack quickly through the interconnected financial system”.

The reference here is to Denial-of-service (DOS) attacks, Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, password attacks and so on.

In Nigeria, where nearly everything is hush-hush no one can really tell how many companies have faced denial of service threat? How many have paid various ransom to access their own files? These figures may not be in the open but they are real nonetheless.

Also take a look at the huge sums associated with cyber fraudsters nabbed by the EFCC recently. Mind boggling figures, that were almost unimaginable a few short years ago.

To bring it closer, another prevalent form of attack; one that nearly everyone must have heard of, is someone locking a member out of a WhatsApp group and then using his number to scam other members. For this, the fastest way to combat this threat is to quickly set up two step authentication code NOW.

One cheery news here is that the National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the official government body saddled with the responsibility to develop and regulate information technology in Nigeria, is demonstrating that it is aware of the issues.

The Director-General of the agency, Kasheem Inuwa, noted at a recent forum that “the increasing use of digital technologies is continually exposing sensitive information and critical systems to risks and threats in cyberspace.”

In combating the problem, he revealed that the agency is implementing new regulations, inspecting and examining regulated entities, providing support to its constituents and collaborating with relevant stakeholders and sensitizing citizens.

It must now consider establishing a department dedicated to coordinating cyber security regulations and policies in the country in line with global best practice. NITDA cannot afford to be reactive at this time but proactive to help Nigeria stay ahead of the risk.

The menace is real. The danger is close to all. The loss affects many.

Governments and its agencies have the responsibility for policies and regulations to limit incidences of cyberattacks and cybercrime. They should educate the populace about the cyber security. Cue NITDA. In addition to the government’s efforts, to curtail the menace and eliminate the danger, everyone must be involved. All hands must be on deck because the responsibility belongs to each one of us. The national assembly should look closely at reforming relevant laws and where necessary explore new laws to effectively manage cyberspace. As a guide, it may want to check out what other countries are doing.

To add to this, organizations that offer and provide services over the internet must install robust cybersecurity solutions. They must spare no expense to ensure the security of transactions on their platforms. Financial and cloud services providers must be particularly involved here. Cybersecurity is not the place to penny pinch or cut expense to improve profit. Firms must realize that installing multilayer security is systems is no more a luxury but a must have. Corporations offering cloud services have a particular role to play. They must invest massively in security infrastructure.

For the individual, he/she must also watch out for his personal security. Follow basic rules for online security. Principally, people must learn to keep personal information professional and limited, ensure privacy settings stay on and that internet connection is secure. In addition, individuals must learn to choose strong passwords, be careful what and where they download and be wary of sharing private information over free and public Wi-Fi.

Countless conversations have been held concerning cybersecurity, it is time for actions to take place and there is absolutely no better time than now to start. Like never before, information integrity, confidentiality and security must today be sacrosanct.

It is only through eternal vigilance and proactive measures that we can curb incidences of cyberattacks and cybercrime.

*Elvis Eromosele, a Corporate Communication professional and public affairs analyst lives in Lagos.

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

What you should know about Dr Tarek Kamel - ITREALMS

Personality@ITREALMS: 

Dr. Tarek Kamel was born on May 8, 1962 and died on Thursday, October 10, 2019. As African Internet community mourn his exit at the age of 57, there are some facts worthy of note, reports ITREALMS.

Tarek as he is fondly called, started his career as a network support engineer for the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, then an assistant researcher at the Electronics Research Institute.

On returning to Egypt from Germany, Kamel became manager of the Communications and Networking Department at the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC/RITSEC), and gained a professorship at the ERI. It is during this period (from 1992 to 1999) that he established Egypt's first connection to the Internet, steered the introduction of commercial Internet services in Egypt and founded the Internet Society of Egypt.

Also, Kamel joined the ministry of communications and information technology since its formation in October 1999, where he had been appointed senior advisor to the minister following his pioneering efforts in ICT. He was board member of Telecom Egypt from 2000 to 2004 and a board member of Egypt’s Private Public Technology Development Fund (TDF) to support start ups and incubators in ICT from 2002 to 2004.

Kamel served as the minister of communications and information technology from July 2004 to February 2011.

Besides his ministerial role, Kamel was the chairman of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), the National Telecommunication Institute (NTI) and the Information Technology Institute’s (ITI) Boards of Trustees.

Kamel served as a member of the Internet Society (ISOC) Board of Trustees and as vice president for chapters from 1999 to 2002. He is a founding member and a previous board member of the African Network Information Centre (AfriNIC). He acted as Chairman of the Executive Bureau of Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers from 2004 to 2008 and the Chairman of the Ministerial Conference on Communication and Information Technologies of the African Union from 2006 to 2008. In recognition of his leadership in the ICT sector, the South African Ministry of Communications named him, in 2005, "Top Minister in Africa with an ICT Portfolio".

In August 2012 ICANN appointed Kamel to serve as a senior advisor to its president, making him the first national of a developing country to fill one of ICANN's senior management posts. Prior to joining ICANN, he was a board member of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority of Egypt from April 2011 to July 2012.

May Tarek rest in perfect peace.

*ITREALMS with additional report from Wikipedia.com.

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

Christian Democratic Movement urges Christians to care about politics

ITREALMS:

The Christian Democratic Movement (CDM) has urged Nigerian Christians to join politics, obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and become card carrying members of any of the 68 registered political parties in the country, reports ITRealms.

Mr. Wole Adedoyin hinted this while launching two latest of CDM initiatives, the “Christian Leaders Alliance for Politics (CLAP)” and the “Center for Christian Democracy (CCD)” in Lagos recently.

According to him, the Christian world view provides a comprehensive understanding of reality. It speaks to all reads of life, including political engagement, infact, the Bible speaks about civil government and provides examples of faithful engagement.

“Politics have real-world implications for Christian evangelism, missions and preaching the gospel, Christians ought to engage the political process by leveraging their rightful authority, advocating for laws and policies that contribute to human flourishing.”

“Politics is one of the most important areas in which Christians demonstrate love to neighbor. Infact, how can Christians claim to care about others and not engage the arena that most profoundly shapes basic rights and freedoms? Caring for the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and lonely is important.”

“Government plays a role in the work of God’s kingdom on earth. Good government encourages an environment conducive for people living peaceably, whereas bad government festers unrest and instability. Because of sin, the legitimate institution of government has, at times, been used illegitimately. However, numerous examples persist of Christians reasserting their influence and redeeming environment to promote good and restrain evil. “

“Christian witness in the public square contributes transcendent values about moral and ethical issues. Christian withdrawal opens a moral vacuum susceptible to influences that pressure government to move outside the purview designated by God. Politics affects government, shapes society and influences culture. Because of what Bible teaches and the inevitability of its effects on our culture, Christians must care about politics.”

Nenye Dom/ED, Ops

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!