ADU launches Awba-Ofemili health awareness campaign 2026, sets Sept. 17 for community intervention - ITREALMS

The Awba-Ofemili Development Union (ADU) Health Committee has launched the Awba-Ofemili Health Awareness Campaign 2026, unveiling a broader community health initiative aimed at promoting preventive healthcare, disease awareness, early detection, health education and healthy living across Awba-Ofemili in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, reports ITREALMS.

The campaign, themed “Beyond Elu-Ulee (Buruli Ulcer): Building a Healthier Awba-Ofemili,” is scheduled for Thursday, 17 September 2026, at the Civic Centre, Awba-Ofemili, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Awba-Ofemili Health Awareness 2025: Tackling misinformation key to protecting community health - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The Awba-Ofemili Development Union (ADU) Health Committee has called for greater vigilance against health-related misinformation, warning that myths and falsehoods about diseases like Buruli Ulcer (Elu-Ulee) could undermine community health development, reports ITREALMS.

This call was made following the successful Awba-Ofemili Community Health Awareness Campaign 2025, themed “Buruli Ulcer (Elu-Ulee): Know the Signs, Stop the Spread,” held on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at the Civic Centre, Awba-Ofemili.

NIMC achieves 49% enrolment increase, seeks deeper media collaboration for digital inclusion - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has achieved a 49 per cent increase in enrollment in the last three years, and sought for more media collaboration to deepen digital inclusion of Nigerians, reports ITREALMS.

Disclosing these at a two-day workshop with publishers of online newspapers in Lagos, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, NIMC, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, who was represented by Director of Information Technology and Identity Database, Engr. Lanre Yusuf, emphasized the critical role of media partners in promoting digital identity awareness and combating misinformation in the country.

Konga Health, L’Oréal partner on personal care awareness - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

Konga Health, in collaboration with Konga Online, has launched a nationwide campaign offering generous discounts on a wide range of personal care and beauty items. This is a strategic effort to promote health consciousness and make premium personal care products more accessible. The initiative, which runs from May 21 to June 30, 2025, represents a strategic move to raise awareness about health and wellness while giving consumers unbeatable value through exclusive offers.

The campaign, which commenced this week, is powered by a major partnership between Konga Health and global beauty industry leader, L’Oréal – the world’s number one personal care and cosmetics company. As part of this collaboration, shoppers who purchase any item on the Konga ecommerce platform automatically qualify to get select products from L’Oréal’s Dermatological Beauty (LDB) brands — CeraVe and La Roche-Posay — at a remarkable 50% discount.

CS-SUNN urges Lagos to integrate MMS into Antenatal Care protocols, media on awareness – ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The Civil Society on Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) has urged the Lagos State government to integrate the Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) in its Antenatal Care Protocol in health facilities, reports ITREALMS.

CS-SUNN also called on Nigerian media to continue to upscale public awareness about the benefits of MMS, especially in preventing anaemia and improving maternal outcomes in the country.

NLNG calls for increased LPG consumer awareness to drive utilisation - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has called for increased consumer awareness, especially in rural areas, on the use of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) to drive up utilisation and reduce associated risks from using biomass for cooking.

Speaking at the National Oil Companies Forum on Day Three of the 7th Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES), through the company’s General Manager, Finance, Mrs Fatima Adanan, on Wednesday, underscored the need for a campaign that aims to transition biomass users to LPG for cooking in the market. She said the goal is to increase LPG usage in Nigeria, thereby altering the current energy mix and achieving deeper penetration of LPG.

Governors assemble for broadband awareness forum - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

All Nigeria State Governors are set to discuss how to empower the citizens with latest telecoms technologies as they partake in the maiden edition of Broadband Technical Awareness Forum for Governors (BTAF), put together by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and slated for Thursday in Abuja.

According to a press statement available to ITREALMS by the Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, the programme, which takes place at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton, Hotel in Abuja on October 20, 2022, and themed: “State Broadband Coordinating Councils: Potentials and Possibilities”, will appraise the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025, which targets 70 per cent broadband penetration and to cover 90 per cent of the population.

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.

AVW2022: More awareness needed on value of vaccines says Ebirim - ITREALMS

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

An Abuja-based medical doctor, health promotion specialist and vaccine champion, Dr. Obinna Ebirim has called for more awareness on the values of vaccines in this interview with PAUL ADUNWOKE.

Excerpts:

What is Africa Vaccination Week?

Annually, in the last week of April, the African Vaccination Week (AVW) is celebrated. During this week, immunization Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and stakeholders use various medium to raise awareness on the value of vaccines using a selected theme with the ultimate goal of increased access to vaccines, reduced morbidity and lives saved.

Cybrary partners Cisco on free cybersecurity training, awareness - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Cybrary is partnering Cisco for this month’s cybersecurity awareness, reports ITREALMS.

The Co-founder of Cybrary, Ralph P. Sita Jr made this disclosure, saying that they believe anyone, anywhere should have the opportunity to develop their career through the production and consumption of high quality training.

Cybrary, he said, was set up to build cyber security or Information Technology (IT) career for free, urging people to get free training, then land their next job.

“Join the free learning revolution now,” he declared, emphasizing that Cybrary Insider Pro is introducing how to become a cyber security professional online.

“Confidently, be guided down the path towards your next job and a new career. 2 out of 3 Cyber Professionals are seeking Career Development Programs on Cybrary to take the next step in their career. This program helps you take the right training, get the right hands-on experience and prove your ability through online assessment tools,” he said.

He pointed out that anyone interested need not have experience as they have to work with industry-leading mentors to help them get started and guide through the programme in order to start a new career.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

102 of biometric enrolment

TalkingBiometrics@ITREALMS:

We introduced biometric enrolment in the previously edition, we shall now examine specific scenarios.

The environment where a biometric enrolment activity takes place is known as an enrolment center, and it can be as elaborate as a dedicated office, or as simple as a mobile van or a temporary location specifically designated for this purpose.

Temporary enrolment centres can be set up in schools, churches, mosques, markets, sports arenas, airports, train stations, shopping malls, or other convenient locations suitable for such makeshift arrangement. Factors that determine the location of a temporary biometric enrolment centre include safety of equipment and personnel, access to power supply, space for enrollee queue, etc. The type of biometric system adopted also determines whether it is suitable for outdoor use or strictly indoor operations.

Fingerprint technology is a widely adopted biometric system used in a number of enrolment cases. For effective fingerprint enrollment, clean scanners are essential to minimize failures and guarantee hygiene. Although there may be difficulties with easy collection of fingerprint samples from infants, it is generally accepted for most identity management schemes for verification because of the distinctiveness of human finger patterns from person to person. For this reason, fingerprints can be used in both single biometric verification systems and multi-modal systems where they are simultaneously used together with other biometrics such as facial or iris patterns. Multi-modal biometric implementations guarantee

…to be continued.

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

About The Columnist

Kenneth Okereafor is an accomplished ICT professional and Cybersecurity expert with over 20 years computing experience in Enterprise ICT innovation management in both private and public sectors. He holds dual PhD degrees in Computer Science (Cybersecurity & Biometrics) and Management (ICT Administration and Governance) with a first class Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering background. He is a United Nations trained Network Security Specialist and is proficient in Network Optimization, Data Protection, Biometric Systems and Digital Forensics. In addition to many published works and conference papers, Kenneth has participated at many international technology events, and has contributed to several national ICT development programmes including the design and development of the National eHealth Strategic Framework 2015 - 2020. He has strong research interests in Digital Innovations, Cloud Security, Cybersecurity Education, Biometric Liveness Detection and Green Computing; and may be reached at nitelken@yahoo.com

101 of biometric enrolment

TalkingBiometrics@ITREALMS:

 

In the digital identity domain, Biometric Enrolment is the process of using a biometric equipment to collect an individual’s biometric information for the purpose of using the captured information in future to recognize, verify or identify that individual. The person whose biometric information is so captured is known as the enrollee.

Biometric enrolment is a one-off operation and is not the same thing as biometric verification, recognition, or identification which can be undertaken as often as necessary. The initial enrolment process captures the individual’s biometric information, while future verification uses previously-stored information to verify or confirm his/her identity.

In practice, the biometric enrolment process involves the use of a specific biometric system to capture the biometric image in one of various scenarios illustrated in the three figures below.

Figure 1: Fingerprint captured using fingerprint scanners.

 Figure 2: Facial image captured using facial recognition system.

Figure 3: Iris pattern captured using appropriate eye biometrics equipment.

Each biometric equipment contains a scanner which obtains the actual biometric image from the enrollee. The processed image is changed into electronic form and stored on the equipment. Nearly all biometric equipment have the capacity to send the captured information to a remote database for security and centralized access.

…to be continued.

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

About The Columnist

Kenneth Okereafor is an accomplished ICT professional and Cybersecurity expert with over 20 years computing experience in Enterprise ICT innovation management in both private and public sectors. He holds dual PhD degrees in Computer Science (Cybersecurity & Biometrics) and Management (ICT Administration and Governance) with a first class Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering background. He is a United Nations trained Network Security Specialist and is proficient in Network Optimization, Data Protection, Biometric Systems and Digital Forensics. In addition to many published works and conference papers, Kenneth has participated at many international technology events, and has contributed to several national ICT development programmes including the design and development of the National eHealth Strategic Framework 2015 - 2020. He has strong research interests in Digital Innovations, Cloud Security, Cybersecurity Education, Biometric Liveness Detection and Green Computing; and may be reached at nitelken@yahoo.com

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

7 Pillars of biometric (3)

TalkingBiometrics@ITREALMS:

 

In this edition we discuss the last two pillars of biometrics: permanence and acceptability.  

6: Permanence

It is common to experience that some biometric features naturally undergo more changes than others, thereby resulting in a gradual reduction in their performance as time passes. Example, human voice is said to be affected by age, weather, and medical conditions. Fingerprints also get affected by injury, weather, cosmetics and corrosive creams. On the other hand, retina patterns remain significantly stable throughout an individual’s lifetime irrespective of eye defects. Retina is the reddish layer at the back of the eyeball which carries light impulses to the brain.

Permanence is the extent to which the trait resists the effects of aging and environmental conditions, and is able to withstand changes over a period of time. In making a choice of biometric for adoption, it is expected that the trait quality should remain minimally unchanged throughout the individual’s life, and that the modality should remain considerably stable over time.

7: Acceptability

Biometric acceptability is how readily users are able to accept to use it. The willingness to accept a biometric trait or to comply with its processes define the level of users’ approval and acceptability. There are a lot of reasons why people may choose a particular biometric in place of another, a few of them are listed below:

(i)            Intrusiveness: If it is difficult to use or if it requires special postures and repeated gestures, users will avoid it. Example, some facial recognition systems require the user’s face to be well illuminated, be tilted at an angle, maintain a certain distance from the camera, or put up a smiley face. Such requirements are regarded by some users as inconveniencing, compelling and therefore too intrusive.

(ii)          Hygiene: If the biometric system causes real or potential harm, users will be discouraged to use it. Example, during the ebola outbreak in some parts of Africa in 2014, fingerprint scanners were avoided due to hygiene concerns, leading to the adoption of facial recognition and other forms of contactless biometric systems as ready alternatives.

(iii)         Religious and cultural beliefs: Some cultural beliefs and religious doctrines forbid people from sharing public facilities such as biometric centres with the opposite gender other than their spouses. In such areas, biometric enrolment suffers great apathy.

(iv)         Data privacy: Biometric data is usually classified as private, therefore some users especially bank customers shy away from supplying biometric samples, especially where they suspect that adequate security provisions have not been made to protect their biometric information.

(v)          Limited versatility: A biometric trait or system is said to be versatile if it can be used successfully in a wide range of commercial and industrial applications without performance problems. The more versatile a biometric system is, the more it becomes generally accepted. Versatile biometrics are mostly used in voice, finger and eye-based recognition systems.

…to be continued.

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

About The Columnist

Kenneth Okereafor is an accomplished ICT professional and Cybersecurity expert with over 20 years computing experience in Enterprise ICT innovation management in both private and public sectors. He holds dual PhD degrees in Computer Science (Cybersecurity & Biometrics) and Management (ICT Administration and Governance) with a first class Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering background. He is a United Nations trained Network Security Specialist and is proficient in Network Optimization, Data Protection, Biometric Systems and Digital Forensics. In addition to many published works and conference papers, Kenneth has participated at many international technology events, and has contributed to several national ICT development programmes including the design and development of the National eHealth Strategic Framework 2015 - 2020. He has strong research interests in Digital Innovations, Cloud Security, Cybersecurity Education, Biometric Liveness Detection and Green Computing; and may be reached at nitelken@yahoo.com

Seven Pillars of Biometrics (Part 2)

TalkingBiometrics@ITREALMS:

In this edition, we would continue discussion on the characteristics that determine the suitability of a human trait as a biometric attribute, otherwise called the seven pillars of biometrics.

4: Circumvention or Security

A measure of how easy it can be to fool a given attribute is an indication of its suitability (or otherwise) for biometric purposes. Circumvention is a quality that evaluates the ease with which a biometric trait can be fooled or bypassed by an attacker and to what extent it can withstand being spoofed or defeated. The measure or degree of difficulty required to bypass a biometric trait is an indication of its security and usability as a biometric authentication technique, and also a pointer to how vulnerable it might become to spoof attacks and identity fraud.

It is common occurrence for two separate individuals to have the similar height or exactly same weight, but it is rare to obtain a perfectly similar facial pattern or fingerprint from two persons. This is why height and weight cannot be used as classical biometric attributes, but facial pattern and fingerprints can be used because it is difficult to obtain such similar values from different persons, hence they are more secure. It is also more difficult (but not totally impossible) to fabricate fake eyeballs or retina patterns than to obtain fake signatures. 

In this sense we say that even though both offer relatively high levels of security as biometric attributes, retina patterns are more difficult to circumvent or forge than signatures, thereby making retina patterns a more secure set of biometric attributes than signatures, and a more preferred option for use at maximum security facilities. Vein patterns have also been known to exhibit a more secure biometric characteristics than voice prints.

5: Performance

Biometric performance is a measure of the speed and accuracy of recognizing the trait while in normal use even in the midst of environment effects. It is an indication of how well the biometric trait is able to compensate for inherent losses during the processing of the samples. In general biometric performance is closely tied to its efficiency to successfully complete the identification or authentication processes in a timely manner while minimizing errors. 

As an illustration, it is faster and more probable to process 3D facial patterns from babies and infants than to recognize their fingerprints. This is because fingerprint formation naturally takes time to become fully-usable as a biometric trait, resulting in the poor quality of fingerprint processes often experienced with toddlerbiometrics. In this sense, we say that facialprints have better infant-related performance than fingerprints.

… To be continued next week.

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

About The Columnist

Kenneth Okereafor is an accomplished ICT professional and Cybersecurity expert with over 20 years computing experience in Enterprise ICT innovation management in both private and public sectors. He holds dual PhD degrees in Computer Science (Cybersecurity & Biometrics) and Management (ICT Administration and Governance) with a first class Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering background. He is a United Nations trained Network Security Specialist and is proficient in Network Optimization, Data Protection, Biometric Systems and Digital Forensics. In addition to many published works and conference papers, Kenneth has participated at many international technology events, and has contributed to several national ICT development programmes including the design and development of the National eHealth Strategic Framework 2015 - 2020. He has strong research interests in Digital Innovations, Cloud Security, Cybersecurity Education, Biometric Liveness Detection and Green Computing; and may be reached at nitelken@yahoo.com

Pillars of biometrics

TalkingBiometrics@ITREALMS:

Preamble:

In this edition, we will discuss seven characteristics that qualify any human attribute to be considered fit as a biometric item. These seven characteristics are together called the pillars of biometrics

Seven Pillars of biometrics:

Most people wonder what makes a biological characteristic fit for biometric use. For a human measurable quantity (trait) to be considered suitable for use as a biometric item (eg fingerprint or voice print), it must possess seven basic qualities, collectively called the seven pillars of biometrics. We shall review each of these seven qualities and how they determine what qualifies as a biometric quantity, but let us first understand the difference between a biometric trait and a biometric modality.

Biometric triats vs. modality:

We defined biometrics earlier in the first edition as the human physiological or behavioural attributes that distinguish humans and used as a means of verifying or authenticating their identity into information systems. A modality is the human identifier from where these biometric characteristics are extracted, but a trait is that particular physiological or behavioural characteristic that is so extracted from modalities. In most cases the modality is a physiological part of the human body eg the eye or the hand, but can sometimes be a behavioural pattern eg human voice, walking style, signature, etc. This is illustrated in Table 1 below and shows examples of eight of the most commonly-used biometric traits and the corresponding modalities from where they are derived.

1: Universality

Biometric universality stipulates that for any characteristic to be suitable as a biometric item, all humans should possess the characteristic, and the modality should adequately differentiate between any two users. The trait must be universally existent in all individuals as a biological feature or a natural human characteristic, and each potential user must possess it. This explains why a horn is not suitable as a biometric attribute because humans do not grow horns. In other words, a horn is not a universal attribute in humans.

In contrast, traits such as the shape of the palm (palm geometry), blood pattern at the back of the eye (retina pattern), and human voice, all qualify as good biometric traits because of their widespread nature and the commonality of their characteristics from person to person, hence their universality. Every normal human has a hand, an eye, and can talk respectively. These modalities exist in all humans and their characteristic properties vary from one individual to another and hence are very usable as biometric traits and in biometric systems.

2: Uniqueness or Distinctiveness

The uniqueness of a biometric trait refers to its ability to distinguish between different individuals and ensure that each potential user possesses the modality from where it is derived. This quality is a strong factor in evaluating the suitability of a biometric entity, and it specifies that the characteristic of the modality should not appear similar in any two people. For this reason, fingerprints differ from person to person even in identical twins, iris patterns also differ between parents and their children, etc. It is the uniqueness of these traits from person to person that contribute to make them acceptable as biometric quantity.

3: Measurability or collectability

Biometric measurability pertains to the ease of measuring and presenting the trait quantitatively. It is the degree with which the biometric samples can be acquired, analyzed and converted into digital templates for the purpose of identification or verification. Measurability emphasizes that the trait samples should be easy to detect and acquire, eg the ease of scanning to obtain a fingerprint image from a thumb or to retrieve iris patterns from the eye using simple technical instruments and systems such as a thumb scanner or a voice recorder makes these quantities suitable for use as biometric traits.

In practical terms the ease of collecting and assembling trait samples for biometric use is a very important consideration in adopting a given method because certain biometrics by their nature and appearance pose serious difficulties during collection. Eg medical conditions such as throat inflammation can affect speech quality and make high quality voice prints difficult to obtain, injured finger can increase the difficulty of acquiring fingerprints. Similarly scars, marks, tattoos (SMT), or age-induced wrinkles can affect the measurability of facial pattern from the face modality.

Coming up next: We shall discuss the remaining pillars of biometrics including security, permanence, and others.

Talking Biometrics @ ITRealms with Dr. Ken is a weekly online column providing biometric education and associated electronic identity awareness.

About The Columnist

Kenneth Okereafor is an accomplished ICT professional and Cybersecurity expert with over 20 years computing experience in Enterprise ICT innovation management in both private and public sectors. He holds dual PhD degrees in Computer Science (Cybersecurity & Biometrics) and Management (ICT Administration and Governance) with a first class Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering background. He is a United Nations trained Network Security Specialist and is proficient in Network Optimization, Data Protection, Biometric Systems and Digital Forensics. In addition to many published works and conference papers, Kenneth has participated at many international technology events, and has contributed to several national ICT development programmes including the design and development of the National eHealth Strategic Framework 2015 - 2020. He has strong research interests in Digital Innovations, Cloud Security, Cybersecurity Education, Biometric Liveness Detection and Green Computing; and may be reached at nitelken@yahoo.com

Related stories:

• Biometric 101: What you should know

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

CDC demands action against discrimination, unveils disability awareness ribbon

ITREALMS:

The Children's Developmental Center (CDC) has unveiled the Disability Awareness Ribbon with the support of the Lagos State government in commemoration in aid of the campaign for the Developmental Disability Awareness month, demanded action against discrimination practices, reports ITRealms.

At the launch in Lagos key stakeholders in the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) space called for action by government at all levels to provide the necessary support towards the upbringing of children with various forms of disabilities.

They also expressed deep concern about the future of children with disabilities in the country where there is no clear cut policy their growth support plan and engagement that will better their lives.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Yinka Akindayomi, service director at CDC said over the last twenty years has been both a service provider and in forefront of advocating for children and adults with development disabilities and their families.

Akindayomi said in the course of the Centers intervention it has realized that the inclusion of children and adults with any disabilities can only come through a joint effort.

She noted that there must be a harmonious and strong partnerships among stakeholders for any society to grow, adding that one of the great benefits of working together is the inspiration and ideas that can result from unity, because people from different backgrounds and levels of experience can help in creating solutions to problems in the society especially where stigma is concerned.

"Personal boundaries are limits we set for our selves as individuals but when we work together, there is the motivation to push beyond those boundaries which yields results. Nigeria will be better if we work together, because unity maximizes strengths and brings out the best in its citizens. This value of unity is regularly seen in sports, culture, entertainment etc and we should endeavor to include in our everyday life, workplaces, homes and community at large", she counseled.

Speaking at the occasion, an educational consultant at Center Escolar Educational, Mrs. Emmanuella Otiono, noted discrimination against people with disabilities, and advised that rather than discourage them by attitude, efforts should be made to identify those special talents in them to help them maximize their potentials.

Otiono said her center like similar others offers a continuum of services that meet the specialized needs of young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities including those with autism or other autism spectrum disorders.

"We help youth in all aspects of their lives so they can be successful at home and in school, with friends and family. We understand that no two young people are alike and consider a number of factors including their home environment, upbringing and clinical history when creating Individualized Service Plans" she said, adding that whether serving youth in foster care or providing supports in home and community settings, stakeholders should also help youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities reach new heights.

Otiono, expressly noted that youths with physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities represent special populations at risk for juvenile delinquency, victimization, educational failure, and poor employment outcomes and that they often have multiple, overlapping risk factors.

She noted that youth with disabilities typically receive mentoring, if at all, within disability-specific programs rather than in inclusive, community-based programs.

Speaking further, Otiono stated that early childhood is the period from prenatal development and a crucial phase of growth and development because experiences during early childhood can influence outcomes across the entire course of an individual’s life.

"For all children, early childhood provides an important window of opportunity to prepare the foundation for life-long learning and participation, while preventing potential delays in development and disabilities. For children who experience disability, it is a vital time to ensure access to interventions which can help them reach their full potential.

Despite being more vulnerable to developmental risks, young children with disabilities are often overlooked in mainstream programmes and services designed to ensure child development", she added.

Other stakeholders at the forum expressed disappointment that these children however, do not receive the specific supports required to meet their rights and needs as children with disabilities and their families are confronted by barriers including inadequate legislation and policies, negative attitudes, inadequate services, and lack of accessible environments.

They argued that if children with developmental delays or disabilities and their families are not provided with timely and appropriate early intervention, support and protection, their difficulties can become more severe and often leading to lifetime consequences, increased poverty and profound exclusion.

Uj. N. Dominic/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

Ransomware: NITDA urges sustained cybersecurity awareness campaign

ITRealms:

The Director General and Chief Executive Officer, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has beckoned on Nigerian Internet stakeholders to sustain the cybersecurity awareness campaign in the country following the recent attacks by a ransomware, also known as WannaCry, reports ITRealms.

Reviewing the situation which affected over 150 countries globally, Pantami said, WannaCript ransomware attack has been contained and Nigeria was largely spared from the attack due to the massive enlightenment campaign, awareness and proactive measures put out to swiftly deal with any reported incident.

“The efforts of all stakeholders in the IT industry are highly commendable and appreciated,” he asserted.

According to him, reports have shown that computer networks in more than 150 countries and more than 200,000 people had been affected by this attack, considered to be one of the biggest cybersecurity attacks in recent history. Traces in Nigeria appeared to be isolated cases as no major incident is reported in the country.

Pantami pointed out that as IT systems have now become part of our lives, the need for all to be vigilant and proactive as far as security is concerned cannot be overemphasized.

For users of Microsoft systems, NITDA boss has suggested some steps including that old operating systems should be upgraded to the latest version ( of Windows 10). This will enable them get the latest protection from Microsoft.

The recent security update released by Microsoft, MS17-010, he said, should be installed as soon as possible, stressing that where necessary, Windows Defender Antivirus should be enabled as it helps in detecting this ransomware and similar attacks.

For systems that have been attacked, tools have been developed to unlock the files locked by this ransomware – the WannaDecrpyt or Wannakey.

“They have been found to have successfully decrypted systems infected with the ransomware,” he said.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

National cybersecurity awareness month: NCC, NITDA join forces with CECAD

ITRealms:

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have committed to work with the media stakeholders for the adoption of October as the annual celebration of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NASCAM), reports ITRealms.

The two key agencies under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications also commended the media group working in concert with other stakeholders for the adoption of October as the Nigerian National Cyber-security Awareness month.

At separate meetings with officials of NCC and NITDA last week, the media group operating under the aegis of the Centre for Cyber Awareness and Development (CECAD), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), was given the nod to convene a stakeholder meeting in the last week of October.

Director of Communications, Mr. Olubayo Abiodun said in order to underscore the importance of the advocacy campaign to Nigeria’s national interests and its assets, the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to President Muhammadu Buhari has been contacted on the initiative.

According to him, the involvement of the NSA is pivotal to the advocacy campaign because of the rising tides of cyber-security challenges ravaging the entire socio-political, economic, military and technological ecosystem of the global community.

He said that the initiative is a Public Private Project because all government Ministries, Department and Agencies as well as the private sector will be involved. According to him, the real sector of the economy where the private sector is playing active roles including the banking and finance, manufacturing, maritime, aviation, educational, transport, telecoms and ICTs, Oil and Gas, broadcasting and stockbroking institutions will be prominently engaged. In the public sector, he said the military and para-military institutions and other security services, educational institutions, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), hospitals, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NIMASA and other key government institutions susceptible to cyber-attacks will be involved in raising the bar on the awareness campaign.

Mr Abiodun said that the week-long event would help raise the bar on the multi-stakeholders awareness across government, corporate institutions and private citizens through the principles of the Public Private Partnership (PPP). Justifying the need for the advocacy programme, the group hinged its position on the increasing threats of cyber-attacks to national security, economic crimes, political instability and social insecurity as a result of the vulnerability of national, corporate and private databases via identity theft.

The week-long programme, he said, will involve series of daily activities delineated to accommodate sectorial emphasises on every facets of the lives of the nation and its people, stressing that the daily line up of events will include awareness focus on government and its agencies, banks and financial institutions, telcos, tower companies and ICTs, education, health, tourism, transport, military/security communities. 

The central theme would be on how to enhance safer connections to the Internet without compromising corporate and individual safety. Families will also enjoy primary attention in the course of the awareness programme in order to ensure the safety of all and sundry, particularly children from dangers inherent in the uncontrolled access. On the last day of the event, there will be a stakeholders meeting to round off the weeklong activities with a Presidential declaration of the adoption of October as Nigeria’s celebration of cyber security awareness in line with global best practice.

As said by Abiodun, the NGO noted that criminals, terrorists, and countries now use the Internet technology to wreak havoc in countries ill prepared for the cyber-attacks because of the increasing adoption of digital platforms in national frontiers. 

"Nations are increasingly deploying e-government, e-commerce, e-health, cashless society, e-learning, digital entertainment, and e-agriculture among other electronic engagements in all spheres of life," he said.

Pointing out that this has resulted in getting sensitive data stored online, consequent upon of this development is that cyber-attacks have become more profound with unauthorised access to the data stored online. The increasing incidences of identity theft and e-fraud are consequences of the plurality of Internet technology across the national climes. 

As a consequent of this, he said, the Nigerian nation and its citizens have been under increasing threat from cyber-attacks following the proliferation of digital platforms in the rapid integration of its social, political and economic facets into the digital economy.

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!