AI Governance: Ticking time bomb for Nigeria, experts declare @ABoICT 2025 - ITREALMS

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With Artificial Intelligence (AI) rapidly reshaping the global digital landscape, Professor Adewale Peter Obadare and Amrich Singhal, have strongly warned of a ticking time bomb if its not properly governed in Nigeria, reports ITREALMS.

The two who spoke at the 2025 Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit & Leadership Award (ABoICT 2025), at the weekend in Lagos, urgently called for Nigeria and Africa to adopt a unified, governance-driven approach to AI development, stressing that trust, regulation, and cybersecurity are paramount, as they stressed that AI without governance is a 'ticking time bomb.'

Nigeria’s population explosion, a time bomb on FP - Fanimo

ITREALMS:

The recently proclaimed 198 million populations by the office of National Bureau of Statistics, has been described as a waiting time bomb if not well managed, especially for family planning capable of engendering positive development, reports ITRealms.

This caution was sounded by the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Leadership Newspapers, Mr Dele Fanimo, when he received at the Lagos office, a delegation of Family Planning Media Advocacy Working Group (FPMAWG) led by its chairperson, Mrs. Chioma Umeha.

For him, the latest Nigerian population at 198 million has an implication on the country in all aspects of the economy, decrying that a session of this population, is the size of some African countries within the sub-region.

“A quarter of this population is almost twice the population of Republic of Benin. The central of this is uncontrolled birth,” he said.

Fanimo pointed out that the implication of the Nigerian huge population could lead to increase in crime and prostitution, stressing that with social dislocation associated with such population explosion, results to underdevelopment and a failed nation.

“Uncontrolled birth is unacceptable because when a man has a big family he cannot cater for, he will have to deny child A to send child B to school, leading to more miscreants, thieves, thugs and hoodlums on our streets and the vicious circle continues,” he said.

In addition, Fanimo described population explosion as a huge problem, for the promotion of family planning, insisting that families must ensure they have children they can cater for.

Earlier in her address, the working group chairperson, Mrs. Umeha, noted that Family Planning (FP) has been a worldwide issue, hence the reason why world leaders, local and international donors and advocates from around the world gathered at an FP Summit in London on July 11, 2017 to discuss efforts to reach the FP 2020 goals and ensure that more women and girls around the world are able to plan their families and their future.

Nigerian government, she pointed out, made a commitment to increase the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) from 15 percent to 27 percent by 2020 at that meeting, stressing that government at both the Federal and State have shown commitment to the provision of free FP services to the entire women of child-bearing age in the country.

The reason for this is not far-fetched as different statistics and surveys conducted around the world, have revealed that FP program when effectively done, can lead to a reduction of maternal deaths by up to 34 percent and newborn death by about 15 per cent.

The chairperson was accompanied during the advocacy visit by some members of FP Media Working Group, including Chioma Obinna of Vanguard Newspapers, and Remmy Nweke of DigitalSENSE Africa Media, publishers of NaijaAgroNet and ITRealms; Pastor Olusegun Omotayo Adeboye as well as Mrs Shotomiwa Olubunmi, both of Lagos Advocacy Working Group (LAWG) and Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Initiative(PHSAI), while the acting General Manager, Southern Operation at Leadership, Mrs. Angela Tony Iji, was also on attendance.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Airplane laptop bomb triggers ban on electronics by US, UK

ITRealms:

The fear of laptop bomb has triggered off the electronics ban onboard airplanes entering the United States of America (USA) and lately United Kingdom (UK), reports ITRealms.

The new rules, ITRealms gathered has been confirmed by US Department of Homeland Security and UK authorities’ ban, both linked to suspected plans by terrorist groups based on intelligence report.

Britain, according to PA, has taken the dramatic move to ban laptop computers and tablets from the cabins of planes flying to the UK from six countries, amid fears of a new terror threat.

The move affecting thousands of passengers coming from six predominantly-Muslim countries mirrors a similar measure imposed by the US, citing an attempt by the Islamist al-Shabaab group to bring down a jet in Somalia using a laptop bomb.

The British Government’s decision follows the receipt of specific intelligence reports, according to security sources.

Downing Street officials refused to discuss any specific terrorist plot, but action hitting 15 airlines with the extra restrictions was taken after Theresa May met aviation experts on Tuesday morning.

Ministers said they understood the “frustration” the extra measures would cause passengers but said they are working with the industry to minimise the impact.

A No 10 spokesman said: “The safety and security of the travelling public is our highest priority.

“That is why we keep our aviation security under constant review and put in place measures we believe are necessary, effective and proportionate.”

•             Emirates confirms laptops, Kindles and iPads banned from US flights

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•             US bans passengers from carrying electronic devices on 12 airlines

The six countries affected are: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. Devices measuring more than 16cm in length, 9.3cm in width, or 1.5cm depth will be banned from the cabin and need to be placed into hold luggage and checked-in before going through security.

Also, Downing Street said the measure was effective immediately, but would not give details as to why the decision had been taken now. No 10 did say UK security services have been “in close touch” with their US counterparts during the decision to implement the ban.

The US electronics measure, announced late on Monday, affected nine airlines flying from 10 specific airports in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar and the UAE, including Dubai, the world’s busiest airport for international travellers.

An incident last year appears to have caused particular alarm, after al-Shabaab smuggled an explosive-filled laptop on a flight out of Mogadishu. The explosion was small, but the bomb was particularly placed by the extremist so as to blow a hole in the side of the passenger cabin.

Experts said that if the plane was at a higher altitude, the small blast in the passenger area could have triggered a bigger explosion due to the pressurised cabin and caused the jet to crash.

Nonye Dom with additional report from Independent /GEE

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