Revealed Ibom Air saga: This is my story by Comfort Emmanson - ITREALMS

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On August 10, 2025, I boarded a flight from Uyo to Lagos. The hostess, Juliana said we should switch off our phones. I was trying to put one of my phones on flight mode.

She came to me and said I must put it off. I was with two phones and I explained to her that the second phone was faulty.

Alarm! Escalation in child sexual abuse online, revealed GTA'23 - ITREALMS

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The WeProtect Global Alliance’s latest report shows 87% increase in reported child sexual abuse material; conversations with children on social gaming platforms can escalate into high-risk grooming situations within 19 seconds; AI is now being used to generate child sexual abuse material.

WeProtect Global Alliance has released its fourth Global Threat Assessment Report, which revealed there has been an 87% increase in reported child sexual abuse material cases since 2019, with over 32 million reports globally (NCMEC). The findings underscore the pressing need for a coordinated, multi-faceted response to protect the world's children from this escalating threat.

Revealed! Satellite phone service providers fingered on Nigeria’s Californium scam - ITREALMS

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Satellite telecommunications service providers have been accused of aiding and abetting the unending insecurity situation in the Nigeria’s North-East due to vested interest in their offering, reports ITREALMS.

These satellite telecoms service providers, according to a retired military intelligence officer, offer services to some fraudulent californium precious stone explorers under the guise of international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who deploy their services without regulatory stress from any sovereign country.

Making these accusation, the Action Alliance (AA) Presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, retired Major Hamza Al-Mustapha alleged that some international NGOs have been illegally exploring californium, a precious stone found in Borno State-Nigeria.

Speaking as the guest of Brekete Family recently in Abuja, Al-Mustapha accused satellite telecoms service providers of conniving with the some state actors, especially at the Federal and state levels to exploit the californium precious stones in Nigeria under pretense of international NGO.

These NGOs, he said, came with satellite telephones and personal computers that connect via the satellite too.

Al-Mustapha, insisted that these NGOs, leave late in the night to go to the Californium sites and where soldiers and police dread to go during the day time, wondering who is providing cover for them during this period.

He called on the Federal Ministry of Health to take a critical look on why there is increase in cancer and kidney cases in the North-East and Borno State precisely.

Al-Mustapha also accused the Federal Government of ineptitude and international satellite companies of high-level complacency on the issue of insecurity in the North East.

ITREALMS gathered that globally, these NGOs use the services of international companies offering satellite telecommunications services such as Thuraya satellite phones to name a few.

Also, ITREALMS gathered that Californium is worth $27 million per gram, about N12,040,920,000.00 billion.

Satellite phone systems could be classified into two types, namely the systems that use satellites in a high geostationary orbit, 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi) above the earth's surface, and systems that use satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), 640 to 1,120 kilometers (400 to 700 miles) above the earth.

Traditionally, cell phones rely on cell towers, unlike satellite phones that work anywhere on earth. Once you leave the city, satellite networks are the only networks offering reliable communication. So, there are satellite phones that work anywhere, even in the most remote areas of the world.

Remmy Nweke/DoP

Revealed! Why Benjamin Joseph is blackmailing Zinox Chairman says Princess Kama - ITREALMS

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Princess Kama, the erstwhile business partner of Benjamin Joseph, owner of Citadel Oracle Concepts Limited, an Ibadan-based ICT retail firm, has broken her silence over a long-drawn dispute involving a N170m contract with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which has seen Mr. Benjamin Joseph standing trial for falsely petitioning the Federal Government, alleging that the Zinox Chairman, Leo Stan Ekeh and others colluded in defrauding it and his company in executing the said contract.

Princess disclosed to ITREALMS that Benjamin is an ingrate who attempted to get her support in diverting Mr. Ekeh’s company fund and join in a smear campaign against Mr. Ekeh, while also expressing surprise that the matter was still a subject of debate in the courts and in the media.

Revealed! AfriTECH 2.0's theme, date and venue - ITREALMS

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The continental technology and business trailblazers are set to gather in Lagos, Nigeria (West Africa) on 9 November 2022 for another edition of Africa Tech Alliance Forum (AfriTECH 2.0) as the continent’s sought-after technology Forum, exhibition, and awards ceremony, reports ITREALMS.

AfriTECH 2.0 scheduled to hold at Oriental Hotel, Lekki Road, is focused on ‘Sustainability and The Company of the Future’, as the central theme.

Revealed! With 49.7% internet coverage, Nigeria lacks capacity for eTransmission of election results - ITREALMS

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that estimated 49.7 per cent of the national spread lacks internet coverage which will be required for real-time electronic transmission of electoral results, reports ITREALMS.

NCC officials made this disclosure while at the House of Representatives’ Public Hearing over Electronic Transmission of Election Results in the country.

COVID-19: Anambra berates campaigners on index case personalty, says we’ve not revealed identity - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Anambra State government has described as uncalled for the level of apparent propaganda materials against the person purported to be the state’s coronavirus index case, insisting it has not revealed identity of the index case victim, reports ITREALMS.

Anambra State, ITREALMS recalls recorded its index case on Friday, April 10, and barely 24 hours later, the social media was flooded with various campaigns including photos of an individual suspected to be the index case which the government said negates the principle of the government and even medical ethics.

Commissioner for information and public enlightenment, Anambra State, Mr. C. Don Adinuba, described the campaign materials as slanderous and violate all known medical ethics.

“They were obviously made by persons who want to raise a false alarm and create panic everywhere. The state government has not revealed the name of the index case, nor have the hospital authorities where he is receiving treatment now or has been treated in recent times. Therefore, the identity revealed on the social media broadcasts is merely speculative.”

He also said in a press statement available to ITREALMS, “No COVID-19 patient anywhere has received the kind of attention given to Anambra’s index case. Yet, there are about 300 confirmed COVID-19 patients in Nigeria alone. The social media does not publish their identities until when they have been treated successfully and the persons affected decide to speak in public forums about their experience. It is difficult to understand the hoopla over Anambra’s index case.

“COVID-19 is no death sentence. Its mortality rate is far less than that of, say, Lassa fever, another viral disease which reared its head in the state some two months ago. It was treated with the same clinical efficiency with which the COVID-19 index case is being treated. It is, indeed, reassuring that the index case is in stable condition.

“The despicable behavior of the people making and promoting the propaganda materials against our index case does not define the character of ndi Anambra. We are known for superabundance of humanism. We are famous for our acute sense of solidarity. We are reputed for tremendous support especially to those in distress, hence the popular aphorism, onye aghana nwanne ya, is at the centre of our world. We have always been our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper.

“We would also like to caution a section of the media keenly interested in causing a press war between the index case and the government. No controversy is needed. This is no time for any form of sensationalism. It is in no person’s interest. The country, like the rest of the world, is at a critical moment.

“To repeat the obvious, Anambra’s COVID-19 index case does not deserve the kind of publicity he is receiving, nor is he deserving of the opprobrium which his detractors want him to go through. His privacy must be respected. He is a law-abiding citizen, a philanthropist and a major investor in key sectors of the state. He needs peace, cooperation, emotional stability and prayers from all and sundry, apart from sound medical attention.

“Of course, he is getting excellent attention in one of the finest protection centers in the state. We are proud we built the first protection center, otherwise known as isolation center, which meets World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. We have also trained the personnel, including cleaners, to manage COVID-19 cases professionally.

“We are in the Easter week like the rest of the world. Peace, unity, reconciliation, solidarity and the well-being and future of all our people should our thoughts, utterances and behavior,” he said.




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Half world population now use Internet revealed ITU - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

More than half of the world’s population is now using the Internet, according to the 2018 global and regional Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) estimates by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), reports ITREALMS.

ITU which is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), ITREALMS gathered, estimated that at the end of 2018, 51.2 per cent of the global population, or 3.9 billion people, will be using the Internet.

The Secretary General, ITU, Mr. Houlin Zhao, made this known to ITREALMS, asserting that ITU’s global and regional estimates for 2018 are a pointer to the great strides the world is making towards building a more inclusive global information society.

“By the end of 2018, we will surpass the 50/50 milestone for Internet use. This represents an important step towards a more inclusive global information society. However, far too many people around the world are still waiting to reap the benefits of the digital economy. We must encourage more investment from the public and private sectors and create a good environment to attract investments, and support technology and business innovation so that the digital revolution leaves no one offline,” he said.

Director of ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, Brahima Sanou, said that the new 2018 estimates revealed that there continues to be a general upward trend in the access to and use of information and communication technologies.

“Access to telecommunication networks continues to increase, in particular in mobile connections. However, affordability should continue to be at the top of our priorities for the digital economy to become a reality for all,” Sanou said.

According to ITU, in developed countries, slow and steady growth increased the percentage of population using the Internet, from 51.3 per cent in 2005 to 80.9 per cent in 2018. In developing countries, growth has been much more sustained increasing from 7.7 per cent in 2005 to 45.3 per cent at the end of 2018.
ITREALMS also gathered that of all ITU regions, the strongest growth was reported in Africa, where the percentage of people using the Internet increased from 2.1 per cent in 2005 to 24.4 per cent in 2018. Equally, ITU disclosed that the regions with the lowest growth rates were Europe, with 79.6 per cent, and the Americas, with 69.6 per cent of the population using the Internet.

In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, 71.3 per cent will be using the Internet; 54.7 per cent in the Arab States and 47 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Revealed! Why Benin is home of art, culture in Nigeria

Interview: Art & Fashion@ITRealms:

Following the just concluded coronation of the 39th Oba of Benin, Nkem Ndem spoke with Prince Omoregbe Erediauwa of Benin, brother to the new king and CEO of Hexagon Networks, who was actively involved in the coronation planning to talk about the impact of the newly enthroned king, Oba Ewaure II on travel and tourism in the state. Excerpts:

Tell us about yourself and your passions

My name is Omoregbe Erediauwa, I am Owner|CEO Hexagon Network Limited, a company that is into Hospitality and Tourism. I like watching movies, listening to music and playing a bit of golf.

What fuels your passion for tourism?

I believe my background has played a major role. I belong to the Benin Royal Family and as such, I grew up in the midst of exquisite art and a very deep culture. As you may be aware, the Benin royal family has been known for its arts and culture for over a thousand years. It was evident in the display of this art and culture in the immediate past coronation ceremony of the present Oba of Benin Oba Ewuare II.

You currently own one of the most popular clubs in Benin, a hotel, and an art gallery, what is the vision behind these establishments?

Well, like I said, growing up, hospitality and tourism were second nature. So, in my University days, I decided to start something with a friend. We started a bar and restaurant called Woodpecker; it was my first business venture sometime in ‘93 – ‘94. I had to shut it down after a year and a half, as I had to travel to complete my Master’s degree. After my Masters, I decided to come back home and start something bigger and better than my last effort. That, basically, was how Hexagon Network Limited was born. The network serves as an umbrella company for The Hexagon: the entertainment outfit, Crowne Art Gallery, Crowne Hotels e.t.c.

What hopes do you have for tourism in Benin and Nigeria as a whole in the future?

I have very high hopes because this was one major thing our new Oba, Oba Ewuare II, talked about in his speech in the presence of the President ably represented by his Vice and Africa’s richest man, and both of them nodded in compliance when he told them that he will need their support in these regards. Also, the ‘Trust’ founded by the Oba – The Benin Royal Dynasty Trust – is also a vehicle that I believe will also help to drive tourism to its greatest height in Edo state and also in Nigeria. Finally, we have two sons from Edo State who are members of The National Assembly chairing the committee on Arts and culture, who I also believe will do their possible best to support us and also the country.

Your brother, formerly crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa, was crowned the new Oba of Benin at the just concluded coronation, what is the significance of the event to Benin and Africa as a whole?

The coronation has reassured us of our culture and tradition. The event has been celebrated the same way for about or over a thousand years, so reading about it, hearing about it and finally being able to participate in it, draws you closer and makes you appreciate where you are from as a Benin person and an African.

How do you foresee his reign?

In his coronation speech, Oba Ewuare II stated that he would be the embodiment and the expression of culture, aspirations and history of our people and I strongly believe him.  Also, he picked the name of another great king Oba Ewuare 1 (1440-1473), one of the greatest Obas of Benin Kingdom, and that is a hint on what we should expect to see during his reign.

What are the changes you look forward to seeing in this new reign?

Certainly, I look forward to witnessing a higher regard and respect for the palace and the royal institution as a whole from around the world. Also, increased recognition for Benin art and culture.

Why should anyone visit Benin City?

It is glaring. Benin is the home of art and culture, anyone who sincerely appreciates life in itself  is bound to have a memorable time in Benin.

*Contributed by Nkem Ndem, a PR Associate at Jumia Travel

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Intel’s secret for future high-performance PCs

DigitalSENSE Business News:

Intel Corporation has revealed the anticipated secret of future high-performance computing, reports DigitalSENSE Business News.

The new and enhanced technologies, DigitalSENSE Business News reports would bolster Intel’s leadership in high performance computing (HPC), which would include the future generation Intel Xeon Phi Processor, tagged ‘Knights Hill,’ and Intel ‘Omni-Path’ architecture; a new high speed interconnect technology optimized for HPC deployments.

Also DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that the new software releases and collaborative efforts were designed to make it easier to extract the full performance potential from current and future Intel Industry- standard hardware.

Charles Wuischpard, Vice President, Data Center Group, and General Manager of Workstations and HPC at Intel affirmed this secret to DigitalSENSE Business News, stressing that this innovation will address the dual challenges of extreme scalability and mainstream use of high performance computing systems while providing the foundation for a cost-effective path to superb computing.

The new Intel Xeon Phi Product family, Knights Hill, he told DigitalSENSE Business News via a press statement, will be built using Intel’s 10mm process technology and integrate Intel Omni- Path Fabric technology. Noting that industry investment in Intel Xeon Phi processors continues to grow with more than 50 providers expected to offer systems built using the new processor version of Knights Landing with many more systems using the coprocessor PCle card version of the product.

 
Intel equally disclosed to DigitalSENSE Business News that the Intel Omni-Path Architecture is expected to offer 100 Gbps line speed and up to 56 per cent lower switch fabric latency in medium-to-large clusters than InfiniBand alternatives.  

The Intel Omni-Path Architecture will use a 48 port switch chip to deliver greater port density and system scaling compared to the current 36 port InfiniBand alternatives.  Providing up to 33 percent more nodes per switch chip is expected to reduce the number of switches required, simplifying system design and reducing infrastructure costs at every scale.  

“Intel is excited about the strong market momentum and customer investment in the development of HPC systems based on current and future Intel Xeon Phi processors and high-speed fabric technology. The integration of these fundamental HPC building blocks, combined with an open standards-based programming model, will maximize HPC system performance, broaden accessibility and use, and serve as the on-ramp to exascale,”  he said.

Charles Wuischpard pointed out that the expected benefits of the system scale include up to 1.3x greater port density than InfiniBand – enabling smaller clusters to maximize single switch investments and use up to 50 per cent fewer switches than a comparable InfiniBand-based cluster of medium- to large-size and up to 2.3x higher scaling in a two-tier fabric configuration using the same number of switches as an InfiniBand-based cluster – allowing for more cost-effective scaling for very large cluster-based systems.

           

Recent high-profile Knights Landing deals, DigitalSENSE Business News recalls  include the Trinity supercomputer, a joint effort between Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, and the Cori supercomputer, announced by The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center. Additionally, DownUnder GeoSolutions a geosciences company, recently announced the largest commercial deployment of current-generation Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors, and the National Supercomputing Center IT4Innovations announced a new supercomputer that will become the largest Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor-based cluster in Europe.

Dr. Matt Lamont, managing director, DownUnder GeoSolutions “The combination of Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors with our proprietary software allows us to provide our customers with one of the most powerful geo-processing production systems to date,” said. “Our Intel Xeon Phi powered solutions enable interactive processing and imaging from each of our geophysicists’ individual computers. A testing regime that once took weeks can now be achieved in days. We’re thrilled with the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors and look forward to evaluating the next-generation product.”

            Intel-based systems account for 86 percent of all supercomputers and 97 percent of all new additions, according to the 44th edition of the TOP500 list announced today. In the two years since the introduction of the first-generation Intel Xeon Phi product family, these many-core coprocessor-based systems represent 17 percent of the aggregated performance of all TOP500 supercomputers. The complete TOP500 list is available at www.top500.org.

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1.3bn PC devices connected with Flash Players

 An estimated 1.3 billion connected Personal Computing (PC) devices have installed Flash Player.

ITRealms investigations revealed that most the top video sites on the web use Flash Player.

Also, ITRealms gathered that the top 10 Facebook games use the Flash player. 

Confirming this to ITRealms, Adobe, the owners of Flash Player 11 apps, is a cross-platform browser-based application runtime that delivers uncompromised viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across screens and browsers.

“The Adobe Flash Player runtime lets you effortlessly reach over 1.3 billion people across browsers and Operating System (OS) versions with no install — 11 times more people than the best-selling hardware game console,” official said.

They said that Flash Player is optimized for high performance on mobile screens and designed to take advantage of native device capabilities, enabling richer and more immersive user experiences.

The stressed the importance of updating Adobe Flash Player, insisting that it inclues improvements in usuability, online security and stability as well as new features which help content developers deliver rich and engaging experiences.

 
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How search engine companies ‘manipulate votes’ – US

The American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology (AIBRT) has revealed in a study how search engine companies could indeed manipulate votes during electoral or democratic processes.


In the top 10 search engines globally Google leads with 82.80 per cent, followed by Yahoo with 6.42 per cent, Baidu 4.89 per cent, Bing 3.91 per cent, Yandex 1.7 per cent, Ask 0.52 per cent and AOL 0.3 per cent as at May 2011.

ITRealms recalls that experts at Wikipedia described a web search engine as a software code that is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web (www).

Notable is that the search results are generally presented in a line of results often referred to as search engine results pages (SERP's). Hence, the information may be a specialist in web pages, images, information and other types of files. While some search engines also mine data available in databases or open directories.

They also explained that unlike web directories, which are maintained only by human editors, search engines also maintain real-time information by running an algorithm on a web crawler.

However, the AIBRT claim is given weight with the growing number of search engines and Internet adaption globally, which currently stood at about 2,405,518,376 internet users on June 30, 2012 with Africa recording 167,385,751 Internet users as at December 31, 2012.

ITRealms gathered that the researchers led by Dr. Epstein Robertson noted that even more worrisome is the fact that these search engine companies lead by Google as most outstanding could probably be pushed to almost 100 per cent of votes in any electoral process with adequate resources available to the company.

According to him, about 75 per cent of participants in democratic process were unaware that any manipulation could take place in the first instance.

He pointed out that in a second experiment, his team discovered that the manipulation could be masked, boosting the number of people who were oblivious to the manipulation to over 85 per cent, a figure that Dr. Epstein says, could be advanced to the highest figure.

“These results are really shocking,” Dr. Epstein said, adding that his team knew that voters are exposed to a large variety of influences during political campaigns: television advertisements, rallies, debates, and newspaper support.

However, search ranking manipulation could exert a disproportionately large influence over voters for a number of reasons.

“Most sources of influence are explicit and obvious in their support of one candidate or party, for example a newspaper article might be clearly one sided, making it easier to see the manipulation. Ranking changes are, in theory, undetectable and those searching don’t know that they are only being presented with one side of the story.

“People approach Google from the perspective that what it tells you is unbiased or neutral.  But as a business, that company or any company, will certainly favor some candidates over others – candidates that are good for the business.”

The study was conducted under the auspices of the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology in Vista, California (USA), a non-profit, non-partisan research organization.

Remmy Nweke 

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