Stakeholders at just
ended African Digital Awards (ADA) 2017, have expressed worries over lack of
synergy in the sector to battle cyber-crimes in the country, reports ITRealms.
This is coming as
participants randomly said that Nigeria losses some N127 billion annually to cyber-crimes.
ITRealms reports that ADA is a twin event,
which annually features an award ceremony after an intensive workshop tagged
Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum (NIICF), where critical issues affecting the
industries are assessed and solutions proffered by industry regulators and
stakeholders from the private sector of the industry.
Awardees at this year’s
ADA leg of the event included Most Outstanding Telecoms Company of the
Year which went to MTN Nigeria; Regulator of the Year was clinched by Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), Most Outstanding Government Agency of the Year
grabbed by Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat Ltd.) and away
ICT Woman of the Year won by the due Chief Executive Officers of NIGCOMSAT, Ms
Abimbola Alale and Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Ms Funke Opeke.
Also, the award jury
rated Kunle Azeez of New Telegraph as Most Outstanding ICT Editor of the Year;
former President of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Engr. Bayo Banjo emerged
as Broadcast Personality of the Year; Chief Executive Officer of Teledom Group,
Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, won Broadband Luminary Award; Mr. Babatunde Mo’ Aguda
emerged winner of Youth Innovative Award while Mr. Chris Kehinde Nwandu won
Most Outstanding Online Editor of the Year.
Meanwhile, discussions
at this year’s NIICF forum was around “Broadband Access: the Challenges of
Cyber Security: Threats and Effect on Social Media Era.
While the issue of
cybercrime, in its ramifications is said to be a global phenomenon, the
stakeholders, including the Ministry of Communications, Nigerian Communication
Commission (NCC), Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), MTN,
MainOne, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), among others
were on accord that Nigeria needed to develop a strategy backed with thorough
implementation of the Cybercrime Act, 2015 towards curbing the economic losses.
According to them, in
Nigeria and other countries around the world, the internet has become an
integral part of everyday life and has become a key development index, whose
measurement is taken by development-oriented organisations and agencies.
While noting that there
was no doubt about the positive impact of the internet and its peripheral
technologies in enhancing people’s daily lives, they were also on accord that
Internet has brought about the advent of cybercrimes, which are now threatening
the socio-economic landscape of people across the globe.
Speaking at the forum
recently held at the Oriental Hotel in Lekki, Lagos, Minister of
Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, noted that within a short period of time,
Internet had evolved from being a simple tool for accessing information and
conducting communication and commerce to becoming a significant venue for
social activity and interaction.
He, however, said that
whilst this means better and more convenient services and a boost in the
economy, it also creates a viable avenue for cyber attacks and criminal
activities which could cripple or destabilise the national system. “As the
world increasingly depends on technology and the cyberspace, especially
increasing access to broadband for daily businesses, it gets more and more
insecure.
Yearly, he said
thousands of cybersecurity problems are identified in cyber space and
technologies from known and unknown global actors leaving Internet users vulnerable.
Shittu said
cybersecurity is more than a challenge for government as it poses a huge
obstacle to the country’s digital transformation agenda in social and economy
desired for the country, stressing, however, that the Federal Government has
estimated an annual loss of over N127 billion to cybercrime activities in the
nation, the minister said.
According to him,
“Nigeria has had its fair share of cybercrimes between 2016 and 2017 alone,
stressing that the recession in 2016 brought about numerous attacks targeted at
organisations and individuals.” Noting the most recent targets in Nigeria
were unsuspecting patronisers of ponzi schemes.
“In the wave of
austerity, many people lost money to the said schemes carried out through cyber
platforms and others fell victims to malicious and compromising websites.”
Indeed, in the
electronic payment space, data from the Nigerian Inter-bank settlement Systems
Plc (NIBSS) showed that in the first quarter of this year, over N374 million
was lost to different cases of electronic frauds.
Meanwhile, Executive
Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, explained while development of
regulatory framework for broadband penetration, licensing of infrastructure
service providers, issuance of wireless broadband licence and the offering of
more wireless broadband frequency and services are part of the Commission’s
efforts towards ensuring deepen broadband access, the Commission has been
collaborating with necessary stakeholders in order to work together to also
tackle rising wave of cybercrimes.
“For instance, the
Commission, among others, is partnering with the ITU to establish in Nigeria a
Regional Cybersecurity Centre (RCC) for Africa,” Danbatta said. ‘The centre,
which will be sited in Abuja, will provide support in the area of technical
manpower training, information sharing and other collaborative roles with local
Computer Security Incidence Response Team (CESIRT).”
Also Convener of the
forum, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, said as individuals get exposed to cyber crimes,
“companies are also exposed to the risks in the course of interacting with
their supply chain, partners and customers but all said and done, President of
the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr, Olusola Teniola,
said there was a need for government to create more enabling environment for
service providers and collaborate with them more in order to sanitise the
industry.
Partner, M.A Banire
& Associates, Mr. Kunle Adegoke, stressed the need for effective
implementation of the Cyber Crime Act, 2015, saying “what we need is to be
religious about the implementation and then not lose the sight of the fact that
technology is always ahead of law and ‘so, the law must be subjected to
periodic review and amendments in order to make it relevant at all time no
matter the advancement in technology space.”
Chief Executive Officer,
MainOne, Ms Funke Opeke, who also made a presentation that in capturing the
broadband demand in the country, there was a need to encourage last-mile
transmission of humongous internet bandwidth seating in the shores of Lagos to
the nooks and crannies of the country to ensure wider access to broadband
services. “Also, other challenges relating to multiple taxation, multiple
regulation, vandalism and denial of right of way (RoW) must be addressed,” she
added.
In the same vein, Chief
Executive Officer of NIGCOMSAT, Ms. Abimbola Alale, disclosed that while her
organisation has been collaborating to deploy satellite facilities and
encourage their usage within the country, towards encouraging deeper broadband,
“we are also working day and night o ensure that our broadband services are
secure for Nigerians and beyond.”
Other stakeholders,
who spoke at the event, have emphasized that the fight against
cybercrimes is currently beyond socio-political and economic exigencies, adding
that as broadband access gets deeper, creating wider and unhindered access to
high-speed internet, there is greater need to form strategic partnerships and
collaborative alliances with stakeholders, agencies, organisations and jurisdictions
with the objective of forming a common front to combat the menace of cybercrime
in all its ramification and manifestations in the society.
Nonye Dom/GEE
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