News
Enabling Environment for Nigeria Content Development in the ICT Sector (2)
This summary of the enabling environment and government actions to support it reveals the breadth and complexity of factors that analysts and practitioners have identified as important to putting in place the conditions that can enhance productivity and support content development. However, the table also makes clear that government is not the only actor involved in contributing to an enabling environment. As the governance terminology reflects, societal problem-solving, the production of public goods and social capital formation are not the sole purview of government actors.
Factors that Affect Content Development
Businesses thrive when products and services are produced and finished products marketed profitably. This ensures stock movement, as more goods will be produced and hence healthy return on investment. When the volume of sales is large, then more profit could be made, and some of it ploughed back to research. The product of research into indigenous content, affects content development. Thus any factor that limits the production and profitable marketing of finished goods will impact content development not only in ICT industry but also in other industries. Some of these factors are very apparent while some are opaque. I shall try to list some of them here.
a. Inconsistent Policy
b. Lack of Continuity
c. Infrastructure Development
d. Staffing
e. Finance
f. Multiple Taxation
g. Dumping
h. Lack of Transparency in Government
: Nigeria is a largely a government driven economy, so any hiccup in government affects the ICT industry. A case in point is the ongoing tussle over the over the signing into law the 2008 budget. The country is in a state of economic standstill. This negatively affects all sectors of the economy. Also transparency and accountability in all dealings with government reduces the cost of doing business. : Dumping of subsidised and therefore cheap foreign ICT tools impacts the local ICT industry negatively as a level playing field is lacking. : Multiple taxation from all the tiers of government is stifling return on investment and scaring potential investors. The case of MR. BIGGS and Lagos State Government LAASA is a case in point. Collection of advertisement and Signage fees is constitutionally vested on the Local Governments, but LASG Assembly in her wisdom last year passed a new law vesting it on LAASA – presto the fee became convoluted and quadrupled. : Most financial institutions in Nigeria encourage trade financing instead of investing in the productive sector of the economy – hence they tend toward financing LPOs. Manufacturing industries have long gestation period and thus require long term financing which is rarely available. : We are yet to attain e-workforce hence skills of new employees need to be updated as our institutions do not produce products with requisite skills compatible with the knowledge economy. Considerable resource has to be ploughed into equipping them to be functional. : The decay in the infrastructure in the country is mind bugling. We have to sink our own borehole, generate our own power, bear the brunt of impassable roads with the attendant accelerated wear and tear to vehicles, provide our own security, etc. The list is enormous. Under such conditions our products cannot compete in pricing with products from countries where infrastructure is better. : We are all aware of the reversal of some policies of the previous administration. Though we applaud some of them, especially were some of the transactions were done fraudulently in the first place; but a wrong signal has been sent to both local and foreign investors – your investment in this country may not be safe. : A policy an investor considers favourable for particular industry may lead him to raise capital and invest resources into bringing such industry to fruition after a comprehensive feasibility studies. And in Nigeria, this could be expensive as he has to also invest in so many ancillary sectors that are not directly related to the industry. Any policy reversal may put all in the investment in jeopardy. Leading to great loss. Such an investor will need a lot of convincing to ever venture into any project again in the country.Negative Effects of Such Factors
a. Labour
: No need rehashing that the industry needs skilled force. Educational institutions as presently represented cannot produce the manpower needed in the knowledge economy. So resources are expended to skill these staff.We at Zinox are contributing our own quota in this direction. Zinox:
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Has entered into partnership with Kansas State University in the US to streamline the curricula of two departments in the University of Lagos in line with what obtains in the knowledge economy. The partnership also involves the updating of lecturers skills so that they positively impact their students.
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Has under the Computerise Nigeria Initiative, provided ICT tools to teachers and lecturers of institutions of learning at subsidised prices and favourable payment terms.
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Under the Computerise Nigeria Initiative, the Zinox-Student Computer Ownership Project (Z-Scope) project was conceived to catch the work force young. Under it students are encouraged to own and use computers by providing them with subsidised ICT tools at favourable payment terms.
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Has also under the Computerise Nigeria Initiative been impacting the already employed workforce with by also extending ownership of ICT tools at subsidised rates and favourable payment terms.
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All these initiatives of Zinox involves much expenditure of resources, but the most saddening thing is that we are not encouraged by people defaulting after the initial deposit.
to be continued
We are also encouraging professional associations like NBA, NMA, ICAN, etc to encourage their members to own ICT systems under the terms explained above.
News
Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if Christians continue to be killed, reigniting a sensitive debate over religious violence and foreign intervention in Africa’s most populous nation.

President Donald Trump
Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times, published on Thursday, while responding to questions about a US military strike carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day.
At the time, the US military said the operation targeted Islamic State militants in north-west Nigeria and was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government.
Nigeria, however, described the operation as a joint counterterrorism effort, stressing that it was aimed at armed groups designated as terrorists and “had nothing to do with a particular religion”.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump was quoted as saying. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
Pressed on comments by his own Africa adviser that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram have killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims but insisted that Christians were being targeted disproportionately.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.
Trump has repeatedly raised alarms about the safety of Christians in Nigeria, beginning in late October when he warned that Christianity faced what he described as an “existential threat” in the country. He has accused Nigerian authorities of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and has openly threatened US military intervention if the violence continues.
Nigeria has firmly rejected claims of systematic persecution of Christians. The government maintains that the country’s security challenges are complex and largely driven by insurgency, banditry and criminal violence rather than religious targeting.
With a population of more than 230 million people, Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Christians, who are concentrated mainly in the south, and Muslims, who predominate in the north. Islamist insurgencies, particularly Boko Haram and its offshoots, have plagued parts of northern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands and displacing millions.
Nigerian authorities have repeatedly pointed out that militant attacks have claimed the lives of both Muslims and Christians, arguing that framing the violence along religious lines oversimplifies the crisis and risks inflaming tensions.
Following Trump’s earlier threats, the Nigerian government said it was willing to continue cooperating with Washington in combating terrorism but rejected language suggesting that Christians alone were under threat.
The latest comments are likely to strain diplomatic relations further, as Nigeria balances its partnership with the United States against concerns over sovereignty, security cooperation and the portrayal of its internal conflicts on the global stage.
News
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health

OpenAI maker of ChatGPT is rolling out a health-focused feature to the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that’s used by nearly a billion users.

Named ChatGPT Health, the new feature aims to provide users with health and wellness information. This, as health is one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT, according to OpenAI.
In a blog post, Microsoft-backed OpenAI says de-identified analysis of conversations show that over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.
ChatGPT Health will also “securely” connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations with a user’s own health information, making responses more relevant and useful.
“Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness – while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians.”
According to OpenAI, health information is often scattered across portals, apps, wearables, PDFs, and medical notes making it hard to see the full picture, and people are left to navigate a complex healthcare system on their own.
“ChatGPT Health builds on these so responses are informed by your health information and context. You can now securely connect medical records and wellness apps – like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal – so ChatGPT can help you understand recent test results, prepare for appointments with your doctor, get advice on how to approach your diet and workout routine, or understand the trade-offs of different insurance options based on your healthcare patterns.”
According to the company, ChatGPT Health is designed to support, not replace, medical care, adding that it is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. “Instead, it helps you navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time – not just moments of illness – so you can feel more informed and prepared for important medical conversations.
“To keep your health information protected and secure, Health operates as a separate space with enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data. Conversations in Health are not used to train our foundation models. If you start a health-related conversation in ChatGPT, we’ll suggest moving into Health for these additional protections.”
OpenAI adds that access to ChatGPT Health has started with a small group of early users to learn and continue refining the experience, adding that users with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are eligible.
“As we make improvements, we plan to expand access and make Health available to all users on web and iOS in the coming weeks.
“Medical record integrations and some apps are available in the US only, and connecting Apple Health requires iOS.”
News
Kaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

Kaspersky experts outline how the rapid development of AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape in 2026, both for individual users and for businesses. Large language models (LLMs) are influencing defensive capabilities while simultaneously expanding opportunities for threat actors.

Deepfakes are becoming a mainstream technology, and awareness will continue to grow. Companies are increasingly discussing the risks of synthetic content and training employees to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to it. As the volume of deepfakes grows, so does the range of formats in which they appear.
At the same time, awareness is rising not only within organisations but also among regular users: end consumers encounter fake content more often and better understand the nature of such threats. As a result, deepfakes are becoming a stable element of the security agenda, requiring a systematic approach to training and internal policies.
Deepfake quality will improve through better audio and a lowering barrier to entry. The visual quality of deepfakes is already high, while realistic audio remains the main area for future growth.
At the same time, content generation tools are becoming easier to use: even non-experts can now create a mid-quality deepfake in just a few clicks. As a result, the average quality continues to rise, creation becomes accessible to a far broader audience, and these capabilities will inevitably continue to be leveraged by cybercriminals.
Online deepfakes will continue to evolve but remain tools for advanced users. Real-time face and voice swapping technologies are improving, but their setup still requires more advanced technical skills. Wide adoption is unlikely, yet the risks in targeted scenarios will grow: increasing realism and the ability to manipulate video through virtual cameras make such attacks more convincing.
Efforts to develop a reliable system for labelling AI-generated content will continue. There are still no unified criteria for reliably identifying synthetic content, and current labels are easy to bypass or remove, especially when working with open-source models. For this reason, new technical and regulatory initiatives aimed at addressing the problem are likely to emerge.
Open-weight models will approach top closed models in many cybersecurity-related tasks, which create more opportunities for misuse. Closed models still offer stricter control mechanisms and safeguards, limiting abuse.
However, open-source systems are rapidly catching up in functionality and circulate without comparable restrictions. This blurs the difference between proprietary models and open-source models both of which can be used efficiently for undesired or malicious purposes.
The line between legitimate and fraudulent AI-generated content will become increasingly blurred. AI can already produce well-crafted scam emails, convincing visual identities, and high-quality phishing pages.
At the same time, major brands are adopting synthetic materials in advertising, making AI-generated content look familiar and visually “normal.” As a result, distinguishing real from fake will become even more challenging, both for users and for automated detection systems.
AI will become a cross-chain tool in cyberattacks and be used across most stages of the kill chain. Threat actors already employ LLMs to write code, build infrastructure, and automate operational tasks.
Further advances will reinforce this trend: AI will increasingly support multiple stages of an attack, from preparation and communication to assembling malicious components, probing for vulnerabilities and deploying tools. Attackers will also work to hide signs of AI involvement, making such operations harder to analyse.
“While AI tools are being used in cyberattacks, they are also becoming a more common tool in security analysis and influence how SOC teams work. Agent-based systems will be able to continuously scan infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities, and gather contextual information for investigations, reducing the amount of manual routine work.
“As a result, specialists will shift from manually searching for data to making decisions based on already-prepared context. In parallel, security tools will transition to natural-language interfaces, enabling prompts instead of complex technical queries,” adds Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky.
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