E-Business
IBM Helps Ekiti State Improve Governance, Education Capabilities
A team of IBM specialists completing a month-long pro bono consulting assignment yesterday presented recommendations to Ekiti State Government (EKSG) for strategies that will improve its efficiency and engagement with citizens.
The team also completed projects and plans that will make students and administrators at some of the state’s universities more productive and successful.
The 15-person IBM team, hailing from 10 countries, was the sixth group since 2009 to provide assistance to Nigeria as part of IBM’s Corporate Service Corps, which provides problem-solving assistance to educational institutions, small businesses, non governmental organizations, and governmental agencies in emerging markets.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti State Governor, personally thanked IBM team members at a ceremony marking the project’s completion.
He said, “Our partnership with IBM will be a crucial performance enabler and game changer for Ekiti State, as effective application of information and communication technology will certainly help our state build a more accountable system. The collective vision of my administration for Ekiti State is to create a society that everyone will be proud of. We must eradicate poverty and develop the human capital we are known for.”
Working with the state’s Bureau of Infrastructure and Public Utilities, the IBM team suggested the establishment of an inter-governmental paperless system for official documents, making it easier to share information and collaborate internally.
Externally, the team developed a blueprint for a system to make it easier for citizens to obtain information. Transparency and accountability were the themes underpinning these projects.
IBM also reviewed the Internet and computing technology assets of the Ekiti State Ministry of Education and and state-owned University of Ado-Ekiti, where the IBM team worked on databases and Web sites that will make promotional, student and administrative information more readily available and shareable.
IBM’s work will make it easier for the state to work with non governmental organizations such as the New Initiative for Sustainable Development, which promotes the effective use of technology in the academic, commercial and public sectors.
“Technology combined with sound management strategies have the power to unlock underdevelopment and boost economic activities in many ways,” said Taiwo Otiti, IBM’s Country General Manager for West Africa.
“IBM’s intention is to assist the people and government of Ekiti State to lay a solid foundation for future growth and the enhancement of its human development programs and initiatives.”
Ekiti is one of Nigeria’s 36 states. About two-thirds of its population of 2.5 million is involved in agriculture, producing a variety of cash and food crops, including, timber, cocoa, coffee, citrus fruits, and vegetables.
“Putting People First” is the theme of the EKSG’s 2010 – 2014 fiscal blueprint, which aims to to ensure that efficient management of the state’s natural and human resources yields social and economic dividends.
Previous IBM Corporate Service Corps teams in Calabar, Cross River State and Abuja have worked on government projects for education, healthcare, finance, poverty eradication, forestry research and electric power policy.
IBM’s Corporate Service Corps provides access to sophisticated expertise to help improve local conditions, enhance government services, and foster job creation.
Team members, who are among IBM’s top talent, offer skills in areas that include information technology, research, marketing, finance, consulting, human resources and law.
Africa is a significant focus for the initiative. Since 2008, IBM’s Corporate Service Corps has deployed more than 500 IBM employees on 50 teams to South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, and Egypt. Worldwide, more than 2,000 IBMers from 50 countries have participated in Corporate Service Corps, deploying completing more than 700 assignments in 30 countries.
Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.
The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.
In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.
Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.
Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.
China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.
The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.
It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.
Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.
Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.
Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.
A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.
“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.
Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.
Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.
It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.
Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.
According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.
NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”
The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.
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