News
IT Professionals Still Missing In Modified National Confab List
Members of the national information and communication professionals are still conspicuously missing from the list of delegates to the proposed National Conference.
The inauguration of the National Conference will hold on Monday, March 17 at the National Judicial Institute (Along Airport Road,), Abuja, beginning from 4.30 pm.
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Thursday made adjustments to the delegates list, by way of “updates, changes and adjustments”.
The modifications, as announced in a statement signed by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, are as follows: Elder Statesmen, Dr. Kunle Olajide from Ekiti State replaces Chief Afe Babalola, SAN.
Traditional Rulers: His Royal Highness, Alhaji Ibrahim Yaro, the Etsu of Bwari replaces His Royal Highness, Alhaji Ismail Danlami Mohammed, Sarki of Karshi on the request of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria.
Women Groups (National Council of Women Societies): Mrs. Millicent Okoronkwo replaces Mrs. Love Ezema on the request of the National Council of Women Societies of Nigeria.
Political Parties (APGA): The nomination of Chief Chris Ejike Uche and Dr. Sagir Auwal Maidoya to represent APGA is withdrawn to allow the Party resolve the issue of its nominees.
Socio-Political/Cultural and Ethnic Nationality Groups: South West Geo-Political Zone- Prince Rabiu Oluwa replaces Supo Sonibare, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle replaces Barr. Niyi Akintola, SAN whose nameis retained in the Oyo State delegates list, among other changes and addendum.
However, the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) had express dismay over the nonchalant attitude of the conference conveyors who excluded IT professionals from the list.
NCS believes that the discussions on the future of the nation cannot be complete without IT applications.
Professor David Adewumi, president of the Society, told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek exclusively, that the exclusion of IT professionals should be a source of worry to every right thinking Nigerian.
He said it was puzzling that IT professionals are missing from the list which recognized students and market women.
Adewunmi said: “On the national conference, our perception in NCS is that the exclusion of IT professionals in the composition of delegates is a clear indication of marginalization of the industry by the government. That is why they never thought of including the all important agents of change; the present and future drivers of the economy.
“No gathering in the 21st Century, particularly those aiming at development and improvement of the lives of individuals, which will not involve the IT, technology and the professionals. I wouldn’t know the thinking in the government that made them to push the professionals to the background. We are still insisting that we should be part of the gathering; so that we can add impetus to the gathering, by looking at building IT for our future existence.
“They involved professionals drawn from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), others from among architectural body in the country. Students and market women made part of the list. We are using this medium to call on President Goodluck Jonathan to reconsider its position so that IT professionals can be represented on the national conference. We know that with IT being reflected on the national course a number of innovations and usage will reflect in building the future we crave for as a unified people,” he said.
“Should IT professionals not being recognized or engaged on the discussion, the implication for the country will not be palatable, in the sense that no country can survive today without a working IT ecosystem. I am sure the intention of the government is to ensure that all facet of the economy are improved upon. The improvement entails inter-tribal relationships, inter-ethnic and even inter-governmental, and then it should be inclusive. If we want to involve everybody without the IT, the implication may assume than what we are seeing today,” he argued.
Meanwhile, Anyim Pius Anyim, secretary general of the Federation while releasing the modified list comprising 492 delegates also announced that Invited to attend the inauguration ceremony are former presidents and heads of state; the leadership of political parties; members of the National Assembly; state governors; Hon. members of the Judiciary; members of the Federal Executive Council; members of the Diplomatic Corps; religious Leaders; and traditional Rulers.
Presidents John Dramani Mahama of Ghana and Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria have celebrated the Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., on the occasion of his 72nd birthday.
In congratulatory messages, both leaders praised Dr. Adenuga’s outstanding contributions to the economic development and growth of both Ghana and Nigeria. They commended his remarkable entrepreneurial spirit, resilience, and commitment to excellence.
President Mahama described Dr. Adenuga’s life as “a shining example of vision, resilience, and extraordinary accomplishment.” He noted that through his entrepreneurial endeavors, Dr. Adenuga has not only built enduring businesses but also contributed significantly to the socio-economic advancement of the African continent.
He noted that Dr. Adenuga’s leadership and philanthropic endeavour remain a beacon of inspiration for generations across Africa.
Also President Tinubu stated that Dr. Adenuga’s humility and diligence have enabled him to succeed in various sectors, including banking, telecommunications, oil, and gas. He praised Dr. Adenuga’s innovative approach to business, citing Globacom’s pioneering per-second billing, which expanded telephony and digital access to millions of Nigerians.
“In addition, Conoil has proven that an indigenous firm can compete with international oil companies, fostering energy independence and security for our country.” He added.
President Tinubu who expressed the gratitude of Nigerians to Dr. Adenuga for his immense contributions to the country’s progress and prosperity, also commended him for extending his investments to other African countries and Europe, “a bold effort which earned you well-deserved honours as Commander of the Legion of Honour (France) and Ghana’s Companion of the Star of Ghana”.
Most online services and apps require the user to create a password. Chances are many of those passwords are not being used daily and due to this overabundance, there’s a high probability that many of the passwords are being reused.
Poor password management is compounded by a reliance on common combinations of names, dictionary words and numerals. Not only are these passwords relatively easy to decipher, but if a cybercriminal gains access to a password on one site, that could result in access to a plethora of other sites.
People are urged to create unique, random passwords to counter the vulnerability posed by using the same password multiple times. However, password creation and management can be an arduous task.
To tackle the burden of password creation and management, people might be tempted to use large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Llama or DeepSeek to generate their passwords.
The appeal is clear. Rather than struggling to come up with a strong password, users can simply ask AI, “Generate a secure password” and get an instant result.
AI produces strings that look random, which helps avoid the human tendency to create predictable, dictionary-based passwords. But appearances can be deceptive, AI-generated passwords may not be as secure as they appear.
Alexey Antonov, Data Science Team Lead at Kaspersky, tested this by generating 1,000 passwords using some of the more prominent and trusted LLMs including ChatGPT (from OpenAI), Llama (model from Meta group), DeepSeek (newcomer from China).
“All of the models are aware that a good password consists of at least 12 characters, including uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. They report this when generating passwords,” says Antonov.
“In practice, though, the algorithms often neglected to insert a special character or digits into the password: 26% of passwords for ChatGPT, 32% for Llama and 29% for DeepSeek. While DeepSeek and Llama sometimes generated passwords shorter than 12 characters.”
In 2024, Alexey Antonov developed a machine learning algorithm to test password strength and found that almost 60% of passwords can be cracked in under an hour using modern GPUs or cloud-based cracking tools.
When applied to AI-generated passwords, the results were alarming, they were far less secure than they appeared: 88% of DeepSeek and 87% of Llama generated passwords were not strong enough to withstand attack from sophisticated cyber criminals. While ChatGPT did a little better with 33% of passwords not strong enough to pass the Kaspersky test.
“The problem is LLMs don’t create true randomness. Instead, they mimic patterns from existing data, making their outputs predictable to attackers who understand how these models work,” notes Antonov.
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has introduced a crowd-sourcing initiative aimed at providing more accurate statistical information and data to policymakers and the general public.
According to a statement issued by Folorunso Alesanmi, head of Public Relations, the initiative, which commenced several months ago, involves compiling daily price data from a wide range of sources.
These include open markets, supermarkets, neighbourhood shops, bulk and discount stores, street outlets, and large retail shops.
Data collection has been conducted across all 36 States, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and every senatorial district.
However, the Bureau clarified that price data gathered through crowd-sourcing differs from the data used in computing the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
While CPI data is collected at specific, pre-determined outlets during the second and third weeks of each month, crowd-sourced price data is gathered randomly from different respondents daily.
By leveraging the power of crowd-sourcing, the Bureau has been able to gather a vast amount of data that offers a more nuanced picture of price trends in the economy.
“We are thrilled to release our first price data compiled through crowd-sourcing. This initiative represents a major step forward in our efforts to harness the power of technology and innovation to improve the quality and timeliness of our statistical data,” said Prince Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran, Statistician-General of the Federation and NBS CEO.
The newly released data offers insights into the prices of essential food items commonly consumed by Nigerians, such as local rice, white beans, white maize, garri, yam, and more. It provides a daily snapshot of food costs.
The NBS plans to update this data on a daily basis, offering entrepreneurs, policymakers, and researchers a valuable tool for monitoring price fluctuations and making informed decisions.
The data is accessible to the public through a dedicated dashboard, where users can view, analyze, and download it in real-time—enhancing transparency and accessibility.
“To this end, the agency has implemented a range of quality control measures, including data validation and verification processes, to ensure that the data is reliable and trustworthy,” the statement added.
The release of this crowd-sourced price data underscores the NBS’s commitment to innovation and collaboration.
By working with citizens and embracing technology, the Bureau aims to provide more timely and accurate statistics to drive economic growth and development
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