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NITDA, Mastercard to Collaborate to Improve Data Protection & Cyber Security Ecosystem

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R-l Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) with the representatives of Mastercard, Ebehijie Momoh, Country Manager, West Africa, and George Owuor, Director Public Policy, Sub-Saharan Africa.
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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) as one of the key implementers of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria, coupled with an ambitious target of achieving 95% of digital literacy by 2030, is forging more partnerships and initiating different developmental programmes and projects geared towards achieving the stated target.

To this end, the Agency will collaborate with Mastercard to host a training workshop with representatives from the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) and NITDA on Cyber Security and Data Protection.

Receiving the Mastercard delegation in his office, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, the Director General of the Agency, said: “To ignite digital innovation activities in the country, relevant partnerships would be necessary as the Federal Government is not relenting in its efforts of creating an enabling environment to attract local and foreign investors which would in turn trigger the exponential growth of the sector and the Nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).”

The NITDA Boss, while highlighting the Agency’s Virtual Academy – a massive open platform for online courses where Nigerians can go and learn at their own pace and also get digital certificates – informed the Mastercard delegates that in addition to exploring possible cooperation in the stated area, the Agency would like to engage with multinational corporations towards training about one million indigenous ICT professionals  in order to fast track the creation of some digital services Nigerians currently need.

“We know globally there is shortage of talents and Africa is the next frontier because we have the youngest population… so everybody’s looking at Africa to provide the talent.”

Kashifu, who expressed worry over the low number of key professionals in the field of programming, which has impacted negatively on the Nigerian market, said that there is a need to grow the ecosystem and compete with other countries that are outsourcing professionals to most of the big tech companies.

“I believe we cannot succeed in isolation. That’s why we won’t work in silos. We need to work together so that we can see the impact and harness the full potential.”

Ebihijie Momoh, Country Manager and Area Head for Mastercard, West Africa who was accompanied by George Owuor, Director of Public Policy for Mastercard, Sub-Saharan Africa, spoke with the DG about a planned data protection and cybersecurity workshop to be held in May in collaboration with NITDA. Momoh said this engagement would help to build data protection and cybersecurity capabilities in the country.

On his part, Owuor affirmed the corporation’s readiness to support NITDA in achieving its mandate, particularly as it relates to the Agency’s Digital Literacy (Capacity Building) in the Seven Pillars of the Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP- 2021-2024).

According to Owuor, the forthcoming workshop will be beneficial to not just NDPB, but the spectrum of the digital value chain.


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Presidents Mahama, Tinubu Honor Dr. Mike Adenuga on 72nd Birthday

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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”.

 


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Firm Warns Against AI Password Generation @ World Password Day

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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.

 


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NBS Unveils Crowd-Sourcing Initiative for Accurate Statistical Data

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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.

NBS Unveils Crowd-Sourcing Initiative for Accurate Statistical Data

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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