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Prof. Sodiya to Chair 2021 DigitalSENSE Forum on Internet Governance in June
Prof. Adesina Sodiya, President of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) is to preside over the 2021 edition of the Nigeria DigitalSENSE Africa Forum on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D), slated for Thursday, June 10, at the Golden Tulip Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos.
Disclosing this at the weekend in Lagos, the organisers through the Lead Consulting Strategist and Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media inc, Mr. Remmy Nweke, said that this year’s theme will focus on Digital Cooperation: Enhancing Multistakeholders Governance for Digital Economy.
He said that DigitalSENSE Africa is a project of ITREALMS Media group; made up of internationally reputed and award-winning Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry analysts and perception managers; professionally affiliated to African Regional At-Large Organisation (AFRALO) for shaping the future of the Internet.
Also, he said that DigitalSENSE Africa is a certified At-Large Structure (ALS) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and is excited to have president of the Nigeria Computer Society, Prof. Sodiya to preside the 12th edition of its forum series on Internet Governance for Development.
Nweke went on to say that Prof. Adesina Sodiya is a fellow of NCS and member of the Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) and would be giving a speech at the 2021 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum on Internet Governance for Development on “Computing for Enhanced Multistakeholder Governance for Digital Economy.”
Professor Sodiya possess B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science as well as Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and was invited as a fellow of United Nation University (UNU) in conjunction with International Institute of Software Technology (IIST) in 2004 for a 4-month study and research fellowship at University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
He started his work experience as a System Analyst/ Programmer at Microboss International Limited, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos State from December 1993 to January 1995. He continued his career as the Senior System Analyst at the Bursary Department in the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State. In September 2001, he became an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. In May 2004, he became Lecturer II in the Department of Computer Science, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. He rose and became a Professor on 1st of October, 2015 in the same department.
He changed his research focus to Information Security in year 2000 as a Ph.D student. He later became the pioneer researcher in the field of Intrusion Detection in Nigeria. Apart from information security, he is also interested in the applications of data mining in solving real life problems, building decision support systems and big data analytics. Sodiya presently is working on cyber security planning and management, adaptive IRS, hierarchical access control architecture, authentication systems and generally improving the security of enterprise network. He has also conducted high quality research in applied IT and innovative systems.
He was the Chairman of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Ogun State Chapter from January 2009 to 2013. In July 2011, he became a national executive member of NCS, where he served as the Chairman, Publications, Standards, Research and Development Committee. Between 2011 to 2013, he has served as a member of Conferences Committee and Education and Manpower Committee. From 2013 to 2015, he served as the Chairman, Education and Manpower Development Committee of Nigeria Computer Society. He was a CPN Council member from 2013 to 2015, where he served as the Chairman, Public Relation and Corporate Affairs Committee of CPN. He also served as a member of several Ad-hoc Committees such as Committee on the Review of the Draft IT Bill and Cybersecurity Bill, Committee on Automation of the Secretariat and so on.
He is a fellow of Nigeria Computer Society; and a member of Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN) and International Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE). He is also a member of two technical committees of International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) – ICT and Education TC-3 and Security and Privacy Protection in Information Processing Systems (TC-11). ). He is also a member of Global Commission for the Stability of Cyberspace. He is the current Ogun State Technical Adviser for Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Sodiya has taught at all levels of education (Primary, Secondary, undergraduate and postgraduate levels). He has adequate and comprehensive experience in teaching and research in Computer Science/IT. He has also been involved in some educational programmes like curriculum development, accreditation of programmes in tertiary institutions, external examination and so on. As Chairman, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Ogun State Chapter, he introduced some educational programmes such as annual IT development summit for students in all tertiary institutions in Ogun State, IT Education on Radio for all members of the public; and capacity building training for members and teachers in primary and secondary schools.
Some of the recent prizes won by Prof. Sodiya are 2010 IGI Global’s fourth annual excellence in Research Journal Award for Best Article and 2011 TWAS-AAS-MICROSFT Award for outstanding Computer Science researcher living and working in Africa and also won several leadership, excellence in research and professional awards.
Prof. Sodiya has served in various university committees such as Curriculum, Sport, Investigation, Promotion Assessment Panels, etc. He has made presentations in quite a number of national and international conferences. Sodiya’s publications in the field of Computer Science and Information Security include 45 journal articles and 25 edited conference proceedings. His publications are well cited all over the world. He has supervised 15 M.Sc and 5 Ph.D students.
Sodiya served as the acting Head of Department, Computer Science, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta between 2013 and 2015. He is an external examiner (undergraduate and postgraduate) to many tertiary institutions. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Computer Science and its Applications between August, 2011 and July, 2013. He is the current Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Information Security, Privacy and Digital Forensic.
In June 2015, he was elected as the Vice-President / Vice-Chairman of Council, CPN. He served as the President, Information Technology Systems and Security Professionals (ITSSP) between 2015 and 2019.
Pan African Towers (PAT), a Nigerian infrastructure provider serving 9mobile and Spectranet, has appointed Echezona Osi as chief executive officer.
Echezona Osi
Adefolarin Ogunsanya, company’s, board chairman, explained in a statement that Osi would succeed Oladipo Badru, whose tenure lasted nine months in acting CEO position. Osi has more than 28 years of experience in the telecommunications sector across various regions of Africa.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, he had served as the head of network deployment at Airtel Nigeria, operations director and chief technical information officer at MIC Tanzania, chief technology officer roles at IPT PowerTech Nigeria, Rhino Niger Networks and Biswal Nigeria.
He obtained a degree in electrical/ electronic engineering from the University of Benin and a postgraduate diploma in data science and business analytics from the University of Texas.
Companies sending bulk international text messages, also known as Application-to-Person (A2P) messages, will now have apply for a licence that costs N10 million.
This is part of new rules introduced by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) aimed at cleaning up the system, fighting fraud, blocking spam messages and stopping money from leaving the country unchecked.
These A2P messages are the kind customers get from banks, online stores, hospitals and political campaigns, automated texts sent from apps to their phones.
According to the commission, the bulk international text message system has been poorly regulated, allowing misuse and invasion of privacy.
“The International SMS Service Ecosystem in Nigeria has not been fully brought under regulatory control. It has been observed that the excessive use of the Short Message Service has led to fraud, spam and illegal activities,” the NCC said.
The regulator warned that without action, the problem would worsen as more people use mobile phones and digital services.
To solve this, the NCC is creating a central platform, or gateway, through which all international bulk text messages must pass through.
The agency said this would help to monitor messages in real time, ensure proper fees are paid, and make sure the money stays in Nigeria where it can contribute to the economy.
As part of the incoming change, service providers must follow strict rules, including strong data protection, spam filters, and message encryption.
Also, they must also work with local mobile networks and make sure all messages come from a verified sender
The NCC warned that any message without a proper sender ID will be blocked and not delivered to users.
To protect users from unwanted texts, the new rules say companies must get clear permission before sending any promotional content.
The rule also says people must also be able to choose whether they want to receive such messages or not.
Companies are now required to keep records of all messages for at least six months and must clearly state all charges involved.
The NCC said fees for help requests, cancellations, or service info must be transparent and not include hidden charges.
The commission will issue licences to several providers to encourage healthy competition but may limit new licences if needed.
Only companies that show they can stop fraud and safely deliver messages will be allowed to operate. They must also regularly report their message traffic and finances to the NCC.
It warned that any company that breaks the rules risks getting fined, suspended, or having its licence revoked.
Offences like charging illegal tariffs, ignoring security rules, or avoiding taxes will be punished, the NCC said.
The commission added that the new rules follow the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023 and support the federal government’s goal of strengthening cybersecurity and controlling Nigeria’s digital space.
The framework will also be reviewed from time to time to keep up with new technology and market trends.
MTN Nigeria has launched what it claims is the country’s largest prefabricated modular data centre, marking a bold push into the country’s fast-growing cloud market and taking aim at global giants such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.
The shift comes as demand for cloud services in Nigeria soars — driven by the uptake of mobile apps, fintech tools and e-learning platforms — while foreign providers have become costlier in the wake of the naira’s sharp devaluation.
“This is one of the biggest data centres in West Africa and probably one of the biggest in Africa,” said Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.
He described the new Tier III-certified facility, with locally hosted cloud services, as “transformative for the technology ecosystem in Nigeria and very supportive of the federal government’s agenda”.
MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecoms provider, has so far invested $120m in the first phase, delivering an IT load of 4.5MW. A second phase, set to double capacity to 9MW, is budgeted at $135m.
“We already have data centres that are running our existing capacities,” Toriola said.
“We will go to 9MW in short order, possibly 14MW, and we can expand even further.”
He said the facility would allow local hosting for tech developers, large enterprises including banks and oil companies, and government agencies — markets long dominated by foreign cloud providers.
“Multinational companies such as Netflix, Facebook and Instagram can also host a lot of their data here. That improves the quality of service and reduces the cost of storage,” he added.
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