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SCCI@10: Sidmach Welcomes Pupils On Software Dev ‘Hands-On’ Experience Tour
By peter oluka
Schools Computer Club Initiative’s (SCCI) has continued its bid to build up student/pupil experts as the workforce of future advancement for tomorrow’s information and computer technology.
The team recently led pupils from different schools in Lagos on excursion at Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited as it seeks to ensure school pupils’ acquisition of computer skills, exposure to a real IT world through seminar, workshops, and exhibitions.
Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek while leading team to Sidmach, as part of activities to mark SCCI’s tenth anniversary, Mr. Adesina Adewale, the president, said that they are keen to ‘impose’ professional responsibilities on school IT team leaders, build self esteem for members, and motivate young growing children to embrace the appropriate use of the computer.
Adewale said that the big picture behind SCCI was to develop technology innovators ‘Technnovators’ who will eventually become technology entrepreneurs, developing solutions to solve the nation’s multifaceted challenges.
He said, “We hear about the likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, and other technnovators who today are big entrepreneurs. Today, Microsoft, for example has become a household name world over; people are using the products of Microsoft daily, ranging from the development of animation, games, office allocation to the point of using thee cloud.
“It is part of reasons we brought the students on tour of Sidmach Technologies. So, we are passionate about ‘catching them young’, right from primary and secondary schools, such that on graduation they don’t keep hoping on a non-existing white collar job. They are been positioned to develop the entrepreneurial mindset.
Speaking Achievements in the Last 10 Years:
“We started this advocacy in 2007. what inspired us was a speech by Professor Charles Uwadia, who happens to be the current President/Chairman in Council of CPN. At that year’s conference he charged us to develop the students at the secondary school levels to the point they can stand out and develop solutions/platforms that meet societal needs.
“Since then, we have been developing students in primary and secondary schools to the point many of them are interested in taking up careers in IT which is called the Nigerian Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS).
“We have some who have passed through Sidmach Technologies either during industrial training/ attachment or internship programmes. We have some of them who can develop games, others- animations; we have others who can develop browsers and other solutions that can meet the need of the society.
Hopeful About the Future of the Students:
“Following our activities in the last 10 years, we are hopeful that technnovators and techpreneurs will be developed from these students. Invariably, we are reducing the problem of unemployment in the country. We are hopeful that these students will be able to meet the needs of our communities.
Why Choice of Sidmach
“Recently, we had training at the University of Lagos (Unilag); we had a ‘hands-on’ session. In IT, it is always imperative to marry the academic and the industry ideas to have a robust solution or platform. So, it is a combination of the gown and the town. At times we develop curriculum that fails to meet the needs of the society.
“Therefore, we have to find means of bringing the academic knowledge to bear in the industry practice. This excursion has accorded the students opportunity to meet software developers at Sidmach. The Company has done so much in the software for JAMB, WAEC, even in the oil and gas industry. They have the smart school solution too. So, we are here to let the students appreciate what is happening in the industry so that upon graduation it wouldn’t be all new terrain to them. That’s why we choose Unilag, representing the academic environment and now Sidmach Technologies, a leading indigenous software development firm.
Also, in a chat with Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, Mr. Jide Awe, chairman, Conferences at Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), said that such programmes that allow hands-on experience, are critical in building the future of the youths. “We are already in a knowledge-led economy showing more digital processes. We don’t want to continue as consumers, therefore, we must train our children on 21st Century skills- programming, application development, so they will not be disadvantaged. Already, a lot of countries (developed) are ahead of us. Thank God some of the kids have access to the resources they can use; what we now need are initiatives as Schools Computer Club Initiative (SCCI) to provide guidance. The essence is to ensure the students do no use those things for wasteful ventures”.
“The significance of exposing the students to industrial operations,” Awe added, “is that, it is one thing to learn to program or build software, however, it is important to know how it is being done; which is more encouraging to the students who have seen how this Company operates daily, especially in developing the software. It is a sort of career enlightenment to them. It gives them a practical feel of what it takes to be a programmer in a theoretical and practical sense. They were not on tour of a foreign firm and the reason was to inculcate the spirit of patriotism; we can develop solutions to the challenges we face in the country and even ship the solutions to other nations”.
He urged the students to make best use of knowledge acquired during the visit at Sidmach which was set up by entrepreneurs. “It must be stressed that Sidmach was established by entrepreneurs. They (the students) too can become IT entrepreneurs”, he charged them.
On Schools Computer Club Initiative (SCCI) at 10, the Chairman NCS Conferences, described the platform as a commendable initiative that should be encouraged; “that is why NCS and CPN have always been part of it. The Initiative has had its ups and downs, but it is here to stay. We really have to encourage them, because the issue at stake deals directly with the future of our children”.
Legacy Sidmach Is Leaving Behind For Next Generation,
Mr. Olayemi Oladiran, head, Sales & Marketing, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, while addressing the students, said he was quite impressed to see them, especially with the capabilities they have shown, even as younger ages. “They are already coding. It gives me the confidence the next generation will do better than we have done”.
“We don’t mind any one of them working for Sidmach. Obviously, we have a standard and of course it is going to be the best that will take in it. For those that have the vision, I will encourage them to work hard to excel in what they do. Importantly, they should not have employee mentality. Rather a mentality that can tell them- look I can develop a prototype software solution that I can take to the market. So, they should not limit themselves.
Partnership with OEMs
He said they are partnering with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) We do have such as HP, Microsoft and Sophos to build dependable solutions that address student’s e-learning challenges.
“We support them; to get them achieve their best. We support their dreams and aspirations. Whatever we need to do, that we shall do to provide encouragement and enabling environment to fan up their dreams”, he pledged.
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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