E-Business
UniAbuja, NITDA Inspire Students on Robotics Technology
University of Abuja played host to hundreds of Students at the Inaugural FIRST® LEGO® League Competition to stimulate the use of Technology in Education among young students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Technology offers opportunities to stimulate growth, increase innovation and enable individuals and institutions to interact more productively within the global economy.
The visionary leadership of Professor Michael Umale Adikwu, vice-chancellor of the University, whose interest in stimulating young students’ interest in Science and Technology is effusive, upon realizing the possibilities require the need to put technology at the core and also as a part of a mix of productive changes and supporting capabilities, offered supports to the organizers.
The FLL program is a global initiative of a US organisation FIRST® and® LEGO® the Educational toys giant.
The program has an Abuja Based NGO Coderina Education & Technology Foundation as its Regional Operational Partner.
FIRST® LEGO® League, an innovation and robotics program, designed to get children excited about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and teach them valuable employment and life skills.
What is interesting about the FLL, and that which sets it apart from every other robotics program, is that it encompasses other elements such as Project where kids carry out actual research work to find innovative solutions to real life issues and it also hems-in Core Values – making kids responsible individuals as well as team players.
With such problems as a growing world population and limited resources as well as an increasing need for energy and the threats of pollution, there is no shortage of problems for engineers to solve.
However, as the number of challenges the world faces is on the rise at a tremendous rate, the number of educated people required to solve these problems must also increase at a tremendous rate.
Unfortunately, that is not happening; simply, the engineering profession is not supplying the number of professionals that the world requires.
But, the Coderina Day held recently at UniAbuja proved to be a defining date in the lives of hundreds of students around the FCT who turned up to compete in the inaugural FIRST® LEGO® League program at the University library.
According to Mr. Olajide Ajayi, a director at Coderina, “FIRST is a unique program that brings together five constituencies: the business community, professional engineers, high school administrators and teachers, universities, and the high school students. You’ve got all five constituencies, working together for the same common goal, and it is very special.”
He added that choice of the location, a newly built ultra-modern library, will forever have a historical significance to the CODERINA team as well as the host University.
“It went down as the first ever event to be held at the venue and also marks the first Abuja FLL regional. The students were entertained and feted. The choice of having the event at a University cannot be overemphasized as it serves to inspire the young students to aspire to higher education.
“Since the mission of FIRST is to inspire students to learn, there exists a symbiotic relationship between FIRST and engineering colleges and universities. In short, FIRST excites students and universities educate students.
“The event at Abuja followed another hugely successful one that took place at the indoor sports hall of the University of Lagos on the 14th of March.
“After only 8 weeks from the time the annual challenge is announced and teams receive their kit of parts to begin to carry out their research on a chosen topic relative to the annual theme, design, test and build their robots, teams enter a regional event where they compete with other teams.
“These competitions are wildly exciting, energetic and motivating. They have been described as ‘part robot-festival, part music-concert and all around fun.’”
Teams from seven Public/Government Schools, University of Abuja Staff School and four private Schools made up the 12 competing teams with each team parading ten team members and two mentors.
Teams were registered and presented with T-shirts with logos of sponsors FLL, SAP, NITDA, Coderina and the host, University of Abuja to wear for the event.
The competition started in earnest with a recital of the national anthem and a brief speech on what to expect during the day. Teams were handed am coordinators to direct them to each of the judging rooms for Project, Core values and robot design. While judging was going on the DJ supplied music to the large arena as students, parents, Stem Ambassadors and all present merry.
After the completion of judging the stage was set for the Robot game: a spectator sport for all to witness.
Three representatives of each team were called to each of the practice tables to finalise their preparation prior to moving to the main tables to compete and showcase what they have been able to do over the 8-week period.
They have worked assiduously on building robots and programming them to carry out designated missions on the thematic table.
After three rigorous rounds, two teams, NITDA Techno Group and NITDA Spiders emerged to compete in a best of 2 rounds finals.
With the finals concluded and a review of results of other components (project, robot game, robot design and core values.) by the head judge, Judge Advisor and the Lead judges.
They unanimously crowned the NITDA Techno Group as the overall champion.
Mr. Audu Sheidu, principal of University of Abuja International Secondary School got a special mention for his high level of interest and motivation of his students in getting them involved in the program.
The research project threw up some interesting topics e.g. “Teaching young girls about the ills and effects of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)” by Great Heights Academy and the “effects of Deforestation on the Society” by Students of the Government Secondary School Area 10 Abuja.
Other awards recipients include NITDA Spiders (Great Heights Academy Abuja) – Gracious Professionalism; NITDA Lion (Hillside School Abuja) – Robot Tech; NITDA Techno Group (Tudunwada Secondary School) – Robot Performance; NITDACrown (University of Abuja International School) – Judges Award; NITDA Crystallite (Government Secondary School Area 10 Abuja) – Project Award; Outstanding Volunteer Award went to Bello Saliu of Government Secondary School Area 10 Abuja and Outstanding Coordinator Award – Mrs Bankole of Banky’s School.
Ajayi said, “The true spirit of these competitions is not the outcome of the matches, but rather the purpose of the activity. ‘What is celebrated at FIRST is not who can gather the most points during a competition, but rather which teams can best inspire and motivate youth to pursue studies and careers in technology.’ Simply put what the Students learn over the course of the program would be more than what they win.
“It is pertinent to note that, during the course of the program and tournaments, FLL teams demonstrate gracious professionalism through their respect for each other, courtesy, sportsmanship and best behaviour at all times. As enthused by the team at FIRST “By celebrating technology and providing a forum to promote engineers as role models, theculture of the participants is changed. And, who knows, the culture of our society may change as well.” These are the Core Values of the FLL Program”
The event had in attendance some special dignitaries including Professor Mashi, deputy vice chancellor of University of Abuja, Yelwa representing NITDA, Representatives of FCT Universal Basic Education and the Secondary Education Boards, Principals/Administrator of some of the participating schools, Parents and a host of others.
“In the 2015 FIRST® LEGO® League TRASH TREKSM Challenge, 290,000 children ages 9 to 16* from over 80 countries will explore the fascinating world of trash.
From collection, to sorting, to smart production and reuse, there is more to your trash than meets the eye.
“Join FIRST LEGO League teams on a Trash Trek to discover the hidden (or not so hidden) world of trash!” Ajayi urged the Nigerian IT community.
He added that school administrators, State and Federal Ministries of Education are encouraged to embrace this initiative geared towards helping to shape the future of education in Nigeria.
Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of Interior, has announced the launch of an Online Visa Approval Center to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and reduce corruption in the visa application process.
Commissioned by the President in December, the new system ensures that applicants no longer need to visit a visa office, know anyone in the system, or lobby for approvals.
At a stakeholders’ sensitisation workshop on the implementation of the Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) 2025, yesterday in Abuja, Dr. Tunji-Ojo said the visa is considered a very important document by the government because it is an instrument of migration management and an instrument of economic development.
The minister explained that Nigeria has to strike a delicate balance between national security and, of course, the ease of migration.
“And we think that it’s something that we can do and something we will do.
“We don’t have a physical Visa Approval Center. If you apply for a Nigerian visa anywhere in the world, you do so online. We process it here in Nigeria, and if approved, you receive your e-visa in your email,” he explained.
To enhance efficiency, the government has set a 48-hour deadline for processing e-visas.
“It is unprofessional and unacceptable for the Nigeria Immigration Service not to approve or provide feedback within 48 hours,” the minister stated.
“It breaks my heart that people need to lobby to even get visas to Nigeria. It shouldn’t be so. It shouldn’t be.
“For anybody that is qualified, for anybody that wants to do legitimate activities in Nigeria, such people should be able to come to Nigeria easily. And this is why we are opening our space. Mr. President is interested in foreign direct investments.”
Further, he said Nigeria is interested in partnering with the rest of the world to develop its economy but, “We can’t do that when we allow bottlenecks to hold us down. So these reforms, basically, are aimed at opening our space, enhancing national security, and we hope that the primary responsibilities of the visa scheme will be achieved.”
Kemi Nandap, controller general, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), said the NIS would fully digitize its e-visa platform and reduce visa classifications from 79 to 44 to enhance accessibility, transparency, and efficiency in the new visa policy.
She said, “At the core of this policy is the new e-visa platform—a fully digitized, centralized system that revolutionizes how foreign nationals interact with our country’s entry procedures. As part of this transformation, the Nigerian Visa Policy 2024 underwent a comprehensive review, resulting in a significant reduction in visa classifications from 79 to 44.
“These categories have been logically grouped to simplify procedures, reduce complexities, and greatly improve the user experience. Importantly, we have maintained the original purpose and intent of each visa class throughout this reform.”
Mr. Takao Shimokawa, director general, Economic Development Department at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has visited the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to discuss the forthcoming launch of the Nigeria-Japan Startup Hub Project.
Mr. Dejo Olawunmi, director of IT Infrastructure Solutions at NITDA and Mr. Takao Shimokawa, director general, Economic Development Department at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
This is in a strategic move to strengthen Nigeria’s startup ecosystem.
During his visit, Mr. Shimokawa was received by Mr. Dejo Olawunmi, director of IT Infrastructure Solutions at NITDA.
Their discussions focused on advancing technological innovation, fostering entrepreneurship, and enhancing venture capital development to support early-stage startups in Nigeria.
The Nigeria-Japan Startup Hub Project is designed to provide Nigerian startups with access to Japanese expertise, mentorship, and investment opportunities.
The initiative aims to create a collaborative environment where local entrepreneurs can scale their businesses by leveraging Japan’s advanced technology and business models.
By bridging Nigerian startups with Japanese investors and industry leaders, the project seeks to drive sustainable growth and innovation in Nigeria’s tech industry.
This partnership underscores the increasing economic and technological cooperation between the two nations, positioning Nigeria as a key player in the global startup landscape.
With the hub set to launch soon, stakeholders anticipate that it will provide critical resources for startups, enabling them to compete in the global market and contribute to Nigeria’s digital economy.
Kaspersky has identified and helped patch a sophisticated zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome (CVE-2025-2783) that allowed attackers to bypass the browser’s sandbox protection system.
The exploit, discovered by Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT), required no user interaction beyond clicking a malicious link and demonstrated exceptional technical complexity. Kaspersky researchers have been acknowledged by Google for discovering and reporting this vulnerability.
In mid-March 2025, Kaspersky detected a wave of infections triggered when users clicked personalised phishing links delivered via email. After clicking, no additional action was needed to compromise their systems.
Once Kaspersky’s analysis confirmed that the exploit leveraged a previously unknown vulnerability in the latest version of Google Chrome, Kaspersky swiftly alerted Google’s security team. A security patch for the vulnerability was released on March 25, 2025.
Kaspersky researchers dubbed the campaign “Operation ForumTroll”, as attackers sent personalised phishing emails inviting recipients to the “Primakov Readings” forum. These lures targeted media outlets, educational institutions, and government organisations in Russia.
The malicious links were extremely short-lived to evade detection, and in most cases ultimately redirected to the legitimate website for “Primakov Readings” once the exploit was taken down.
The zero-day vulnerability in Chrome was only part of a chain that included at least two exploits: a still-unobtained remote code execution (RCE) exploit that apparently launched the attack, while the sandbox escape discovered by Kaspersky constituted the second stage. Analysis of the malware’s functionality suggests the operation was designed primarily for espionage. All evidence points to an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group.
“This vulnerability stands out among the dozens of zero-days we’ve discovered over the years,” said Boris Larin, principal security researcher at Kaspersky GReAT. “The exploit bypassed Chrome’s sandbox protection without performing any obviously malicious operations – it’s as if the security boundary simply didn’t exist.
The technical sophistication displayed here indicates development by highly skilled actors with substantial resources. We strongly advise all users to update their Google Chrome and any Chromium-based browser to the latest version to protect against this vulnerability.”
Google has credited Kaspersky for uncovering and reporting the issue, reflecting the company’s ongoing commitment to collaboration with the global cybersecurity community and ensuring user safety.
Kaspersky continues to investigate Operation ForumTroll. Further details, including a technical analysis of the exploits and malicious payload, will be released in a forthcoming report once Google Chrome user security is assured.
Meanwhile, all Kaspersky products detect and protect against this exploit chain and associated malware, ensuring users are shielded from the threat.
This discovery follows Kaspersky GReAT’s previous identification of another Chrome zero-day (CVE-2024-4947), which was exploited last year by the Lazarus APT group in a cryptocurrency theft campaign.
In that case, Kaspersky researchers found a type confusion bug in Google’s V8 JavaScript engine that enabled attackers to bypass security features through a fake cryptogame website.
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