E-Business
Lessons from Oga At the Top
The government should have capitalised on a recent embarrassing incident in which an official was exposed as incompetent to mount a major PR coup against its critics.
But it is too optimistic to expect state bureaucrats in Nigeria to see rare opportunities thrust right under their noses
Nigeria has persisted through fourteen continuous years of a tumultuous democratic experiment, and to date that is what it continues to do: persist.
Through the apparent corruption and graft, through the wasteful spending and government extravagance, and through the failing infrastructure and security, Nigeria persists.
Despite constant reports of impending doom and collapse, Nigerians find levity in most things; it is perhaps an escape from reality and a skill that was necessitated after the failure of many administrations.
Perhaps it is also the reason the entertainment and leisure industries have thrived in the country during recent years.
One such moment is the ogaatthetop internet phenomenon that has swept the country in recent weeks. The story’s background follows as such: a state commandant of a paramilitary organisation called the NSCDC (Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps) appeared on a popular local morning talk show to address allegations of fraudulent recruitment practices within the corps and to shed light on some of the activities of the corps.
During a segment of the show he was asked to provide website details for the corps; he could not. In spite of this, he did put up a brave face and excused his momentary lapse by stating that such details could only be provided by his Oga (a Nigerian colloquialism for Boss) at the top.
Hence, he birthed an internet phenomenon and inadvertently provided several comical clips and various spinoffs.
There are many ways to look at this, and arguments have been made all around. There are those gloating about government incompetence and inability; they have certainly made their point.
There are also those who have drawn attention to the fact that most government functionaries are computer illiterate, arguing that the commandant should be given the benefit of the doubt. I agree with the latter group: while I find the commandant’s mannerism and gesticulations quite comical, I know that the civil service is largely inefficient and unwilling to change.
It is nothing short of a behemoth that refuses to adapt, yet it will not go extinct. This observation can be applied universally to the Civil Service Institution.
But that is not what this entry is about; I see in this a sorely missed opportunity and the continuation of a deliberate or assumed policy to ignore a problem while treating its symptoms.
What only savvy internet entrepreneurs and marketers realized from the situation and its subsequent reactions was that it was seizable.
A good percentage of Nigerians were for a moment less worried about the threat and reality of domestic terrorism; less concerned about dilapidated or non-existence infrastructure; less moved by corruption or mismanagement; and for a brief moment, we were all concentrating on this one addictive human folly, and it was a teachable moment. In the moment, the government could relearn something about itself and its functions, and re-educate its citizens and followers.
No one is more remiss than the NSCDC itself. The truth the commandant slipped while answering a question about the website of the NSCDC is instructive: there are still many who do not know what the NSCDC is about, why they were created and what their functions are.
In a country with so many armed paramilitary organisations and a bad record of human rights and extra-judicial killings, many are suspicious and wary about the introduction of yet another armed organisation.
This was a golden moment to educate the general public . The media budget for the NSCDC for the financial year 2012 was N105 million. (approximately $665,946); Such an amount allocated in two places would still not have generated the amount of interest generated by the viral video, and this publicity was absolutely free.
With a little self-deprecating humour the NSCDC could absolutely have turned the moment to their favour; their internal discipline and reprimand structure aside, this is not about debating whether the commandant should have been suspended or not.
The ogaatthetop phenomenon gave them an enviable marketing and public relations platform to use.
Billboards turning the joke on itself, asking ‘What is the website for the NSCDC?’ with a link to the actual website, should have gone up within the week of the incident.
I can wager that they would have enjoyed the most hits they have had since the inception of the site. The ogaatthetop domain should have been registered immediately by the NSCDC with an automatic link to the actual site.
Campaigns on the radio, on electronic media, and on website banners should have begun in earnest introducing the NSCDC as the ogasatthetop.
They could have gone a step further and introduced merchandising, T-shirts, mugs, bags, notepads and the rest. Governing can be that simple sometimes.
Governments everywhere are finding ways in this digital age to connect with people, to get them or keep them interested, to keep them for being apathetic.
The amount of campaigning done via social media during the last two American presidential elections is a testament to this. In a country like Nigeria, and in fact most African countries, where the citizens are naturally distrusting of government, moments like this do not come often. Governments are going to have to find better ways to connect with their audience, to meet them, whether it is online, through the social media or perhaps even through the home videos that have become so ubiquitous.
I will concede a few things. Firstly, the people who watched the video only did so because they wanted to watch a train wreck, to witness the schadenfreude because they wanted to laugh at government; this may be true, but it is human nature and not peculiar to Nigeria and if they are going to be laughing anyway, why not laugh with them and inform them of something at the same time.
Secondly, only governments that have something to say would think of seizing the moment; while I will admit that by nature every government has something to say, they may just not be saying what anyone wants to hear.
This is evident in Nigeria by the amount of time Press Secretaries spend reiterating, clarifying or defending. Perhaps the time has come for government to play offence. Thirdly, this cannot work for every situation, such as when people lose their lives needlessly to sectarian violence, or when people who have been trusted with public office mismanage funds and the privileges of their offices.
This time around, the gaffe not being one of those usual instances made the ogaatthetop phenom so rare, so special. It was not violent. It was not scandalous. It was simple human frailty and it was a very good opportunity.
Marketers are forever trying to figure out likes and dislikes, interests and potential areas of engagement with consumers in this fast changing digital world, and while there are no sure-fire formulas as of yet, one thing remains true: people are communicating, sharing and engaging via different platforms like never before.
Governments in the developed world have realised they are behind the curve and have begun to catch up; as the digital divide in Africa is gradually closing, it is time that African governments begin to think of creative ways to engage as well.
The NSCDC should have completely owned the ogaatthetop incident. For better or worse they already do. That is all.
Culled from Pambazuka (London)
E-Business
Firm Discovered a New Corporate Phishing Technique using a Popular AI Web Development Platform
Kaspersky has discovered that attackers have begun exploiting another legitimate service for malicious purposes – this time it is Tencent EdgeOne Pages, a platform for creating and hosting web applications.
Attackers are misusing its capabilities to generate phishing emails targeting corporate users. Previously Kaspersky has described similar attacks leveraging Google services and web applications generated by Bubble, an AI-powered app builder, to hunt for corporate credentials.
Employees across multiple industries including the industrial sector, sales, and government are among the targets. The goal of the attack is to steal login credentials for corporate resources. Over the past 30 days, the company’s experts have detected more than 8,000 phishing emails using this tactic, including messages in English, Korean, and Russian.
The Tencent EdgeOne Pages service is positioned as a platform for quickly creating and deploying web applications using AI. Scammers misuse it to generate and publish phishing pages in minutes with virtually no web development skills.
Attackers host phishing pages on EdgeOne’s legitimate cloud infrastructure and use trusted domains. As a result, such sites appear to be established and secure to many protective solutions, complicating the detection of such attacks.
How the attack begins
The user receives an email from the alleged “corporate email support team”. The message states that the account login credentials will expire in 48 hours, and that failure to update them may result in problems receiving or sending emails.
To avoid restrictions, the user is prompted to click a link and enter relevant information. Phishing emails are not limited to this narrative, and could deliver any corporate message, such as a message from the HR department or a notification of a received document that should be downloaded.
Clicking the link in the email opens a page with a form for entering the victim’s name, email address, and password. It is a simple design, with virtually no additional elements.
After the user enters their login and password, the data is transferred to a server controlled by the attackers.
“We are seeing a continuation of the trend in which attackers use AI and no-code platforms as part of their phishing infrastructure. We’ve previously observed a similar scheme using the Bubble platform, and here we have yet another example.
“While the communication used in these phishing attacks is typical and has been used before multiple times, the attack technique itself significantly lowers the barrier to entry for attackers and accelerates the creation of phishing resources.
“Previously this required at least basic web development skills, but now an infrastructure for fraudulent emails can be created in minutes,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.
E-Business
Kaspersky Report Shows Early 2026 Witnessed an Increase in Cyberattacks on the Manufacturing Sector
According to a new Kaspersky ICS CERT report, in Q1 2026 the percentage of industrial control systems (ICS) on which malicious objects were blocked reached 19.6% globally. Kaspersky security solutions blocked malware from 10,052 different malware families of various categories on industrial automation systems.
Regionally, the share of ICS computers that were attacked ranged from 27.4% in Africa to 9.1% in Northern Europe. Compared to the previous quarter, attacks on the manufacturing sector in Q1 increased in multiple regions, including in Europe and Asia.
Regional split
In terms of overall numbers across all industry sectors, five regions saw an increase in the share of attacked ICS computers in Q1 2026 compared to the previous quarter. These were Southern Europe, Russia, Northern Europe, Canada and Africa.
Industries
In Q1, biometric systems traditionally placed first in terms of the share of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked, at 26.4%. These systems commonly have Internet access, are used for email, and, in many cases, have minimal cybersecurity controls within the organisations that use these systems.
Regionally, Southern Europe leads the ranking based on the percentage figures for biometric systems, at 35.15%. Africa follows at 29.58%, and Central Asia comes in third at 28.53%.
In the manufacturing industry, Southeast Asia ranks first among regions in terms of the percentage of ICS computers attacked (23.21%), followed by Africa (21.36%) and South Asia (20.13%).
In 2025, Kaspersky and VDC Research estimated that in just the first three quarters of 2025 cyberattacks on manufacturing organisations via ransomware could have generated over $18 billion globally in losses. Actual business losses could have been even higher when factoring in supply-chain disruptions, reputational damage, and recovery expenses.
“Legacy operational technology systems remain deeply embedded in manufacturing environments, which makes them vulnerable. Supply chain complexity and branching of the trusted partner network expands the attack surface beyond the network perimeter.
Attackers are realising that targeting OT assets of an industrial enterprise is not rocket science, which is why factory shutdowns bring massive financial losses,” commented Evgeny Goncharov, Head of Kaspersky ICS CERT.
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has launched the Meta-Supported Initiatives for Data Protection (M-SIDP), a strategic programme aimed at strengthening data privacy awareness, regulatory compliance and institutional capacity across Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
The initiative follows the conclusion of regulatory proceedings involving Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, over concerns relating to the processing of personal data belonging to Nigerian users. The matter was resolved in 2025 through a court-approved settlement.
Under the agreement, Meta committed to supporting a two-year programme of public-facing data protection measures designed to advance the objectives of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDP Act) 2023, the General Application and Implementation Directive (GAID), and the NDPC Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2023–2027.
Announcing the initiative, the Commission said the programme would strengthen safeguards for data subjects while promoting responsible data processing practices among organisations operating in Nigeria.
According to a statement signed by Itunu Dosekun, head of the NDPC Media Unit, the programme will focus on governance, research and development, safety and sustainability mechanisms for technology ecosystems, capacity building for Data Protection Officers (DPOs) and Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs), as well as public awareness campaigns targeted at vulnerable groups.
The Commission stated, “As part of the settlement, Meta committed to supporting a two-year programme of public-facing data protection measures that aligns with the objectives of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act), the NDP Act General Application and Implementation Directive (GAID) and the NDPC Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2023–2027.”
The NDPC stressed that the settlement does not limit its regulatory authority.
“Nothing in this settlement limits the Commission’s independent statutory powers as we continue to exercise our regulatory mandate in relation to data processing activities in Nigeria, in accordance with the NDP Act and other applicable laws,” it stated.
The development comes amid rising global scrutiny of technology companies over data privacy practices, with regulators in regions including the European Union and the United States tightening enforcement against breaches and non-compliance.
Nigeria has also intensified efforts to strengthen its privacy framework following the enactment of the Nigeria Data Protection Act in 2023, which established the NDPC as an independent regulator empowered to monitor compliance, investigate violations and impose sanctions.
Industry experts warn that increasing digital adoption across banking, telecommunications, e-commerce, healthcare and public services has heightened risks of identity theft, cybercrime and unauthorised data sharing.
The NDPC has in recent years stepped up enforcement actions against organisations that violate data protection rules, while also expanding accreditation for Data Protection Compliance Organisations and training for privacy professionals.
The Meta-supported initiative is expected to address gaps in public awareness and technical capacity, while also supporting research and policy development on emerging issues such as artificial intelligence, cross-border data transfers and platform governance.
The Commission said it would provide periodic updates on the implementation of the programme and called on stakeholders to support efforts to build a secure, transparent and accountable privacy ecosystem in Nigeria.
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