E-Business
30% Anambra State Teachers Now Microsoft Certified-Omenugha
Professor Kate Azuka Omenugha, commissioner for Education, Anambra State, has disclosed how leveraging Microsoft Academy and other resources, helped in accelerating education digitalization and teachers’ training in the State.
Prof. Omenugha before her appointment was the director of UniZik 94.1 FM, an award winning Campus Community Radio of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and spoke to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek at the inaugural BETT (Education) Middle East Forum sponsored by Microsoft.
The Commissioner who expressed delight on the resourcefulness of the Forum, disclosed that over thirty (30%) percent of the State was among the 42 cities across the globe that benefited from Microsoft educational transformation programmes.
She said, “I am really excited to be at BETT 2016 powered by Microsoft for Education leaders in Middle East and Africa. To me, it provides opportunity to listen to others on what they have done with education technologies and share ideas, taking away some pertinent issues, but again, confronted with so many challenges.
“When you attend Forums like this listening or witnessing what the internet, technology and general ICTs contribution to education, you feel so inadequate coming from background like Africa where technology is so much in advanced stages; where we are confronted with the realities of inadequate power supply, delayed access to internet connectivity, ‘analogue’ teachers and teaching methods, power infrastructural development/devices. Will the world wait for us? The answer has always been No! It keeps me on my toes when I begin to think in line with my State Governor, Chief (Dr) Willie Obiano, wants us to do in education. We have promised “umu-akwukwo ndi Anambra” (Anambra students) that we are going to give them education that is globally competitive. And that competiveness also has to do with access to technology, and being able to compete with children worldwide in terms of technology.
“Let me quickly say that, aside technology, Anambra State is giving our children global competitiveness through debates and public speaking. We pride ourselves that in our State is rated number one in Nigeria. In January this year we represented the country in Singapore. We beat the Singaporean team, emerging the world best. Come July’16, we are representing Nigeria in Germany in a global school debate.
On equipping teachers’ for today’s educational requirements, the Commissioner said, “Coming back to ICT and looking at the curriculum in Nigeria, you need to start ICT teaching and learning, from the primary school. We have put things in place to make that happen. We started one-teacher-one-laptop policy, because we needed to demystify the computer for the teachers. Some are apathetic to computer; most of them are female, married and not natives to digital migration. It is almost difficult for them to use those computers. So the first thing was to demystify the new teaching tool for them. The past administration keyed into the Microsoft Academy which Anambra State is one of the 42 places across the globe where the Academy is being used. What does that mean to us? We have access to training facilities and certification of our teachers.
“By the time, Chief Obiano came in the platform wasn’t adequately used; so, we had to re-strategize, and embarked on aggressive kind of campaign. Truly, the last administration had acquired Microsoft infrastructure in the tune of $1million and we had to aggressively pursue the implementation. About 35% of our teachers have Microsoft certification and in collaboration with the Microsoft office in Nigeria, we started the aggressive teaching to demystify computer for them.
She said that they are also creating relevant contents: “What we have done actually is leveraging the knowledge of the State’s ICT teachers. About 257 public secondary schools in the State almost have ICT teachers. Therefore, we divided the teachers into zones to do the basics. It was as a result of that most of them became pushy and got the certification. We started from the basics: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc., even how to booth the computer!
“The first time, you could see people shouting, laughing and limping in joy, just because they could power the computer. It was that bad! I had to follow up with campaign for moral boosting; I was talking to teachers, telling them, ‘yes, we can do it’, ‘nothing is impossible’, ‘I do not accept failures’. It was like mobilizing the teachers to pick up the challenge. And they imbibed the trend. Now, constant training and re-training have become part of our calendar.
“As soon as the one-teacher-one-laptop policy comes into effect (because we are yet to take delivery of the laptops to give to teachers on soft loans), and in partnership with Microsoft we can move further in developing local contents. Because those of them who are certified can now develop local contents. At the BETT Forum I met with Microsoft officials and learnt there are software they are willing to give us for free to be able to develop the local contents”.
Tackling Connectivity/Bandwidth Challenges
Omenugha acknowledged that bandwidth or connectivity poses a major challenge to digitalizing education in the country.
To this end, she said, “We started the connectivity with the Galaxy Backbone, but I must say they haven’t done very well, because our bandwidth is very small compared to the number of schools that use that. The connectivity is usually limited, sometimes the downtime takes toll on us. But the good thing and from what I learnt from the Forum, Microsoft is coming with devices that not having internet access should not become the major challenge to what we are going to do.
To overcome the overriding impact of political (policy) instability, she said that Governance in Anambra State is based on Government of Continuity hence the programmes shall not be abandoned.
“After the eight (8) years of His Excellency, another administration will come in to continue from where we stopped. What we are doing now in education is what I call government of ‘commencement, continuity, completion, and commissioning’. So, we are on continuity, completion and commissioning phase. That is why we don’t find it difficult to do what we have set out to achieve, especially as the same APGA government continues mount the saddle of Governance in the State. The vision is there to make Anambra students remain globally competitive”.
The Commissioner disclosed that the process was deliberately organized to benefit rural dwellers in the State.
“There is always something of disparity when programmes like this emerge, but to close the gap, we had to divide the programme for zones. The rural dwellers are covered under the zones. They are also beneficiaries from the computers programme. It is how much of creativity and resourcefulness that heads of these schools have that will actually show how far they can drive this process. That is why we have made computer literacy one of the criteria for gaining appointment as a teacher in the State,” she said.
The Commissioner pledged the Anambra State’s resolve to alleviate sufferings of teachers & students alike.
“We will not relent on giving our students education that is globally relevant using our trained and motivated teachers. What that means is that we will ensure our schools meet global standards of access and use of ICT. And the tertiary institutions like Anambra State University where I come you must have a pass in computer before graduating. We are closing in on using computer based tests for our students from SS2, preparing them for JAMB and WAEC examinations,” the Commissioner added.
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Microsoft is stepping up its push to expand artificial-intelligence adoption across Africa as competition intensifies with Chinas DeepSeek for influence in one of the worlds youngest and fastest-growing digital markets.
The company plans to train 3 million Africans on its AI technologies this year through partnerships with schools, universities and other institutions, with a focus on South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Morocco.
The effort reflects Microsofts broader attempt to accelerate adoption of its AI ecosystem across emerging markets where developers and enterprises are increasingly experimenting with generative AI tools.
Alongside the training initiative, Microsoft is working with MTN Group (MTNOY), Africas largest telecommunications company, to distribute Microsoft 365 and its Copilot digital assistant to about 300 million subscribers.
The Elevate program is designed to expand AI literacy and reduce cost barriers that might otherwise limit adoption, according to regional leadership.
The push comes as Chinese technology firms expand their footprint across the continent, with DeepSeeks open-source models accounting for roughly 11% to 14% of chatbot use in several African markets and reaching about 20% in countries such as Ethiopia and Zimbabwe following investments tied to digital infrastructure and telecom networks.
Microsoft is also increasing its infrastructure investment in the region.
In South Africa, the company plans to invest 5.4 billion rand, or about $330 million, to expand its cloud and AI capacity by the end of next year, while it is also exploring plans for a geothermal-powered data center in Kenya.
Early corporate adoption is emerging across the continent, with South African grocer Spar Group using Copilot in ways that save more than 700 employee hours annually and Nigerias Access Holdings integrating AI into daily workflows.
Regional leadership has suggested broader AI adoption could potentially contribute up to $1.5 trillion to Africas gross domestic product by 2030 if governments and businesses continue investing in digital infrastructure and AI skills.
Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) has uncovered a new Android malware campaign in which cybercriminals distributed the BeatBanker Trojan under the guise of the Starlink application for Android.
Threat actors primarily target users from Brazil; nevertheless, Kaspersky experts don’t rule out that users from other countries may also face this threat.
The Trojan employs a Monero cryptocurrency miner and additionally installs a BTMOB remote administration tool (RAT) on the infected devices. To maintain its persistence, BeatBanker uses an uncommon mechanism involving a nearly inaudible looped audio file.
“At first we saw BeatBanker being distributed under the guise of a public services app; it installed a banking Trojan in addition to a cryptocurrency miner. However, our recent detection efforts uncovered a new campaign with another BeatBanker variant that deploys the BTMOB RAT instead of the banker module.
The attackers appear to be using a fresh lure with the Starlink app to reach more victims from different countries. Therefore, it is important for users to stay vigilant and use advanced solutions to protect their smartphones,” comments Fabio Assolini, Head of the Americas & Europe units at Kaspersky GReAT.
Initial vector of infection
Kaspersky experts believe that cybercriminals distribute a fake Starlink application containing the BeatBanker Trojan through phishing pages that mimic the Google Play Store. After execution on a compromised device, the Trojan displays a user interface that also mimics Google Play. Cybercriminals trick victims into granting installation permissions, thus allowing the download of additional hidden malicious payloads.
Crypto mining and BTMOB RAT module
When a user clicks UPDATE on the fake Google Play page, a Monero cryptocurrency miner deploys. BeatBanker monitors battery percentage and the temperature of an infected smartphone, as well as user activity after which a hidden cryptocurrency miner is started or stopped.
The Android Trojan also installs a BTMOB RAT on the compromised device. BTMOB enables full remote control and is sold as Malware-as-a-Service.
It is capable of automatic granting of permissions, hide system notifications and has mechanisms designed to capture screen lock credentials, including PINs, patterns and passwords on compromised devices. The malware also gives cybercriminals access to the front and rear cameras, GPS location monitoring and constant collection of sensitive data.
To ensure persistence and hinder uninstallation, BeatBanker maintains a fixed notification in the foreground and activates a foreground service with silent media playback. This tactic is designed to prevent the operating system from removing the malicious process.
Kaspersky’s products detect this threat as HEUR:Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.BeatBanker and HEUR:Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Banker.*.
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