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Buhari Reviews 16 Nigerian Navy Warships, Lauds Shipbuilding Efforts

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President Muhammadu Buhari in a group photograph with some dignitaries during the Nigerian Navy 2023 Presidential Fleet Review in Lagos.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has inspected 16 ships belonging to the Nigerian Navy, as well as partnering naval ships from Ghana and Italy onboard the nation’s territorial waters as part of activities to mark the Nigerian Navy 2023 Presidential Fleet Review.

Buhari carried out this review of the Navy assets in Lagos on Monday, even as he commended the shipbuilding efforts of the Service at a grand occasion attended by Naval chiefs of several regional nations as well as some other international counterparts.

According to President Buhari, his administration observed an inextricable link between maritime security and economic prosperity, hence, vigorously engaged in the recapitalisation of the Nigerian Navy fleet throughout his tenure.

“We have acquired over 20 capital ships for the Nigerian Navy. These ships comprise; Offshore Patrol Vessels, Landing Ship Transport, Hydrographic Survey Vessels, Seaward Defence Boats and Helicopters as well as over 300 Inshore Patrol Vessels and Assault Craft.”

“During this Fleet Review, I had the honour to commission a new helicopter NN410 manufactured in Italy, NNS KADA, a Landing Ship Transport, built in Sharjah United Arab Emirates and NNS IBENO, donated by the Peoples Republic of China. I deeply appreciate the donation and mutual military cooperation with our ship building partner nations for their support, which has encouraged local ship building by the Nigerian Navy,” Buhari said.

Noting that piracy in country has reduced significantly over the past 7 years culminating to the delisting of Nigeria from the list of piracy prone countries by the International Maritime Bureau in March 2022, Buhari said the feat was attained as a result of enhanced security assets and the application of technology to secure the maritime domain.

“I will particularly commend the diligent arraignment and persecution of MT HEROIC IDUN, sequel to the detection and arrest for attempting to load crude oil, offshore Bonny in August 2022 without authorisation amongst others. This successful conviction further confirms the navy’s resolve to protect resources for economic prosperity,” he said.

Meanwhile, he expressed delight that the Nigerian Navy efforts in indigenous shipbuilding in line with the nation’s local content development plan is yielding positive result.

“Our naval engineers were wholly responsible for building 3 Seaward Defence Boats namely NNS ANDONI, NNS KARADUWA and NNS OJI. In December 2021, I equally performed keel laying foundation for the construction of 2 Seaward Defence Boats, which will be ready by 2024. At this rate, I have no doubt that the Nigerian Navy will soon commence construction of larger ships for itself and other navies in the region and beyond. This achievement is a great pride to Nigeria and an impressive contribution to national development,” Buhari posited.

In his welcome address at the Fleet Review themed: “Fleet Readiness for National Prosperity,” the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, noted that the recapitalisation of the Naval fleet has enhanced the nation’s maritime security framework and repositioned it to effectively combat maritime crimes.

His words: “There is no better evidence to show than the record of drastic decline in piracy incidents in Nigerian waters as contained in the International Maritime Bureau Global Piracy Report of 14 July 2021. This culminated in delisting Nigeria from the International Maritime Bureau List of Piracy prone countries in March last year. These achievements are attributable to sustained presence of Nigerian Navy ships at sea, increased regional and international synergy as well as active maritime domain awareness.”

“To further bolster Nigerian Navy maritime security operations efforts, Mr President approved acquisition of additional vessels as well as several air assets. Currently under construction are 2 by 76m High Endurance Offshore Patrol Vessels in Turkey, 3 by 45m Fast Patrol Boats in France and 2 by Augusta Westland helicopters amongst others.”

According to Gambo, the 2023 Presidential Fleet Review is unique because it is organised in honour of a President who provided unprecedented support to the Nigerian Navy in terms of fleet recapitalization, infrastructural development and personnel welfare thereby boosting morale and fighting efficiency.

He opined that Nigerians can be proud of a well-equipped Navy courtesy of the unwavering commitment of President Buhari, while he appreciated the President for commissioning a Landing Ship Transport, an Inshore Patrol Craft and one Augusta Westland Grand New light utility helicopter.


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OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health

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OpenAI maker of ChatGPT is rolling out a health-focused feature to the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that’s used by nearly a billion users.

Named ChatGPT Health, the new feature aims to provide users with health and wellness information. This, as health is one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT, according to OpenAI.

In a blog post, Microsoft-backed OpenAI says de-identified analysis of conversations show that over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.

ChatGPT Health will also “securely” connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations with a user’s own health information, making responses more relevant and useful.

“Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness – while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians.”

According to OpenAI, health information is often scattered across portals, apps, wearables, PDFs, and medical notes making it hard to see the full picture, and people are left to navigate a complex healthcare system on their own.

“ChatGPT Health builds on these so responses are informed by your health information and context. You can now securely connect medical records and wellness apps – like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal – so ChatGPT can help you understand recent test results, prepare for appointments with your doctor, get advice on how to approach your diet and workout routine, or understand the trade-offs of different insurance options based on your healthcare patterns.”

According to the company, ChatGPT Health is designed to support, not replace, medical care, adding that it is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. “Instead, it helps you navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time – not just moments of illness – so you can feel more informed and prepared for important medical conversations.

“To keep your health information protected and secure, Health operates as a separate space with enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data. Conversations in Health are not used to train our foundation models. If you start a health-related conversation in ChatGPT, we’ll suggest moving into Health for these additional protections.”

OpenAI adds that access to ChatGPT Health has started with a small group of early users to learn and continue refining the experience, adding that users with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are eligible.

“As we make improvements, we plan to expand access and make Health available to all users on web and iOS in the coming weeks.

“Medical record integrations and some apps are available in the US only, and connecting Apple Health requires iOS.”


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Kaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

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Kaspersky experts outline how the rapid development of AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape in 2026, both for individual users and for businesses. Large language models (LLMs) are influencing defensive capabilities while simultaneously expanding opportunities for threat actors.

Deepfakes are becoming a mainstream technology, and awareness will continue to grow. Companies are increasingly discussing the risks of synthetic content and training employees to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to it. As the volume of deepfakes grows, so does the range of formats in which they appear.

At the same time, awareness is rising not only within organisations but also among regular users: end consumers encounter fake content more often and better understand the nature of such threats. As a result, deepfakes are becoming a stable element of the security agenda, requiring a systematic approach to training and internal policies.

Deepfake quality will improve through better audio and a lowering barrier to entry. The visual quality of deepfakes is already high, while realistic audio remains the main area for future growth.

At the same time, content generation tools are becoming easier to use: even non-experts can now create a mid-quality deepfake in just a few clicks. As a result, the average quality continues to rise, creation becomes accessible to a far broader audience, and these capabilities will inevitably continue to be leveraged by cybercriminals.

Online deepfakes will continue to evolve but remain tools for advanced users. Real-time face and voice swapping technologies are improving, but their setup still requires more advanced technical skills. Wide adoption is unlikely, yet the risks in targeted scenarios will grow: increasing realism and the ability to manipulate video through virtual cameras make such attacks more convincing.

Efforts to develop a reliable system for labelling AI-generated content will continue. There are still no unified criteria for reliably identifying synthetic content, and current labels are easy to bypass or remove, especially when working with open-source models. For this reason, new technical and regulatory initiatives aimed at addressing the problem are likely to emerge.

Open-weight models will approach top closed models in many cybersecurity-related tasks, which create more opportunities for misuse. Closed models still offer stricter control mechanisms and safeguards, limiting abuse.

However, open-source systems are rapidly catching up in functionality and circulate without comparable restrictions. This blurs the difference between proprietary models and open-source models both of which can be used efficiently for undesired or malicious purposes.

The line between legitimate and fraudulent AI-generated content will become increasingly blurred. AI can already produce well-crafted scam emails, convincing visual identities, and high-quality phishing pages.

At the same time, major brands are adopting synthetic materials in advertising, making AI-generated content look familiar and visually “normal.” As a result, distinguishing real from fake will become even more challenging, both for users and for automated detection systems.

AI will become a cross-chain tool in cyberattacks and be used across most stages of the kill chain. Threat actors already employ LLMs to write code, build infrastructure, and automate operational tasks.

Further advances will reinforce this trend: AI will increasingly support multiple stages of an attack, from preparation and communication to assembling malicious components, probing for vulnerabilities and deploying tools. Attackers will also work to hide signs of AI involvement, making such operations harder to analyse.

“While AI tools are being used in cyberattacks, they are also becoming a more common tool in security analysis and influence how SOC teams work. Agent-based systems will be able to continuously scan infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities, and gather contextual information for investigations, reducing the amount of manual routine work.

“As a result, specialists will shift from manually searching for data to making decisions based on already-prepared context. In parallel, security tools will transition to natural-language interfaces, enabling prompts instead of complex technical queries,” adds Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky.

 


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Nigerians with Albinism Reject Pity, Demand Dignity at Empowerment Forum

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Nigerians living with albinism say their biggest challenge is not skin sensitivity or poor eyesight, but being seen, heard and treated as full human beings, a message that resonated at a recent empowerment session hosted by the Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF) and Albino Empowerment Foundation.

Nigerians with Albinism Reject Pity, Demand Dignity at Empowerment Forum

CADEF

The event last Saturday focused on lived experiences, self-advocacy and rights awareness rather than handouts, though participants received food, protective clothing and skin/eye care materials.

CADEF Executive Director, Prof. Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, said real progress requires respect and inclusion, not pity, adding that knowledge of human rights equips people to demand fairness.

“Dignity begins when people are seen fully and treated equally,” she said.

Ifeoma Ngesina, founder of Albino Empowerment Foundation, defined inclusion as equal rights and participation in decisions affecting their lives, not stereotypes.

“When persons with albinism are included in schools, workplaces, leadership and media, harmful myths fade,” she said, stressing it builds confidence and leadership.

CADEF Advisory Board Member, Ms Kobi Ikpo, urged participants to own their narrative: “If you do not tell people how to treat you, they will not know how to address you. Once you accept yourself as a complete human being deserving of respect, it reflects in how you carry yourself — and that confidence commands respect.”

Afolake Odudinu highlighted parental ignorance leading to school dropouts, skin damage from sun exposure and social/marital stigma, noting skin cancer treatment remains inaccessible for many.

Efosa Peter, a father and associate pastor, rejected pity for genuine empowerment: “I hate pity. I don’t want to be pitied — I want empowerment.” He described persons with albinism as creatively gifted and warned against insincere initiatives.

“Empowerment must include self-esteem and self-motivation. When you see yourself as whole, others will follow,” he said.

Teacher Rose Adudu shared overcoming school bullying through discipline and advocacy, helping enrol a young albino girl in school despite later parental withdrawal.

“Your character will speak for you,” she said.

Participants were encouraged to use content creation for education and myth-busting, with CADEF planning annual events and advancing Digital Financial Inclusion Rights for Persons With Disabilities.

The forum underscored a core demand: opportunity, understanding and respect over sympathy.


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