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Universities Seek Bandwidth to Drive ICT Education

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Chief Nyesom Wike, minister of Education,
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Despite the keenness of some institutions of higher learning to establish effective ICT education programmes; they are confronted with the acute scarcity of broadband internet to achieve these objectives, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has learnt.

Bandwidth a major ingredient for telecommunications service delivery has been elusive in the country in terms of cost.

Accurate figures are hard to come by but Dewole Ajao, operations manager, Bandwidth Consortium, said that an institution of higher learning in the country requires about 1,000Mbps of bandwidth per month to effectively drive information and communications technology in the campus.

He said that high cost of bandwidth especially outside of Lagos has made universities and research institutions to resort to prioritizing its use.

“Based on my knowledge of the Nigerian education sector, an average Polytechnic, College or small University has between 0.5 and 10Mbps whether paid for or donated;  the more endowed institutions have between 20 and 50Mbps while the really large ones have anywhere between 50 and 500Mbps. All higher education institutions in the country could do better if they had 300 or 500 times the bandwidth they presently have. People just buy what they can afford to buy and hope that they can manage to do something with it. Since you’re asking, 1,000Mbps per institution and a good campus network would be a good start,” he said.

He noted that the main initiative of the Consortium is aggregating the needs of member institutions and presenting them to the network operators as a single wholesale customer.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that educational institutions in the country have formed a Bandwidth Consortium to address high cost of bandwidth in cities outside Lagos.

The Consortium which is the brain child of Nigerian ICT Forum is aimed at making bandwidth readily available and cheaper for research and higher institutions of learning in the country.

“This acts as an incentive for the network operators to reduce prices. The reduced pricing then enables us increase bandwidth for our members without being prompted. We also endeavour to build network management capacity among our member institutions. When members join the Consortium, they get to interact with other members and learn together how to better manage their networks as well as best practices in campus network management. In the latter part of 2014, we will be extending our focus to highlighting and sharing how to deal with those peculiar network problems that evolve as available bandwidth increases,” he added.

Mohammed Rudman, managing director, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, stressed the need for the required bandwidth for higher educational institutions and research centres.

According to him, with the launch of National Research Network (NREN) by National University Commission that has got 26 federal universities connected to the network, universities will require bandwidth for its operation.
 


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E-Business

Kaspersky Warns of a New Phishing Technique Leveraging Bubble, a no-code AI Platform

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Kaspersky has discovered a new phishing tactic used to evade traditional security controls that exploits Bubble, a platform that allows users to build web and mobile applications through a visual interface without writing code.

Attackers are increasingly adopting innovative tools designed for legitimate software development and repurposing them to boost phishing campaigns.

Traditional phishing attacks often rely on malicious links or obvious redirection techniques, which are typically flagged and blocked by modern security systems.

However, attackers are now leveraging Bubble’s no-code environment to generate intermediary web applications which are hosted on Bubble’s legitimate infrastructure and trusted domains such as *.bubble.io, which improves their credibility and helps them bypass security filters.

These applications function as disguised redirectors, silently forwarding victims to malicious credential-harvesting websites.

In the observed campaign, victims were ultimately redirected to a convincing imitation of a Microsoft login page, protected by a Cloudflare verification layer designed to further obscure malicious intent.

This technique is likely being integrated into broader phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms and phishing kits. These kits enable a wide range of malicious capabilities with ready-made tools, including real-time interception of session cookies, driving phishing campaigns through legitimate services such as Google Tasks and Google Forms, and carry out adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks that can bypass multi-factor authentication.

They also support the generation of phishing emails using AI, implement geo-filtering and anti-detection mechanisms to evade security crawlers and are often hosted on reputable cloud services like AWS to avoid blacklisting.

“The use of legitimate platforms like Bubble introduces a new level of trust abuse, making it harder for both users and automated systems to distinguish between safe and malicious content. This significantly increases the likelihood of credential theft, unauthorised access and potential data breaches,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.

 

 


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NITDA Takes Over National Digital Architecture System

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Nigeria has taken a major step toward strengthening its digital governance framework as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) officially assumes control of the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) infrastructure.

NITDA Takes Over National Digital Architecture System

The handover ceremony held in Abuja, marks the culmination of a high-level partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

This transition signals a shift from fragmented IT projects to a unified, disciplined approach to national digital investment.

The NGEA initiative forms a core part of the e-Government Masterplan 2.0 (Ne-GMP 2.0), aimed at establishing a unified and structured approach to managing government IT investments and digital resources.

The framework is designed to ensure that technology deployment across public institutions aligns with national priorities while improving efficiency and accountability.

With the system now operational, government agencies are expected to adopt more integrated digital processes, allowing seamless data sharing and interoperability.

This is anticipated to reduce duplication, strengthen risk management, and translate policy objectives into measurable digital outcomes.

Over the past two and a half years, Nigerian technical experts worked closely with their Korean counterparts to develop the architecture framework, create reference models, and execute pilot programmes in key institutions.

These include the National Identity Management Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and NITDA.

Officials say the NGEA represents a shift from fragmented digital efforts to a more coordinated, citizen-focused system.

The infrastructure is hosted by Galaxy Backbone Limited, providing a secure and reliable platform for nationwide deployment.

Looking ahead, NITDA is expected to work with government stakeholders to expand and sustain the system, while the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy will provide policy guidance to ensure its adoption across the country.

 

 


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FG Shifting Focus to “Meaningful Connectivity” to Drive Inclusion  – Minister

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Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has said the government is shifting focus from expanding access to ensuring “meaningful connectivity” that drives economic growth and inclusion.

FG Shifting Focus to “Meaningful Connectivity” to Drive Inclusion  - Minister

Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy

The minister made the statement on Friday while addressing stakeholders at the inauguration of board members of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in Abuja.

He said that although Nigeria had made significant progress since the introduction of GSM services, millions of people, particularly in rural and underserved communities, remain either unconnected or unable to fully benefit from digital services.

Dr Tijani highlighted ongoing investments in digital infrastructure, including plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network and nearly 4,000 telecom towers nationwide.

He said initiatives under the USPF had improved access through projects such as rural connectivity and digital facilities in schools but stressed that the next phase must prioritise effective usage.

“It is not enough to connect a community. We must ensure that schools can teach with digital tools and that small businesses can access market opportunities,” he said, citing a pilot project in the Kura community where connectivity has enhanced access to communication, education and healthcare.

Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also called for a shift towards meaningful connectivity, noting that while data usage had grown significantly, it remained concentrated in urban areas.

According to him, recent data shows that telecom usage has increased by about 160% over the past two years, largely driven by urban demand.

“When we drill down, we see that a lot of that growth is actually in urban centres. So, the gap between those who are not connected or not meaningfully connected is growing,” he said.

Dr Maida added that the trend underscored the need for the USPF board to intensify efforts to bridge both access and usage gaps across the country.

Both officials emphasised the importance of collaboration, sustainable investment models and improved digital literacy to ensure that connectivity translates into real economic benefits for Nigerians.

 

 


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