News
Roll of Honours at Beacon Of ICT Lecture/Awards 2016

CommunicationsWeek Media Limited, publishers of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek online and print editions, last weekend, rolled out the drums to celebrate individuals, private and public organisations, as well as, startups, that have distinguished themselves in the Nigeria’s ICT space or different industries they represent.
The Beacon of ICT Awards are annual ICT awards recognizing organizations’ or individuals’ contributions to ICT development in Nigeria, and the world at large.
The award was established in March 2009 by Ken Nwogbo, a Nigerian columnist and founder of Communication Week Media Limited, publishers of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, a leading Nigerian information and communications technology newspaper headquartered in Lagos State.
The award ceremony was proceeded by a distinguished lecture delivered by Mr. Ayotunde Coker, managing director of Rack Centre, on the theme: “Data Centre as Kiln of Industrialization and Transformation”.
Coker stressed the importance of data centres to the growth of any modern economy and the need for local businesses to store sensitive data locally. He was of the opinion that this will have massive and positive effect on the GDP of the country.
With the Nigerian Army Band mesmerizing the guests with blends of highlife and classical music, the roll of honours were called, with Ayotunde Coker awarded the Nigeria CommunicationsWeek Man-Of-The-Year award; Engineer Lanre Ajayi, the ever vocal president of the Association of Telecommunications Company of Nigeria (ATCON), receiving “Life Time Achievement Award”; ICT Software Personality of the year went to John Obaro, MD, SystemSpecs; ICT Journalist of the year went to Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr. “CFA” presenter, Tech Trends on Channels TV and Mr. Biodun Omoniyi was named the “ICT Personality Of The Year.
On Corporate categories, VDT Communications received “Bandwidth Company of The year Award”; as the “Internet Company Of The Year” award went to Globacom (Nigeria); Rack Centre received the “ICT Infrastructure Of The Year (Data Centre)” award; Vodacom Business Nigeria scored double, emerging “Cloud Services provider of The Year” and “Enterprise Solutions provider Of the Year”. Interestingly, “Software Company of the Year” and “IT Implementation & Support Company of The Year” awards went to FinTrak Software (Limited); Computer Warehouse Group Plc, took home, “Banking Application Of The Year (Finacle)” award.
Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, with a knack for education based software, they smiled home, “Indigenous Software Company of the Year” and the “ICT Innovator Of the Year” awards. Spectranet, offering smart internet for the home and office, emerged, “Broadband Company of the Year”, Business Connexion received the “ICT Solutions Provider of the Year”.
Digital Encode, a leading consulting and integration firm founded in 2003 that specializes in the design, management, and security of business-critical networks, telecommunications environments and other information technology infrastructure, emerged “Cyber-Security Company of the Year”; in same vein, Global Accelerex bagged, “ePayment Innovative/Value Added Services provider Of The Year; “ICT Clearinghouse of the Year” award went to Medallion Communications Limited; Path Solutions received, “Islamic Banking Solution Provider Of The Year”. While CNSSL Call Centre Limted was named the “BPO Operator Of The Year”, OLX Nigeria was named the “Classified Ad Website Of The Year”.
The Logistics Company for the World, DHL received, “Courier Operator Of The Year”; Dataflex are the receivers of “ICT Company of the Year” and McAfree and SSL received the “Information Security Product of the Year”.
Oradian, a Fintech company behind Instafin, the multi-award winning core-banking platform that built a solution to the challenges faced by Microfinance Institutions around the globe, was named the “Most Innovative Core-Microfinance Banking Platform Of The Year”; Zenith Bank received the “eBank Of The Year”; Internet Solutions- “Internet Service Provider Of The Year”; 21St Century Technologies- “Technology Company Of The Year”; Sophos Group Plc, which tackles IT security challenges with clarity and confidence, emerged, “Information Security (Hardware) Provider Of The Year”; Wi-Pay Technologies won the “ePayment Solutions Provider Of The Year”; Resourcery emerged the “ICT Business Integrator Of The Year”; while Phase3 Telecoms won the “Fibre Optic Company of The Year”.
Wakanow.com won the “Travelers Portal Of The Year”; Infinix Mobility smiled home with the “Mobile Phone Of The Year” following the achievements in Nigerian smartphone market since launch in 2013 and the Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTbank) emerged the “Mobile Money Operating Bank Of The Year”.
Speaking on the awards, Mr. Ken Nwogbo, publisher/editor in-chief, CommunicationsWeek Media, said that the Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture and awards was designed to explore efforts to put Nigeria on the global information and communications technologies map.
He said that the awardees have demonstrated some levels of expertise, and distinguished themselves in the industries they represent, “as reflected in the online voting process. Even those that were given special awards was because they lived above competitions. We are very proud of the awardees”.
He added that CommunicationsWeek Media Limited will continue to support the development enterprises and human capital in Nigeria.
News
Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if Christians continue to be killed, reigniting a sensitive debate over religious violence and foreign intervention in Africa’s most populous nation.

President Donald Trump
Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times, published on Thursday, while responding to questions about a US military strike carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day.
At the time, the US military said the operation targeted Islamic State militants in north-west Nigeria and was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government.
Nigeria, however, described the operation as a joint counterterrorism effort, stressing that it was aimed at armed groups designated as terrorists and “had nothing to do with a particular religion”.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump was quoted as saying. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
Pressed on comments by his own Africa adviser that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram have killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims but insisted that Christians were being targeted disproportionately.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.
Trump has repeatedly raised alarms about the safety of Christians in Nigeria, beginning in late October when he warned that Christianity faced what he described as an “existential threat” in the country. He has accused Nigerian authorities of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and has openly threatened US military intervention if the violence continues.
Nigeria has firmly rejected claims of systematic persecution of Christians. The government maintains that the country’s security challenges are complex and largely driven by insurgency, banditry and criminal violence rather than religious targeting.
With a population of more than 230 million people, Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Christians, who are concentrated mainly in the south, and Muslims, who predominate in the north. Islamist insurgencies, particularly Boko Haram and its offshoots, have plagued parts of northern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands and displacing millions.
Nigerian authorities have repeatedly pointed out that militant attacks have claimed the lives of both Muslims and Christians, arguing that framing the violence along religious lines oversimplifies the crisis and risks inflaming tensions.
Following Trump’s earlier threats, the Nigerian government said it was willing to continue cooperating with Washington in combating terrorism but rejected language suggesting that Christians alone were under threat.
The latest comments are likely to strain diplomatic relations further, as Nigeria balances its partnership with the United States against concerns over sovereignty, security cooperation and the portrayal of its internal conflicts on the global stage.
News
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health

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.”
News
Kaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

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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