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FG to Partner Huawei on Smart Cities Initiative

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(L-r): Barrister Adebayo Shittu, minister of Communication; Senator Isah Hamma Musa;  Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and Culture and the Tank Li, managing director of Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited during the Smart Cities Summit Nigeria in Abuja, during the week.
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Adebayo Shittu, minister of communications said that the Federal Government would partner Huawei, a global technology giant, in its smart cities initiative .

Shittu stated this in Abuja, at a Smart Cities two-day multi-stakeholders international summit, sponsored by Huawei, in collaboration with Smart Cities Nigeria, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Works, Housing and Power, Federal Capital Territory Administration and Ministry of Environment.

The Minister said that the partnership with Huawei provide grounds to reshape the way public service is provided and managed in Nigeria.

‎According to Shittu, “More people now have access to smart phones. Experts said that smart phones users in Africa will increase from 75 million in the first quarter of 2016 to 512 million 2018.

“Smart Cities would promote open data is one of the advantages of smart city. Smart City helps to manage government resources. It also helps to get more revenue for the government.

“Nigeria is a journey of greatness and together we will arrive at the destination of our dreams. In order to encourage competition among States and Local governments, the Ministry of Communications would soon launch the Smart Cit‎y competition, this is to encourage them to take a bolder steps go the level of digital technology.

“I urge stakeholders to partner with the ministry to create smart cities in ‎Nigeria.”

Mr Tank Li, managing director, Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, said the development and widespread application of digital technologies had transformed lives in a profound way.

He noted, “Data flow and economic development have become the big trends of our time; digital economy is a new form of economy in which everyone can share.

“Digital economy refers to an economic system in which digital technologies are widely applied, revolutionizing the whole economic environment and activities. Digital economy is also a brand new socio-political and economic system in which all information and commercial activities are digitised.

“Businesses, consumers and governments do business via the Internet, allowing for rapid business growth. Digital economy focuses on commodities and services whose production, distribution, and sales all rely on digital technologies.

“We project in the near future a digital economy that will bring about enormous changes in society. We simply have no way of knowing how deep and far-reaching these changes will be. However, we can be sure of one thing, that ICT will be the cornerstone of this digital economy.

“In our philosophy, the digital economy has three defining characteristics: All things will have the ability to sense, all things will be connected, and all things will be intelligent.

“The existence of these three defining characteristics depends entirely on advanced ICT. In an intelligent world, devices will play the role of the “feelers” in an all-sensing environment. Networks will connect everything, and the cloud will be the source of intelligence behind all things. These three elements form a synergetic architecture of devices, information pipes, and the cloud.”

He said, “This fourth industrial revolution is going to impact people’s lives in unimaginable ways and this will happen through the convergence of the cyber and physical worlds. The Internet of Things is automatic ‘smart’ communication between objects, through the internet.

“McKinsey Global Institute says in a report last year that IoT could have a total economic impact of $4 trillion to $11 trillion a year by 2025. IoT pervades many areas of life.

“For example, inside Nestle Malaysia Bhd’s headquarters in Petaling Jaya, there is a room with a huge screen covering an entire wall that tracks key words related to the company’s products on the Internet.

“The sales force social studio is where Nestle’s Malaysian digital acceleration team, which was set up in early 2014, analyses consumer trends specifically for the company’s social media campaigns and market research.

“But this is only one aspect of IoT, another is efficiency. The data collected is used to make businesses more efficient and better able to react.

“Nigerian government has realized the potential of its digital economy. Unlocking the dividends of digital economy becomes imperative in the face of dwindling oil revenue with increasingly pressure on the economy evident in budgets deficit, infrastructural deficit, high unemployment rate, harsh business environment and corruption amongst others.

“Federal government is about to launch the “Smart Nigeria Digital Economy Project” that aims to solve efficiency problems and create leapfrog opportunities in the economy for the next 10 years.

“Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Okechukwu Enelamah said the financial services within the country’s digital economy would add $88 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) and create more than 3 million jobs within 10 years. The potential gains of the digital economy will manifest in digital accounts, payments, mobile money, health and educational services along with other sectors of the economy.

‘I fully agree with the fact that, ICT-enabled technologies and solutions has the huge potential to serve as a major accelerator of the vision of Smart Nigeria Digital Economy and its sustainable development goal.

“As a global leading ICT solution provider, Huawei’s products and solutions have been deployed in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than one third of the world’s population.”


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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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