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A Dirge to the Nigerian Research and Education Network

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By Austin Okere

There is no cheer about the recent pronouncements from the hierarchy in the education sector and the long-term impact on our youth.

“Nigerian government reverses resumption of schools, says no WAEC exam for now.” was the screaming headline in the Premium Times on July 10, 2020.

The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, announced during a media briefing on July 6 that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) examination will now take place between August 4 and September 5. In swift contradiction, the education minister, Adamu Adamu, speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari, said Nigerian schools will not reopen any time soon “until it is safe to do so because of the COVID-19 pandemic”.

The situation at the tertiary level is not any better, as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) through an interview of their President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi with the Punch Newspaper on June 16, 2020 has declared that E-Learning cannot work in Nigeria. It seems that Prof. Ogunyemi totally overlooked Private schools in his pronouncement; many of whom have completed the syllabus for the current term through online classes at home.

The Ausso Leadership Academy (#ALA), foremost institution providing mentorship to Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs to scale their businesses geometrically has transitioned her models and frameworks online and continues to impact companies with game changing ideas to thrive now and beyond.

Far afield, both Harvard and Princeton have announced plans to bring back students for the fall semester, albeit, all course instruction will be delivered online, including for students living on campus. Coursera is partnered with 192 institutions from 43 countries and offering more than 3,200 online courses in 13 languages.

The irony is that Nigerian Universities would have had six years of leapfrog experience in online learning if we had taken the opportunity presented by the NgREN and consolidated on the budding shoots. But like most opportunities that come our way, we display gross unpreparedness and unprecedented nonchalance in the face of opportunity cost to our future generations.

The COVID-19 pandemic is real, and we have to take all necessary precautions and follow social distancing and other protocols advised by the Nigeran Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

But not knowing how long it will last, we cannot put our lives on permanent pause. We have to adjust to the new normal and get on with it. Companies like Zoom and Amazon have understood this and have ended up net beneficiaries.

 

I wrote this article four years ago when it seemed that the NgREN will become an abandoned project, and another of the many white elephant projects dotting our landscape.

What can we learn from this in order to forestall a reoccurrence?

One of the proudest moments in the history of the Nigerian Education sector was the successful implementation and commissioning of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN).

Being the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, the pomp and pageantry that accompanied the unveiling event seemed justified and earned. The network which boasted 465mbps of internet capacity represented 20 times the average connectivity capacity leveraged by the universities.

This was a project conceptualized, deployed and managed by Nigerians under a consortium of indigenous companies including CWG Plc, Airtel, Medalion, Resourcery, and Phase 3; finally, a project for us by us.

The idea of the NgREN was conceptualized as far back as 2004. After a long period of dormancy, it was revived under the auspices of the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and the Committee of Vice Chancellors (CVC) in January 2010.

The objective was for a Research and Education Network that will connect all Higher Institutions of Learning together, and to the global Research and Education Network. The achievement made Nigeria the first in sub-Saharan Africa to join the league of countries in Europe and America that had functional Online Research & Education Networks.

A catalytic fund was secured from the World Bank as grant, and counterpart funding by the Federal Government of Nigeria in mid-2012 for the first phase of the project, while the procurement cycle was concluded in February 2013.

The first phase of the project which connected 27 Universities, the CVC and the NUC, with over one million users, delivered 155mbps capacity to each university and connected to the Multiprotocol Layered Switch core network, which had a 10Gbps capacity, as well as 465mbps internet capacity, providing high definition telepresence capabilities for real-time collaboration, voice over internet protocol, shared access to research content and joint experimentation projects.

The second phase was planned to cover five more clusters of about 100 institutions and five million users. Subsequent phases were to cover all higher education institutes numbering over 600.

The network was to be connected to the London Open Exchange via an international private leased circuit, and offer additional services such as web hosting, unified communication, digital library collection, video bridging and archiving services.

This indeed would have afforded Nigerian Universities the opportunity to take a quantum leap in online learning, and significantly improve their low ranking in quality and reach of teaching and research output, and thereby bringing them closer to their global peers.

But alas, this was not to be; as the much heralded NgREN has been shut down for over eleven months due to non-payment of the segment bandwidth fees. The consortium of local providers however, left all the equipment intact in good faith, awaiting the provision of bandwidth to restore services.

Apart from the immense benefit in value and global trends, the economies of scale of the project saved the universities immense costs, as embarking individually on such a project would be grossly sub-optimal and prohibitively expensive.

Nigeria has a long history of poor project execution and abandonment. According to journalists Chuka Uroko and Joshua Bassey, in the past couple of years alone, it is estimated that over 11,886 federal government projects with an estimated value of N7.7trillion have been abandoned.

Should we start singing a funeral dirge to a well conceptualized and implemented system as the NgREN, with all its benefits after spending so much tax payers’ money on it? By this action of omission or commission we would have inadvertently reversed the solid gains made in the broadband transformation agenda and shut our youth from critical online learning and the emerging digital economy.

The importance of broadband to online learning, the digital economy and social development cannot be overemphasized. This is underscored by the open letter from the Global Broadband Commission to the G20 leaders’ meeting as far back as 2012, wherein they enumerated the importance of broadband in moving the global economy onto a higher growth trajectory, and in generating sustainable, social and economic growth of all nations, especially literacy development to address inequity and deliver inclusive growth for all.

In particular, they argued that broadband enabled technologies are simulating fresh innovation and inspiring a new generation of digital entrepreneurs. The digital era will produce a whole new range of digital careers and industries of the future. Broadband reduces barriers to entry, offering opportunities for small and medium enterprises to challenge existing hierarchies, to innovate, compete and grow.

The targets of the NgREN were to make broadband universal among our youth in higher institutions and their surrounding communities, make it affordable, connect homes and businesses, and get more people online. In essence, it would have enabled our institutions to have the same opportunities to learning as those in the developed world, and impacted their communities as is currently witnessed in places such as Silicon Valley in America.

With such nonchalance to educational development in our country, it is no surprise that none of our local universities is included in the ranking of the world’s best 1,000. Tertiary education in Nigeria has suffered from long periods of neglect to the extent that parents would rather take their Children to countries like Ghana, UK, US and Canada.

It is estimated that Nigerians studying in British and American Universities have spent over N137billion on tuition and living expenses in the last two academic sessions. If the over 71,000 Nigerian students who pay tuition fees in Ghana were to contribute the N160billion they spend annually, they would account for about 40 per cent of the Nigerian education budget. According to Mr. Ian Stewart, a member of the British Parliament, there are about 30,000 Nigerian students in the UK alone.

In the wake of the expressed resolve of the Muhammadu Buhari led federal government to make public institutions more accountable and responsive to the needs of the society, it is expedient to immediately revive the NgREN project, and in the medium to long term properly situate it, including exploring Private, Public Partnership (PPP) to ensure that this laudable project does not die an avoidable death. We should as a nation learn to stop being wasteful in the face of acute scarcity and make the most of our scare resources.

Austin Okere is the Founder of CWG Plc, the largest security in the technology sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at CBS, New York. Austin also serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Business School Network, and on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Innovation and Intrapreneurship. Austin now runs the Ausso Leadership Academy focused on Business and Entrepreneurial Mentorship


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Kaspersky Discovers Infostealers Mimicking Claude Code, OpenClaw and Other AI Developer Tools

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In March 2026, Kaspersky Threat Research has identified a new malicious campaign targeted at developers looking for installation instructions for Claude Code, a development agent created by Anthropic. When searching for “Claude Code download”, sponsored advertisements appear at the top of the search results.

One of these ads redirects users to a malicious webpage that closely imitates the official installation documentation for Claude Code. As a result, users are tricked into installing malware which harvests sensitive information including credentials, crypto wallet data, browser sessions, and other confidential files. Similar malicious campaigns mimic other popular AI tools, including OpenClaw.

The fake documentation page is visually identical to the legitimate one and is hosted on the website-building and hosting platform Squarespace. Because the page precisely copies the original instructions, users may not notice the difference when copying and executing installation commands.

However, instead of installing the developer tool, the commands deliver malware to the victim’s system. Depending on the operating system, the malicious commands deploy different infostealers:

.  Windows systems receive Amatera, an information-stealing malware that collects data from user directories, web browsers, and cryptocurrency wallets before sending the stolen information to a remote server. Amatera has previously been observed in campaigns using the ClickFix distribution technique and is operated under a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) model.

 .  macOS systems receive AMOS, another infostealer previously documented in several malware campaigns targeting Apple devices. It has been described by Kaspersky before.

Kaspersky researchers also identified similar malicious campaigns targeting other popular AI tools, including OpenClaw and Doubao. Using the same approach, attackers registered multiple domains and distributed files containing the Amatera infostealer while disguising them as legitimate downloads for these tools.

“The campaign poses significant risks because AI development tools such as Claude Code and OpenClaw are widely used not only by hobbyists and automation enthusiasts but also by professional developers working in large organisations.

If infected, victims may unknowingly expose source code from active projects, confidential corporate data, authentication credentials, and private accounts. This makes such campaigns particularly dangerous for businesses whose developers rely on AI-assisted coding tools,” comments Vladimir Gursky, cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky.

In December 2025, Kaspersky detected that attackers spread a macOS infostealer using Google Ads. A specially generated chat interface designed to resemble a ChatGPT tutorial pretended to guide users through installing the Atlas Browser. The malicious instructions appeared to be hosted on a legitimate site associated with OpenAI, helping attackers gain users’ trust.


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Breaking…….Nigerian Firms Pledge Millions, Create UK Jobs

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Hundreds of new jobs are set to be created as Nigerian banks, fintech innovators and creative industry businesses scale up their operations in Britain.

Nigerian Firms Pledge Millions, Create UK Jobs

UK-Nigeria

The move will see millions invested, reinforcing the UK’s position as a leading global business hub, backed by world‑class talent, strong access to capital, and a stable regulatory environment – while showcasing Nigeria’s expanding role as a key source of innovation and investment into the UK, growing both economies.

UK’s Twinings Ovaltine has launched a £24 million manufacturing facility in Lagos, its first in Africa, creating over 100 direct jobs and boosting the company’s exports across West Africa.

It comes as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, are set to commence an historic State Visit on Wednesday [tomorrow, 18th March], strengthening the UK’s position as a global hub for African business.

Thanks to the UK’s Trade and Industrial Strategies – combined with commitments made through the UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) – the government is attracting investment into key growth sectors including financial services, technology, education and advanced manufacturing.

The Deputy Prime Minister held an ETIP reception yesterday at Kensington Palace, bringing together 180 senior representatives from government and industry to celebrate the breadth, depth, and continued growth of our trade relationship across priority sectors including financial services, education, creative industries, infrastructure and technology. The UK’s Trade Envoy to Nigeria, Florence Eshalomi, also addressed the group. 

Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said: “The UK and Nigeria share a belief in the power of enterprise, innovation and education to transform lives, and today’s commitments show exactly that. With Nigerian firms creating jobs across the UK and British businesses expanding into one of the world’s fastest growing markets, our partnership is strengthening both economies and delivering real benefits for people in both countries.”

 Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said: “The UK and Nigeria’s Strategic Partnership is bringing momentum and opportunity to innovators in both our countries.

“We are reducing barriers, creating jobs and opening new pathways for growth. Growth is the core mission of this government, and it underpins our relationship with Nigeria.

“I am deeply proud that the cultural and commercial bonds between our nations are thriving and that both our businesses and people are feeling the benefits of that.”

Zenith Bank, one of Nigeria’s largest financial institutions, opens its Manchester branch today [Tuesday 17 March] with the capacity to create up to 30 new direct jobs in a boost for the Northwest economy.

The bank is also exploring a 2027 London Stock Exchange listing to deepen its UK market presence and unlock long-term funding for UK-Africa growth.

Fidelity Bank’s acquisition and rebrand of Union Bank UK into FidBank UK with plans to double its 62‑person workforce in 2026 and add new capital, while the Fidelity Group makes London its global hub.

FCMB has also selected the UK as the first international destination for its digital cross border payments platform, boosting trade and investment flows between Africa and the rest of the world. Seven Nigerian banks now operate in the UK, supporting at least 1,000 jobs in total.

Dame Dr. Adaora Umeoji OON, Group Managing Director/CEO, Zenith Bank PLC said: “The United Kingdom remains a key global financial centre.

“The opening of Zenith Bank, Manchester, therefore, marks another important milestone in our international expansion strategy, enabling us to deepen relationships with our customers, support trade and investments, and connect businesses between Africa and the UK more effectively.”

 Nigerian fintech investment is also accelerating rapidly:

  •  LemFi will invest £100 million over the next five years as it designates London its global headquarters.
  • Moniepoint plans to grow its London based team to 100 employees in 2026, building the infrastructure that supports millions of African users worldwide.
  • Kuda Bank is strengthening its UK headquarters as the base for global expansion and plans to double its UK footprint in 2026.

The UK’s reputation as a global creative capital also continues to deepen ties through:

  •  EbonyLife, one of Nigeria’s leading creative industry brands, will launch EbonyLife Place London, creating up to 40 new jobs and strengthening the UK’s role as a home for African storytelling and creative talent.
  • The SCALE Creative Entrepreneur Award Programme, developed by the British Council and supported by the Department for Business and Trade, will support young Nigerian and UK creative entrepreneurs to grow internationally and build lasting ties to benefit both the UK and Nigerian creative economies.’
  • The UK Advertising Exports Group will announce a strategic partnership with the Nigerian advertising sector. This will include a UK-Nigeria Advertising Summit taking place later this year and a talent exchange scheme which will deepen bilateral engagement.
  • The British Council and the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy in Nigeria, will deliver the UK/Nigeria Season of Culture in 2028, involving a range of innovative initiatives and events designed by UK and Nigeria creative organisations.
  • A Creative Industries Roundtable at Lancaster House will bring together alumni, Chevening scholars and creative leaders from both countries.

The following British businesses are also set to benefit thanks to:

  • Twining’s Ovaltine launching a £24 million manufacturing facility in Lagos, its first in Africa, creating over 100 direct jobs and boosting the company’s exports across West Africa.
  • British fintech Wise will receive approval for its first Nigerian licence, enabling it to expand in a remittances market valued at up to £39.9 million.
  • The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), which was set up with UK Support in 2011, has signed an agreement with Asset Green Ltd to explore a largescale integrated dairy project that will strengthen Nigeria’s dairy value chain, reduce reliance on imports and improve nutrition.

Leading UK universities are also expanding into Nigeria, helping train the next generation of Nigerian and British scientists, technologists and innovators. Nigeria is a key education partner and a priority country for the UK’s International Education Strategy.

  • The University of Birmingham and the University of Lagos have signed a new agreement to deliver programmes in Applied AI, Digital Communications and Global Surgery.
  • The LSE has launched a new Data Science partnership with Nile University of Nigeria alongside the University of the West of England opening a dedicated office in Lagos.
  • Wellington College International Lagos will open in 2027, offering places for 1,500 students – becoming one of West Africa’s flagship British curriculum schools.
  • EStars, a UK‑owned educational esports and technology company, will partner with the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to deliver esports‑based digital learning programmes to around three million students.

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Elumelu Tags Elon Musk, Disowns AI-Generated Scam Video

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Tony Elumelu, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, has warned about the growing dangers of artificial intelligence misuse after an AI-generated video falsely showed him promoting a forex and cryptocurrency trading platform.

Elumelu Tags Elon Musk, Disowns AI-Generated Scam Video

Tony Elumelu,

The founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation revealed this in a post on his X account on Monday, explaining that the video appeared highly convincing but was entirely fabricated.

In the post, he also tagged Elon Musk, X owner, and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy while calling for stronger safeguards against the misuse of artificial intelligence.

“A few days ago, my team flagged an AI-generated video of me endorsing a forex and crypto platform.

“It looked and sounded remarkably real, but it was completely fake. This incident highlights a growing and serious threat to digital trust,” he wrote.

He stressed that he has no affiliation with any cryptocurrency or foreign exchange trading platforms.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I am not associated with any crypto or forex trading platforms.

“My commitment to inclusive prosperity has always been through long-term investments, building sustainable businesses, and empowering entrepreneurs,” he said.

While acknowledging the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, Elumelu urged African youths to embrace the technology responsibly and use it to develop scalable solutions.

“I strongly believe in the potential of AI. It is a defining technology of our time, and African youth must be at the forefront of adopting it to build scalable solutions. We cannot afford to be left behind in the global tech race,” he added.

The business leader, however, warned that rapid technological advancement also presents risks if not properly regulated.

“But the flip side of rapid innovation is the risk of abuse. The ease with which identities can now be cloned to deceive the public is alarming.

“Policymakers and regulators must act now to establish safeguards and hold those using it to scam innocent people accountable,” he said.

Elumelu also urged the public to remain vigilant and protect themselves from digital fraud.

“We must create a safe digital environment where true innovation can thrive without being overshadowed by fraud. Protect your hard-earned money, stay alert, and let us continue to build the Africa we deserve,” he said.

 


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