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Africans to Leverage on NOTAP, SPRU Collaboration

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In order to bridge the gap between developed and developing countries like Nigeria, there is need for a strategic and sustained collaboration between the developed and developing countries so as not be left behind in the forthcoming Industrial revolution.

Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, while declaring open a two day Conference with the Theme “Rethinking Technology Transfer for Sustainable Development and Transformative change in Africa” organized by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in collaboration with the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the University of Sussex (UK) with support from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The event which drew participants from different African countries like Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya was aimed at examining the concept of Technology transfer and to what extent appropriate technologies have been transferred and domesticated into the African technology ecosystem.

Dr. Onu said Nigeria and the whole of the African continent with the array of human and material endowment have remained a dumping ground for the technology super-powers, he added that Africans should be strategic enough to acquire, assimilate and absorb technologies coming into the continent and make them indigenous technologies.

He urged the participants to see the Conference as a great avenue/enabler for the continent especially Nigeria to utilize the opportunity offered by the event to support and consolidate Mr. President’s next level agenda in Science Technology and Innovation (STI) in Nigeria.

Dr. Onu further challenged the audience not to relent on their effort towards not only making Africa technologically self sustaining, but for it to become an enviable global competitor in the technology ecosystem.

The Minister however reiterated the need for all African Countries to have a robust and operational technology transfer policies that will hitherto fast-track the assimilation and domestication of technologies being transferred in the continent. He added that it is only technology that can lift African countries from extreme poverty and also help create more jobs for the citizens.

According to him, Science Technology and Innovation (STI) are at the centre to affect other sectors like education sector which is the bedrock in which every developed country rely on.

He also stated that due to the importance attached to technology, African union gave directives to all the African countries to spend 1% of their Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in Research and Innovation but unfortunately no African country is able to meet this expectation, whereas developed countries commit 3% to 10% of their GDP to research and innovation.

Earlier in his welcome address, Dr. DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim, Director General of NOTAP, said the Office was establish among other things, to regulate the inflow of foreign technology into the Country through the Registration of Technology Transfer Agreement.

The Director General further stated that NOTAP register the agreement through three major perspectives; legal, economic and technical perspectives and in the event that any of this perspectives are not met, the agreement will not be registered.

He said NOTAP through the registration of technology transfer agreement realized that there was weak Intellectual Property culture in the Nigerian knowledge Institution and for a Country blessed with human intellects, the situation was unacceptable therefore NOTAP in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2006 introduced the establishment of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices in some selected knowledge institutions.

He said the Office also realized that most of the multinational companies that bring Technology Transfer Agreement to NOTAP carry out laboratory analyses in their parent Countries, reasons being that there were no state-of-the-art laboratories in Nigerian Universities. He added that to change the narrative, NOTAP is collaborating with PZ Cussons plc have upgraded some laboratories in some selected knowledge institutions.

He also urged researchers to approach NOTAP for assistance in Patenting their research results free, adding that it was a strategic effort by the Office to encourage research in the country.

Dr. Ibrahim also said that the office is working hard to develop a database for Nigerian professionals for proper documentation of their areas of specialization which will form a new frontier for the nation’s technology development.


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EFCC Recovers Funds, Arrests Suspects in N1.3 Trillion CBEX Crypto Fraud

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Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has revealed that the agency has recovered some money from the digital investment platform Crypto Bridge Exchange trading platform that crashed last month leaving many investors weeping and counting their losses.

In an interview with TVC on Sunday, May 25, Olukoyede also disclosed that the EFCC has made arrests in connection with the CBEX fraud. He added that the EFCC has made significant progress in its investigation into the crypto scheme that scammed many Nigerians.

“We have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money”he said

Olukoyede explained further that although the stolen money was in cryptocurrency, the EFCC has managed to trace and recover part of it. He however mentioned that converting the funds back to dollars in cash was not easy because it required going through similar crypto processes.

“Even though in the crypto wallet, the same way the money was taken from them. There is no way you will get them in dollars. There is no way you get the dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same process.”he said

The EFCC boss added that some suspects have already been arrested, noting that the agency is still pursuing others who are on the run.

“We have gone far. We have made a reasonable arrest. We are not going to give out much because we don’t want the process to be disrupted. We are still after quite a number of people we have declared wanted,” he said.

He, however, said the investigation has been challenging because the fraudsters used “non-custodial wallets,” which means there was no identity attached to the accounts, making it harder to trace the criminals.

“We are still investigating a lot of wallets and the wallets they created are called noncustodian wallets; in other words, no KYC. So, you can’t trace it to anybody.

So, from the noncustodial wallet, they moved it to some wallets in Europe, Eastern Europe, particularly Cambodia and from there, they dispersed the money. We have been able to block some of these wallets where money has not been dispersed.

That is to the extent that we have gone. I even learnt that there are still some of these perpetrators and Nigerians are still falling victim. I believe people should learn from this” he said.

In April, CBEX collapsed, leaving investors with reported losses of over N1.3 trillion.

The platform became inaccessible after users faced repeated withdrawal issues, which were soon followed by the sudden disappearance of their account balances.

The incident, however, triggered widespread reactions, especially on social media, where users have voiced their anger, concerns, and disappointment.

Despite this, CBEX resumed operations, announcing fresh withdrawal options in a move to restore investor confidence.


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Toll Collection on Lagos-Calabar Highway Begins December

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Senator David Umahi, the Minister of Works, has announced that a section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be tolled starting in December.

Umahi disclosed this during an interview for a forthcoming State House documentary marking the second anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

He said: “By December, we will toll Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway. We project a 10-year return on investment.

“The road has solar-powered lighting and CCTV infrastructure, and offers carbon credit advantages.

“It is more than a road; it is an economic corridor and a catalyst for regional growth.”

According to the minister, 30 kilometres of Section 1 have already been completed, with an additional 10 kilometres in Section 2 nearing delivery. Both segments feature six-lane concrete-paved carriageways, designed to meet modern standards for safety and durability.

Umahi further revealed that construction had commenced on Sections 3 and 3B of the highway, spanning a total of 65 kilometres, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom.

He described the positive response from local communities as a clear indication of the project’s wide-reaching socioeconomic benefits.

“Just days ago, we flagged off Sections 3 and 3B—65 kilometres in total, covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom. The host communities’ excitement speaks to these projects’ transformative impact,” he said.

Umahi also highlighted the administration’s renewed focus on the Sokoto-Badagry superhighway, which he noted was part of a broader vision dating back to colonial-era trade plans.

“The Trans-Saharan trade route dates back to colonial-era planning. President Tinubu is now bringing these long-abandoned visions to life,” the minister explained.


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Kaspersky Uncovers Dero Crypto Miner Spreading via Exposed Container Environments

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Kaspersky Security Services experts have identified a sophisticated cyberattack campaign targeting containerized environments to deploy a miner for the Dero cryptocurrency.

The attackers abuse exposed Docker APIs — parts of Docker, an open-source container development platform. In 2025, there are a significant number of Docker API default ports that are insecurely published, accounting for almost 500 occurrences worldwide on average each month.

In the discovered campaign, cybercriminals inject two types of malwares into the compromised systems: one is the miner itself and the other is a propagation malware that can spread the campaign to other insecure container networks.

Kaspersky experts discovered this malicious campaign as part of a compromise assessment project. According to expert estimates, any organisation that operates containerized infrastructure — while exposing Docker APIs without robust security controls — can be a potential target. These may include technology companies, software development firms, hosting providers, cloud service providers and more enterprises.

According to Shodan, in 2025, there are 485 published Docker API default ports¹ worldwide each month on average. This figure illustrates the campaign’s potential attack surface by tallying the “entry points” — or insecurely exposed ports that attackers might target.

Once attackers identify an insecurely published Docker API, they either compromise existing containers or create new malicious ones based on a legitimate standard Ubuntu image. They then inject two malware types into the compromised containers: “nginx” and “cloud”.

The latter is a Dero cryptocurrency miner, while “nginx” is a malicious software that maintains persistence, ensures execution of the miner and scans for other exposed environments. This malware allows attackers to operate without traditional Command-and-Control (C2) servers; instead, each infected container independently scans the Internet and can spread the miner to new targets.

“The campaign has the potential for exponential growth of infections, with each compromised container acting as a new source of attack, if security measures are not immediately put in place in the potentially targeted networks,” explains Amged Wageh, an incident response and a compromise assessment expert at Kaspersky Security Services.

“Сontainers are foundational to software development, deployment, and scalability. Their widespread use across cloud-native environments, DevOps, and microservices architectures makes them an attractive target for cyber attackers. This growing reliance demands organisations adopt a 360-degree approach to security — combining robust security solutions with proactive threat hunting and regular compromise assessments”.

The attackers embedded the names “nginx” and “cloud” directly in the binary — an inflexible executable file composed of instructions and data for the processor, not for humans. This is a classic masquerading tactic that lets the payload pose as a legitimate tool, trying to deceive both analysts and automated defenses.


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