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Computer Professionals, Others Kick against Proposed NITDA Bill

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Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria) (CPN) has condemned the proposed National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) Bill 2021 in its entirety.

Computer Professionals, Others Kick against Proposed NITDA Bill

CPN delegates, led by Mr. Kole Jagun, president and chairman of Council, were at the stakeholders engagement, recently organised by the NITDA to consider the proposed NITDA Bill 2021 which, among other things, aimed at changing NITDA from an IT development agency, to a regulator of the information technology industry ecosystem.

Mohammed Bello Aliyu, registrar of CPN, in a statement said, “it was obvious from the comments, suggestions and opinions expressed by all other stakeholders, at the meeting which held in Abuja on Friday February 18, 2022 that the NITDA Bill 2021 arrogates powers of several other regulatory agencies to NITDA, which is an infringement on the statutory powers of other agencies of government like CPN, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Galaxy backbone, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the National Universities Commission (NUC), etc.

“Stakeholders who attended the meeting were unanimous in their opinions that several sections in  the proposed NITDA Bill is an usurpation of the statutory powers of other Agencies of government that had been in existence before NITDA, and who have been performing their statutory roles.”

He said , for instance, Section 6, 13, 20, 21, and 22, which talked about NITDA’s power, licensing and authorizations, and offences and penalties, among others, raised some pertinent issues.

Section 6 arrogated new powers to NITDA, which included the ability to fix licensing and authorization charges, collect fees and penalties and issue contravention notices and non-compliance with the Act.

“All the agencies present during the stakeholders’ engagement were unanimous in their opinion that all the offending sections of the proposed NITDA Bill, giving NITDA powers to perform other Agencies’ functions should be expunged.

Aliyu stated that “CPN strongly believe that NITDA should stick to its role as an IT development agency and stop seeking Regulatory roles since there is so much that is yet to be done under Information technology development in the country.”


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UK Orders Apple to Create Backdoor for Encrypted iCloud Data

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United Kingdom has issued a “technical capability notice” to Apple, mandating that the company create a backdoor to access users’ encrypted iCloud data.

UK Orders Apple to Create Backdoor for Encrypted iCloud Data

This directive, issued under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, requires Apple to provide British security officials with the means to retrieve all content uploaded to iCloud by any user worldwide.

Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature, introduced in 2022, offers end-to-end encryption for iCloud data, ensuring that only users can access their information.

The UK’s demand challenges this security measure, potentially compelling Apple to either comply by creating the backdoor or withdraw the ADP feature from the UK market.

Compliance could set a precedent, leading other governments to request similar access, thereby raising global privacy concerns.

The UK Home Office has declined to confirm or deny the existence of such notices, stating, “We do not comment on operational matters, including, for example, confirming or denying the existence of any such notices.”

This development underscores the ongoing tension between governmental surveillance efforts and technology companies’ commitments to user privacy.

 


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Oracle Adds AI Pricing Features to Financial Software

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Oracle on Thursday added another set of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to NetSuite, one of its corporate finance software offerings, including some that might make it faster for consumers to get a price quote on purchases like custom bicycles.

Oracle has taken a different tack with AI than rivals such as Microsoft. Rather than racing toward general purpose virtual assistants, Oracle has decided to add targeted features that speed common-but-tedious tasks like entering a brief write-up of how a sales meeting went into a corporate records system.

Another such task that is common in the business world is giving a customer a price quote on a complicated purchase that might have a lot of options, when a sales professional would need to sift through materials to come up with a price.

NetSuite on Thursday announced a feature to compile such a quote via conversation with a chatbot asking what the customer wants, which can either be used by sales professionals behind the scenes to speed up their work, or directly by consumers in the case of e-commerce businesses.

“When you buy something like a bicycle, you have to configure it – figure out what parts you want and which parts work together. We all do it when we buy our cars on the web these days,” Evan Goldberg, executive vice president of Oracle NetSuite, said.

“If you can configure (products) for customers more easily, you can do more deals in a day, or each deal costs less.”

To power those features, Oracle has decided to skip the costly race to develop huge AI models and instead works with partners such as Canadian startup Cohere.

Goldberg said that Oracle’s recent agreement to build massive data centers with ChatGPT creator OpenAI could lead to working with it as well, though the two firms have made no formal announcements.

“I think you could safely say that there’s a possibility that OpenAI will be part of this,” Goldberg told Reuters. “We are eager to work with OpenAI.”

 


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IBM Exits Nigeria and Ghana, Transfers Operations to MIBB

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IBM, the American multinational technology giant, has reportedly announced plans to exit Nigeria, Ghana, and other key African markets, transferring its regional operations to MIBB, a subsidiary of the Midis Group.

IBM Exits Nigeria and Ghana, Transfers Operations to MIBB

The move, which according to TechCabal was revealed in a statement by the company, effective April 1 2025, is part of a new operating model IBM is adopting across select African countries.

Under this arrangement, MIBB will take over IBM’s local operations, customer support, and relationships while marketing and selling IBM products and services across 36 African nations.

“MIBB will market and sell IBM products and services in 36 African countries, thereby giving MIBB’s sales network direct access to IBM products, services, and support, further boosting innovation and growth in the region,” IBM stated.

IBM has been a key player in Africa’s tech industry for decades, providing critical infrastructure for banking, telecom, oil and gas, and government services.

However, its planned exit follows a trend of multinational corporations leaving Nigeria.

In December 2024, Swiss cement giant Holcim announced its departure from Nigeria, selling its 83% stake in Lafarge to a Chinese firm.

Similarly, South African grocery retailer Pick n Pay disclosed plans in October 2024 to exit Nigeria by selling its 51% stake in a joint venture.

IBM has yet to respond to media inquiries regarding the specifics of its transition strategy and reasons for the exit.


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