News
Copyright Commission Partners Booksellers to Sanitise Book Business

A Code of Ethics for Booksellers will soon be introduced by Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in consultation with relevant stakeholders to bring sanity to book business in Nigeria.

Mr. John O. Asein, director-general of NCC, who revealed this during a virtual launch of The Nigerian Booksellers E-Directory 2021 published by the Booksellers Association of Nigeria (BAN), on March 24, , signaled that the Commission would intensify efforts at checking the sale of pirated books through physical and online outlets.
The director-general who was chairman at the book launch, stated: “It is now time to separate the wheat from the chaff and encourage legitimate booksellers while weeding out the criminals who, as charlatans in this field have brought so much disrepute to the trade”.
He charged booksellers and other stakeholders in the book industry to adhere to rules and regulations guiding the book trade and its distribution channel in the country.
He also expressed hope that the industry would continue to promote peer to peer regulation and internal control measures to complement Government effort.
Mr. Asein commended the launch of the Booksellers Directory as a welcome catalyst in the Commission’s effort to develop a reliable database of practitioners in the different copyright-based industries.
“As part of our broader enforcement strategies to arrest copyright piracy in Nigeria, the Commission has adopted a multipronged approach, focusing on the different players and subsectors in the value chain. We are talking with authors, publishers, printers and of course booksellers. Booksellers are often the face of the book industry. They interface directly with buyers and ultimately play a very critical role in guaranteeing that the customer purchases a genuine copy of the book”, he noted.
He expressed concern that among the legitimate booksellers were also pirates, importers and distributors of pirated materials. He indicated that to stem the level of book piracy, the Commission has intensified its surveillance of booksellers in the open markets, business premises, airports, hotels, online platforms, and on the streets, adding that the sale of pirated books in any of those outlets would, henceforth, be met with the appropriate response.
He advised all booksellers to always have proof of purchase and ensure that they patronise only credible outlets as the Commission would hold them responsible for any infringing material found in their stock.
He reminded the audience that the Commission was already engaging with Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) to rid the streets of hawkers of books and other copyright materials, many of them pirated.
That intervention, he added, was in addition to the ongoing discussions with right owners about the use of antipiracy devices to help members of the public better identify genuine copyright works.
Expressing worry at the threat of piracy to the nation’s bourgeoning creative industry and the impoverishment of authors, the Director-General commended the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the success recorded so far in checking illicit importation of infringing copyright materials.
He, however, noted that more still needed to be done as available intelligence showed that many container loads of pirated books still find their way into the country.
According to the director-general, the Commission would continue to collaborate with BAN to promote professionalism and encourage legitimate booksellers in order to allow publishers recoup their investment, reward authors and significantly improve on the contribution of the book sector to the nation’s economy.
“This is particularly needful with the challenges faced in the industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic”, he added.
He added that the Commission would be working with the Association and other major stakeholders to deploy appropriate safeguards and regulatory interventions to help the industries recover speedily from the pandemic.
Calling for a change in the way practitioners carry on book business in Nigeria, Mr. Asein urged other major stakeholders in the copyright industry to publish similar directories to help identify legitimate practitioners in their respective sectors.
He observed that the Booksellers’ Directory would assist in raising the standard of book trade in the country and provide a credible source of information for publishers, schools, libraries, members of the public and those that would require the services of a bookseller.
“It would also provide the needed trade information and promote access to Nigerian books from outside the country”, he emphasised.
Earlier, Mr. Dare Oluwatuyi, president of BAN, noted that the directory, a compendium of contacts and addresses of genuine booksellers across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was one of the Association’s projects initiated to reorganise the sector to serve the public better.
Welcoming stakeholders to the forum, Mr. Oluwatuyi said the Association would continue to update the directory while also working to sanitise and boost the book trade in the country.
He expressed appreciation to the Commission and its various stakeholders for their support and contribution to the regulation of the sector.
Among over 70 CEOs and stakeholders that participated in the webinar, many commended the BAN initiative in launching the e-directory.
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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