E-Business
Katsina State Lauds NOTAPs Model Science Laboratory Upgrade Project

The Katsina State Government has commended the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) for its conceptualisation of the Model Chemistry Laboratory Project for Secondary Schools.
The Executive Governor of the State Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari gave the commendation while commissioning the NOTAP Model Chemistry Laboratory at Government Science Secondary School Batagarawa, Batagarawa Local Government Council, Katsina State recently.
The Governor who was represented by the Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation of the State, Engineer Mustapha Mahmoud Kanti Bello said the project will help nurture young talents in Research and Development (R&D) that will add value to the scientific and technological development of the State.
He expressed appreciation to NOTAP for siting the project in his State noting that the State Government is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to harness its scientific and technological potentials through research and application in order to address the challenges facing the State.
Governor Masari pointed out that the State Government in November 2019 upgraded the Department of Science and Technology to a full-fledged Ministry for enhanced research coordination coupled with the drafting of the Katsina Science and Technical Education Board under the Ministry for better service delivery to the citizens in the area of Science Education, Technology and Innovation.
The Governor expressed optimism that with the quality of the equipment in the laboratory, it will add value to the scientific enterprise of both the teaching staff and students of the institution and the state as a whole.
In his earlier remarks, the Director General NOTAP Dr. DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim who was represented by the Director Consultancy Services department of NOTAP Dr. Adamu Abu Tandama said the project was conceptualised to build the capacity of young Nigerians to create home grown technologies.
He added that the project is meant to arouse the interest of Secondary School students to undertake science subjects and also encourage science teachers to have access to modern equipment that will simplify science education to the students through practical.
Dr. Ibrahim who revealed that the project cost the Office about 15 million naira added that it is intended to help build the future science technologists that will embark on demand driven research for the much-desired scientific development of the nation.
He stated that the project commenced in 2021 but only three states are being considered under this year’s budgetary provision which are Katsina, Bauchi and Anambra States.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary Katsina State Science and Technical Education Board Alh. Lawal Bosa represented by the Director Science of the Board Abdullahi Tsiga said the Board is highly impressed with the state-of-the-art equipment provided by NOTAP in the laboratory.
He commended NOTAP for a job well done noting that his agency would ensure that the school properly utilises the equipment for scientific researches that would help solve the challenges facing the State.
Katsina State is the first State to benefit from the NOTAP Model Chemistry Laboratory Upgrade Project and it is expected that with the laboratory in place, future graduating science students from the school will not only excel in their NECO, WAEC and JAMB examinations but will become top-notch researchers of the future.
E-Business
UK Orders Apple to Create Backdoor for Encrypted iCloud Data

United Kingdom has issued a “technical capability notice” to Apple, mandating that the company create a backdoor to access users’ 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.
E-Business
Oracle Adds AI Pricing Features to Financial Software

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.”
E-Business
IBM Exits Nigeria and Ghana, Transfers Operations to MIBB

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.
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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