General News
Nigeria Will be Industrialised, Transformed Economy- Coker
Tunde Coker, managing director of Rack Centre since July 2014 has within a short time built a reputation for innovation and the democratisation of IT business in Nigeria.
Coker, a Mechanical Engineering graduate from Glamorgan University, Wales has worked with Ford of Europe; and Cap Gemini, a global top 5 business and technology consultancy.
During the 2000s, he held various roles; MD/CEO at an eMC Saatchi, an M&C Saatchi company, Global IT Applications Director at BP the oil major, and prior to coming to Nigeria in 2009, he was Chief Technology Officer for Criminal Justice in the UK and CIO for Ministry of Justice.
Access Bank brought Coker back to Nigeria as Group CIO in 2009; and he was engaged on the exciting journey to transform the bank to one of the leading banks it is today.
In 2013, he left to join Emerging Markets Payments as MD West Africa.
He believes that Nigeria will be an industrialised and transformed top 20 global economy and is very pleased Rack Centre is a key part of that journey.
About Rack Centre
In late 2012, Jagal, a Nigerian conglomerate holding that operates leading energy businesses and manages a diverse portfolio of investments identified a significant market opportunity and potential demand for high quality, reliable, secure and scalable carrier neutral colocation space, leveraging 20,000 square metres in Oregun, 30 metres above sea level, private secure access within an industrial area and access to a wide range of utilities; an ideal location for a data centre.
The vision was for Rack Centre to be the leading data centre in Sub-Saharan Africa; delivering robust colocation services to world class standards. A modular, off-site constructed facility was preferred for two key reasons:
1. To allow for the site to scale to meet demand over multiple phases. Modular scalability is ideal for what was a nascent market at the time and projected to grow at double digits.
2. To provide a facility with a finished build quality to match any new build in Europe or America.
Rack Centre is built to world class standards and the first West African data centre to receive Tier III Design certification in 2014.
It is truly carrier neutral; this means it has all the leading telecommunications providers connected, the widest choice in West Africa and more than any of the local Tier lll data centres.
It is the primary host for the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria. This is significant as customers located at Rack Centre have direct connection to the IXPN giving significant benefits in customer experience for Internet services.
Rack Centre Level of Certification and Benefits
Rack Centre is Design Certified to Tier III by the Uptime Institute, the global authority for data centre certification. The Uptime Institute is “The Global Data Centre Authority” that facilitates and certifies data centres around the world on their reliability and uninterruptible availability.
It also delivers due diligence assessments and certifications of site infrastructure and site management in accordance with the Tier and Operational Sustainability Standards in over 40 countries worldwide.
Tier certification is the validation of the reliability inherent the design of the data centre. There are four tiers of certification.
Tier I being the lowest, Tier IV, the highest and are subject to stringent qualification criteria. Tier III is the highest possible in most parts of the world.
For instance, a Tier II data centre has a design downtime of 22 hours per year, a Tier III just 1.6 hours allowable. A large difference that matters for companies that must have reliable IT.
If the data centre is down, the business is down. I am pleased to note that since commissioning over 24 months ago, Rack Centre has had 100% uptime.
Tier certification is analogous to a driving licence. It is the stamp of minimum certified proficiency. You would not hire a driver without a driving licence, just as it is not advisable to trust critical IT assets to uncertified data centres or where the tier level does not meet your enterprise risk criteria.
Managing the Power Supply Challenge in the Country
We have designed and in place very sophisticated power architecture that is a component part of the design certification.
At the time of commissioning we assessed and found grid utility did not meet our reliability and dependability standards.
So we currently run on fully redundant diesel power generation. The utility power situation has since changed and we are now implementing industrial dedicated utility power with a substation at Rack Centre.
This will be live in Q 1 2016. We are undergoing detailed design for gas power which will come into play in 2017 giving multiple sources of power; utility, gas and diesel.
We may then consider getting the Tier IV certification, which may well be another first in West Africa. Our technology is highly efficient and we achieve average Power Utilisation Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.5 compared to a typical PUE of 2.5 in the region. This is outstanding for the local climatic conditions we have.
Some content providers as well as state governments have attributed security concerns as responsible for them hosting their servers outside. How would you react to this and does Rack centre have any security certification to address this concern?
Our data centre is designed and sited with effective security within a private estate. There are ten (10) layers of physical security combined with both card and biometric access control devices.
CCTV monitoring of the entire facility is available 24/7/365 with six months of footage immediately available for review on request.
This is monitored round the clock by our Command Centre. The physical security/access control system is a major innovation on its own. The ten (10) layers of physical access control starts right from the first gate all the way to the racks combining manned gates, card access control systems, biometric access control systems and physical locks and keys that ensure that access is strictly on an “authorised-need-to-access” basis. Customers are able to limit access to racks down to individual employees.
This gives our clients a high level of assurance that infrastructure colocated with Rack Centre “lives” in a very secure environment. We operate the business to international security and service management standards.
Software security is down to the responsibility of the clients, although we ensure the delivery of communications links to the racks are highly secure.
Customers who colocate their assets at Rack Centre have been amazed at quality of installation and ongoing service, which then gives the confidence and peace of mind on the security of their IT assets.
Data centre outsourcing is a new line of business for Banks, Telcos among others. Why should a bank or any other organization consider Rack centre data centre?
A data centre is the bedrock of an organisation’s IT systems. If the data centre is down, all systems are down, and more importantly your business.
So CEOs want to ensure reliable data centre however, many organisations today cannot afford the huge upfront capital cost of building a new, efficient data centre to meet new demands for reliable IT.
It takes millions of US dollars to build an efficient data centre; a key asset, but non-earning asset. Not only does building a data centre require specialist expertise, running and sustaining the quality requires continuing focus and investment. By outsourcing, they;
1. Avoid immediate and future growth fixed infrastructure investments,
2. Have immediate access to required capacity. Data centers can typically take up to 18 months to construct,
3. Access to future capacity is matched by Rack Centre’s scalability to their business IT demands,
4. Can invest capital and time into earning assets and their core business, and
5. Option of colocating prime or disaster recovery infrastructure,
6. Leave the growing complexity of managing power and environmental issues to data centre specialist such as Rack Centre.
CIOs and CEOs that colocated at Rack Centre say they can sleep at night with the reliability they get from colocating at Rack Centre.
As a carrier neutral facility, the broad range of telecommunications companies connected to Rack Centre gives choice of connectivity providers to our clients. Rack Centre is modular and highly scalable.
The significant growth of IT and data demand means client owned data centres are reaching capacity or over loaded with the headache of having to extend their data centre facilities.
What is nature of your support in terms of tailored services to SMEs? We work with our Reseller partners to provide hosting, cloud, managed services and connectivity.
The hosting requirements for SMEs including cloud services can be tailored to meet individual requirements. This is significant as it now gives SMEs access to computing resources previously beyond their reach enabling them to focus on growing their businesses.
Challenges of Operating in Nigeria
There are two key challenges; power and talent. We address both by ensuring we put in place the right processes and focus on enterprise risk management. I have mentioned our sophisticated power architecture.
We have tightly managed processes in place to ensure diesel quality; have a fuel testing lab, and we test and segregate all deliveries.
Our minimum standards are to the European and US standards of 9% and 5% maximum impurity levels respectively.
On people, we have a high level of focus on our people development to world-class standards.
Our staff are exposed to the same training experienced by any leading data centre provider in the world. People and competency management is central to our core values.
Assessment of IT Regulations in the Country
We do have some regulations that support local content that are being increasingly enforced. When we did not have the data centre quality such as Rack Centre in the country, companies that sought quality had no option but to look abroad.
At that time, insisting on local content where local quality was not there would embed mediocrity. Now we have proven world class facility and the capacity locally, those laws can be enforced.
We do have local manufacturing of computers and other hardware and carefully thought out policies that encourage the patronage of locally produced products should be considered.
Not ban imports, but make local products as competitive and more attractive based on normal market forces.
Guinness Nigeria has officially begun rewarding consumers under its nationwide ‘Open For More’ National Consumer Promotion (NCP), with an impressive ₦17 million in rewards to 107 winners during the campaign’s first live draw held on July 31, 2026.
The inaugural draw instantly transformed the fortunes of consumers across the country, producing seven new millionaires, who each received ₦1 million, alongside 100 additional winners, who each walked away with ₦100,000. The milestone marks the beginning of a series of weekly live draws that will see hundreds more Nigerians rewarded throughout the promotion.
The seven ₦1 million winners are Marcus Barieepie, Ani Valentine Ogochukwu, Okafor Sochima, Taiwo Adebola, Zubair Rukayat, Oluwatobi Femi, and Ebubechukwu Okolo.
The live draw was conducted under the supervision of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to ensure transparency and fairness. Representatives of the commission present included Dr. Olubunmi Otti, Zonal Coordinator, FCCPC Southwest, and Mrs. Abosede Ogundeji, Surveillance and Investigation Officer.
Speaking during the draw, Ramanathan S, representing Guinness, said the promotion reflects the brand’s enduring commitment to celebrating and rewarding the consumers who have supported Guinness over the years.
“For decades, Nigerians have made Guinness a part of their milestones and celebrations. Today, we are proud to give back by putting ₦17 million directly into the hands of 107 consumers in our very first draw. This is only the beginning. Over the coming weeks, many more Nigerians will experience life-changing rewards as we continue to celebrate the loyalty of the people who have made Guinness part of their stories.”
He added that all weekly draws will continue to be streamed live across Guinness Nigeria’s official platforms, enabling consumers to witness the winner-selection process in real time and reinforcing the transparency and credibility of the promotion. He also encouraged eligible consumers nationwide to participate, noting that every valid entry presents another opportunity to win.
The ‘Open For More’ National Consumer Promotion offers consumers the chance to win ₦1 million every day, ₦100,000 cash prizes for 1,000 winners, and a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado as the grand prize. Altogether, the promotion will reward consumers with more than ₦400 million in cash and prizes.
To participate, consumers simply need to purchase specially marked bottles of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout or Guinness Smooth, locate the unique code beneath the crown cork or can lid, and enter the code via the designated campaign platform.
With ₦17 million already won in its opening draw, the campaign is off to a remarkable start, reinforcing Guinness Nigeria’s commitment to rewarding consumer loyalty through transparent processes and unforgettable experiences that go beyond the product. Consumers are encouraged to look out for specially marked promotional packs and follow Guinness Nigeria’s official communication channels for updates, winner announcements, and details of upcoming draws.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has expressed readiness to deepen collaboration with Nigerian universities to promote research, innovation and technology-driven solutions to local challenges.
NITDA, UniAbuja
NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, stated this when the management of Yakubu Gowon University, formerly the University of Abuja (UniAbuja), led by its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi, paid a familiarisation visit to the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
Abdullahi said stronger collaboration between NITDA and tertiary institutions was essential to building a robust innovation ecosystem, developing practical skills and positioning Nigeria for technology-driven economic growth.
He stressed the need for increased investment in research, particularly in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
“We need to invest more in in-depth research with universities to build a robust research ecosystem that will help us develop solutions.
“Research will focus on harnessing AI, IoT, blockchain, cybersecurity and cloud technology, among other emerging technologies, to improve our lives and grow our digital economy,” he said.
The DG described universities as critical talent factories required to achieve Nigeria’s digital transformation aspirations.
“NITDA has a vision to make Nigeria a digitally empowered nation. You (UniAbuja) are the talent factory, and we cannot achieve our vision without talented Nigerians.
“The only way to achieve that is by working with institutions like yours. So, we need to build talent,” he said.
Abdullahi also advocated the integration of AI education across disciplines in tertiary institutions, saying students needed practical digital skills to remain relevant in the evolving world of work.
“We can work together to explore ways of introducing AI across the board as a general study course in tertiary institutions.
“Elements of AI should be included in every field of study to equip our students with the hands-on skills for navigating the real world,” he said.
According to him, NITDA is already collaborating with key education sector stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and National Commission for Colleges of Education.
He said the agency was also working to promote digital literacy programmes across all levels of education to ensure that graduates acquire skills relevant to industry requirements.
Earlier, Fawehinmi said the university’s visit was aimed at seeking NITDA’s partnership and support in strengthening digital infrastructure and technology-based training at the institution.
He expressed appreciation for NITDA’s contributions to the Digital Geoscience Centre at the university.
The Vice-Chancellor said the university was willing to collaborate with NITDA on joint research, capacity-building initiatives and innovation programmes capable of contributing to Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
“We could go into partnership with you to provide data, collaborative engagements, staff exchanges and joint research hubs, so that we can produce high-level human resources.
“The university is committed to serving as a strategic academic partner to NITDA by providing academic expertise required to advance your national digital transformation initiatives,” he said.
The proposed collaboration is expected to strengthen the link between academic research and industry needs while creating opportunities for technology innovation, skills development and practical solutions to Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges.
A New Mexico court has ordered Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to pay $567 million to address the alleged harms caused to young people by its social media platforms.
Meta
The ruling by Judge Bryan Biedscheid came in the second phase of a landmark trial concerning the impact of Meta’s platforms on children and teenagers.
The judge said $420 million of the amount would be dedicated to treatment services for young people, while the remaining funds would support awareness and prevention programmes, screening services and other related costs over the next five years.
The latest financial order comes on top of $375 million in civil penalties awarded against Meta in March after a jury found that the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed information about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
During the second phase of the trial, prosecutors asked the court to order fundamental changes to Meta’s platforms, including measures to reduce addictive features, improve age verification and prevent child sexual exploitation through stronger privacy settings and increased oversight.
The court subsequently ordered Facebook and Instagram to introduce banner notifications and informational screens explaining their safety features, recommended practices and tools for addressing inappropriate comments.
The platforms must also regularly display the information, while an educational campaign in New Mexico will be subject to review by the state.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the ruling sent a clear message that technology companies could be held accountable when their product designs knowingly exposed children to risks.
“Today’s decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online,” Torrez said in a statement.
Meta said it would appeal the ruling.
“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content,” the company said.
The company said it remained confident in its record of protecting teenagers online and would continue to defend itself against what it described as claims that misrepresented the facts.
On age verification, the court said federal children’s privacy laws restricted Meta’s ability to apply certain verification tools to children under 13.
The court cited the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which limits the collection of personal information from children under 13.
Rather than imposing a blanket age-verification requirement exclusively on Meta, the judge ordered the company to continue improving its age-assurance tools in New Mexico.
The tools include the use of artificial intelligence to estimate users’ ages based on signals such as their social connections and the type of content they post and consume.
Meta was also ordered to attempt to develop a dedicated model for predicting whether users are under 13 within the next two years.
Additionally, the company must request proof of age from Facebook and Instagram users in New Mexico whom it estimates to be under 13.
Where Meta determines that a user is under 13, or under 18 but cannot determine a specific age, it must treat the user as being under the applicable age threshold until the user verifies their age.
The court further ordered Meta to partner with schools or a child-safety organisation to establish a reporting portal through which school officials can flag users suspected to be under 13.
Meta must also delete personal information it has collected from users under 13 and submit progress reports twice a year detailing its compliance with the court-ordered measures.
The ruling comes as Meta faces thousands of lawsuits from families alleging that children have been harmed by social media use.
The company is also preparing for another trial in California amid the growing litigation over the impact of social media platforms on young people.
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