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NITDA Rewards Startups, pledges N25m Digital Capacity Building Center in Akwa Ibom
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Friday rewarded various tech startups through its subsidiary organisation, the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Capital.
The event which was held at the Emerald event center, had 10 Startups accorded the opportunity of pitching their solutions to the audience, with Damilola Omoyiwola of Budgetier emerged best and received the seed fund of 300,000, while others got 200,000, 100,000 and 50,000 respectively.
In his remarks, Mr Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, Governor of Akwa Ibom State represented by Prof. Nse Udo Essien ,Commissioner for Science and Technology, stated that ICT remains the best alternative to diversify Nigeria’s economy.
He expressed delight over the choice of the state as the beneficiary of a developmental event of its magnitude. “The choice of Akwa Ibom state by NITDA for such an important project is an attestation that NITDA, and indeed the present administration, exists to serve all Nigerians regardless of geographical locations or any challenges.
“Information Technology is the guarantee to a secure future and we are proud to be a part of this epoch making event .
“We are immensely grateful to the DG for spreading the dragnet to all he nooks and crannies of Nigeria”.
He pledged to integrate ICT in all aspects of governance in the State.
Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami ,DG NITDA, in his remarks, disclosed that the Agency was mandated to develop, implement and regulate the IT industry in the country and that in discharging its functions, NITDA is determined to ensure that all Nigerians, especially the youths are carried along in its empowerment agenda.
He stated that the “Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship, was established by the Agency to drive programs and policies that support ICT development, develop, establish and support ICT innovation hubs, Information Technology parks and community enterprise hubs across Nigeria while, collaborating with the private and public sectors at both federal and state levels on programs that support entrepreneurship and commercialization”.
Dr Pantami emphasized that the presidential executive orders 003 and 005, further gave impetus to the Agency’s mandate and strengthened its resolve to bridge the digital divide, establish, facilitate and support the Nigerian ICT Startup ecosystem.
He also revealed that NITDA will be setting up a Digital Capacity Building Center at the Goverment Secondary School, Afaha Eket, Eket LGA of Akwa Ibom
He concluded that, “our future as a nation relies on ICT”, “ICT is the global driver of all aspects of the economy”.
Startup Friday is a smart gathering that aims at bridging the Startup growth gap by enriching the development processes of innovative technology driven businesses through interactions
It’s also to promote Information Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship, create an enabling environment for an innovative ecosystem to thrive in Nigeria,
This ninth edition of Startup Friday is the first held in the South-South region of the Country, past gatherings were successfully organised in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna and Gombe State respectively.
In attendance were representative of Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Prof. Nse Udo Essien, Commissioner for Science and Technology, the Director General of NITDA, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FBCS, top officials of the State Government, Hub Operators, Techpreneurs, IT Professionals, conventional and Online media practitioners, Academics among others.
MTN Foundation has been spotlighted as a model for private sector-driven healthcare development in Nigeria, following commendations at the 6th Arthur Mbanefo Lecture held at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
Themed “A Healthy Nation is a Wealthy Nation: The Role of Impact Investments and Sustainable Financing in Nigeria,” the lecture featured Dr. Tolulope Adewole, Managing Director of NSIA Advanced Medical Services Limited (MedServe), as keynote speaker.
Dr. Adewole praised the Foundation’s strategic investments, noting that MTN commits 1% of its profit after tax annually to development sectors. “They’ve invested ₦31.75 billion, reaching over 32 million Nigerians. Though only 25% went to health, it accounted for 51% of all lives impacted. That’s catalytic,” he said.
He cited MTN’s dialysis centre programme as a transformative intervention for patients with kidney disease, and highlighted community-focused initiatives like the Y’ello Doctor mobile scheme and ‘What Can We Do Together’ (WCWDT) programme, which revitalised 164 Primary Healthcare Centres, including 44 in 2024 alone.
Executive Director of MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic’s exposure of systemic health vulnerabilities. “When COVID hit, we realised a health emergency is also an economic and social emergency,” she said.
Sanya revealed that of the 52 PHCs remodeled in 2024, only one had clean water. “I’m not a doctor, but I know you can’t live a good life without clean water,” she added, reaffirming the Foundation’s commitment to bridging healthcare gaps in underserved communities.
Hundreds of university students across Africa are set to benefit from a new gamified learning experience on digital rights and inclusion launched by the leading pan-African non-profit organisation, Paradigm Initiative (PIN).
The Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) is a game developed by Paradigm Initiative with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF). The custom-designed board game provides young individuals with a fun and engaging entry point into digital rights and inclusion conversations, training sessions and storytelling tools.
The board game aims to build digital literacy, deepen understanding of online safety, and introduce young individuals to the organisation’s tools of impact. Currently being piloted in three universities: University of Lagos, Nigeria, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi, Kenya and the Dakar American University of Science and Technology (DAUST) in Dakar, Senegal, it will enhance interactions and create a holistic experience.
Speaking at the event launch at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, ‘Gbenga Sesan, Paradigm Initiative’s Executive Director, said: “PIN’s vision is to reach 20 million people through our Digital Inclusion and Digital Rights interventions. From Lagos, to Dakar, to Nairobi.. we will use the vehicle of our new Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) which entails using gamification, training, multimedia materials, tools and other interventions to connect African youth with digital opportunities and protect their digital rights.”
‘Gbenga gave the keynote address on “Digital inclusion at PIN, our Past, Present and Future” and Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer, said the goal of the learning experience would be instrumental in raising awareness of digital rights among the youth, building their capacity to address digital rights and inclusion issues in their communities. Prof. Olunifesi Adekunle Suraj shared a goodwill message with the students and other stakeholders.
Paradigm Initiative, which has been operational since 2007, started in a tiny cybercafe in Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria. Today, the organisation has expanded its wings to cover six African countries; Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe, impacting the livelihoods of over 150,000 young Africans.
The launch of DRIBLE builds on the progress the organisation has made over the years in tackling the challenge of digital exclusion across Africa.
Paradigm Initiative’s tools of impact include Ripoti, a platform that enables individuals to report digital rights violations, Ayeta, a platform that provides digital security resources for stakeholders, more so human rights activists, defenders, journalists and other vulnerable groups, and the organisation’s latest short film, Whispers in the Wires.
Targeted at students, PIN rolled out a Campus Tour in the three universities on the continent starting July 15th, 2025.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has intensified its crackdown on fake accounts and spam, announcing it removed over 10 million fake profiles and roughly 500,000 spam accounts in the first half of 2025.
The sweeping purge is part of Meta’s broader effort to combat impersonation, fake engagement, and content duplication, aiming to elevate authentic creators and improve the quality of content across its platforms.
In a blog post, Meta said: “We’re making progress. In the first half of 2025, we took action on around 500,000 accounts engaged in spammy behaviour or fake engagement. We also removed about 10 million profiles impersonating large content producers.”
Meta stressed that accounts which primarily repost or recycle content without meaningful edits will face penalties such as reduced reach and the loss of monetisation tools.
The company also warned that repeatedly sharing unoriginal content — whether videos, photos, or text — undermines the platform’s integrity by crowding out genuine voices and making it harder for new creators to grow.
To support authentic creators, Meta is rolling out new tools that automatically trace reposted content back to its original source. The company says this will help ensure rightful credit and give higher visibility to original posts.
“Pages and profiles that post mostly original content tend to enjoy wider distribution across Facebook. Simply stitching clips together or adding a watermark will no longer count as meaningful editing. Content that provides real value and tells an authentic story is likely to perform better,” Meta explained.
Creators are also being cautioned against uploading content that includes watermarks from other platforms. Such posts could see their reach restricted or lose monetisation privileges altogether.
As part of its latest update, Meta introduced post-level insights on the Professional Dashboard, allowing creators to monitor how individual posts perform. They can also check their Support Home screen to see if their content or earnings are facing restrictions.
In a parallel development, Google’s YouTube updated its monetisation guidelines, stating that content deemed mass-produced or excessively repetitive will no longer qualify for ad revenue. The announcement initially sparked concern among creators, who feared it was a blanket ban on AI-generated content. YouTube later clarified:
“We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetise.”
Both tech giants say these new policies are aimed at raising content standards and safeguarding genuine creators in a crowded and rapidly evolving digital landscape.
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