Telecom
OAU, Unilag students win BlueChip Inter-Campus Machine Learning competition
After an intensive 5-day learning bootcamp, Olajide Abdulrazzaq Folarin (from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State), Sadiq Aderinto and Stanley Obumneme Dukor (both of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos) jointly won the first Inter-Campus Machine Learning competition.
Sponsored by Bluechip Technologies and organised by Data Science Nigeria, the three first-place winners individually earned the highest score for machine learning algorithm development.
The bootcamp was facilitated by 11 visiting international experts in artificial intelligence, 5 online tutors and 15 Nigerian-based business leaders.
More than 10,000 students from 95 campuses participated in the 4-stage competition. It included a pre-qualification pre-study, a quiz, a Kaggle competition and a validation call.
The top 85 students competed at the 5-day all-expenses-paid bootcamp at the Peninsula Resort, Lekki-Ajah Expressway, Lagos, from 10-14 October 2018.
At the bootcamp, the students were immersed in intensive sessions of theoretical learning, use case applications, face-to-face teaching, virtual online classes, and a hands-on hackathon using the newly launched Zindi platform for real-time model evaluation.
Distinguished data scientists from leading global institutions including Google’s AI Lab, GitHub, MIIA and Bankable Frontiers Associate, USA facilitated the sessions.
Leading executives from the Nigerian banking, telecommunications, energy, and investment sectors shared their invaluable contextual insights with the students.
The Inter-Campus Machine Learning competition strives to increase Nigeria’s experience and expertise in data science and to enhance the opportunities and employability of Nigerian students through an incentivized exposure to advanced world-class knowledge.
Data Science is now the world’s no. 1 career, and is critical to high-impact transformation and innovation in Nigeria and worldwide.
In order to ensure the maximum inclusive participation, all the participants who travelled to the bootcamp from outside Lagos received full travel grant, while 10 additional special provisions were made for ladies who did not meet the cut-off selection mark.
The bootcamp included participants from all six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
Mr Bayo Adekanmbi, convener, Data Science Nigeria, in his welcome speech, said, “in our quest to play big in the Artificial Intelligence space, we must raise our game and combine the best of theoretical knowledge and real use cases with solution orientation, hence our tutorial approach of having world-class experts from leading AI centres in the world and local business leaders at the bootcamp”.
Olumide Soyombo, the co-founder of Bluechip Technologies Limited, shared Bluechip’s 10-year story and inspired the participants about the possibilities of artificial intelligence and how the students could leverage their knowledge to become technology entrepreneurs.
A group photograph of facilitators and participants at the Inter-campus Machine Learning competition.
Mr. Soyombo emphasized the importance of collaborative learning, network building and high-quality solution orientation.
He said, “We are proud to sponsor the 1st ever Intercampus Machine Learning Competition as part of our 10th anniversary, which is a demonstration of our commitment to knowledge development, especially in strategic areas like AI which will shape the future and make the world a better place”.
Kazeem Tewogbade, the managing director of Bluechip Technologies Limited, said “Bluechip Technologies is excited to have created a platform that brought together some of the world’s best and Nigeria’s budding talent across over 90 higher institutions.
“We are convinced that Nigeria is raising a new breed of experts that will play big on the global space”.
Each of the three winners received $1,000 US dollars and an opportunity for a short-term internship at the Bluechip technology firm.
In addition, campus volunteers from the universities with the highest number of participants in the pre-qualification process were also rewarded for promoting and mobilizing participation in the competition.
The University of Lagos, Ladoke Akintola University Ogbomoso, and the University of Ibadan campus volunteers received N150,000, N100,000 and N50,000 respectively.
Some of the speakers at the bootcamp included Matt Grasser, Director, Inclusive Fintech, Bankable Frontiers Associate, USA; Moustapha Cisse PhD, Google AI Lab; Professor Tom Dietterich, Distinguished Professor and Director, Oregon State University and the founder of BigML; Dr Emmanuel Doro, Principal Data Scientist, Jet.com, USA; Dr Sulaimon Afolabi, Argility, South Africa; Ekow Duker, ex-Chief Analytics Officer of Barclays Africa/MD IxioAnalytics, South Africa;
Other were Dr Jacques Ludik, CEO of Cortex Logic, South Africa; Karim Beguir, the founder/CEO of Instadeep AI, London; Omoju Miller PhD, Senior Data Scientist, GitHub, USA; Abiodun Modupe, PhD Researcher, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; Adewale Akinfaderin, Graduate Researcher, FSU & Senior Data Scientist, Lowe’s Inc., USA; Osayi Igharo, Founding and Managing partner, Ripple VC, San Francisco, SA; Robert John, Chief Data Scientist at Enter5ive and.
In addition to theoretical and hands-on exploration of topics like Anomaly detection, unsupervised classification, sequential rule mining, Deep Learning theories, Deep learning in Natural language processing; the bootcamp attendees spent time brainstorming on real business problems which were facilitated by the leadership teams of companies like FCMB (credit risk scoring), Terragon Group (AdTech recommendation), Guardian News (recommendation system), Octave Analytics (Financial inclusion geomapping), Axa Mansard (AI for insurance) and Microsoft (possibilities in MS Azure).
The bootcamp focused on applying Artificial Intelligence to a real-world problem of financial inclusion in Nigeria.
The bootcamp’s Machine Learning Hackathon was based on loan default models for an anonymised real-world dataset of low-income customers and required the participants to use geographical data (longitude and latitude), historical usage and mobile phone behaviour to determine the likely risk of loan defaults, as captured here.
Banks and telecommunications operators in Nigeria have ended a four-year dispute over nearly N300bn owed for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services (USSD), with the debt now fully cleared, according to Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, announced the resolution on Thursday during an official visit to Idris Olorunnimbe, chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
He credited the intervention of the NCC, led by Dr Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman of the commission, with bringing the long-standing dispute to a close.
“When Dr Maida assumed office, he inherited significant industry challenges,” Adebayo said.
“One of the most difficult was the USSD debt crisis, a debt burden that grew over four years to nearly N300bn. It had become a systemic risk to our sector and the digital financial ecosystem.
Through firm leadership, structured engagement, and decisive coordination, Dr Maida and his team resolved this issue.
Today, there is no outstanding USSD debt. The ecosystem has fully migrated to end-user billing. What was once a looming crisis has been converted into a sustainable framework.”
The clearing of the debt ends years of accusations and counter-accusations between banks and telecom operators, which had threatened the stability of digital financial services in the country.
Adebayo praised the NCC’s leadership for steering the telecom sector through one of its most delicate periods, noting other interventions, including last year’s approval of a 50 per cent USSD tariff.
He described the resolution of the debt crisis as a milestone for the telecom and digital finance ecosystem, ensuring sustainability and predictability for operators and service providers.
Nigeria’s telco and bank billing for USSD services transitioned to the end-user billing model in mid-2025, moving charges from bank accounts to customers’ mobile airtime, which is deducted directly by telecom operators.
This shift resolved the long-standing dispute in which banks owed operators up to N300bn in unpaid USSD fees.
The transition arose from years of tension between telecom operators, including MTN and Airtel, and banks over USSD revenue sharing, with debts peaking at N250–300bn by 2024.
The NCC, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, developed the EUB framework to standardise billing, enhance transparency, and support financial inclusion for unbanked users who rely heavily on USSD codes.
Under the EUB system, charges are now deducted directly from mobile airtime at N6.98 per session lasting up to 120 seconds, with user consent prompts issued before each deduction. Banks no longer bill for USSD services; telcos handle them exclusively, with regulatory safeguards preventing double-billing. Users can opt in or out of the service, and banks are required to notify customers in advance of any USSD session charges.
Migration to the EUB model began between June 3 and 18, 2025, following partial debt repayments amounting to N171bn. By February 19, 2026, banks had fully cleared the remaining debt, solidifying the EUB rollout.
The model improves user control through immediate airtime deductions and session notifications, similar to voice and SMS billing. While some critics have expressed concern over potential burdens on low-income users, the transition strengthens telecom revenue sustainability and contributes to the stability of Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.
Credit: Punch
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and MTN Nigeria have launched free, high-speed WiFi services for passengers at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The partnership, both bodies explained, will be followed up with similar development taking place at the airports in Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu within the next few months.
Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, managing director of FAAN, officially unveiled the internet service at MMIA Terminal two.
Kuku, who was represented by Capt. Abdullahi Mahmood, director of Airport Operations, described the initiative as a major milestone partnership for the aviation ecosystem.
The FAAN boss said the milestone marked a new benchmark in digital infrastructure and passenger experience across Nigerian airports.
According to her, the free WiFi service will be extended to the MMIA Temporary Terminal within weeks, before extension to Enugu, Port Harcourt, and Kano international airports over the next three months.
“In 21st century Nigeria, no Nigerian airport should be an offline island.
“This collaboration with MTN Nigeria demonstrates how effective Public-Private Partnership (PPP) alignment can modernise infrastructure and strengthen the country’s digital economy,” she said.
Kuku assured travellers that FAAN was committed to closing service gaps and enhancing operational efficiency across airports nationwide.
“This WiFi is our promise that FAAN is listening. We have turned on the signal today, but the signal we are truly sending is this: Nigerian aviation is writing a new chapter; one of innovation, partnership, and unwavering commitment to excellence,” she said.
Kuku said the project was a key component of the digital economy agenda led by President Bola Tinubu and the transformative vision of Mr Festus Keyamo, minister of Aviation.
She commended MTN Nigeria for its technical expertise and investment in the project, describing the partnership as purpose-driven and transformative.
On his part, Mr Karl Toriola, chief executive officer of MTN Nigeria, who was represented by Lynda Saint-Nwafor, chief enterprise business officer, assured passengers that the service would be reliable, secure and efficient.
“We are proud to announce the launch of a free WiFi service across major airports in Nigeria in partnership with FAAN.
“This initiative reflects a shared commitment to improving passenger experience and enhancing digital accessibility,” Toriola said.
He noted that airports served as critical gateways for business travellers, tourists, airport personnel and service providers, all of whom required seamless connectivity.
“With this service, travellers waiting to board, in transit, or upon arrival can now stay connected freely and effortlessly,” he added.
MTN Nigeria also announced plans to activate on-ground engagement campaigns at the Lagos and Abuja airports over the next month to drive awareness and encourage usage.
According to the telecom giant, the project reinforces its commitment to national infrastructure development and expanding digital access in public spaces.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is considering imposing sanction on any road contractor that destroys telecommunications metro fibre across the country.
Idris Olorunnimbe, chairman, Board of Commissioners, NCC, stated this at congratulatory visit to the Chairman by members of Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) in Lagos yesterday.
According to him, “I think what we need to do to address the damage of metro fibre by government contractors is simply. He who cuts It must fix it, and we’ll take this message to our state governments.
If any contractor knows that if they damage that critical national infrastructure, their work is going to stop and they are going to be the ones to fix it, they will not destroy it.
Responding, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said up until now, there are no consequences for those infractions, and if there are no consequences, the tendency to continue to do bad is very high.
“Contractors of government carrying out roadworks, whether road maintenance or road expansion, and their machines destroy communications super highway at will, if there are consequences, or if there were consequences some of those actions will not have escalated to the level that we are in.
“What the chairman has said today is very important, if you destroy it you fix it. What we are expecting now is that the consequence of managing those problems will be a lot more, and there will be legal deterrent for people from destroying operators’ fibre. I must emphasize the communication super highway. That’s the highway by which all the signals are carried.
“When this highway is broken, it’s like you have a major bridge that’s broken. You can’t reach east, neither can you reach west. And until we take it as the major super communications highway and so protective, we will continue to be where we are.
“That’s actually what it is. When this highway is broken, we are all affected. So, it’s no longer an infrastructure that is for operators, but it belongs to all of us. If I don’t have service on my phone, some of these are the consequence of this violation that we are seeing.
Earlier in his welcome address, Engr. Adebayo highlighted some of the key challenges in the sector which includes: Daily fibre cuts — often caused by federal and state road construction contractors — are creating enormous economic losses.
- Nationwide service disruptions
- Destruction of critical digital infrastructure
- Loss of assets without compensation
- Banking, education, and security interruptions
There is currently insufficient institutional recourse for operators when these damages occur. A structured pre-construction fibre mapping and mandatory coordination framework is urgently required.
Key Regulatory Priorities for Sector Stability
- Independence of the Regulator
He said regulatory independence ensures:
- Credible oversight
- Investor confidence
- Transparent decision-making
- Long-term sector stability
Independence must not only exist in law — it must be visible in practice.
“We recommend: Legislative reinforcement explicitly affirming NCC independence
- Clear codification of interaction boundaries between the regulator and supervising authorities
- Operational safeguards insulating regulatory processes from undue influence
Multiple Regulation
Overlapping regulatory interventions by various MDAs on matters already within NCC jurisdiction create:
- Duplicative investigations
- Conflicting directives
- Increased compliance costs
- Regulatory uncertainty
“We recommend structured inter-agency coordination frameworks and legislative clarification reaffirming NCC’s exclusive jurisdiction over telecommunications matters.
Multiple Taxation
Adebayo stated that operators continue to face excessive sub-national taxes and levies.
Enforcement tactics such as site shutdowns directly affect Quality of Service and national connectivity.
A harmonized national telecom taxation framework is essential for broadband expansion and digital inclusion.
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