E-Business
Oracle, LASG Talent Hunt Programme Graduates 50 Students

Oracle Corporation said that its information technology (IT) human capacity building programme in collaboration with the Lagos State Government (LASG) has graduated 50 students, six months after it was launched.
Mr. Adebayo Sanni, country managing director for Oracle Nigeria, disclosed this at the Oracle Day 2014 in Lagos, stating that the threefold talent building programme was aimed at promoting the State’s objective to deliver services to the citizens more efficiently.
Sanni said that through the programme, Oracle will ensure Lagos State Government Employees are ready for IT usage; Youths readiness and Workforce Development.
According to him, already, Access Bank has engaged ten (10) of the graduates, while Oracle partners are engaging some of them too.
The Oracle boss said that Oracle Academy is working with Oracle Academy members Lagos State Polytechnic, Lagos State University and the University of Lagos to support the inclusion of industry-relevant content in their Computer Science programmes and to deliver Oracle database training for university lecturers.
Giving more results on Oracle’s developmental programmes in Nigeria, Sanni said that apart from Lagos, Oracle opened a new office in Abuja and hopes to replicate the feat in other areas.
He stated that Oracle has engaged over 110 Nigerians as employees; 11 interns, 94 partners and have trained over 300 others under its partner-training initiative.
He said, “Oracle instructors in Nigeria are now six (6). We have four (4) basic programmes on developing talents and building capacity of the people. Such programmes are in supporting existing talents; growth specialized talents; nurture future talents and develop new talents.
“We know that the youths are the future of IT in this environment. Earlier in the year we went into partnership with the Lagos State Government. Already, the partnership has led to the graduating of 50 people. Some of them have been absorbed by the State Government and our partners, while institutions like Access Bank acquired ten (10) of them.
“Computer Science is going to be a key part of the future. So, we are working with Universities like Lagos State University in talents enrichment and equipping existing talents among government employees with Oracle skills to support strategic IT projects as well as leveraging on the expertise of Oracle’s Public Sector Centre of Excellence to run workshops for top Information officers of Ministries, Department and Agencies on best practices, market trends and business solutions on topics such as improving service delivery to the citizens using social media.
“In furtherance of the scheme, it will help in training graduates under the workforce development programme on Oracle Database or Oracle e-Business suite for the acquisition of industry-relevant skills and opportunities for internships within some of the state’s ministries; introducing industry-relevant computer science and Oracle courseware into the curricula of universities and public high schools as well as making the Lagos e-Learning Centre an Oracle University authorized training partner,” he said.
Sanni reiterated that the programmes will assist in tackling the challenges of human capacity and effectively boost economic development in a fast growing economy like Nigeria. Sanni said that Oracle’s goal is getting the youths interested in Computer Science, driving change in ICT syllabi and thereby helping the governments at all levels to future-proof their economies for growth and job creation.
Through ‘Oracle Giving’, he said that the Company has impacted rural dwellers, especially in developing women IT entrepreneurship centres.
Oracle Day is observed yearly for partners and others to share expert advice, discuss problems and opportunities with peers, and see how Oracle can help them take control of clients’ Enterprise IT future.
This year’s Oracle Day in Nigeria was used to push the agenda that digital disruption is transforming the modern business environment, with technologies like cloud and Big Data presenting a fresh set of challenges—but also providing new opportunities, as stated by Janusz Naklicki, vice president, AFTA at Oracle Coorporation.
Part of the day’s discussion was on a Big Data & Business Analytics Track.
According to Naklicki, as organizations embark on digital transformation, cloud, social, mobile and big data are changing how business gets done.
Discovering and predicting insights about people, places and things allows companies to compete in new and innovative ways, he said while listing and explain innovative products and services offered by Oracle to IT companies to be the true business partner for the transformation.
The essence , he added was to enable them create an Information Management and Analytic capability for Big Data which allows the business to take advantage of all available data, blending traditional technology with new innovations, to make every decision in every part of the organization the best it can be at the moment that matters.
E-Business
African Startups Raised $345m in Funding in May

African startups raised more than $345 million across 65 deals in May, more than double the amount raised in the same period of last year, according to a report by Briter, a research and business intelligence firm.
The report disclosed that both the number of deals and participating companies declined, confirming a growing trend of fewer companies raising funds in larger sizes.
It said fintech attracted the highest share of funding in May, accounting for 34 percent of the total, while cleantech followed closely, driven by a debt deal from Sun King. The company raised $80 million (in local currency) to expand clean energy access in Nigeria.
“Equity remains the primary instrument in terms of total value. There’s no doubt about it; in fact, equity deals with disclosed amounts captured more than half of the total funding volume in May.
“However, debt financing is increasingly proving its weight. Although it accounted for only 8 percent of all deals, it represented 32 percent of the total funding, highlighting the typically larger size of debt transactions. With the rise of specialised vehicles targeting early-stage businesses, debt is becoming an increasingly important part of Africa’s innovation funding landscape,” it said.
Briter’s report added that grants continued to play a vital role in early-stage support, especially in the education technology (EdTech) sector. The Mastercard Foundation led the pack in grant activity, funding a new cohort of EdTech innovators in Nigeria and Kenya. Each selected startup is set to receive $100,000 in grant funding, in addition to mentorship and business development support.
Multilaterals also made a strong showing in May, it said. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank Group member, issued a $179.6 million guarantee to CleanTech firm KOKO Networks. The support will help scale its clean energy solutions across Kenya.
“This deal not only demonstrates growing international confidence in African climate ventures but also signals a promising pathway for other asset-intensive startups in clean cooking, agriculture, and renewable energy,” the report said.
From a geographic perspective, Egypt emerged as the continent’s fundraising powerhouse for the month, contributing 51 percent of all funding raised. The country recorded 12 deals across equity, debt, and bond instruments. Notably, FinTech platform MNT-Halan raised $50 million through a bond issuance, further illustrating the diversification of capital-raising mechanisms in the region.
Outside Egypt, funding was distributed across Africa’s three other key markets, which are Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, with limited activity recorded in countries such as Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, and Uganda, each registering between one and three deals.
In terms of exits, the African tech landscape continues to mature. Three companies—Baobab+, Qardy, and Shopa—were acquired in May, bringing the total number of exits this year to 22. This already surpasses last year’s count for the same period. Qardy was acquired by Catalyst Partners Middle East (CPME) in a disclosed deal valued at $23 million, the report added.
E-Business
Human Hacking: When Cyber Criminals Target You

By Nancy Werteen
When you get anti-hacking advice, you’ve probably heard “Don’t use a simple password,” or “Don’t plug in that USB you found on the ground.”
But there’s one form of hacking that doesn’t always require a computer, and it costs businesses about 4.88 million dollars a year.
Modern hackers aren’t trying to get into your computer; they’re trying to get into you.
“They’ll try to learn about you a little bit, and they’ll try to use that information against you to try to get you to complete some action, maybe to send somebody some money,” said Kevin Moran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Cyber Security and Privacy Cluster, University of Central Florida.
IBM calls this human hacking, because it exploits human error instead of system error.
“With people just being busy and maybe not very carefully checking some of the emails or the phone calls that they get, can be something unfortunately that people can fall victim to,” said Moran.
Also known as social engineering, this often takes the form of phishing, where the hacker tries to “fish” the information out of you by impersonating family, friends, or even your bank.
There’s also baiting, where the hacker baits you with something of value. Remember the Nigerian prince scam?
That’s a famous example of baiting. There’s also pretexting, where the hacker will claim the victim has already been hacked, and that the hacker can fix it if you just send over your passwords. So, what can you do?
“Just as a rule of thumb, instead of clicking on links and emails, just go to the website yourself. And that will prevent, a lot of these types of attacks from happening,” explained Moran.
Phishing can take many forms.
Spear phishing targets people with access to confidential information, often to get access into an entire business, and whale phishing targets CEOs or political figures.
Search engine phishing is when hackers create fake websites promising services or goods you’ll never receive.
Angler phishing is when hackers create fake social media accounts impersonating famous people or companies.
Finally, vishing and smishing is phishing done through phone calls and texts respectively.
E-Business
FG Enrolls 59,786 Inmates on NIN Platform

Federal government has said that it has successfully captured 59,786 inmates, representing approximately 74 percent of the total prison population into the National Identity Number (NIN) database.
This figure is based on a total of 80,879 inmates across 256 custodial centres across the country.
Abubakar Umar, spokesman, Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Deputy Controller of Corrections, who made this disclosure in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, dismissed recent media reports alleging that the NIN registration had yet to begin in custodial centres.
Umar described such report as misleading, inaccurate, and not representative of the current situation.
According to Umar, the NIN registration exercise within the correctional facilities was ongoing and has achieved substantial progress.
He credited the achievement to collaboration between the NCoS and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), which has enabled successful enrollment of majority of inmates into the national identity database.
According to him, “As of June 7, 2025, a total of 59,786 inmates, roughly 74 percent cent of the total inmate population have been captured on the NIMC platform,” Umar said.
“Efforts are ongoing to register the remaining inmates, and necessary mechanisms have been established to ensure the seamless completion of the process.”
He emphasised that the assertion that NIN registration has not started in custodial centres was factually incorrect and overlooks the extensive work already carried out.
The Service reaffirmed its commitment to integrating all inmates into national data systems, including NIN registration, as part of broader efforts to support rehabilitation, reintegration, and digital inclusion for individuals in custody.
Umar also urged media outlets to confirm their information with appropriate authorities before publication to prevent the spread of misinformation that could undermine the Service’s progress and public understanding.
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