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Practice Makes Perfect Programmers, Not Just Reading Books- Johnson
Young computer science graduates and undergraduates respectively need the opportunity to practise what they have learnt from books, to be more productive and relevant in today’s programming ecosystem, said Yetunde Johnson, the founder of Lighthouse Hub.
Johnson who doubles as the Managing Director of Slingshot Technologies Limited told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek at the Hub located in Obalende, Lagos State, Nigeria must support initiatives that would enable young IT graduates to have hands-on experience, which will make them more employable too.
According to her, the current ICT curriculum in Nigeria needs critical review to meet the standards of contemporary industrial IT requirements, citing Google requirements for Internship, as showing a wide margin from the curriculum used in Nigeria.
“You can’t use the programming language, for instance, that we used to learn many years ago to teach present day undergraduates.
“Also, though the curriculum may be in dire need of review, what happens to present day graduates and those yet to graduate who are following the current curriculum. We cannot just tell them what they have is of no use. How do we add value? It doesn’t make any sense, because if we start reviewing the curriculum today, it could take up to 10 years to get it done”, she said ,”We need to put something in place that will add value to their academic training and enable them to become value adding potential employees”.
Johnson said that the Lighthouse Hub, established barely one and half years ago, is attempting to fill the gap by creating an internship curriculum that enables hands-on experience of working with current technology innovations, working within a corporate like environment and adding useful soft skills that are key to business, work and life.
She added they provide an environment to mentor, train and guide IT startups, professionals and entrepreneurs along a pathway to success, limiting their business risk, but encouraging innovation.
The Lighthouse Founder, however cautioned the youths against showing blind eyes to opportunities as they come by , because now a days there are many free opportunities to gain experience and be trained targetted at young people.
She added that IT graduates must understand, though having a degree is an advantage, however, the IT ecosystem is inclined to individuals that couple theory with practical experience.
“We need to give credit to ourselves and accept the little things we make here. The Nigerian raw human resource is incredible when exposed to relevant and appropriate mentoring and training. I know a young man who makes shoes of extremely high quality. For him to make sales, he had to use a made in Italy stamp. Now, the shoes were made in Nigeria but Italy takes the credit.
“This is one reason we are partnering with a lot of organisations to do a lot of things that compliment the skills that young entrepreneurs leading startups and those seeking to be professionals in the IT arena, would need. One of the things we are planning is a six weeks intensive ‘You-Learn’ programme. If you are a programmer you can’t succeed by reading books alone. Our young people need the complimentary practical approach to doing things”, the Lighthouse founder said.
“The Hub,” said Irene Ademola, the business coordinator, “accommodates everybody no matter how large or small your business could be. We have The Hub, the Co-Working Area and the serviced offices. The intention was to use the hub to create a community of those who are just coming up or who are being mentored or interning with us and those who are already SMEs or established professionals.
“They will be given access to an environment that will encourage them to focus on the development of the appropriate skills and business development. . We made it flexible for networking beyond your own ‘kind’ of people- that is, those outside your immediate business circles, but those who could assist you to grow, climb the ladder or to attain success. This is the environment that the Lighthouse wants to create, one that allows the young and experienced to meet, join hands and grow.
“Being a member of the hub guarantees you the platform to access the meeting rooms for an allocated period of time.
“It is our way of making life comfortable for small businesses. You can actually conduct your training/ seminars too. It is a small community with a great vision for businesses in the IT ecosystem”.
Southeast Asia cybercrime networks are expanding operations into Africa as crackdowns intensify in the subregion, according to a recent report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The massive, unintended geographic shift triggered by intense pressure from international task forces in Myanmar and Cambodia,have seen highly sophisticated criminal networks now establishing footholds in major tech hubs across Kenya and Nigeria, transforming local technical talent into accomplices for industrial-scale digital theft as reported by https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/
This strategic migration represents a critical evolution in the $17 billion crypto scam economy.
Transnational scam syndicates are organized criminal networks that run industrial-scale online fraud using trapped or trafficked labor.
The UNODC has documented this diversification, noting that African nations are increasingly targeted as operational bases due to robust internet infrastructure and a surplus of unemployed tech workers.
In response, local authorities are engaged in a frantic game of catch-up against well-funded foreign cartels.
Recall that in 2025, UNODC, described the shift as part of a broader trend in which crime “spreads like a cancer,” into regions with weaker enforcement and limited digital safeguards.
The report pointed to the rapid proliferation of online fraud operations, including cryptocurrency scams and phishing schemes, moving from countries like Myanmar and Cambodia into new footholds in Africa—particularly Nigeria.
A recent case publicized June 12, 2025 by the WeChat public account West Africa Chinese Voice illustrates the trend: Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 177 Chinese nationals in Lagos and Abuja between December 2024 and January 2025.
The suspects were allegedly running scam centers under the guise of corporate offices, where local Nigerians were trained to carry out online investment frauds—many following the “pig-butchering” model, which builds trust with victims before luring them into fraudulent crypto investments.
Authorities seized hundreds of SIM cards, high-performance computers, and prewritten scam scripts during the raids
Ugochukwu Eze, a 47 year-old man, was on Thursday arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into the server of SunTrust Bank to steal a total of N800m.
Ugochukwu also known as Amazon, was arraigned before the court by the operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).
DSS accused Ugochukwu of fraudulently hacking into the server of SunTrust Bank to remove and divert the sum of N800 million into several accounts in other financial institutions.
M. Bajela,prosecuting counsel, DSS, in the charges filed before the court alleged that the defendant and others now at large, between 2023 and 2026, conspired among themselves and unlawfully and seriously hindered the function of Suntrust Bank Plc’s computer system server and in the process fraudulently diverted over N800 million belonging to the bank.
Ugochukwu was also accused of concealing and transferring various sums of money traced to the unlawful cyber-attacks to some account in some financial institutions.
The offences alleged to have been committed by the defendant according to the prosecutor contravened sections 5; 6(1) and 8 of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2024. And Sections 10, 20 and 18(2)(D) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
Based on his plea of not guilty, the prosecutor asked the court for a trial date, and prayed the court to remand the defendant in the facility of the correctional services pending the time trial will commence.
However, E. Afrogha, defendant’s lawyer, told the court that she has filed her client’s bail application. adding that her client has been in the DSS custody for over a month.
But the prosecution counsel told the court that he has not been served with the bail application, not withstanding that his witnesses are available.
Based on the counsels’ submissions, Justice Friday Ogazi, presiding judge, adjourned the matter to August 24,2026 for hearing of the bail application.
The judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) pending the hearing of the bail application.
One of the counts against the defendant reads: “That you UGOCHUKWU EZE (AKA AMAZON) (M) (47 YEARS) sometime between 2023 and 2026 in Lagos, and other places within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, unlawfully seriously hindered the function of SunTrust Bank Plc’s computer system, and in the process fraudulently diverted over N800, 000,000.00 (Eight Hundred Million Naira) belonging to the said SunTrust Bank thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the cybercrime (prohibition, prevention etc.) Act, 2024.”
Liquid Intelligent Technologies is using light-beam technology developed by Google spinout Taara to supply data centres and large enterprise networks in Lagos, addressing the high costs and delays of laying underground fibre in dense urban corridors.
The deployment includes nearly 12 live optical links serving banks, hotels, and utilities across commercial districts, proving optical technology can supplement traditional physical infrastructure where trenching cables is impractical.
High-capacity bandwidth is being distributed directly from points of presence at Africa Data Centres and other Lagos facilities to enterprises beyond the reach of fibre cables.
This reduces network downtime in areas where physical cable cuts take days to repair. The rollout follows a two-year deployment by Liquid to strengthen network resilience for local internet service providers.
Nigeria remains one of the largest economies on the continent, with Lagos acting as its primary commercial hub. Expanding network infrastructure across dense urban environments requires operators to blend multiple technologies.
Using focused beams of light transmitted through the air, the technology allows operators to establish links within days rather than weeks, complementing existing physical networks.
Liquid is now assessing expansion into Abuja, Ibadan, and Kano.
“For Liquid, deployment speed has been one of the most significant advantages,” said Eugene Uka, acting chief executive officer of Liquid Intelligent Technologies Nigeria.
He added: “Traditional fibre deployments are not always a possibility, especially across difficult terrains. Taara links can often be installed and activated within hours, allowing Liquid to fulfil its mission to create a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind.”
Bhavesh Mistry, regional lead for Taara in Africa, commented: “As demand for connectivity continues to grow, operators need more flexibility in how they expand and reinforce their networks.
“Fibre remains an essential part of modern communications infrastructure, and will for some time, but there are many situations where deploying fibre quickly or cost-effectively can be difficult. Wireless optical communication gives operators another tool to extend capacity, reach customers faster, and build more resilient networks without compromising performance.”
The Taara Lightbridge system delivers up to 20 gigabits per second of capacity across distances up to 20 kilometres using invisible light beams.
The platform avoids trenching, spectrum licensing, or extensive civil engineering work. Taara claims its system is active in more than 20 countries with telecommunications operators, including T-Mobile, Airtel, Digicel, Liquid, and SoftBank.
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