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STEM Education Receives a Big Boost as Moniepoint Founder Launches Future Builders Fund to Support Nigeria’s Digital Economy Agenda

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The Tosin Eniolorunda STEM Foundation has announced the launch of the Future Builders Fund, a scholarship initiative created to empower high-potential but under-resourced students across Nigeria.

This pilot program is designed to remove financial and structural barriers that prevent promising students from reaching their full potential in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) across Nigeria.

In recognition of the fact that nations need to strategically invest in preparing their youth to take advantage of the global digital economy,, the Tosin Eniolorunda STEM Foundation had donated a CAD/CAM laboratory worth over 100m naira to the Obafemi Awolowo University last year while supporting other initiatives that include Management Students Association of the University of Lagos Entrepreneurship Challenge, Nigenius Inter-School Robotics Competition, and NextGen Connect Interschool Oratory Competition valued at 50m naira.

The Future Builders Fund addresses a challenge facing Nigerian universities: while STEM programs have expanded and enrollment in fields like computer science and engineering has increased, many students face financial constraints that force them to abandon their studies. This scholarship program targets under-resourced students who possess the drive, intelligence, and builder’s mindset necessary to become Nigeria’s future innovators.

The vision behind the Future Builders Fund is premised in the belief that education is a powerful equalizer capable of turning raw potential into real solutions. “Every child deserves the opportunity to become the best version of themselves, and socioeconomic barriers should not be a roadblock to mastery and brilliance,” said Tosin Eniolorunda, founder of the Foundation. “We are launching the Future Builders Fund to find and nurture the innovators who will shape Nigeria’s future. This is a way of creating financial happiness leveraging the power of education to help students from low-income and under-resourced backgrounds gain mastery, giving them a fighting chance at being innovative change makers, who will develop life-changing solutions.”

The Future Builders Fund will sponsor 14 outstanding students—two per university—across seven federal universities, providing tuition support, hostel accommodation, a laptop, and a monthly stipend. In addition, scholars will benefit from ongoing mentorship and development programs designed to cultivate a solutions-oriented mindset throughout their academic journey.

For the pioneer cohort, the participating federal universities were selected across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, including Lagos. They are: Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife;  University of Nigeria, Nsukka; University of Calabar; University of Abuja; Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; University of Maiduguri and University of Lagos.

The scholarship is open to STEM students entering 200 level (i.e., those who have completed 100 level) in the listed universities. Interested applicants are required to submit: Basic bio-data, Academic record (100 level transcript or statement of result) and a personal essay or statement of need

Applicants will be screened based on academic merit, clarity of purpose, and demonstrated need. From each university, the top 10 shortlisted candidates will sit for a standardized test assessing academic ability, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. The best two candidates per university will be awarded the Tosin Eniolorunda STEM Foundation Scholarship.

The Future Builders Fund is demonstrating a commitment to nurturing talent that can drive national development. Scholarship recipients will be assessed annually and renewal will be based on satisfactory academic performance and demonstrated growth in technical or leadership skills outside the classroom. This ensures the program supports students who are actively applying their knowledge to solve real-world problems.

This pilot edition of the initiative will lay the groundwork for a sustainable five-year, scalable scholarship program that exudes an innovative approach – financial support with mentorship, leadership development, and practical STEM skill application in a manner that can accelerate Nigeria’s cultivation of world-class STEM innovators. Applications which open immediately on this link: https://www.tosineniolorundafoundation.com/scholarshipapplication , will close on 16th of October, 2025.

 


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Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

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President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if Christians continue to be killed, reigniting a sensitive debate over religious violence and foreign intervention in Africa’s most populous nation.

Trump Threatens More Strikes in Nigeria

President Donald Trump

Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times, published on Thursday, while responding to questions about a US military strike carried out in Nigeria on Christmas Day.

At the time, the US military said the operation targeted Islamic State militants in north-west Nigeria and was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government.

Nigeria, however, described the operation as a joint counterterrorism effort, stressing that it was aimed at armed groups designated as terrorists and “had nothing to do with a particular religion”.

“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump was quoted as saying. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”

Pressed on comments by his own Africa adviser that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram have killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims but insisted that Christians were being targeted disproportionately.

“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly raised alarms about the safety of Christians in Nigeria, beginning in late October when he warned that Christianity faced what he described as an “existential threat” in the country. He has accused Nigerian authorities of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and has openly threatened US military intervention if the violence continues.

Nigeria has firmly rejected claims of systematic persecution of Christians. The government maintains that the country’s security challenges are complex and largely driven by insurgency, banditry and criminal violence rather than religious targeting.

With a population of more than 230 million people, Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Christians, who are concentrated mainly in the south, and Muslims, who predominate in the north. Islamist insurgencies, particularly Boko Haram and its offshoots, have plagued parts of northern Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands and displacing millions.

Nigerian authorities have repeatedly pointed out that militant attacks have claimed the lives of both Muslims and Christians, arguing that framing the violence along religious lines oversimplifies the crisis and risks inflaming tensions.

Following Trump’s earlier threats, the Nigerian government said it was willing to continue cooperating with Washington in combating terrorism but rejected language suggesting that Christians alone were under threat.

The latest comments are likely to strain diplomatic relations further, as Nigeria balances its partnership with the United States against concerns over sovereignty, security cooperation and the portrayal of its internal conflicts on the global stage.


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OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health

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OpenAI maker of ChatGPT is rolling out a health-focused feature to the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that’s used by nearly a billion users.

Named ChatGPT Health, the new feature aims to provide users with health and wellness information. This, as health is one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT, according to OpenAI.

In a blog post, Microsoft-backed OpenAI says de-identified analysis of conversations show that over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.

ChatGPT Health will also “securely” connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations with a user’s own health information, making responses more relevant and useful.

“Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness – while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians.”

According to OpenAI, health information is often scattered across portals, apps, wearables, PDFs, and medical notes making it hard to see the full picture, and people are left to navigate a complex healthcare system on their own.

“ChatGPT Health builds on these so responses are informed by your health information and context. You can now securely connect medical records and wellness apps – like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal – so ChatGPT can help you understand recent test results, prepare for appointments with your doctor, get advice on how to approach your diet and workout routine, or understand the trade-offs of different insurance options based on your healthcare patterns.”

According to the company, ChatGPT Health is designed to support, not replace, medical care, adding that it is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. “Instead, it helps you navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time – not just moments of illness – so you can feel more informed and prepared for important medical conversations.

“To keep your health information protected and secure, Health operates as a separate space with enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data. Conversations in Health are not used to train our foundation models. If you start a health-related conversation in ChatGPT, we’ll suggest moving into Health for these additional protections.”

OpenAI adds that access to ChatGPT Health has started with a small group of early users to learn and continue refining the experience, adding that users with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are eligible.

“As we make improvements, we plan to expand access and make Health available to all users on web and iOS in the coming weeks.

“Medical record integrations and some apps are available in the US only, and connecting Apple Health requires iOS.”


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Kaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

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Kaspersky experts outline how the rapid development of AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape in 2026, both for individual users and for businesses. Large language models (LLMs) are influencing defensive capabilities while simultaneously expanding opportunities for threat actors.

Deepfakes are becoming a mainstream technology, and awareness will continue to grow. Companies are increasingly discussing the risks of synthetic content and training employees to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to it. As the volume of deepfakes grows, so does the range of formats in which they appear.

At the same time, awareness is rising not only within organisations but also among regular users: end consumers encounter fake content more often and better understand the nature of such threats. As a result, deepfakes are becoming a stable element of the security agenda, requiring a systematic approach to training and internal policies.

Deepfake quality will improve through better audio and a lowering barrier to entry. The visual quality of deepfakes is already high, while realistic audio remains the main area for future growth.

At the same time, content generation tools are becoming easier to use: even non-experts can now create a mid-quality deepfake in just a few clicks. As a result, the average quality continues to rise, creation becomes accessible to a far broader audience, and these capabilities will inevitably continue to be leveraged by cybercriminals.

Online deepfakes will continue to evolve but remain tools for advanced users. Real-time face and voice swapping technologies are improving, but their setup still requires more advanced technical skills. Wide adoption is unlikely, yet the risks in targeted scenarios will grow: increasing realism and the ability to manipulate video through virtual cameras make such attacks more convincing.

Efforts to develop a reliable system for labelling AI-generated content will continue. There are still no unified criteria for reliably identifying synthetic content, and current labels are easy to bypass or remove, especially when working with open-source models. For this reason, new technical and regulatory initiatives aimed at addressing the problem are likely to emerge.

Open-weight models will approach top closed models in many cybersecurity-related tasks, which create more opportunities for misuse. Closed models still offer stricter control mechanisms and safeguards, limiting abuse.

However, open-source systems are rapidly catching up in functionality and circulate without comparable restrictions. This blurs the difference between proprietary models and open-source models both of which can be used efficiently for undesired or malicious purposes.

The line between legitimate and fraudulent AI-generated content will become increasingly blurred. AI can already produce well-crafted scam emails, convincing visual identities, and high-quality phishing pages.

At the same time, major brands are adopting synthetic materials in advertising, making AI-generated content look familiar and visually “normal.” As a result, distinguishing real from fake will become even more challenging, both for users and for automated detection systems.

AI will become a cross-chain tool in cyberattacks and be used across most stages of the kill chain. Threat actors already employ LLMs to write code, build infrastructure, and automate operational tasks.

Further advances will reinforce this trend: AI will increasingly support multiple stages of an attack, from preparation and communication to assembling malicious components, probing for vulnerabilities and deploying tools. Attackers will also work to hide signs of AI involvement, making such operations harder to analyse.

“While AI tools are being used in cyberattacks, they are also becoming a more common tool in security analysis and influence how SOC teams work. Agent-based systems will be able to continuously scan infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities, and gather contextual information for investigations, reducing the amount of manual routine work.

“As a result, specialists will shift from manually searching for data to making decisions based on already-prepared context. In parallel, security tools will transition to natural-language interfaces, enabling prompts instead of complex technical queries,” adds Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky.

 


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