Mr. Bolaji Finnih is Managing Director, RightClick Nigeria Limited, an e-business solutions firm which provides support services to a range of industries. The firm recently developed a software application known as the X-Issuer portal to help the Nigerian Stock Exchange undertake seamless processing of financial data electronically for all listed companies. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, Finnih speaks on the innovative technology and sundry issues. Excerpts:
Your firm helped the Nigerian Stock Exchange to develop a software application known as the X-Issuer, which was launched last month. Could you tell us what informed the whole idea of the portal?
RightClick was engaged by the Nigerian the Stock Exchange to develop an online secured-portal through which issuers, that is companies listed on the Stock Exchange, would be able to submit financial data and other information to the Stock Exchange from the comfort of their offices.
Previously, a lot of these things were being done manually. But with the new leadership within the Stock Exchange the focus is on bringing the Stock Exchange to be able to compete globally in the 21st century.
The objective is that you are creating an Exchange that is of global standard because generally speaking, you want to ensure that you conform to best practice. You don’t want a situation whereby somebody submits information, including financial data to the Stock Exchange and some people can introduce human factor, where someone could for selfish reasons toy with the data that they have to prepare for the next opening day. For instance, if company A submits financial data and there is a human factor in it, such that I can now know that this share is going to open with a particular price, I can take position, thereby create an unbalanced and unfair system.
So, the management decided that it would do well to use a secured technology to carry out such functions as a platform to create a level-playing field so that the Stock Exchange can become more attractive for global investors because people want to ensure that the Stock Exchange is properly regulated and there are proper systems in place before they can bring in their capital. The portal comes with a lot of benefits even if I have to say so.
Among other things, it affords convenience. With the power of technology, you can leverage on convenience, security, open up to a global market. Also the system allows for information validation. This simply means that the system that we built has the capacity to validate any information lodged into the system such that it provides a template and guiding parameters that you want to pass to the public.
It is well in alignment with the objective of the Stock Exchange and I think it’s quite commendable that the Stock Exchange is taking this initiative one by one and they are partnering with an organisation that is within the shores of Nigeria. And from the experiences of the users of this portal, I daresay that there has been a vindication of the risk that the Stock Exchange took by partnering with a local company to develop such a mission-critical solution because truthfully, this solution, if you don’t get it right in terms of regulation of the Stock Exchange, then you cannot achieve the objective of bringing investment into the Exchange.
How does the application works, and can it be deployed by an average man on the street without as much as creating some challenges because of the advanced application techniques?
The beneficiaries or the clients are those listed on the Stock Exchange, as such it is not going to be what just anybody out there can have access to. These companies listed on the Stock Exchange, for instance, are supposed to have chief security officers, chief operating officers and other principal officers, whose responsibility it is to file financial data to the Stock Exchange. It is not technical because we have done everything to make sure that it is user-friendly and we used familiar technology like the Microsoft platform. And most people that have systems in Nigeria would have interacted one way or the other with Microsoft windows and it is the same kind of information, architecture layout and framework.
Finally, before it even went live, we went through a very extensive pilot, where we brought in key officers of these listed companies all over Nigeria to come and learn how the system works.
Apart from the pilot, there was a training organised by the Stock Exchange to actually empower all the users of this portal to know how to use it. So, the key targets all know how the system works and the thing itself is not a technical solution as such.
How fool-proof is the X-Issuer and who administers it? Is the administration domiciled within the Stock Exchange or being manned externally by RightClick?
From the point of view of development standard, RightClick prides itself on adhering to global best practice. The entire system that has been deployed in the Stock Exchange is of the highest standard. So, from the point of view of security compromise, all the different levels of security from SSL, to encryption, all the way to even the code was different. And the infrastructure that has been provided by the Stock Exchange, in terms of servers, firewalls, and private networks, are world class, first of all.
Secondly, from the point of view of administration of the portal itself, a system has been put in place to make sure that whenever the information is submitted to the Stock Exchange, there is a cut off time. So, if, for instance, company X has submitted their financial data and the cut off time is 4pm, after 4pm, no information that is inputted on that portal would be visible to the members of the team that are preparing the data. But if it comes before 4pm, it would be treated and be released to the public at the same time. So everybody has access to the same information at the same time. So, if you want to take position on anything based on any financial information that you received from the portal, it is the same information that somebody is receiving from Hong Kong, London, and New York, so there is no room for any hanky-panky.
And as to who administers the process, it is the Listing and Regulation Department within the Nigerian Stock Exchange that administers the portal but under technical support from RightClick.
So, naturally, such a mission-critical solution, there may be need for constant support and vigilance because not every stakeholder is happy that things are working properly as there may be others that may want to compromise the system for their own selfish ends. As such, we have to be as vigilant as possible to ensure that we maintain the integrity of the system.
What do you have to say about the slow adaptability of business intelligence technology by public and private organisations across the country?
There has been a very rapid uptake of technology in the country within the past decade. You can’t compare the 90’s to where we are now.
Initially, when we started out, which was early 2002, there were few organisations that were taking technology seriously as they are now.
But with the world becoming more of a global economy, people deploy Business Intelligence, e-payment, and online transaction facility and more are conscious of the fact that technology can be an enabler for them to do business. In the past, technology was considered as a kind of necessary evil that everybody had to have. But now, the value is becoming more and more obvious and more apparent to key stakeholders within the last few years.
Generally speaking, it’s quite an interesting time in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. So, we must once again commend organisations that are looking inwards towards the provisions of these solutions because we have quite a number of competent professionals within the ICT industry in Nigeria that are ready and able to offer these services to Nigerian businesses.
Considering the upsurge in cybercrimes, what can organisations like banks do to curb these excesses?
Well, the first thing to note is that cybercrime is an unfortunate fact that we have to deal with. With increased prosperity, comes more attention, especially from cybercriminals.
The banks themselves are not resting on their oars. At least, a lot of the banks in recent times are focusing on penetration setting, vulnerability audit and checking to make sure that all the systems
that they have in place do not have loopholes that can be exploited by cybercriminals. They are doing quite a bit in that regard.
Now, regarding the advent of e-payment, mobile payment, and the likes, the systems that are being adopted by the banks to actually provide these services to the teeming public are being tested very extensively to forestall any untoward incident.
However, what we do advice from time to time to banks is that security viability and vulnerability is not something that you do once and go because technology in itself, by its very nature, is transient. What may be secured today might not be secured tomorrow. So, cyber security is not something that should be taken lightly, it should be given the right kind of attention the same way you’re not going to say you paid one security guard to look after your house this month and next month you don’t have to pay. The bottom-line is that there is a surveillance that is going on around once you’re thrown up as somebody that is prosperous. There are those who would come and reap where they did not sow, so at that point you have to be vigilant. If there is any advice I’ll give the banks, it is for them to sit up and be vigilant and make sure that they do not relent in their efforts because the disadvantage of being on the internet is the fact that you’re open to attacks from anywhere in the world. Because even when you think it’s night time and you want to rest your guard, it might be morning in some other parts of the world where people are trying to hack your system.
