The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Olugbenga Adanikin

  • Fulani, Herdsmen crisis: Struggle for natural resources – Association

    Fulani, Herdsmen crisis: Struggle for natural resources – Association

    • Kicks against Benue anti-open grazing law
    • Calls for establishment of grazing reserve commission 
    Cattle breeders association under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore on Tuesday kicked against anti-open grazing legislation enacted by the Benue State government.
    The group argued that they were original inhabitants of Benue valley in the State, thus the lingering crisis was a struggle for the state’s natural resources.
    The National Secretary, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Engr. Saleh Alhassan said during a world press conference in Abuja that it was inappropriate to treat members of the association as outcasts, adding that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol even allows the Fulani community free movement into and across the country.
    The Benue State Governor, Samuel Otom recently passed the anti-open rearing and grazing bill into law.
    Alhassan said: “We are ever ready. We are peaceful people. What we don’t accept is for people not to welcome us and want to annihilate us. We will not accept that.
    We know our history. We know our root. If you see us in the bushes, don’t think we don’t have our history and particularly in the Benue. We are challenging the Tiv people. We were there in the Benue valley before them…before they moved from Congo and settled in Cross River and later moved to the Benue valley. So they met the pastoralist there. This is a struggle for natural resources. You cannot beat us and say we should not cry, No. Even God will not be happy with that.
    However, he said the nation should acknowledge the existence of pastoral farmers and provide grazing reserves to develop new breed of cattle and embrace modern technology.
    “The Nigerian state must recognise that the Fulani pastoralist exists and as a socio-cultural group that has a right to the shared resources. We must be allocated land to do our cattle grazing, which systematically we can settle our families, change the breed of cattle they need and improve on the technology of cattle rearing,” he added.
    Speaking on ways to end the communal clashes, he stressed that the association was partnering on experimental ranching and nomadism with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as part of gestures to provide lasting solution to the crisis.
    In his remark, President of the socio-cultural association, Alh. Abdullahi Bello, described the enactment as wicked, obnoxious and repressive.
    He said it was wicked to criminalise their means of survival and freedoms.
    However, Bello urged the National Assembly to intervene on the issue, stressing that inter-state movement of pastoralists is synonymous to inter-state commerce.
    Our association view the current attempt by the Benue State government to criminalise our means of economic livelihood of cattle rearing through the enactment of an obnoxious anti-open grazing law as the most wicked act any government can do to us and our economic interest.
    “We want to state here that we reject that repressive and oppressive law and will deploy all the necessary legal means as enshrined in the constitution to challenge it,” he added.
    The association vowed to mobilise herdsmen in the country to resist the law as it was a deliberate attempt to enslave their members,”through this wicked legislation ever contemplated in the history of our nation.”
  • FG to recruit NYSC members as anti-malaria taskforce

    FG to recruit NYSC members as anti-malaria taskforce

    The Federal Government is to engage the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members as advocates against malaria infection.

    Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jibril, at the launch of National Mosquito Control and Liquid Waste Management Programme, yesterday in Abuja said that the recruited members will serve in the capacity of the defunct War Against Indiscipline (WAI).

    He disclosed in Abuja that the ministry may partner with State governments to also register community health officers in Public Health Departments in the 774 local governments, to eliminate the breeding places of mosquitoes and reducing incidences of malaria parasites across the country.

    The Minister condemned increasing rate of malaria infection as a result of poor environmental sanitation, stressing that it was becoming worrisome as it contributed to high child and maternal mortality.

    Jubril said: “I remember in my days as a youth corper, we were in the WAI brigade and now I can see people (NYSC) that we can recruit for the anti-malaria brigade. This is worth commending because it is of serious health concern.

    “In the 1960s, 70s, we had the privilege of having the wole-woles… so the federal ministry of environment in partnership andelsta limited has decided to re-launch this programme with the sole objective of achieving a clean and green environment, free of mosquitoes and other diseases in the country.

    “We know of the menace of malaria vectors causing diseases in the country as well as poor management of the environment in rural, semi-rural and urban areas that constitute serious threat to human health.”

    However, he said the responsibility to maintain a healthy environment should be collective and participatory as the ministry cannot solely perform the public sanitary functions.

    According to him, there was the need for partnership with the public and private sector in the campaign against malaria infection.

    In his remark, the Managing Director, Andelsta Limited, Engr. Fintan Ibeshi called for the abolition of monthly sanitation stressing that sanitations should be daily activity rather than monthly exercise.

    He said the firm in partnership with the ministry will roll out campaigns, seminars, trainings for volunteer corps in order to promote sanitation advocacy in schools, health centers and other public places.

    Ibeshi noted that the success in the war against mosquito, access to clean water and sanitation for everyone cannot be achieved by the public sector alone without the involvement and strong participation of private sector.

    He explained that through its Decentralised Waste Water Treatment System (DEWATS), waste water in densely populated areas, villages and slums would be treated.

    “The DEWATS solution constitutes primary, secondary and tertiary treatment for waste water and also provides biogas for cooking, lighting and power generation,” he added.

  • Climate change responsible for increased barren villages, erratic rainfall

    The Minister of State for Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Jubril on Tuesday expressed worry over the increasing rate of barren villages and erratic rainfall in the northern part of the country.

    The minister, who attributed this development to climate change impacts, warned that the situation may persist except there are tentative efforts such as awareness creation and collective approach to reduce the scourge.

    He disclosed this during a meeting with a delegation from West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted land Use (WASCAL), led by its Executive Director, Prof. Jimmy Adegoke in Abuja.

    He added that the Lake Chad in Borno State had significantly reduced, causing water shortage compared with its state 50 years ago.

    Jubril acknowledged over 50 million euro expended by the German government to support Nigeria and other West African countries on research projects regarding climate change.

    His Words: “We thank the German government for this initiative and the support we got from the governing council and executive director of WASCAL. Believe it or not, climate change is not something you can wish away.

    I believe our brothers and sisters from Yobe will attest to it that when you come from areas in the north, where the sand dunes are real, there seem to be barren villages and limited water resources, you cannot deny climate change.

    “Again, in Maiduguri, you know the history of the Lake Chad, you know the former size but 50 years later, it is shrinking to one tenth from 22, 000 sq km to 2, 000 sq klm. I believe it is enough to tell you
    about climate change.

    “We are in May, if you notice, in the north central part of this country, the rains are still erratic. Noting can show you the manifestation of climate change more than this. If it were before perhaps 10 years back, the rain would have been stable.”

    WASCAL is sponsoring training programmes in Federal University of Technology, Minna and Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) to increase capacity on climate change issues.

    Earlier, WASCAL executive director emphasised on negative impacts of climate change and need to increase capacity, research, and create sustainable solutions for better livelihood.

    He said there was no single solution to stop climate change but much of collective efforts.

    According to him, WASCAL is managing 10 post graduate schools which include six PhD schools and four Masters schools in the sub-region and they are all addressing climate change issues by sectors.

    Adegoke appealed to the federal government to hasten efforts to fulfil its 200, 000 euros counterpart of the project.

    He said: “Over 3m euros have been spent over five years to develop programmes to support understanding of climate change in the country.

    The country contribution is not a lot. We are so grateful that Nigeria outstanding contribution of 200, 000 euros will be addressed. It’s not much.”

    “Climate change is a global issue that has a particular interest in us in West Africa. Most impacted countries in terms of climate change are right here in West Africa. The Human Development Index (HDI) which shows vulnerable countries in the world has West Africa top the list.

    We have done very little to contribute to climate change and these countries unfortunately, are the least capable of addressing the problem.

    “The resources to address the challenges are limited here. Are we doing enough? No, are other global communities doing enough, No they are not,” he added.

  • FG laments N127b loss to cyber crime

    FG laments N127b loss to cyber crime

    …Partners CSEAN on awareness creation, cyber defence      

    The Federal Government has said the country loses over N127 billion annually to cyber-crimes across the country.

    Minister of Communications, Bar. Adebayo Shittu, disclosed this yesterday during Cyber Secure Conference organised by the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) in Abuja.

    The Minister acknowledged increasing threats in the nation’s cyberspace stressing that the trend was becoming more sophisticated and frequent.

    He said it was thus important to intensify efforts to secure the country’s cyber space against imminent threats, as the federal government already inaugurated an advisory council on cyber security.

    His words: “Indeed, Nigeria loses over N127 billion annually, which translates to about 0.08 of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The financial implication could be much more, but a larger number of incidents remain undetected or unreported. These grim figures go on to emphasise the fact that cyber criminals never sleep.

    Building a resilient cyber defence is a priority as available statistics puts the cost of cyber-crime globally at $700 billion per year, and it is projected to rise to about $2 trillion by 2019, due to the rapid digitisation of consumer lives and company records. Breaches like these have steadily been on the rise as according to reports, the number of incidents in 2016 grew by 38 per cent as against the number reported in 2015.

    According to him, the country is in dire need of cyber experts that could help secure the cyberspace.

    Earlier, CSEAN President, Remi Afon identified the need for the country to implement the National Cyber Security Strategy and Policy designed by the federal government to secure the country.

    RELATED: North Korea hackers attack banks in Nigeria, 17 other countries

    He cited the recent global cyber-attack named as ‘wannacry ransomware’ which had wreaked havoc in 104 countries and shut down over 200, 000 computers.

    However, he said the government should make it a mandate in partnership with other stakeholders in the sector to create cybersecurity awareness across the country.

    Aside, Afon urged the federal government to allocate budget to build cyber defence system and increase capacities among private and public establishments in order to jointly build a resilient cyber security ecosystem.

    “We don’t need to be reminded of the growing sophistication and pervasiveness of cyber-attacks, whether it was a billion compromised Yahoo accounts or state-sponsored hackers muscling on national elections.

    “Just last week, the world was hit with ‘WannaCry ransomware’ attack one of the largest ever cyber-attacks in recent years… This attack reinforces how dependent we have become on our data-driven networks and serves as a wake-up call for government, businesses and organisations to make cyber security top priority,” he added.

    Presents at the conference were representative of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), KPMG Nigeria, Microsoft, Panda among others.

  • FG tasks Customs, NAFDAC others with GMO detection

    FG tasks Customs, NAFDAC others with GMO detection

    The Federal Government has tasked the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) among other relevant regulatory agencies to partner with the Nigeria Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) on Genetically Modified Organisation (GMO) detection.

    The Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jubril said the collaboration became imperative to ensure the country does not become dumping ground for poisonous and Genetically Modified (GM) foods.

    Jubril said during stakeholders meeting organised by the NBMA, on Wednesday in Abuja that, “Now that modern biotechnology is becoming increasingly important to address emerging challenges with regards to food security and renewable energy demands …..with its perceived and real unintended consequences, we the regulatory agencies must unite with a sense of purpose, vision, mission and determination to ensure that our nation do not become a dumping ground for GM foods and feed nor shy away from reaping the benefits of the application of modern of modern biotechnology and use of GM foods and feeds.”

    Jubril, who was represented by the Director of Human Resources, Mr. Gabriel Oloto stressed that the teamwork would help in effective monitoring. He subsequently commissioned the NBMA GMO detection laboratory.

    Earlier, NBMA Director General, Dr. Rufus Ebegba said the meeting was designed to further partner with necessary MDAs, on the issue of biosafety.

    He listed other partnering regulatory agencies to include the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Federal Ministry of Justice, Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), National Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS).

    Ebegba said the NBMA was mandated to regulate GM commodities before being allowed into the country for safety reasons, thus need for the collaboration to achieve greater success on biosafety.

    “Modern biotechnology is the movement of genes to transfer traits of beneficial interests. We have a law and that will serve as our guide for our operations. So we will not encroach on each other’s responsibilities but we will seek collective efforts in areas of support,” he added.

    Speaking on the GM detection lab, the DG said with the standard of technologies in the laboratory, the NBMA can detect the smallest element of GM.

    He restated that the facility would help to ensure whatever GM crop imported into the country is well tested and analysed, as the country cannot allow uncertified GM commodities escape into the market.

     The African Coordinator, Program for Biosafety System (PBS), Dr. Matthew Dore, in his remark described the meeting as a platform to discuss and analyse legal mandate of NBMA and the government agency as they impact the commercial release of GM crops.

    “It is important to discuss the areas of collaboration to overlap in the biosafety decision-making process and define future steps and mechanisms to establish a coordinated regulatory framework,” Dore stated. 

  • Kano earmarks N224m to treat 280,000 malnourished children

    Kano earmarks N224m to treat 280,000 malnourished children

    • advocates new structure to fight child starvation
    In order to reduce malnutrition, the Kano State Government has set aside about N224 million from N368 million budgeted for health to treat 280,000 children suffering from starvation in the state.
    Kano State Deputy Governor, Prof. Abubakar Hafiz disclosed this on Tuesday during a panel discussion on Nutrition and Launch of the Agric Sector Food Security and Nutrition Strategy organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in partnership with the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition in Abuja.
    He said the 280, 000 children were only drawn from six local governments in the state.
    He advocated for the establishment of a new agency to coordinate activities from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to tackle the scourge.
    The Deputy Governor described malnutrition as a multi-sectoral issue that deserves multi-sectoral but more coordinated approach.
    He said: “In our approved budget. We have about N368m for health but we are using N224 million to treat 280, 000 malnourished children in 6 local governments. So the communities must try to own the interventions. They must participate so that we can succeed.”
    “Food security and nutrition are inseparable in Nigeria and one of the major cause of malnutrition is food security at the household level.
    “These two items are multi-sectoral in nature so there is need for multi-sectoral collaboration. I still believe we need to make sure there is a multi-sectoral coordination body either in the ministry or as a new structure,” he added.
    He explained that the issue of malnutrition was not well addressed in the states unlike the sincerity the Federal Government attached to the issue.
    Speaking on domestication of the document, the Kano state Deputy Governor, Chief Nutritionist for the Department for Internal Development (DFID), Ms. Melkamnesh Alemu and the Executive Director, Scaling Up Nutrition, Dr. Philippa Momah expressed concern on how the federal government, especially through the agric ministry could domesticate the report.
    In her remarks, the Senior Advisor on Food Security and Nutrition to the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Adeyinka Onabolu said the ministry attempted to engage the inter-ministerial group but suffered some challenges from the members.
    She explained that each of the MDAs has the possibility of addressing the issue from their perspectives rather than a holistic approach.
    “Each MDAs have the tendency to protect our territory. So long we want to continue to do that, we may not be able to carry the agenda of food security forward.
    “On the coordination, I don’t understand the rules in the civil service but it’s better we go back and revisit the coordination mechanism domiciled in the ministry of budget, so we can realise the food nutrition strategy,” she noted.
    However, Onabolu emphasised need for a sustainable approach stressing that the current approach to practising agriculture in the country cannot guarantee food and nutritional needs except through the Food Security and Nutrition Strategy
    “Integrate nutrition into the value chain and perceiving food security as human right,” she added.
    In her remarks, the Director, Global Panel, Prof. Sandy Thomas called for good capacity building and better sensitisation against the scourge of malnutrition.
    According to her, the Global Panel was established to produce evidence based recommendations to inform policy on food nutrition.
    She called for more attention on agricultural nutritional productivity for women and children beyond just increasing production.
    Director of Family Health, Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi represented the Minister of Health, Dr. Isaac Adewole.
  • Investigation: World Bank permanently suspends six Nigerian firms, 12 others

    Investigation: World Bank permanently suspends six Nigerian firms, 12 others

    Investigation has shown that the World Bank has permanently barred six Nigerian firms from transacting businesses and engaging in procurement activities with the global financial institution in the country.

    The organisations were accused of contradicting World Bank procurement and consultant guidelines during the Bank’s procurement for projects and programs.

    The six affected firms are Karitex Limited, Gurpreet Singh Malik limited, Kamal Sharda limited, Sharda Impex (U.K) limited, Shereena Agriculture Limited and Vikram Deepak Gursahaney limited.

    Among the permanently barred firms, only Shereena Agriculture Limited is based in Kano state while the remaining five are located in Lagos.

    Procurement guideline 1.15 of the Bank stipulates that borrowers, suppliers, contractors as well as bidders should observe highest ethical standard and shun any fraudulent practices during the procurement process.

    The section reads: “It is the Bank’s policy to require that Borrowers (including beneficiaries of Bank loans), as well as bidders/Suppliers/Contractors under Bank-financed contracts, observe the highest standard of ethics during the procurement and execution of such contracts.

    “In pursuance of this policy, the Bank: (a) defines, for the purposes of this provision, the terms set forth below as follows: (i) ‘corrupt practice’ means the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of anything of value to influence the action of a public official in the procurement process or in contract execution; and

    “(ii) ‘fraudulent practice’ means a misrepresentation of facts in order to influence a procurement process or the execution of a contract to the detriment of the Borrower, and includes collusive practices among bidders (prior to or after bid submission) designed to establish bid prices at artificial, non-competitive levels and to deprive the Borrower of the benefits of free and open competition.”

    The bank temporarily barred 12 additional firms for contravening Sections 1.12, 1.14 and 1.15 of the World Bank procurement guidelines.

    While the sanction duration for one of the firms Xl Management Services Limited extended to 12 months, Snc-Lavalin International (Nigeria) Limited was sanctioned for 10 years with sanction period to end in the year 2023. Others ranged between four and five years.

    The temporarily suspended firms include Best Scan Solutions Limited, Mr. Iyke Ambrose, Xl Management Services Limited, Zarcus Construction Nigeria Ltd, Engr. Hammed Mutiu Olalekan, Honeyomar Ventures Ltd., Agonic Associates Nig Ltd, Mr. Agomuo Nicholas and D.A. Construction Limited.

    Others are Snc-Lavalin International (Nigeria) Limited, Contransimex Nigeria Limited and Sego Ventures Nigeria Limited.

    Section 1.12 titled Reserved Procurement stated that; “When open competition would be the appropriate method of procurement for particular goods or works of the project, but the Borrower wishes to reserve this procurement for one or more specific firms or enterprises, the Bank may accept such reserved procurement only on condition that: (a) it is not eligible for financing out of the Bank loan; and (b) it will not significantly affect the satisfactory project implementation in terms of costs, quality, and completion time.”

    While Section 1.14 of the procurement procedure titled References to Bank stated that: “If the Borrower wishes to refer to the Bank in procurement documents, the following language shall be used:

    “(name of Borrower) has received (or in appropriate cases „has applied for‟) a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in various currencies equivalent to US Dollars toward the cost of (name of project), and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this loan to eligible payments under this contract.

    “Payment by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will be made only at the request of (name of Borrower or designate) and upon approval by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and will be subject, in all respects, to the terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement.

    “The Loan Agreement prohibits a withdrawal from the Loan Account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of the Bank, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. No party other than (name of Borrower) shall derive any rights from the Loan Agreement or have any claim to loan proceeds.”

  • Panda, CSEAN ready to offer solutions on new generation cyber threats

    Panda, CSEAN ready to offer solutions on new generation cyber threats

    Panda Security in partnership with the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has disclosed plans to offer solutions to emerging cyber threats in the country.

    Regional Manager of Panda Security, Jeremy Matthews, on Friday said African organisations and governments are no longer immune to efforts of today’s cyber-criminals.

    Speaking ahead of the Cyber Secure Nigeria 2017 conference, scheduled to hold from May 16 -18, he stated that the meeting was designed to prepare participants on ways to defend their networks and operations against the growing sophistication of cyber-attacks. The event is themed “Building Resilient Cyber Defence”.

    “We are proud to announce our participation in this event, it is a great initiative by CSEAN that sheds light on the cyber-security environment and what organisations can do to combat the advanced threats we see today,” Mathews stated.

    In a joint statement issued with the CSEAN President, Remi Afon in Abuja, business leaders and IT professionals need to ensure they are making informed decisions about their cyber-security.

    According to him, the drive for profitable attacks by cyber-criminals saw the number and severity of attacks increasing rapidly each quarter for the last few years.

    “In the light of these changes, it is imperative that industry stakeholders collaborate and share their knowledge of products and best practices,” he stated.

    He assured that Panda will provide insights into its new generation technology relating to EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) and SIEM (Security Incident and Event Management).

    The statement reads: “This changes the model from traditional AV of the past to one based on prevention, detection and response technology. A paradigm that Panda Security has implemented through their Adaptive Defence 360 (AD360) solution.

    “Adaptive Defense 360 is the first offering to combine EPP (Endpoint Protection) and EDR capabilities into a single solution. By leveraging EDR technology, AD360 accurately classified all running programs, only allowing legitimate programs to run. Closing the cycle of adaptive malware protection, by including automated prevention, detection, forensics and remediation into a holistic solution.”

  • Anti-GMO group insists GMO is unsafe 

    • Advocates review of biosafety law

    An environmental group advocating against Nigeria’s adoption of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) has advised the Federal Government to review the act that set up the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA).

    ‎Executive Director of the group, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Mr. Nnimmo Bassey said during a media training, yesterday in Abuja that the call was important to address several complaints and controversies inherent in the act.

    According to him, the processes which led to the passage was faulty, thus needed an amendment.

    He added that a leading global GMO company had attempted to flood the country with GMO products which he described as unsafe.

    ‎However, he appealed to the Federal Government to revoke the permit issued to the firm for the health benefit of the people.

    Bassey argued that the NBMA had issued the license to Mosanto on Sunday, ‎May 2nd, 2016, when government offices do not open, adding that it was also on a  public holiday.

    His words: “Monsanto Tribunal in Hague has released its findings. They show starkly that Monsanto’s activities undermine basic human rights and that victims of multinational corporations need better protective regulations. The Tribunal also holds that international courts should recognize ecocide as a crime. Read the full press release from Seed Freedom.

    “We are calling on the government of Nigeria to revoke the permit given to Monsanto, repeal the National Biosafety Act 2015. These are the two key demands that we are making. The NBMA Act of 2015 was signed into law in the twilight ‎of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in spite of far-reaching importance biosafety matters to the citizens of Nigeria.”

    Bassey added that “the process that led to the passage of the bill and its eventual signing into law ‎was trailed by controversies and complaints from key stakeholders including farmers, consumers, and civil society groups.”

    He regretted that upon passage of the ACT, government agencies that out to regulate and check GMO produce in the country are the one promoting the technology.

    He expressed concerns of Nigerians over doubts about the effectiveness of the NBMA to have ‎granted GMOs approval in less than a year of its existence.

    “The NBMA Act has a lot of gaps and appears to have being drafted solely to set up the agency ‎as the name itself implies. Enormous amounts of discretionary powers ‎ have been vested in the agency with not enough mandatory duties in the operational provisions ‎ to ensure that the agency perform a stewardship role to ensure that GMOs do not pose harm to human and animal health, society and environment;

    “The Act does not have any clarity‎ about how this agency is subject to oversight by the parent ministry -the Ministry of Environment. Besides the lack of illegals in the drafting of the law, some provisions do not make sense at all; and in other places, references are‎ made to incorrect sections and to non-existence sections,” Bassey noted.

  • Nigeria not immune to cyber threat – CSEAN

    • Warns of imminent cyber-attack on banks

    Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has warned that the country is currently vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

    CSEAN President, Remi Afon stated in Abuja that corporate organisations and government establishments have refused to realise and prepare for imminent dangers of cyber threats.

    He stated that cyber-attacks were becoming more dynamic and sophisticated, thus need to build a resilient cyber defence system for the country.

    According to a statement, issued on Tuesday by the association, a report recently released by Kaspersky revealed that some banks are targeted by North Korean hacking operation group in 18 countries including Nigeria.

    The statement reads: “A recent report by Kaspersky showed that North Korean hacking operation linked to Lazarus group targeted banks in 18 countries of which Nigeria was among the targets. Clearly, this has shown that Nigeria is not immune to cyber threats. The vast scope of Cyber threats we face today makes a compelling case for legislation that will compel organisations to have minimum cyber security controls in place and also mandate them to make full disclosure once they are breached. This will assist the nation in understanding attack vectors we face and aid security experts in the implementation of adequate security controls.”

    Afon added that “the global cost of cybercrime will reach $6 trillion by 2021, a threefold increase from the 2015 estimate of $3 trillion according to Cybersecurity Ventures. Unfortunately, over 80 per cent of organisations and government agencies in Nigeria believe that since they have not suffered a major cyber-attack, there is no need for security to be implemented in their business plan.

    “Cyber threats and attacks are becoming commonplace, sophisticated and damaging. Governments, organisations and individuals are faced with an evolving complex threat landscape. State and non-state actors are capitalising on vulnerabilities to launch attacks. Through workshops, plenary and breakout sessions, Cyber Secure Nigeria 2017 will prepare participants to defend their networks and operations against growing sophistication of cyber-attacks by Building Resilient Cyber Defence.”

    However, Afon said the 2017 cyber security conference tagged “Cyber Secure Nigeria 2017,” scheduled to hold in Abuja on May 16-18, would provide the platform for cyber security gatherings.

    Stakeholders expected in the conference included industry giants, government, academia, information security professionals from the country and international community.