At the beginning of the new year of 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission confirmed that MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited had paid $273.6 million each for the fifth generation spectrum license.
NCC Executive Vice President Umar Danbatta confirmed the payment in February when the deadline for the two spectrum auction winners expired.
The “provisional winners of the 3.5 gigahertz spectrum license, MTN Communications Nigeria Plc and Mafab Communications Limited, have made the full payment of $273.6 million each for the 5G spectrum license to the Nigerian Communications Commission.” Nigeria,” Danbatta said via a press release in February.
Also in the year, Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Minister Senator Adeleke Mamora said that despite lower funding and other challenges, the ministry has made enormous strides since taking office as minister on July 14, 2022. .
The minister said this in Abuja during an interactive session with reporters on the ministry’s achievements in the period under review.
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He also called for more funds for Research and Development (R&D) in the country to boost technological advancement.
“Research activities require a large amount of funding and there has to be a way to make that funding possible. The African Union (AU) had established 2% of GDP for member countries for R&D and the truth is that until we give priority to R&D, we will hardly get to where we want to be in terms of socio-economic development. We need R&D to move forward,” he said.
Mamora praised President Muhammadu Buhari for allocating 0.5% of Nigeria’s GDP to research and development, which he said is an improvement on previous years.
The minister also said that as a result of the funding constraints, the ministry had prioritized eliminating waste and avoiding duplication.
Furthermore, Executive Vice President/CEO of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna, revealed during the year that the agency’s goal is to contribute 50 megawatts of solar power to electricity of Nigeria by 2023.
Prof. Haruna said that the agency had already achieved around 21 megawatts per year with installed capacity through NASENI Solar Energy Limited (NSEL), a manufacturing facility located in Karshi, Abuja.
He said the plant is now implementing its plan to double that capacity to move its output capacity to 50 megawatts to close the gap of more than 80 per cent imported substandard solar products that have flooded Nigerian markets.
The federal government, during the year, approved a national policy on welding and welding-related fields and its urgent implementation as part of efforts to accelerate industrialization and sustainable development.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Dr. (Sen.) Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora revealed the approval of the policy in a ministry statement.
The policy, according to the minister, will stop the current situation where many Nigerians have to outsource welding jobs due to the emphasis placed on foreign welding certification.
He stated that the recently approved policy is in line with the implementation of the Presidential Executive Order NO.5 which will boost local content in production.
This, he added, will give the desired credibility to Nigeria’s certification and accreditation results.
In addition, the federal government presented patent registration certificates to 19 Nigerian researchers, investors and innovations to encourage them to make their works world standards in the area of innovation and research activities.
Dr. Mamora reiterated that intellectual property in the form of technological innovation has now become the basis of international power structures.
“The rapid industrialization of the country and its economic growth depend to a great extent on the efforts of our researchers. Our motivation system administrators need to be familiar with intellectual property issues,” he stated as well.
He said that in order to strengthen weak intellectual property (IP) regulation, NATOP collaborated with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2006 and also established intellectual property technology transfer offices to foster IP awareness in Nigeria.
Data governance will ensure maximum value from the digital economy – DG NITDA
As data affects the way we make decisions on the path to creating a sustainable future, especially in the post-COVID-19 era and emerging challenges, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency Information (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has said that data governance and how Nigeria as a country seeks to position itself on this agenda is key to ensuring maximum value is realized and providing the necessary support for the thriving ecosystem of innovation.
Speaking about the draft, Inuwa noted that the strategy seeks to create an enabling environment for data access to develop the digital economy, adding that it also supports the development of data infrastructures, data for the public good, open government data, privacy of data and protection and empowerment of Nigerians in both the public and private sectors”.
Also during the course of the year, NCC at various times detected dangerous malware that could steal the financial information of Nigerian phone users.
The recent Xenomorph, which installs Trojans in banking apps on the Android platform to steal login details, hijack bank accounts and read user’s SMS, has been flagged by the Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team of Nigeria (NCC-CSIRT).
But the team, in an advisory, suggests that owners of compromised devices take the extreme measure of factory resetting infected devices.
The NCC-CSIRT, citing Zscaler ThreatLabz, said: “Everything: Day Manager hijacks your login information from banking apps and can even read your SMS messages.
“It installs a banking Trojan malware called Xenomorph that allows the app to intercept your two-factor verification codes (usually sent via text message) to hijack your logins and bank account.
“Xenomorph performs overlay attacks by exploiting accessibility permissions on Android, resulting in fraudulent login screen overlays in banking apps intended to exfiltrate credentials.
“Android app is intentionally made difficult to remove. You should search for it on your phone immediately and uninstall it,” said the notice posted by NCC spokesman Reuben Mouka.
Furthermore, the Director General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Aliyu Aziz, said that the national database has reached over 93.5 million National Identity Number (NIN) records. .
“The unified ID system approach, as well as the ecosystem model, have had a tremendous positive impact on enrollment numbers. Currently, the national identity database has more than 90 million (93.5 million) records, which is in contrast to 7 million when I took office in 2015.
“The main objective of the Strategic Roadmap for Digital ID in Nigeria is to simplify the approach to identification through a simple data collection process and a centralized unique ID system for Nigeria and legal residents. This is a stark contrast to the fragmented, multi-issue ID agencies of the past,” Aziz said.
He said that it was necessary to implement long-term and deliberate plans to chart new paths that would prioritize national projects.
But as the year draws to a close, the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, announced that the government would set up some science parks across the country.
The minister further stated that the importance of the collaboration between the ministry and some agencies and universities has already made some states and government agencies show interest in establishing their own science parks, which is a positive development.
In this sense, the minister also affirmed that the “technological foresight initiative that is our focus today, will provide adequate methodologies to promote sustainable and innovative development, fostering economic benefit at the national and regional level.
Therefore, Nigerians need to embrace technological foresight for policy, planning and ultimately for the socio-economic development of the country.
Dr. Mamora also said that some of the initiative’s achievements that come through the foresight policy include; the production of a feasibility report and a business plan by UNESCO, noting that the master plan for the project has been drawn up and is currently being implemented.
Additionally, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) called for joint efforts with service providers and other telecom stakeholders to mitigate cybercrime, online fraud, and other forms of risk management.
The commission said: “The information and communication technology sector is inherently fraught with various business and technology risks.
“Therefore, it is important that regulatory risks are minimized to ensure that services are not interrupted and that consumers get the latest and best services available globally.”
