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SON Set To Check Hackers, Cyber Crimes In Nigeria

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4 years ago

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Worried by the huge financial losses to cyber crimes and hackers in Nigeria, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has expressed its commitment to standardise the nation’s Information Technology (IT) sector.
Giving the assurance during a recent validation exercise for the ISO 27001 Information Security Management Systems Course, organised by the SON in Abuja and Lagos, the Director-General and Chief Executive of SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, said SON is committed to sanitising the IT industry through training and implementation of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standards.
Salim said the validation course would amongst others provide the organisation with a holistic and strategic training package, when deployed and would address standardisation and regulatory deficits in the Information Technology sector, in a bid to boost reliability and efficiency in the sector of the nation’s economy, especially through the regulatory agencies and professional bodies.
He indicated further that the training would also ensure that SON could commence offering ISO 27001 Information Security Management Systems Courses for institutions and businesses that wished to secure their information away from hackers and other cybersecurity threats.
“The training will also increase SON’s pool of qualified auditors in pursuant of the execution of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SON and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the nation’s foremost supervisory body for Information Technology.
“At the end of the capacity building training, it is expected that the training package developed will be implemented successfully in the training. SON has scheduled for staff of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) to be facilitated by the SON Training Services (STS) Directorate in the coming week,” Salim said.
Towards achieving these objectives, the SON trainees, who participated in the validation, were drawn from the Policy, Research and Statistics (PRS) Directorate, and the Information Technology Departments of SON.
The SON Training Services Directorate, within this period of the validation exercise for ISO 27001, announced the release of the year 2022 training programmes and the commencement of the circulation of enrolment forms to the general public for various courses scheduled for the year.
According to reports, Nigeria loses over N200 billion annually to cyber crimes, a figure described as ‘unacceptable’ by the SON while restating its commitment to sanitise the IT industry.

By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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21 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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21 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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21 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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