• Obaseki urges FG to advance ICT in Nigeria
A report has revealed that National Identification cards are the most attacked document type in the region.
The report said in West Africa, most fraudulent documents were spotted because of failed security features, indicating a significant presence of counterfeit identification documents.
With the economy struggling to remain afloat, telecommunications operators have advocated policies that can foster innovation and investments.
This was as the immediate past governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, urged the Federal Government to play a key role and create a conducive environment to enable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to develop.
According to the 2024 Digital Identity Fraud in Africa Report by Smile ID, in the last two years, an overwhelming number of attacks were directed at National ID cards, which accounted for 80 per cent of all document fraud attacks in the region.
The report noted that 11 out of the top 19 most attacked document types were also national IDs, with the Kenyan ID being the most vulnerable at a 26 per cent fraud rate.
On the list, Nigeria’s National ID (NIN) suffered an 18 per cent attack.
The security around the NIN has come under serious scrutiny in the last seven months. It was alleged that even there were some compromises from some front-end partners, which led to data breaches, including that of the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, whose NIN was reportedly bought for ridiculous prices, a development the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) denied.
However, insisting that there was a major compromise and that there was a breach of the NIN data at NIMC, Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a pan-African organisation and thought leader in the digital rights and inclusion space, accused the Commission of improper protection of NIN data and challenged NIMC at an Abuja High Court for negligence over citizens’ data kept at its custody.
According to the Executive Director, PIN, Gbenga Sesan, the case comes up next month.
The national ID of Ghana (Ghana Card), the report noted, also saw 16 per cent of attempted attacks; Cameroon 14 per cent, Botswana National ID, 11 per cent.
THE call on the Federal Government came from the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) at the weekend in Lagos.
It came as Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into the sector plummeted by $99.02 million in quarter three, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the NBS Capital Importation, the telecoms sector was only able to attract $14.4 million in Q3, a sharp decline from the $113.42 investments recorded in Q2. This implied that the FDI to the sector slumped by 87 per cent in the period under review.
The data showed that on a year-on-year basis, the Q3 2024 capital importation for the telecoms sector also represented a 77 per cent decline when compared to the $64.05 million recorded in the same period last year.
However, despite the challenge, the President of ATCON at the 31st Anniversary Dinner, Tony Emoekpere, said the body and members remain committed to ensuring Nigeria remains competitive among the comity of nations.
Emoekpere said ATCON would continue to advocate policies that foster innovation and investment; drive infrastructure development to bridge connectivity gaps and collaborate across public and private sectors to position Nigeria as a leading digital economy in Africa.
At the ATCON event, Obaseki, who was awarded the ‘Digital Governor of the Year’, stressed the importance of collaboration between the private and public sectors.
He said, “It is phenomenal and important that our reputations in the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence (AI) are redefined in the world. Africa and Nigeria cannot afford not to be AI-inclined. This is why we prioritise technology and digitisation during my tenure as governor.”
