Stakeholders who gathered at this year’s edition of the African Digital Awards have expressed worry over and seek measures to curb N127 billion annual estimated economic losses to rising wave of cybercrimes in the country.
ADA is a twin programme which annually features an award ceremony after an intensive workshop, tagged: “Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum,” where critical issues affecting the industries are assessed and solutions proffered by industry regulators and stakeholders from the private sector of the industry.
Awardees at this year’s ADA leg of the event included Most Outstanding Telecoms Company of the Year, which went to MTN Nigeria; Regulator of the Year was clinched by Nigerian Communications Commission; Most Outstanding Government Agency of the Year grabbed by Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited and away ICT Woman of the Year won by the duo of Chief Executive Officers of NIGCOMSAT, Abimbola Alale, and Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Funke Opeke.
Also, the award jury rated Kunle Azeez of New Telegraph as the Most Outstanding ICT Editor of the Year; former President of the Nigeria Internet Group, Engr. Bayo Banjo, emerged as Broadcast Personality of the Year; Chief Executive Officer of Teledom Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, won Broadband Luminary Award; Babatunde Mo’ Aguda emerged winner of Youth Innovative Award; while Chris Kehinde Nwandu won Most Outstanding Online Editor of the Year.
Meanwhile, discussions at this year’s forum NIICF forum was around: “Broadband Access: the Challenges of Cyber Security: Threats and Effect on Social Media Era.”
While the issue of cybercrime, in its ramifications, is said to be a global phenomenon, the stakeholders, including the Ministry of Communications, Nigerian Communication Commission, Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited, MTN, MainOne and Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria among others were in accord that Nigeria needed to develop a strategy backed with thorough implementation of the Cybercrime Act, 2015 towards curbing the economic losses.
According to them, in Nigeria and other countries around the world, the internet has become an integral part of everyday life and has become a key development index, whose measurement is taken by development-oriented organisations and agencies.
While noting that there was no doubt about the positive impact of the internet and its peripheral technologies in enhancing people’s daily lives, they were also in accord that Internet has brought about the advent of cybercrimes, which are now threatening the socio-economic landscape of people across the globe.
Speaking at the forum recently held at the Oriental Hotel in Lekki, Lagos, the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, noted that within a short period of time, Internet had evolved from being a simple tool for accessing information and conducting communication and commerce to becoming a significant venue for social activity and interaction.
Shittu, however, said that whilst this means better and more convenient services and a boost in the economy, it also creates a viable avenue for cyber attacks and criminal activities which could cripple or destabilise the national system, adding: “As the world increasingly depends on technology and the cyberspace, especially increasing access to broadband for daily businesses, it gets more and more insecure.”
Yearly, Shittu said, thousands of cybersecurity problems are identified in cyber space and technologies from known and unknown global actors leaving Internet users vulnerable.
Shittu said cybersecurity is more than a challenge for government as it poses a huge obstacle to the country’s digital transformation agenda in social and economy desired for the country, stressing, however, that the Federal Government has estimated an annual loss of over N127 billion to cybercrime activities in the nation.
According to him: “Nigeria has had its fair share of cybercrimes between 2016 and 2017 alone, stressing that the recession in 2016 brought about numerous attacks targeted at organisations and individuals.”
He noted that the most recent targets in Nigeria were unsuspecting patronisers of ponzi schemes.
He said: “In the wave of austerity, many people lost money to the said schemes carried out through cyber platforms and others fell victims to malicious and compromising websites.”
Indeed, in the electronic payment space, data from the Nigerian Inter-bank settlement Systems Plc showed that in the first quarter of this year, over N374 million was lost to different cases of electronic frauds.