African press review 13 November 2015

Nigeria counts its losses as cyberattacks claim a heavy toll on online transactions. Nigerian shippers say key ports face shutdown over spiralling tarrifs on imported cars. And Nigerian senators learn tough lessons about the use of social media.

Nigeria is losing N78 billion annually due to cyberattacks. That’s according to a new report presented by the respected DataGroupIT at the Advanced Threat Mitigation Strategy Seminar in Lagos on Thursday.

The Guardian quotes the watchdog as saying that financial institutions are among the most heavily hit targets, followed notably by government services and regulatory authorities. DataGroupIT listed social engineering, malware, pharming, SQL injection and spoofing among the top cyberattacks methods used in Nigeria.

According to the Guardian, the group had identified 200 million strains of malware which continue to look at business loopholes to wreck havoc, adding that up to 87 per cent of people involved in online transactions in Nigeria had expressed reservations about internet safety. This, as DataGroupIT announced that it recorded about two billion breaches and compromised identities in 2014.

This Day shine the light on yet another strategic sector of the economy which is suffering from bureaucratic decisions. It’s the revelation by the Shippers’ Association of Lagos State that Nigeria is losing not less than N800 million annually due to the 70 per cent tariffs imposed on imported vehicles.

The publication explains that the measures were aimed at encouraging the local production of vehicles in Nigeria under the National Auto Policy which has not met its objectives of creating jobs for unemployed youth.

The Shippers Association is urging the federal government to discontinue the implementation of the provisions of the policy “until Nigeria is ripe enough to produce her own vehicles”.

Some of today’s Nigerian papers are looking forward to the opening in Lagos today of the appeal against the 5.2 billion dollar fine slapped on the mobile phone provider MTN by the Nigerian Communications Commission. The public regulator last month found MTN guilty of failing to deactivate 5.2 million unregistered SIMs on its network.

This Day reports that the president of the National Association of Telecom Subscribers is challenging NCC at the Federal High Court over the fine and asked the court to stop NCC from further imposing fine on MTN. According to the paper they also asked the court to compel NCC to account for all past monies it collected from telecoms operators as fines and to pay such monies to subscribers as compensation for poor service quality they suffered.

Nigeria’s new authorities are setting new benchmarks for adult education in the country. This, after the president of the senate asked Facebook to help train lawmakers in the use of social media. Vanguard reports that the chief of staff to the president of the senate, Isa Galaudu, sent a letter to senators inviting them to take the course seriously. According to the paper, the course is inline with the promise of the president of the senate to ensure more representative legislature using e-parliamentary tools.

The Facebook team, led by the African head of public policy, will be in Nigeria at the weekend for the training, which is slated for Monday. According to the special assistant to the president of the senate on social media, Bamikole Omishore, the training is at no cost to the senate as Facebook offered to conduct the training for free. It’s never too late to go to school they say.