Rahoton ICT quiz na CITAD 18th November 2021 KUST Wudil

Harkar koyo da koyarwa na canja salo, sannu-sannu zuwa amfani da fasahar sadarwa dan koyarwa tare da koyo. Duba da irin yanayin samun damar koyarwar wa a saukake da kuma koyan a saukake. 

Tun shekarar 2001, cibiyar bunkasa fasahar sadarwa da cigaban al’umma ta yunkuro da wani kaci-kaci kan fasahar sadarwa a tsakanin manyan makaratun sikadire da ke jihar kano dan ganin an zaburar da su amfani da kuma damarmaki da ke cikin karantar harkar sadarwa. 

Wannan shine karo na ashirin (wato shekara ashirin kenan) da aka gudanar da kaci-kacin a Jami’ar kimiya da fasaha da ke garin Wudil. 

Da yake jawabi yayin bude kaci-kacin, wakilin babban daraktan cibiyar Mallam Isyaku Garba ya fara ne da batu kan alfanun dake cikin kimiyar da fasaha da kuma dalilin da yasa cibiyar ta CITAD tag a dacewa da kuma yunkurin gudunar da wannan kaci-kaci a tsakanin makarantun sikandire. 

Ya kare da cewa “ cibiyar CITAD a shirye take wajen bayan da gudunmawa ta harkar koyar tare da habaka harkar fasahar sadawar a tsakanin al’umma” 

Kimanin makarantu 32 ne suka halarci kici-kacin bisa sahalewar ma’aikatar ilimi ta jihar kanno da kuma hukumomin da ke karkashenta. Daga cikin makaratun da suka fafata a yayin kaci-kacin akwai makarantar staff school Wudil, G.G.S.S Gwarzo, M. S. S Gaya, G.S.S Garko da sauransu. 

Dawakin Tofa Science ce tazo ta daya bayan zuwa zageyen karshe da maki goma 14, sai kuma Government commercial secondary school Kano tazo ta biyu da maki 12 sai kuma Government secondary school tudunwada tazo ta uku da maki . Bayan kamala kaci=kacin an raba kyauututtuka ga wadanda suka zamu zakaru, wanda suka hada da computer tafi da gidanka, printer da sauransu. 

Haka zalika ma cibiyar ta karrama wasu daga cikin hukumomi da cibiyoyi da kuma manyan makarantun gaba da sikandire da suka bada gudunmawa wajen tabbatuwar kici-kacin. 

Cibiyar CITAD ce de ke daukar nauyin shirin tare da hadin gwuiwar hukumomin gwamnati, yan kasuwa, mutane a dai-daiku, kamfanunka da sauransu. 

Report of ICT Quiz 18th November 2021 at KUST Wudil

The learning and teaching process is changing style, gradually using communication technology to teach and learn.

Since 2001, the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has been conducting a inter Secondary Schools Information Communication and technology quiz 

This recent one is the twentieth occurring of the quiz which was held on 19th November, 2021 at of the Kano University of Science and Technology.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mallam Isyaku Garba, Deputy Director of the Center, began with a discussion on the benefits of information communication and technology, and why the CITAD tag is relevant and the effort to manage this competition between secondary schools.

He concluded that “CITAD is committed to contributing to the development of education and communication technology in the community.”

About 32 schools participated in the quiz with the facilitation of the Kano State Ministry of Education and its agencies. Among the schools that competed during the quiz were KUST staff school Wudil, G.G.S.S Gwarzo, M. S. S Gaya, G.S.S Garko among others.

Dawakin-Tofa Science Secondary Schools came  first with 14 points, followed by Government Commercial Secondary School Kano with 12 points and Government Secondary School Tudun-Wada with 10 points. At the end of the day, some of prizes distributed to the winners, includes home computer, printer and more.

The center also honors some of the agencies, institutions and colleges, universities that have contributed to the success of the competition.

The program is sponsored by CITAD in collaboration with government agencies, businesses, individuals, companies and more.

CITAD inaugurates Institute for Philosophy, Political Thinking

(NAN) Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) on Tuesday inaugurated the Ibrahim Mu’azzam Insitute for Philosophy and Political Theory in Kano.

Speaking at the annual  of the Centre, Dr. Yunusa Yau, the Director of the Centre said  the institute was founded about five years ago, although commissioned late. said  the centre’s annual  for youths on critical thinking gave birth to the institute named after its great contributor, Dr Ibrahim Mu’azzam of Bayero University, Kano.

 

The Director said  CITAD discovered the great need for a platform for young people to rub minds on philosophical and critical questions thus boosting their intelligence quotience.

 

 said, “We identified  people were losing their capacity to ask questions and the frontiers of knowledge was declining due to lack of platform for such unanswered questions.”

While speaking, Dr Ibrahim Mu’azzam of Political Science Department of Bayero Univeristy, Kano, said questioning made people realise the reasons behind humanity.

 

 tasked young people to “clear the fogs in their heads”, with regard to things they would want to know, notwithstanding the denial of the society in accepting questions.Mu’azzam, however, said “People should keep questioning themselves about how humans betray a lot of things ranging from themselves to the society.

 

African Director, MacArthur Foundation, Dr Kole Shettima, in his goodwill message urged the students to utilise the knowledge gained at the  for self development. tasked them on giving back the same knowledge to their communities as a corporate responsibility.

 

Shetima explained that the next generations of wealth creators would not come from oil or other mineral resources, but the capability of individuals to use their brains and invent ideas and solutions.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)  reports that Mu’azzam Ibrahim Institute of Philosophy and Political Theory was set up to address the decline in the quality of teaching Philosophy and Political Theory for Young People.

 

The Founder, Centre for Information Technology and Development believed that absence of such bodies was responsible for the decline in quality education in Nigerian universities. (NAN)

 

(NewsDiary Online)

 

Shugabancin Ƙasa shirme Ne Ga Matasa, Zurfafa Tunani shi ne Mafita -farfesa IBK

 

Shehin Malami a fannin harshen turanci dake jami’ar Bayero ,farfesa Ibrahim Bello Kano ya ce zurfafa tunani shi ne mafita ga matasa ba wai shugabancin kasa ba.

Ya bayyana hakan ne a yayin gudunar da taron bita ga matasa da cibiyar bincike da fasahar zamani ta CITAD ta ke shiryawa a duk shekara.

Ya ce matasa na bukatar Karin ilimi Wanda ba zuwa jami’a ne kadai ke bada shaidar samun ilimi ba illah zurfafa tunani a duk wani fanni.

Ferfasa IBK,ya Kara da cewa bai yadda da cewa jan ragamar kasar na gun matasa da ba illa sani da Kuma jajircewa shi ke nuna shugabanci inda muka yi la’akari da fahimta ta a kaso 25.

“shugaba kasa shirme na “matashi ya zama mai kwazo, sanin ya kamata, da Kuma mai neman ilimi,domin ko a yanzu ba shugaba Buhari ne ke mulki ba illa hadin gayya ta ko wanne fanni.

Farfesa Ibrahim Bello Kano ya Kara tuna wa matasa muhimmaci ilimi musamman wajen zurfafa tunani da Kuma samu kwarewa a harkokin su na yau da Kullum.

Shugaba Mai lura da al’amuran bitar a Cibiyar bincike da fasahar sadarwa na zamani CITAD Hajiya harira wakili ta ce, CITAD na shirya wanna bitar ne a duk shekara domin zaburar da matasa a kowanne fanni a kasar nan sanin muhimmaci kan su da Kuma kawo mafita a kan abun da ya shige musu duhu,Wanda wannan taron bitar yake kasance wa Karo na 5 a fadin jahar Kano.

GBV Harmful, Most Be Discourage — CITAD Program Manager

By ABDULLAHI RABIU, Kàno
IT been observed that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a harmful  act being inflicted at individuals based on their gender and most be discourage at all levels.
The observation was made by the CITAD Project  Programme Officer in Kano state   Hajiya Zainab Aminu  during a Press Conference on GBV  organised by the NGO  yesterday at the CITAD  Office in Kano.
She said GBV is a serious violation of human rights and a life-threatening health and protection issue.
“As part of its continuing effort to curb GBV in the society and to promote the wellbeing of Women and Girl Child, including creating a safe and secure educational environment, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) with support from Ford Foundation has been implementing a project titled
“Strengthening Citizens Response and Protection Against Gender Based Violence in Kano, Nigeria” whose aim is to achieve a safe society for women and girls, free from gender violence and discrimination to bridge gender gap in girl child education.
This involves stakeholders’ engagement, advocacy, tracking and monitoring of GBV incidences in order to make informed statements. It is for this reason that the organization has instituted a Monthly Press Conference to share information and data relating to GBV in Kano State. “
According to the Programme Manager  objective of doing this is to create public visibility of this menace and sensitize all stakeholders to take action in addressing it.
Our efforts In tracking incidences of GBV in the state, CITAD has implemented a Multi-approach Mechanism including the use of electronic platforms (CITAD GBV App) for people to reports incidences in privacy the use of monitors in tertiary institutions in the state as well as embedded monitors within communities
Sensitization activities and awareness creation by trained champions within the communities. Collaboration with Shamrock on sharing of data from Helpio App for reporting GBV collaborating with personalities that will serve as mentors. “
She  said sGBV is  been perpetrated against both male and female gender with a higher number of female victims within all age ranges in both rural, urban and suburban communities with prevalence in Urban Communities.
The cases highly reported is Sexual Harassment. The perpetrators are mostly male. It was also observed that the perpetrators of rape have no relation to the victims while for other types of GBV reported, the perpetrators are either family members, teachers/lecturers, student peers or even those that have no relation to the victims.
 In comparison with the data obtained in September, there was a drop in the reported cases from 61 in September to 22 in October. The total percentage of decline in the reported cases is 64%.Rape cases reported is 10 in September and 6 in October with 40% decline. “
nline harassment was 12 in September but in October, only 3 cases were reported with 75% decline.In September, we had 4 cases of sexual blackmail while only one case was reported in October with 75% decline.
In the case of Sexual Harassment, 18 cases were reported in September while in October, 8 cases were reported with 56% decline For sexual abuse, we had 14 cases in September and 4 cases in October with 71% decline.Other cases like wife battering and social media GBV have no reported cases in October.
Although there is a visible decline in reported cases of all forms of GBV, we still observe perpetration of GBV within the state. Furthermore, Sexual Harassment still remains the case with highest number of perpetrations.”
 This shows that there is still need for actions to be taken in term of Gender Based Violence in the state in order to eliminate/curb GBV.Recommendations:
“We recommend that the previous call to the Kano State Government and House of Assembly to domesticate the Child Rights Act and VAPP Act at the state level if implemented, will contribute in curbing this menace.Also, Religious leaders should continuously intensify efforts in creating awareness against GBV in the state.
Furthermore, Traditional leaders both at state and local levels to work with different authorities in curtailing the menace of GBV in the state. “
We also call on Institutions of higher learning in the state to all develop and implement gender policy and create appropriate mechanisms for victims and others to reports such incidences to the authorities.
The state government should not only adopt laws to protect women and girls, but also establish Referral Centers and Forensic Centers for victims.Government and Non-Governmental organizations should intensify activities to promote awareness and advocacy on violence against women.
Media houses should also continue to use their platforms in creating awareness against GBV and be reporting punishments done to perpetrators of GBV instead of focusing on the victims of GBV cases.

Cases of sexual harassments remains high in Kano

By Bashir Bello, KANO

Centre for Information Technology and Development, CITAD, has said that sexual harassments ranks top among other Gender-Based Violence, GBV, cases in Kano State.

The Centre’s Gender Officer, Zainab Aminu stated this during its monthly GBV briefing after deploying an android app in August to track and monitor GBV incidences recorded in the state.

Aminu said comparison of reports the centre received through the app in the months of September and October shows that sexual harrasment remains highly reported case.

She, however, called on the state government to, as a matter of urgency, domesticate the Child Rights Act and VAPP Act in order to curb the menace in the state.

According to Aminu, “The cases highly reported is sexual harassment. The perpetrators are mostly male.

“In September, a number of sexual harassment cases reported stands at 18 while in October, eight cases were reported with 56% decline.

“Furthermore, sexual harassment still remains the case with highest number of perpetrations.

“For sexual abuse, we had 14 cases in September and four cases in October with 71% decline.

“Other cases like wife battering and social media GBV have no reported cases in October.

“Although there is a visible decline in reported cases of all forms of GBV, we still observe perpetration of GBV within the state.

“This shows that there is still need for actions to be taken in term of Gender Based Violence in the state in order to eliminate/curb it.

“Gender-based violence is a harmful act being inflicted at individuals based on their gender.

“It is a serious violation of human rights and a life-threatening health and protection issue.

“As part of its continuing effort to curb GBV in the society and to promote the wellbeing of women and girl child, including creating a safe and secure educational environment, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) with support from Ford Foundation has been implementing a project titled ‘Strengthening Citizens Response and Protection Against Gender Based Violence in Kano, Nigeria..

“The aim is to achieve a safe society for women and girls, free from gender violence and discrimination, bridge gender gap in girl-child education, allowing for the attainment of gender parity in educational accomplishments.

“We recommend that the Kano State Government and House of Assembly to domesticate the Child Rights Act and VAPP Act at the state level because if implemented, will contribute in curbing this (GBV) menace.

“Similarly, religious and traditional leaders both at state and local levels should continuously intensify efforts in creating awareness and to work with different authorities in curtailing the menace of GBV in the state.

“We also call on institutions of higher learning in the state to all develop and implement gender policy and create appropriate mechanisms for victims and others to reports such incidences to the authorities.

“Equally, the state government should not only adopt laws to protect women and girls, but also establish Referral Centers and Forensic Centers for victims.

“We also urged the media houses to continue to use their platforms in creating awareness against GBV and be reporting punishments done to perpetrators of GBV instead of focusing on the victims of GBV cases,” Aminu stated

Centre urges Kano State Govt. to domesticate Child Rights, VAPP Acts

has urged the Kano State Government to domesticate the Child Rights Act of 2003 and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 so as to tackle Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the state.

The centre made the call at a news conference in Kano to give feedback on its monthly online assessessment of cases of gender violence.

Miss Zainab Aminu, the Gender Project Programme Officer of CITAD, told newsmen that the implementation of the two acts was crucial to curtail the menace.

The CHILD RIGHTS ACT 2003 is an act to provide and protect the rights of Nigerian children; and other related matters.

 

Aminu explained that the centre had implemented a multi-approach mechanism, especially with the use of electronic platforms to track cases of gender violence.

She said “we use monitors also, in tertiary institutions in the state as well as embedded monitors within communities to track cases.

“The centre also collaborates with Shamrock on sharing of data from Helpio App for reporting of GBV cases.”

 

She added that the centre had also launched its own app called CITD GBV App and received 18 cases in October.

The officer also stressed that although there was a decline in the number of cases received in September 2021, there was need to intensify efforts toward creating awareness on the menace.

She appealed to religious and traditional leaders to work with authorities and advocate more on the menace.

 

CITAD had urged institutions of higher learning in the state to develop and implement gender policies and create mechanisms for victims to report incidences to authourities.

 

To the state government, the centre further appealed for the adoption of laws to protect women and girls and also establish referral centres for survivors.

 

It implored the media to continue to create awareness on GBV and stress punishments for perpetrators to serve as deterrant to others. (NAN)

CITAD ta tattauna da bangarorin jama’a dan ganin yadda za’a dama da mata da matasa a siyasa.

Sakamakon giɓin da ke tsakanin mata da kuma matasa a harkokin siyasa da kuma shugabanci a fadin ƙasar nan, CITAD da haɗin gwuiwa da Actionaid ta tattauna da bangarorin jama’a dabam-dabam dan ganin yadda za’a dama da matasa da mata a harkokin siyasa da kuma shugabanci.

John Otara wanda yake Jami’in Kula da Shirye-shirye da sa ido na CITAD, ahine wanda ya farayiwa mahalarta taron jawabi kan abinda shirin/tattaunawa ta kunsa, inda ya fara da bayanin dalilin CITAD na fara gabatar da wannan shirin tare da hadin gwuiwar Actionaid, sakamakon gabatowar babban zaben shekararar 2023. Haka zalika dai ya bayyana kananan hukumomin da wannan shirin zai shafa, da kuma wanda ke da ruwa da tsaki a cikin shirin.

Da yake nasa jawabin Isa Garba Wanda yake babban jami’in shirye-shirye na CIbiyar yace wannan shirin an fara shi ne dan ganin yadda rukunin al’umma daban-daban zasu bada gudunmawa wajen ganin an tafi da mata da matasa a harkokin siyasa da shugabanci.

Ƙananan hukumomi 8 cibiyar ta zaba a ciki da wajen birnin kano la’akari da tasirinsu, da kuma tasirin jihar kano (mai yawan jama’a a ƙasar) da kuma irin tasirin da zaau kawo.

Daga cikin mahalarta taron akwai ƴan jam’iyyun Siyaasa daga PDP da PRP da kuma Masu gabatar da shirye-shiryen siyaa a gidajen radion Arewa, Freedom da ƴan kungiyoyin sa kai daga kananan hukumomi daban-daban.

Nura Ma’aji wanda yake shugaban Matasan Jam’iyyar PDP (kwankwasiyya) ya nuna jin dadinsa da kuma bayyana wasu daga cikin dalilan dake sa koma bayan matasa da mata a siyasance.

Shi kwa a nasa bangaren tsohon Shugaban Matasan Jam’iyyar PRP ya bayyana irin yadda matasa ke girmama neman kudi dana goro maimakon maida hankali wajen ganin yadda zaau bawa al’umma gudunmawa.

Cikin wadanda shirin yake sa ran tuntuba da bada gudunmawa a shirin sun Hada da Tsoffin ƴan Siyasa, Ƴan wasan Kwaikwayon Kannywood, Mallamn Addini, Masu rike da sarautun gargajiya, gidajen radio da sauransu.

CITAD consults with stake holders to see how women and youth can be involved in politics.

As a result of the gap between women and youth in politics and leadership across the country, Center for Information Technology And Development in partnership with ActionAid has consulted with various sectors of the society to see how to empower youth and women in politics. and leadership.

John Otara, CITAD’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, introduced the participants to the content of the program / discussion, beginning with explaining why CITAD is launching this program in collaboration with Actionaid, in the run-up to the 2023 General Elections.

Speaking on the occasion, Isa Garba, the Center Program Officer, said the initiative was launched to see how different sections of the society can contribute to the empowerment of women and youth in politics and leadership. .

The 8 Local Government Areas (LGAs) have been selected a cross the Centeral in and around Kano based on their impact, as well as the impact of Kano State (the country’s most populous state) and the potential impact.

Participants included members of the Political Parties from the PDP and PRP as well as political Programs presenters at Arewa Radio, Freedom and NGOs from various local government areas where in attendance.

Nura Ma’aji, the leader of the PDP Youth (Kwankwasiyya), expressed his happiness and explained some of the reasons behind the decline of the youth and women in politics.

For his part, the former PRP Youth Leader described the youths’ respect for money and nuts instead of focusing on how to contribute to society.

Among those the program expects to consult and contribute to the program are Former Politicians, Kannywood Actors, Religious Leaders, Traditional Rulers, radio stations and more.

NHRC Kano Zonal office partners CITAD to end gender-based violence

The National Human Rights Commission NHRC, Kano Zonal office has reiterated its commitment to collaborate with Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), to fight sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the state.

State Coordinator of the Commission, Shehu Abdullahi stated this while receiving the delegation of CITAD in his office for an advocacy visit.

Abdullahi, while expressing deep concern and worries over the rise in the case of violence against women and girl-child in the state, said the act was often time carried out by elderly persons.

Earlier, the state coordinator noted that the NHRC cannot single-handedly and successfully stop the scourge of violence against women and girl-child without the support and collaboration of non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations.

On her part, the Gender technical officer of the center, Zainab Aminu, said CITAD recently conducted a survey in 22 local government areas of Kano State on violence against women and children and the results showed that the practice is on the rise. She maintained that, this negative outcome calls for deep involvement of stakeholders and relevant authorities across the state to curtail its spread.

She also added that for such a crusade against GBV on women and girl-child to be successful, all hands must be on deck to tackle it.

Zainab Aminu, expressed that there is need to advance and sustain the campaign against all sorts of violence against the girl child and identify more partners to be involved in the struggle. She urged parents, religious institutions, community members and the media to encourage victims to speak out on cases of abuse or violence.

Madam Zainab appealed to the NHRC to provide data of violence against young girls and women to the center, because data is key in addressing gender-based violence cases and it will help to get a rundown of cases across the state.

All the tiers of government were urged to put up stringent measures to serve as deterrent against the perpetrators of the heinous act for a better society

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF A TWO-DAY KANO SOCIAL INFLUENCERS SUMMIT (KANSIS) 2021, HELD AT THE DIGITAL BRIDGE INSTITUTE (DBI), KANO, OCTOBER 27 –28, 2021

The Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in partnership with the McArthur Foundation, Arewa Radio, Nigeria Internet Regulation Association (NIRA), Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), and the Facebook organized a two-day Social Influencers Summit. The summit (KANSIS) was a social clinic where participants learn, interrogated and asked questions to seek answers that would influence good governance. The summit was first introduced in 2019.

The opening session was chaired by Malam Ibrahim Tizhe former Chairman/President, Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) and current Provost, College of Fellows, Nigeria Computer Society. A number of guests including Prof Jibrin Ibrahim, Senor Research, CDD, Abuja, Dr. Chris Kwaja, Centre for Peace Studies and Research, Modibbo Adama University, Yola, Chief (Engr) C O Iromantu, elder statesman and pioneer EVC of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The Minister of Digital Economy and Communication also delivered a goodwill message to the workshop through the Executive Secretary of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF).

Other personalities that graced the sessions included, Professor Attahiru Mohammed Jega, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Professor Habu Mohammed, Director, BUK Press, Professor Uba Abdallah, immediate past Vice Chancellor of the Nationla Open University, Prof Amina Kaidal of the University of Maiduguri, Ms. Osia Ojibo, the Country Director, Amnesty International. amongst others.

Presentations were delivered physically and online by people including the representative of the Director General (NITDA), Mr. Ebuka Agodo of Facebook, London, Idayat Hassan, the Director, CDD, among others. In all there were a total sixty-seven presentations in seven plenaries and 16 parallel panel sessions.

Giving the objectives of the Summit whose theme was “social media for accountable governance and peace building” the Executive Director of CITAD, Y. Z. Ya’u emphasized the importance of the Summit as an incubator of great ideas for democratic struggles, an opportunity to spread innovative systems that work in enterprise and social development and opportunity to learn from each other. He added that, the summit is expected to share ideas on how to address the serious challenges confronting our nation, especially rising conflicts and insecurity.

The summit was attended by four hundred and five people (405) consisting of 291 physically and 114 online.

Observations

Participants observed that the social media in Nigeria, like in other countries, is being deployed with both positive and negative consequences, as follows:
Positives Impact’
1. As demonstrated by several of the presentations at the Summit, many social influencers are deploying social media creatively to address various social problems in the country
2. Youth across the country are using the social media to demand accountability from duty-bearers such as the #EndSARS experience
3. Many are using social media to campaign for national unity, understanding and peace building in the country
4. Social media is being used to expose corruption and to promote transparency and accountability
5. Social media is creating a voice for citizens
6. Women and others are using the social media to expose gender-discriminatory practices and to promote inclusion and gene justice in the country

Negatives Impacts

1. Ill formed uses of the social media are contributing to the spread of divisive narratives and undermine national cohesion and unity
2. Many are consuming fake news, disinformation and misinformation with negative consequences to the society such as is the case with various fake news and misinformation about the COVID vaccine for incense
3. Hate speech is contributing to social mention across many divides in the county and in some cases had catalysed violence
4. Social media content is pervasive that makes citizens to hardly different between truth and lies
5. Gender-related harmful and negative contents is further contribution to the digital marginalization of women, making the efforts to overcome the gender digital divide doubly difficult

Challenges

participants also noted with concern certain challenges that need to be addressed including:
1. The Northern society reduces active women participation in western education and politics due to social and cultural values, an attitude that socially deny their access to rights and justice
2. Some social media influencers are made to be of different beliefs such that it divides citizens to take side or position on issues raised in a nation example; religion, culture, economic, political
3. There is an appreciable number of over 129 million users of Facebook in Nigeria; opportunity for encouraging positive social influence
4. Youth participation in Nigeria’s politics is largely on social media and
5. The film industry especially the Kannywood influences the demeaning of some cultures such as the Hausa communities through infiltrating alien cultures thereby destroying the indigenous ones
6. There is a disconnect between the numerical voting strength of youth and composition of political leadership in the country
7. Although youth are the dominant users of the social media, they have not so far been able to turn this into a political asset for their political inclusion
8. Youths are only used in politics for personal interests rather than improve governance
9. In spite of the positive impact of digitalization, there are emerging negative consequences that need to be addressed
10. Participants generally, agree that the negative aspect of the social media is enormous and must be addressed by both government and public.
11. The different dimensions of the digital divide are real and have led to the leaving of many people outside the benefits of the digital opportunities

Recommendations

1. Participants called for conscious self-oversight on the part of users of various social media platforms to check the excesses of fake news and other negative issues not in the interest of the nation
2. Government, organizations and citizens are urged to join hands together to socialize people on how to make good use of the social media
3. Called for Direct political party primaries and electronic transmission of results after voting reduces the extent of electoral fraud and urged the President to endorse these elements of our electoral reforms
4. The NASS should be engaged and encouraged by CSOs to review the legal framework of the electoral spending to curtail the influence of money on our elections
5. Social Influencers in Nigeria should be identified through their positive contributions in the society and recognized
6. Youth were challenged to be proactive and innovative on politics so as to create and claim space in governance process for themselves
7. Youth groups across the country should set agenda for political parties with a view to involving them in systems and structure of governance
8. Digitalization of education sector helps in expanding learning opportunities such as distance learning. This practice should be supported by government in order to allow space for inclusive learning especially for women and people in remote areas
9. Facebook to be engaged to commit themselves in combating and removing hate speech and fake news and particularly, disinformation from their platforms in conjunction with internal and external fact checkers
10. CITAD encouraged to rename next summit to reflect “Nigeria social Influencer’s summit”
11. In this digital age, crazy ideas are needed to provoke people to think deeply by presenting complex and multiple ideas in images presented in a soft manner

Signed:

Haruna Adamu
Chairman,
Communique Committee

REPORT OF A TWO DAY WORKSHOP ON #KEEPOURFEMALEJOURNALISTSSAFEONLINE ORGANIZED BY THE CENTRE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT ON THE 14 TH AND 15 TH OCTOBER, 2021 AT FLOURISH HOTEL, GOMBE

Looking at how female journalists are everyday facing serious challenge, from cyberbullying and blackmail in order to silence their voice as journalists, coupled with the increasing use of online tools as important instruments for the practice of journalism, this has increased female journalists online vulnerability. A number of female journalists have become subject to privacy invasion. With government clamp down on the social media, journalists are forced to look for ways to bypass blockage. For example, in May, 2021 the Government of Nigeria suspended the operations of Twitter in the country, blocked access to the platform, advised mandatory discontinuation of the use of twitter handles by broadcast organizations and announced a jail term for anyone found using twitter in the period of the suspension. This at once may also expose journalists to falling into the traps of privacy invaders which is capable of undermining the ability of women journalists to practice their profession.

Female journalists in Nigeria are everyday facing challenges with access to online tools. Online harassment has become rampant coupled with hacking of their accounts by either hackers or government agencies who want silence their voices online. In many instances, their vulnerabilities arose in the sense that a large number of people in the community believe that it is a taboo for females to be online with the harsh judgement and harassment meted on them when they are journalists because the society does not recognized their rights. 

In view of the above, the Centre for information Technology and Development (CITAD) as part of its initiatives to create awareness on the safety and privacy online specially to the female journalists in the country had on the 14th and 15th of October, 2021 with support from Association for Progressive Communications (APC) organized a two day workshop to 10 females journalists from five (5) states of Northern Nigeria (Gombe, Adamawa, Kaduna Bauchi and Kano) with the title #KeepOurFemaleJournalistsSafeOnline at Flourish Hotel Gombe. 

This type of training is important to female journalists in the country because it will expose them to the dangers they are in both online and offline while practicing their profession, at the same time the training will help them to know how to protect themselves from attacks and hackers online. Moreover, the two today workshop was designed in a way that the participants will understand fully the different techniques and procedures to follow in order to stay safe online.  

As part of the initiative, on the 19th of August, 2021 CITAD had earlier trained online journalists in Kano state on safety and security online. The aim of the training was to build the capacity of the journalists and raise awareness about safety, security and threats that are associated to working online. 

The Objectives of the Two Day Workshop were:

  1. Build the capacity of the targeted women journalists to safely use the internet (including privacy protection) 
  2. Raise the awareness of the participants about safety and privacy online 
  3. Initiate some female journalists to join the campaign for digital rights and safety and privacy online for women 

Before the start of the training a pre-test was administered likewise after the workshop a post-test was administered to the participants in order to know the level of their knowledge and at the end see whether there is any changes in their understanding of the topics discussed. In the pre-test conducted, in every question asked almost 60% percent of the answers given were wrong while for the post-test the least gotten from the answers right was 85%. For example, when they were asked to mention any two personal Meta Data in the pre-test 90% of the participants got it wrong while in the post-test 100% got it right. Also when they were asked about bypass technology in the pre-test, 95% got it wrong while in the post-test 85% got it right. 

On the first day of the workshop, Mr. Ali Sabo who is the Campaigns and Communications Officer of the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) opened the workshop with a welcome address and the objectives of the training. Mr. Sabo stated that the workshop was part of the Centre’s initiative on digital inclusion programs and the CITAD’s effort in promoting women inclusion in both decision making on internet process and ensuring the safety of female journalists online. Mr. Sabo also urged the participants to pay attention on what was going to be discussed during the training so that they could be able to learn and pass on the knowledge to their fellow colleagues. 

The first technical session was facilitated by Dr. Mu’azu of the Department of Computer Engineering, Bayero University, Kano who took the participants through Understanding Online Gender Harassment. While making her presentation, Dr. Mu’azu said the overall picture of the situation relating to gender and technology has so far been that men have been dominating the field and have left the women behind. Discussing about the importance of women on the net, she stated that women are important actors in the development and to hold them back is to hold back the potential for economic growth. Explaining about the online harassment women face, Dr. Mu’azu said for those that frequently work with the internet, online harassment and cyber bullying are real, they happen tremendously to women at any time, again and again, and the worst online harassment has now gone beyond name calling to include stalking, and sexual harassment which is directly targeted at women. 

The second presentation was delivered by Engineer Kamaluddeen Umar, CITAD Technical Officer. Engineer Kamal discussed on the Privacy Online and its Protection. In the presentation, Mr. Umar started with general misconception people have about the internet which he said that many people think cyber-attacks were not very harmful, while others think other people will keep them safe on the Internet, or they were not important enough to be targeted. Mr. Umar said virtually everybody on the planet has his/her personal data i.e., name, address, pictures, email address, bank details, or medical information online which make people vulnerable to attacks if they didn’t safe guard their data carefully. At the end of his presentation, Mr. Kamaluddeen shared some tips that one could use to protect her/his data. 

The third presentation, Incognito Browsing was also taken by Engineer Kamaluddeen Umar. Here the participants were taken through the process of browsing safely, how they can take advantage of their browsers security that will alert users when there was security threat. Also in this presentation, the participants were taught how to install add-ons that can steer them away from threats. Moreover, the presenter went further to discuss ways to download with care, how to shop online safely, social media safety tips and how to stay safe on social media. At the end of the presentation, wireless Internet safety tips were highlighted. The first day of the workshop was close with practical activities on speedgeeking.

The second day of the workshop started with a recap of what has been discussed the previous day where each of the participants was asked to state one thing she had learnt from the previous presentations. Then Ali Sabo took the participants Feminists Internet Principles. In this presentation, reasons why feminists internet principles developed, how it came into being and its history were discussed by the presenter. Mr. Sabo also went further to explain the 17 Feminists Internet Principles to the participants. The second presentation on Bypass Technologies followed by Suhail Abdullahi. Mr. Abdullahil started by explaining what encryption is to the participants, its importance and how it is used. Then he took the participants through end-to-end encryption and file extension. Furthermore, Suhail discussed about VPN i.e. how it works and it different types and why individual should use VPN. At the end, Mr. Abdullahi talked about VPN providers and cautioned the participants to always use trusted VPN. In the second day also, Engineer Kamaluddeen discussed with participants Personal Meta Data.

During the training participants raised concerned over their privacy and safety and asked questions on how to be more secured and safe online. Some of the important points raised by the participants were:

  1. Elizabeth Kah Nange of Bauchi State Television Authority stated that the number of online attacks female journalists especially in the northern part of the country are receiving every day is one of the issue that is driving them away from online platforms such as twitter and Facebook and sometimes even WhatsApp
  2. Another concern raised by Maryam Bawa a reporter with Solacebase, an Online Newspaper based in Kano was that, females especially journalists and celebrities are being singled out for attacks and government is not doing much to protect them. She gave example with a scenario of what happened with one female celebrity in Kano, where she said her boyfriend shared her nude video online and she was banned from the industry but if this kind of scenario happened to the male actors such kind of punishment are not being served to them 
  3. Bilkisu Ado Zango, chairperson, Association of Women Journalists, Kano State Chapter said female journalists’ vulnerability online is growing everyday as their accounts are constantly being hacked and in many instances the hackers used the opportunities to post nudes pictures and videos. These she said have made many of them to avoid the platforms for fear of their names being ruined 
  4. While speaking on the sexual harassment female journalists face online, Yusuf Ojoma from Adamawa State shared on how men are everyday sending nudes pictures and videos via messenger and asking them to share same and if they refuse to do so they resort to attacks, names spoil, names calling and even sometimes lead to physical harm

Some of the questions asked and answered during the two day workshop were:   

  1. Shaharuza Umar Idris Hinna from Gombe ask on how one could know whether his/her is being hacked
  2. Another participants asked on the step to follow for two way verifications on Facebook and WhatsApp 
  3. While Su’uda Mustapha inquired about how one could create a strong password and ensure his/her account is not being compromised 
  4. With regard to online harassment, Sekyen Manasseh Dadik asked how they could handle online harassers and where to report them.

Feedbacks from the participants:

  1. Speaking after the two day workshop, Sekyen Manasseh Dadik of Africa Prime News (APN) stated that this is one of the best training she has ever attended, she continued to mentioned that part of what she has learn is to always be careful with her password and not share it with anyone no matter how close they are. Which she promised to share with her colleagues and family. 
  2. Fatima Lawan Abubakar of Guarantee Radio Kano said one of the things she learnt was creating strong passwords which has combination of words, numbers and characters. She also narrated that before whenever she browse at commercial centres she used to leave her accounts without login out but now she has discovered the dangers of doing that.
  3. Now I understand fully how dangerous using public WIFI is, before anywhere I see public WIFI as long as there is no password, I quickly connect to it, but with this training and all what has been discussed I will be very careful about using public WIFI said Fibi Kafi of Bauchi State Television Authority.  
  4. With regards to Gender Based Violence Online Female Journalists face in northern Nigeria, Shaharuza Umar Idris Hinna of Amana FM Gombe said this workshop has now widen her understanding of the topic and how to respond to stalkers and those abusers online
  5. On the Bypass networks and Virtual Private Network, Yusuf Ojoma said before when the Nigerian government ban the use of twitter in the country she resort to using every type of VPN she could find, but with this training she understand that not every VPN one could use as some can be spying on users’ devices, this she said she will take to her fellow colleagues who are also using the VPN to bypass the government ban on twitter    

Closing the two day workshop, the Executive Director of CITAD, Malam Yunusa Zakari Ya’u thanked the participants for their commitments throughout the workshop and their passion towards digital inclusion in the country. He went further to state that part of the training curriculum are: 

  1. A five day mentorship training which would be spread over a month, this would be done in order to allow the participants internalised the skills impacted in the first phase and will be guided by a mentor. It is also a stage for the participants to explore in greater depth the topics covered by the first phase. 
  2. Online presentations on certain themes usually of two-hour duration for a total period of 10 hours. Some of the themes to cover are: Safe Communication, Social Network Protection, Digital Hiding, USIGN Signals, Browning using Tor browser, Strategies on how one can protect self-online.
  3. Individual personal experiential presentation. Each participant is expected to make a learning presentation, drawing from personal experience on how they are able to respond to some privacy or other online challenges 
  4. Public awareness activities: The trained Journalists are to organize meetings to raise awareness about safety online among their fellow journalists and CITAD along with the participants will hold a one-day awareness raising activity on safety and privacy online. During this activity, participants will share various campaign messages on social media, hold online seminar on the subject of digital safety.
  5. A step down training by the participants to their fellow journalists in their respective states which will be supported by CITAD 

At the end he urged the participants to utilize the knowledge gain in the training and take the awareness campaign to their various constituencies.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), ICT experts, media professionals, intellectuals and social influencers have strongly advocated for the exploration, adoption and deployment of right strategies to deploy digital technology for the promotion of democracy and good governance in Nigeria.

Some dignatories at the opening ceremony.

Speaking at the opening session of the second edition of the Kano Social Influencers Summit, tagged; KANSIS2021, held at the Digital Bridge Institute in Kano on Wednesday, the gathering, which included ICT experts, academics, media professionals, and social influencers, canvassed for positive ideas from young and dynamic Nigerians with digital technology skills.

In his welcome address at the opening session of the two-day summit, Convener of KANSIS and Executive Director of CITAD, Mallam (Engr) Y.Z. Ya’u, said the Summit, which was inaugurated in 2019 and meant to be an annual event, could not hold last year due to Covid-19 pandemic.

YZ Ya’u Executive Director CITAD

Mallam Y’au said KANSIS was conceived to be “three things in one:” a laboratory, a forum for interface of people with ideas and a social clinic for interrogating those ideas and learn.

“KANSIS is conceived to be three things in one. It is a laboratory, an incubator: meaning that participants would receive ideas, explore them and by the time we leave here, go away with them so that they can grow up and become something that will impact on either promoting democracy, good governance, fighting insecurity and anything that is positive in transforming Nigeria through our own traits.

“It is also a forum to prove of ourselves, meaning that, there are people who have toyed with various ideas, various tools and they are gearing to share their experience of the good work that they have been doing across various sectors and using different tools to achieve impact in the society; they will showcase those things they are doing and for us to learn and possibly improve on what they are doing.

“It is also a social clinic, a clinic in the sense that we’re here to interrogate ideas; we’re here to learn; we’re here to ask questions and possibly get answers, but if we don’t get answers, we’ll keep on asking the questions until we’re able to get those answers and succeed,” Mallam Ya’u said.

The chairman of opening session, Mallam Ibrahim Tizhe, who is the Provost, College of Fellows, Nigeria Computer Society, and former Chairman/President of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN), commended CITAD for the initiative as he heighted the revolutionary impacts and potentials of digital technology on society.

Participants.

“I would like to draw our attention to the fact that information technology has already revolutionised the way we work and live in this century and it cuts across government; influencing the way government makes policies; it also affects the way we conduct business; it also affects us as citizens; it affects the way we are seen by our governments just as it affects the way we relate with our governments,” Mallam Tizhe stressed.

He called on social influencers to use the two-day event to, in greater detail, look at the issues surrounding how technology and media are blending to impact directly on the lives of citizens and their businesses.

“Today and tomorrow, you social influencers are going to look into, in greater detail, the issues surrounding how technology and media are fusing to influence the way we run our lives. In business, we know that the greatest players today are technology people. We know that Amazon, Alibaba do not have a single shop and they do not manufacture anything, but they have reduced the gap between manufacturers and consumers to displace middlemen from their offices and their various devices.

“Uber does not have a single taxi, yet they determine the way you are being transported from your originating point to your destination. These and many others are the ways we are doing business by technology. The movement from the traditional media to the new media is what has given birth to social influencers as a formidable group in the information industry,” Mallam Tizhe said.

Noting that though social media has brought a boom to the information industry by an incredible reduction of gap in communication and “bringing a profound relief in the way we get information, the speed at which we get it and the quantity at a very given time,” Mallam Tizhe stressed that the social media has also its dangers or disadvantages, particularly to the younger generation who are the principal consumers of the information that are peddled via the social media.

“As experts, I am expecting that you will discuss the potency that the social media has to positively affect the society and at the same time I want you to examine the negative effects that it has on the society.” He said

For Prof Jibrin Ibrahim, senior fellow, Centre for Democracy and Democracy (CDD), KANSIS2021 is another occasion for learning.

Prof Ibrahim, a renowned columnist and Chairman of the Editorial Board of Abuja-based online newspaper, Premium Times, said in a sense, one of the greatest things about ICT revolution is the inversion of the age-knowledge dynamics.

“I think in a sense, the greatest thing about the technology revolution that produced the social influencers is the inversion of the age-knowledge dynamics if we believe that the older you are, the more knowledge you have accumulated over time and therefore, the older, the more knowledgeable and hopefully, the wiser. But that trend has been reversed.”

Prof Ibrahim also argued that the world is “being defined and redefined by very young people” driving the ICT revolution and their target audience.

“The world is being defined and redefined by very young people, if you look at the technology giants that are running the big tech companies; when you look at the audience that’s targeted; and above all, when you look at those who’re in need of these media, what’s remarkable is their very young age,” Ibrahim said adding that this poses, for him, the question of political power.

“Somehow, for me, it always poses the question of political power. We live in a country called Nigeria where our leadership, for the most part, are in their 70s and in their 80s but where over 70% of the population is below 35.

“That poses an interesting issue I came here to seek answers to and I am relying on all of you to give me the answers. Why is there such a discrepancy, such disequilibrium between the power equation, the knowledge equation and the engagement equation? You really, really need to explain this to me because if I don’t understand what causes this, I will be at a loss on how to write my column,” Prof Ibrahim challenge an audience dominated by young men and women.

But Dr Chris Kwaja of Centre for Peace Studies, Modibbo Adama University, Yola, Adamawa State, came to the defence of the youth in his goodwill remark by locating the disequilibrium in the lack of social mobility by the younger generation of Nigerians in their lack economic capacity to access to power.

Dr Kwaja, who said he is Prof Ibrahim’s student, said Nigerian the youth are currently, in spite of their numerical strength, in a catch-22 situation, a weakened position made worse by godfather syndrome.

He said: “I engaged a young man here in Kano and I said; why is it that despite the population of the young men and women in Kano and Nigeria in general, we still have a situation where the old still determine and define the outcome of an election? He said that for them, what they know outside, when they go back home, they only answer yes sir and ma to their parents and their godfathers, and that the godfather syndrome is ruining the future of many of the young people.

“These young men and women have been weakened because you are dealing with a society where these young people relied on their parents at 18, 19, 20, 21 to 25; when they still collect money from their parents to go to school.

“Many of them don’t have their voters cards, they are in the lockers of their parents who come back home in the evening to tell them; “we have decided that APC is the party to vote for; PDP is the party to vote for; and these young men and women are in a catch-22 situation of disobeying their parents and vote according to their conscience while facing the risk losing what they will lose from their parents.”

He said the prevailing context as it affects young people in Nigeria is best illustrated in the Not-too-Young-to-Run Bill. “We saw that with the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill that was passed. One of the key messages from that bill was that it is not enough for us to say not too young to run in the context of the reform of the constitution but that a lot needs to be done about social mobility. Social mobility in the context where youth empowerment goes beyond tokenism…

“Until they are able to have a conversation that discusses the youth question in the context of their empowerment, and whether this empowerment translates into political power, we will continue to have this disequilibrium of power between the young men and the old men,” Dr Kwaja argued.

The two-day programme, which was held with the support of the MacArthur Foundation, Arewa Radio, NITDA and NCC among other organisations, I am happy to announce that over the next two days, will see a total of about 65 presentations by different speakers and resource persons and influencers in and about 3 plenary sessions and 16 parallel sessions.

In one of the sessions after the first two plenary sessions, the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of National Record, Mr Onah L. Iduh, spoke on the topic: “Online Newspapers: Are They Reporting the News or They Are the News?” The session, chaired by Prof Jibrin Ibrahim was also addressed by the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Abuja-based Newsdiaryonline.com, Mr Danlami Nmodu, mni, and Mr Ismail Auwal, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Sahelian Times.