A Nigerian NGO, Centre for Information Technology and Development, CITAD, has taken a formal education to Shara, a rural community in Sumaila local government area of Kano state, northwest Nigeria, donating books and school uniform to pupils learning under a tree.

Prior to CITAD intervention, no child in Shara community has had formal education. Now, children in the community are being taught basic literacy skills by volunteer teachers.

“We are grateful to CITAD helping us get a school and for giving us uniforms, exercise books and learning materials,” Usman Sama’ila, a beneficiary, said.

The community inhabitants were opposed to western education, CITAD, and Sitti Forum, a community-based organization, consultation with the community led to advocacy that made the community accept formal education. Mr. Saidu Saleh Sitti, the chairman of Sitti Forum said.

CITAD works to improve education in the northeast Nigeria. In Kano, the NGO has done enormous work in Dawakin Tofa, Garun Mallam and Sumaila local government areas.

In communities where CITAD works, it introduces a community-driven initiative that enhances education. It says that the reason for the community driven initiative is that the government alone cannot handle education and community contribution is central to education sustainability in the community.

Part of the CITAD core focus is to improve school enrollment and retention. Mr. Sabo Aliyu, the Sumaila local government education secretary confirms, the local government authority will be complementing CITAD by building classrooms for the pupils and accommodation for the volunteer teachers.

Mr. Bakari Hussaini, the Special Adviser to Mr. Abdullahi Ganduje, the Kano state Governor on education, confirmed the state government will implement free and compulsory education policy at all level to ensure inclusive education in the state. This is primarily to sustain the work CITAD does in education.

CITAD, Takes Education To Rural Communities In Northern Nigeria

The monthly leadership inspiring and mentorship initiative of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), better termed as ILERIS (Inspiring Leadership Reflection Series) has featured Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, the Hon. Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture Kano state as the personality for the month of October. Every month CITAD invites a personality who has skills, experiences and achievements that can be emulated by its staff and other youths with a view to shaping their lives and their commitments so that they excel in their numerous endavours. Participants normally listen to the guests make their presentations about their lives experiences, successes, challenges, opportunities and later on interact and deliberate in order to explore for themselves certain strengths, advantages as well take caution against failures and obstacles.

Giving an opening remark, the Executive Director of Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Dr. Yunusa Zakari Ya’u said “the center has over the years been focusing on youths development programs and we thought that one of the ways you can develop young people is to get people who have rich experience to share with young people their successes, problems, principles, the ways in which they tackle problems when they arise, lessons they would have learned as they grow up and so forth, so that young people in particular can be inspired to want to go and even surpass people that they listen to, that is the reason we get someone with credible history and experience to come and talk about himself after which the participants ask questions’’.

In his presentation, Dr Gawuna observed that it is a great honour for him to be invited to directly interact with young people and hopes his biography will inspire the participants. The 49 year old commissioner is a biochemist by profession who has eventually ventured into agricultural activities and politics, being a staunch sports lover he is presently the National President of Youths Sports Federation which was established back in 1965. He said “as a child I hated school but my parents insisted in ensuring that I go to school, today I realized the idea behind that, I can still remember two things my father taught me, one is to be as truthful as possible in whatever I do, and the second is to be as helpful as possible’’. He said the patent medicine store that his father established inspired his brother to become a graduate of pharmacy from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria while he graduated from Usman Danfodio University Sokoto as a Biochemist, which simply became a large family business.

After working with Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Kano state Hospitals Management Board as Lab technologist at Nasarawa Hospital, Gawuna’s interest in business led him and a friend into establishing a logistics company that deals with cargo and technical assistance on aircraft called Millennium Aviation. He later succumbed to pressure and finally became a politician which made him Nasarawa Local Government chairman for eight years and commissioner of agriculture in the previous administration, the position present administration also appointed him since its inception.

Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna has energized the participants with several inspirational experiences and entertained many questions, he said “faith, believe and the strength of your will always get you to where you want to be, in as much as you try to be as honest as possible”.

The inspiring leadership reflection series ended with a presentation of publications of CITAD to the guest by human resources officer of the organization Malam Ado Shehu Yakasai, and a vote of thanks by training coordinator Malam Ahmad Abdullahi Yakasai who advised the participants to practicalise the lessons they learned from the interactive session. Participants at the event included staff of CITAD, regional manager of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and other staff, Manager Environmental Registration Council of Nigeria, Northwest University, Federal University Dutse, United Action for Democracy, Northwest University Students for Peace, Kurmawa Youth Development Association, Harlem Engineering, Mufarka, Tudun Yola Youth for Peace, KAYCAD and many other young people.

By Olga Tsafack-Koloko and Mallory Knodel for APCNews

06 October 2016

Every year since 2004, on the third Saturday in September, hundreds of events are organised in dozens of cities around the world to increase “awareness of Free Software and its virtues” and to encourage use of free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) in a global event called Software Freedom Day (SFD). Free, in this context, refers to free use and not “free of charge” (libre, not gratis, in Spanish, for example).

Since its establishment in 1990, The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has been committed to using and raising awareness aboutFLOSS, most notably as one of seven themes in the APC Internet Rights Charter developed in 2001. We believe that “Working with FLOSS is empowering, it builds skills, is more sustainable and it encourages local innovation.” Out of our network of 50 organisations and 24 individuals, it is safe to say that all APC members use FLOSS and several members focus on FLOSS development and adoption.

One of those members is the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in Lagos, Nigeria. CITAD “sees technology as tool to promote sustainable development, good government and peaceful coexistence. It uses ICT to empower youth and women through access to information, skills and online mentoring opportunities.” And they celebrated Software Freedom Day 2016 with a half-day agenda for 58 attendees. They shared event outcomes with the hashtag #CITADsoftwarefreedomday.

Nigeria is dominated by proprietary software and universities do not provide opportunities for students to learn about FLOSS. However, according to Yanusa Ya’u, co-founder and executive director of CITAD, “of course there are many who use and even market free and open source software.” The Open Source Foundation for Nigeria (OSFON) supports local FLOSS activists and developers. OSFON is a member of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa, a group founded in 1995 to “promote the use of free and open source software in Africa by bringing multi-stakeholder partners together for the development of African societies using open source software.”

CITAD’s theme for SFD 2016 was “Securing Your Freedom with FLOSS”. Like many SFD events, CITAD focused on practical, hands-on activities. Participants learned how to install Ubuntu, an operating system software that can substitute proprietary software like Windows or MacOS. They also devoted time to a “clinic” where FLOSS users could get help with questions, issues or problems from an expert in their community. Some presentations were geared to newcomers to FLOSS, such as “Understanding the Concept of FLOSS” and “An exploration into Open Source”.

Abdulaziz Yunusa is a final year student of computer science at Federal University Dutse and an intern at CITAD. When asked about FLOSSimproving the lives of Nigerians, he said, “Free software can be customised and can allow young people to develop local solutions for local problems, thus adding value to the software, creating products that are needed, saving cost for the country and the buyers and in the process creating jobs and wealth for the country. In this it will help to address the problem of unemployment and improve national wealth.”

For SFD 2016 there were 127 registered events on the official website, yet it is possible that there were many events like CITAD’s that were not featured on the map. According to another FLOSS expert in the APC community, Arun Madhavan from the India-based organisation the Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment, “The world is richer with free software today than it was two decades back.” It is thanks to efforts like these that free software communities continue to grow.

https://www.apc.org/en/news/promoting-use-free-software-nigerian-communities-b

By Yaro Daniel Onyiloyi,

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), the key Nigerian NGO which has been monitoring and tracking the efforts to rehabilitate and resettle internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has expressed horror against alleged corruption in the management of IDPs and what it called the culpable silence of governments at all levels on that. It alleged callousness in the treatment of IDPs, adding in a statement by its Executive Director, Mallam Yunusa Zakari Y’au in Bauchi that its partners in Maiduguri and in other locations had observed various ways in which food items meant for IDPs had been diverted by officials and taken to either markets for sale or misappropriated by these officials for their personal and private use. Coming on the heels of demonstrations on the streets last Thursday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by IDPs, the statement also made reference to stories of extortion in which officials demanded for money from IDPs to register to collect relief materials as well as sexual gratification from IDPs.

“We in the north east are happy that the military has been recording successes in liberating a number of areas formerly controlled by the insurgents but we are now extremely worried and alarmed that our brothers sisters, uncles, grandparents and children are dying of starvation due do callousness of these government officials who government entrusted the welfare and wellbeing of IDPs to”, the statement added.

CITAD argued that this is not the first time that these Nigerians had to complain about the systematic starvation that they have been subjected to by people whose responsibility it is to care for them and that many people, especially children, are already dead from hunger and malnutrition, development which it said had been reported in the media. CITAD further claimed that on several occasions, both state and federal governments have been alerted to this but they have often either dismissed it or simply make some symbolic noises and let the matter to continue unabated. The lack of action from government to take concrete measures to stop this haemorrhage of resources meant for IDPs, it said, is resulting in a situation in which government is, by its own inaction, aiding the mass murder of people who have earlier on been traumatized by the Boko Haram insurgents. As such, surviving Boko Haram tend to become only a stop gap for them to be killed by hunger engineered by relied officials, the statement point out.

Situating diversion of relief materials and corruption in lack of proper instrument, institution or national policy to deal with IDPs as a result of Nigeria not having domesticated the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration, the NGO insists that the country has been relying on adhoc structures. It, therefore, sees this as the time for an immediate enactment of such instrument by the government.

It called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately launch a serious investigation into the diversion of relief materials meant for various IDP camps across the region while also demanding both state and federal governments to take immediate steps to ensure that relief materials, especially food items, are delivered promptly to those unfortunate to have been victims of Boko Haram insurgency. It said anti-corruption war must transcend mere official declaration to the realm of openness, transparency, asking governments to demand accountability from its officials and agents. This, it pointed out, is the minimum expectation form a government that has made a promise to rid the country of corruption.

By Patience Michael, Bauchi

The Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Ya’u Zakari Ya’u, has said that women were marginalized with less access to education and use of Internet.

The director, who was speaking at a workshop in Bauchi tagged, “Research Findings on Women and Use of Internet in the North,’’ said aspects of marginalization including the very few in decision-making process like those in the state and national legislatures.

His words: “So if they have less access to education, they would continue to be excluded in economic life, political life and in every other spheres of life, and as the saying goes, educate a man you educate one person, and educate a women you educate the whole nation”.

Zakari stressed the need for taking all necessary measures to ensure that women have access to internet and the skills to use it.

He said however that there were many other categories of people that were left behind including people with disabilities who do not have access to our educational processes because we are not able to make the necessary investment for the provision of their required learning tools.

“Even older people are also excluded, but they are excluded because perhaps they have become static in their own learning process and is so difficult now to learn new skills, new knowledge,” he said.

According to Zakari, internet is being used for research, learning, access to knowledge and communication adding, “And now we have seen examinations are gradually migrating online, JAMB examination is now computer base and increasingly more and more examinations will migrate online.”

Accordingly, he said that a person who lacks the internet skills would be left out in the pursuit of education, stressing that internet is also a tool for personal empowerment.

“If education is a right and internet is the major tool, then access to internet should also be a right to everybody.

Zakari explained that a lot of people earn their living on internet either as squatted creators, data miners, and people who promote business or uses internet as a platform to conduct businesses.

According to him, no business one can today do without accessing the internet as even the crack sellers realize that with internet they create greater market.

“As a communication tool we know that it is a platform for participation. Democracy itself is about participation, ability to contribute in decision making process, about our lives, society and about how our society is govern or how we elect our representatives,” he said.

Zakari noted that for us to live meaningful, productive and politically engaged life, we need to have access to internet, hence internet gives universal access to men and women, young and old that no one should be left behind.

http://nigerianewsflight.com/article/women-are-marginalized-education-internet-use-%E2%80%93-ciad

Patience Ogbodo-Iwuagwu

Bauchi – Over 60 percent of educated women in the northern part of the country do not have access to the Internet, claims Ya’u Zakari Ya’u, the Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD).

Zakari Ya’u stated this on Monday during a stakeholders’ meeting on the report of research on Women and Use of Internet in Northern Nigeria, held at Professor Iya Abubakar Community Resource Centre (CRC), Bauchi.

He said the research recently carried out by the centre showed that the number of women does not access Internet thereby making them technologically and socially disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts.

Zakari Ya’u explained that the survey conducted in Bauchi and Kano states enumerated the factors hindering northern women from using the Internet to include inadequate infrastructure, computer illiteracy, bad perception about the Internet as well as religious and cultural concerns, among others.

He said some clerics and husbands discourage women in the region from browsing the Internet and joining the social networks chat rooms for fearing that their wives may lose privacy, get exposed to undue sexual harassment or visit unwholesome sites that could corrupt them.

Zakari Ya’u assured that CITAD would soon embark on awareness campaigns in the area on the significance of the Internet and its enormous benefits to bridge the gap.

Also speaking, Hon. Maryam Garba Bagel, the only female member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly who served as chairperson of the occasion said, “It is not a taboo for housewives to use Internet or social media because they could get useful information and knowledge that would add value to their lives,” adding that women might even learn how to cook certain foods on the Internet.

She promised to present proposal to the state government through the Ministry of Women Affairs to establish computer training centres in parts of the state to teach women the basic knowledge of computer operations to enable them access the Internet like their counterparts in advanced nations.

A recent study has shown that over 60 percent of educated women in the northern part of the country do not have access to the internet.

The study was conducted by the ‘Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) on the use of internet by women in the north.

CITAD Executive Director. Ya’u Zakari Ya’u, disclosed this over the weekend at a workshop tagged ‘Research Findings on Women and Use of Internet in the North’ held in Bauchi.‎

He said that the survey, which was conducted in Bauchi and Kano state has indicated that women who have no access to the Internet have been rendered technologically and socially disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts in the region.

According to him, the factors hindering northern women from using the Internet include: inadequate infrastructures, computer illiteracy, bad perception about the internet as well as religious and cultural factors among others.

Ya’u lamented that some clerics and husbands discourage women in the region from browsing through the Internet and social networks due to the fear that their wives may lose privacy, get exposed to sexual harassment or visit bad sites that could corrupt them.

He, however, promised that CITAD would soon embark on awareness campaigns in the area on the significance of the internet and its benefits so as to bridge the gap.

Speaking, a female member of the Bauchi state House of Assembly, Maryam Garba Bagel, asserted that it is not a taboo for housewives to use internet or social media because they could get useful information and knowledge that would add value to their lives.

Bagel, who served as chairperson of the occassion promised to present  a proposal to the state government through the ministry of women affairs to establish computer training centres in all parts of the state to teach women the basic knowledge of computer operations.

She said that Computer knowledge will enable women access the internet like their counterparts in advanced nations.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/over-60-of-women-in-the-north-lack-access-to-the-internet-study/163902.html

The Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has observed this year’s International Day of Peace with an interactive lecture it organized today at NISTF Hall Kano in order to discuss and emphasize the significance of peace for societal development, tolerance and understanding among people, as well as point out how various actors can make tangible inputs for sustenance of peace.Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The day was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly and in 2001, the General Assembly voted to designate the day as a period of non-violence and ceasefire.

The event which had participants from Kano state Directorate of Youth Development, HISBAH Board, Nigerian Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP), Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund, Kungiyar Gyra Kayanka, Kungiyar Daba Haram, Civil Societies Groups, Media and several other youth organizations deliberated on issues regarding peace and how people can maintain lasting peace by rendering their different individual contributions.

Three presentations were made on the following topics by different speakers: The Efforts of Kano State Government in Promoting Peace in the State, Importance of Peace in Community Development, How to Prevent Thug Activities in Kano State.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Senior Programmes Officer (Peace and Conflicts) at CITAD Malam Isah Garba traced the history of the International Day of Peace and why the day should be given the needed consideration especially at a time when Nigeria faces conflict challenge in the North East, “we should all work hard to build strong and permanent atmosphere for peace to reign, every individual is integral to peace building, therefore everyone should understand the importance of peace and work towards achieving it”. The world will not be a better place without peace, Isah Garba added.

In his presentation, representative of the Director General of Directorate of Youth Development, Economic Empowerment and NGOs Alhaji Habu Musa said Kano state has been empowering  youths with a view to reducing unemployment, part of which one hundred youths were sent to Kaduna to undergo training in automobile company on motor repair, panel beating and spraying, other 200 youths were trained in ICT, again the state has inaugurated national youth council in order to reduce drug abuse, theft and thuggery among the youths, the state has also collaborated with telecommunication companies to provide training to the growing number of youths in the state. According Habu Musa another effort to empower 5600 youths is underway, all in an effort engaging them and maintain peace.

The second presentation on the topic ‘The Importance of Peace in Community Development’ was made by Alhaji Adam Haruna Bayero of HISBAH Board, and it focused on five cardinal points which are soul, wealth, parenting and proper upbringing, sanity and respect, Bayero maintained that if these five points will be protected there will be lasting peace and mutual coexistence among people, and development will flourish. When there is peace there will be cooperation and sense of belonging among people while its absence may invite societal ills which hinder progress.

Aminu Buba Dibal of NSRP observed that a research carried out revealed that Nigeria is the only country in Africa that records high number of deaths as a result of conflicts even though the country is not in full fledge war like Somalia, and that informed the choice of Nigeria to implement the peace programme and Kano is one of the ten states selected. Peace is valuable but people do not recognize that until it vanishes. Everyone benefits from peace. The event ended with comments of the participants and closing remarks from the executive Director of CITAD who thanked the presenters and the participants for their vital inputs and being part of the 2016 global peace day celebration.

By Rita Michael, Bauchi

A non-governmental organisation, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate diversion of relief materials meant for Infernally Displaced camps in the Northeast.
The CITAD Executive Director, Ya’u Zakari Ya’u, made the appeal in a statement made available to newsmen in Bauchi yesterday.
He said that both the states in the Northeast and the Federal governments must ensure that relief materials especially food items are promptly delivered to the displaced persons.
Ya’u said, “We like to reiterate that corruption cannot be corruption by mere official declaration. It can only be fought when government embraces openness, transparency and demand accountability from its officials and agents.”
The CITAD director explained that it was only when government embraces openness, transparency and accountability that Nigerians could view the promise it made of ridding the country of endemic corruption.
He wondered why the Federal government lacks proper instrument or institution to deal with issues of IDPs which he attributed to failure of the government to domesticate the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration.
According to him, “Without such, government has been relying on adhoc structure and diversion of relief materials and corruption is the results. This therefore is the time that government must put in place a proper IDPs policy”.
He recalled that on several occasions both the states and federal governments have been alerted on the issue of relief material diversion, but they often either dismissed or make noises and let the matter to continue unabated.
According to Ya’u, “This is not the way a government elected on the basis of its promise to stem out corruption in the country should respond to the unscrupulous acts of corruption.
“The lack of action from the government to take concrete measures to stop this hemorrhage of resources meant for the IDPs is resulting in a situation in which the government by its own inaction is aiding the mass murder of people who have earlier on been traumatized by Boko Haram insurgents, and have seen their loved ones killed.”
Ya’u said that it would appear to the IDPs that surviving Boko Haram is the only stop gap for them to be killed by hunger engineered by relied officials, describing the action as a major crime against humanity.
He further explained that CITAD is horrified by the callous way IDPs are being treated and the culpable silence of governments at all levels, saying various ways in which food item meant for the displaced persons have been diverted by officials and taken to markets for sale or misappropriated by those officials for their personal use.
“There are also many stories of extortion in which officials demand for money from the IDPs to register to collect relief materials, as well as other abuses such as demanding for sexual gratification from the IDPs”, he said.
As a result of these negative tendencies, he said, many people especially children have died of hunger and malnutrition, as has been reported by the media.
He recalled that the August 25, 2016 demonstration by thousands of impoverished internally displaced persons on the streets of Maiduguri that they have not been fed for days is an attestation of the systematic starvation the IDPs have been subjected to by the people who have been saddled with the responsibility to care for them.
He expressed delight that people in the Northeast are happy that the military has been recording successes in liberating a number of areas hitherto controlled by the insurgents, but are worried that their brothers, sisters, uncles, grandparents and children are dying of starvation due to callousness of officials who government entrusted the welfare and well-being of the IDPs.

http://nigerianewsflight.com/article/investigate-diversion-idps%E2%80%99-relief-materials-ngo-advises-efcc

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

An Nongovernmental Organisation, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to seriously investigate diversion of relief materials meant for various IDPs camps across the Northeast sub-region of the country.
The Centre Executive Director, Ya’u Zakari Ya’u said in a statement made available to newsmen at weekend in Bauchi, that those needy and unfortunate Nigerians referred to as IDPs are victims of Boko Haram insurgents.
“We like to reiterate that corruption cannot be corruption by mere official declaration, it can only be fought when government embrace openness, transparency and demand accountability from its officials and agents,” Ya’u said.
The CITAD director explained that it is only when government embrace openness, transparency and accountability that Nigerians could view the promise it made of ridding the country of endemic corruption.
Ya’u therefore wondered why the federal government lacks proper instrument or institution to deal with issues of IDPs which he attributed to failure of the government to domesticate the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration.
“Without such, government has been relying on adhoc structure and diversion of relief materials and corruption is the results. This therefore is the time that government must put in place a proper IDPs policy”.
He recalled that on several occasions both the states and federal governments have been alerted on the issue of relief material diversion, but they often either dismissed or make noises and let the matter to continue unabated.
According to the centre, this is not the way a government elected on the basis of its promise to stem out corruption in the country should respond to the unscrupulous acts of corruption.

Probe diversion of IDPs relief materials, CITAD urges EFCC

By Rita Michael, Bauchi
The Internet Governance Forum and CITAD, a non- governmental organization, have ended a one-day Internet sensitization meeting in Bauchi.
Participants deliberated on women empowerment and protection of children on the Internet.
The event, with the theme, “The Internet of our choice: Empowering women and promoting children online, held at Prof Iya Abubakar Centre Bauchi. It was attended by stakeholders from all the six states of the North East.
At the occasion, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Garba Danbatta, disclosed that the commission has developed a Child Online Protection framework to promote the protection of Nigerian Children on the Internet.
Represented by the Director, New Media and Information Security of NCC, Haru Alhassan, Prof Danbatta said that arrangement NCC would soon launch and commence implementation of the Nigerian Child Online Protection Policy.
He explained that the implementation would promote the protection of Nigerian children on the Internet against all forms of negative influence.

He lamented that some Nigeria children through the internet have been influenced negatively by participating on negative issues on the internet, expressing optimism that the framework would protect them against such negative influence.
According to Danbatta, as number of mobile users, digital applications and data networks increases, the opportunities for utilization of the Internet also increases. “It is obvious that with the growing concerns with issues around the privacy rights, safety, security and exclusion, greater attention is required to protect sensitive business and personal information, as well as safeguard national security. The governance of the Internet has therefore become a major global issue.”
He also revealed that the commission has commenced the development of the Internet Industry Code of Practice document, saying, “This document that will guide the Commission and the Industry in developing obligations, processes and procedures for dealing with Internet Content issues, outlines the obligations on Internet service providers, content service providers, application service providers and mobile network operators in relation to Internet inappropriate, offensive or potentially harmful content for minors and vulnerable audiences.
“This will lead ultimately to the establishment of Shared principles, Norms, Rules that shape the use of the internet in the country,” he said.
According to him, “The Commission has also commenced implementation of the National Broadband Policy, by initiating the licensing process for the Broadband Infrastructure Companies. The implementation of the policy is expected to improve Broadband Internet penetration from currently 10 percent to about 50 percent in 2018.

He assured that the Commission would continue to engage with relevant stakeholders and other members of the Local Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group, the planning committee for NIGF to ensure that NCC offers more platforms such as this for the other zones in the country.
“At the end of the discussions and deliberations at the forum, we would have a clear position on what needs to be done, who needs to do what and how it should be done. Also articulating Nigerian’s position in the Global Internet Governance Fora.
He thereby commended the NIGF, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) and the other organisers for the anticipated success of the forum.

Also, the Excutive Director of CITAD, Yunusa Zakari Ya’u, said that the aim of the forum was to provide a platform for various internet user groups and excluded communities to engage their views.
According to him, ” views and positions harvested from this would feed into both national and international discussions around the issues, including the Nigeria and Global Internet Governance Forum that are holding in November this year”.

He also said that the forum would also provide opportunity for stakeholders from Nigeria to harmonize their positions before going to the Global Internt Governmace Forum holding on November in Mexico this year.
“This is the first Forum after the global internet Forum held in November last year in Brazil and report back to the stakeholders and it is an honour for that this is being done in the North East, the second zone to host the zonal forum.
He thereby expressed the determination of CITAD to continue to educate and sensitize women on the use of Internet facility to make wealth and protect children on Internet.
Also, the Chairperson of Nigeria Internet Governance Forum, Mrs Mary Uduma, frowned at the way and manner young people abuse the use of Internet facility by engaging in negative activities that are capable of destroying their future.
She said that young people and women were supposed to use Internet forum as a platform of learning as well as create wealth to better their lives, saying the aim of the forum is to sensitize and educate Internet users on the positive way of using Internet facility.
She lamented that many youths are being recruited online to join terrorist groups hence the need to counter such evil activities on Internet.

Mrs Uduma expressed determination of the forum to take internet to rural areas to ensure that rural women, children and youth learn utilise internet especially as a way of making wealth and creation employment for themselves.
She said, “With the advent of Internet, you don’t need to always go to market to sell your product because you can market your product online and people will patronize you”.
Mrs Uduma thereby stressed the need to counter western culture on Internet by introducing Nigerian culture as well as local languages that will enable illiterates to utilise Internet facility to better their lives.

http://nigerianewsflight.com/article/when-north-east-internet-forum-deliberated-protection-women-children-online

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), the key Nigerian NGO which has been monitoring and tracking the efforts to rehabilitate and resettle internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has expressed horror against alleged corruption in the management of IDPs and what it called the culpable silence of governments at all levels on that. It alleged callousness in the treatment of IDPs, adding in a statement by its Executive Director, Mallam Yunusa Zakari Y’au in Bauchi that its partners in Maiduguri and in other locations had observed various ways in which food items meant for IDPs had been diverted by officials and taken to either markets for sale or misappropriated by these officials for their personal and private use. Coming on the heels of demonstrations on the streets last Thursday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by IDPs, the statement also made reference to stories of extortion in which officials demanded for money from IDPs to register to collect relief materials as well as sexual gratification from IDPs.
“We in the north east are happy that the military has been recording successes in liberating a number of areas formerly controlled by the insurgents but we are now extremely worried and alarmed that our brothers sisters, uncles, grandparents and children are dying of starvation due do callousness of these government officials who government entrusted the welfare and wellbeing of IDPs to”, the statement added.

CITAD argued that this is not the first time that these Nigerians had to complain about the systematic starvation that they have been subjected to by people whose responsibility it is to care for them and that many people, especially children, are already dead from hunger and malnutrition, development which it said had been reported in the media. CITAD further claimed that on several occasions, both state and federal governments have been alerted to this but they have often either dismissed it or simply make some symbolic noises and let the matter to continue unabated. The lack of action from government to take concrete measures to stop this haemorrhage of resources meant for IDPs, it said, is resulting in a situation in which government is, by its own inaction, aiding the mass murder of people who have earlier on been traumatized by the Boko Haram insurgents. As such, surviving Boko Haram tend to become only a stop gap for them to be killed by hunger engineered by relied officials, the statement point out.

Situating diversion of relief materials and corruption in lack of proper instrument, institution or national policy to deal with IDPs as a result of Nigeria not having domesticated the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration, the NGO insists that the country has been relying on adhoc structures. It, therefore, sees this as the time for an immediate enactment of such instrument by the government.

It called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately launch a serious investigation into the diversion of relief materials meant for various IDP camps across the region while also demanding both state and federal governments to take immediate steps to ensure that relief materials, especially food items, are delivered promptly to those unfortunate to have been victims of Boko Haram insurgency. It said anti-corruption war must transcend mere official declaration to the realm of openness, transparency, asking governments to demand accountability from its officials and agents. This, it pointed out, is the minimum expectation form a government that has made a promise to rid the country of corruption.

Press Statement August 26, 2016

Yesterday, Thursday 25th August, thousands of impoverished Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) demonstrated in the streets of Maiduguri, protesting that for days they were not being fed. This was not the first time that these unfortunate Nigerians have to complain about the systematic starvation that they have been subjected to by people who have responsibility to care for them. As a result of this, many people, especially children have died of hunger and malnutrition. This has been widely reported in the papers.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) which has been monitoring and tracking the efforts to rehabilitate and resettle IDPs is horrified by the callous way IDPs are treated and the culpable silence of governments at all levels. Our partners in Maiduguri and in other locations have observed various ways in which food items meant for IDPs have been diverted by officials and taken to either markets for sale or misappropriated by these officials for their personal and private use. There are also many stories of extortion in which officials demand for money from IDPs to register to collect relief materials as well as other abuses such as demanding for sexual gratification from IDPs.

We in the north east are happy that the military has been recording successes in liberating a number of areas formerly controlled by the insurgents but we are now extremely worried and alarmed that our brothers sisters, uncles, grandparents and children are dying of starvation due do callousness of these government officials who government entrusted the welfare and wellbeing of IDPs to.

On several occasions both state and federal governments have been alerted to this, but they have often either dismissed it or simply make some symbolic noises and let the matter to continue unabated. We feel that this is not the way a government elected on the basis of its promise to stem out corruption in our country should respond to these unscrupulous acts of corruption. The lack of action from government to take concrete measures to stop this hemorrhage of resources meant for IDPs is resulting in a situation in which government by its own inaction is aiding the mass murder of people who have earlier on been traumatized by the Boko Haram insurgents and have seen their loved ones killed. It would appear them, that surviving Boko Haram, is only a stop gap for them to be killed by hunger engineered by relied officials. This is a major crime against humanity.

Part of the problem is that our government has yet to wake up to the fact that it has no proper instrument or institution to deal with IDPs. We have no national Policy on IDPs. We have failed as a nation to domesticate the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration. Without such, government has been relying on adhoc structure and diversion of relief materials and corruption are the results. This therefore is the time that government must put in place a proper IDP Policy. We make for the call for an immediate enactment of such instrument.

We at CITAD also call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately launch a serious investigation into the diversion of relief materials meant for various IDP camps across the region. In the meant time we that demand that both state and federal governments must take immediate steps to ensure that relief materials, especially food items are delivered promptly to these needy and unfortunate Nigerians whose only crime if it, is to have been victim of Boko Haram insurgents.

We like to reiterate a point we have make in several times that corruption cannot be corruption by mere official declaration, it can only be fought when government embrace openness, transparency and demand accountability from its officials and agents: that is the minimum we expect form a government that has made a promise to rid the country of corruption.
Y. Yaú

Executive Director

In December 2003, the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda jailed several media executives on grounds of incitement and conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. Specifically, the tribunal pointed out how the media executives caused the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians without firearms, machete or any physical weapons in actions through articles that created the psychological disposition favourable to genocide.

Nigeria is not Rwanda and nothing on the scale of genocide is observable on the horizon in Nigeria. But it is also important to note the observation of the Jos based Institute of Governance and Social Research that violent conflicts in different parts of the country, especially from 2001 to date, has changed the Nigerian State in profound ways since the end of the 20th Century. It specifically pointed out how those conflicts set neighbours, ethnic and religious groups against one another in violent encounters, each characterised by breach of all accepted rules of engagement in war such as targeting of civilians and non-civilians, including infants, for massacre because they belonged to the wrong group. The institute’s report under reference was compiled in 2010, meaning there is cause for concern with hate speeches in Nigeria since, according to the UN tribunal, hate speeches constitute the eve of dreadful conflicts.

It is against this background that the emergence of a small unit for monitoring and countering hate speech at the Centre for Information Technology and Development, (CITAD) in Kano should be worth our while. Supported by DFID’s Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme as well as MacArthur Foundation, the unit has already released two briefings on what we might call a Nigerians – on – Nigerians hate speech trends on the social media. Its broad take is worrisome. That can be summarised by the conclusion in its July briefing that the social media is a key driver of hate speech involving evidently inflammatory language use that would not be found in the otherwise most reckless newspapers. And the users are very well educated elements.

UNSG, Banki-moon

Catholic Archbishop John Onaiyekan

Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar 111

Hate speeches as the foremost driver of violent conflicts has not received commensurate institutional attention in Nigeria. It is not clear how well equipped the traditional conflict management institutions in Nigeria are in terms of functional mechanisms for monitoring and regulating hate speech trends. Courtesy of the CITAD hate speech monitoring, we now know that hate speeches came down immediately after the peace accord between the two political parties in the 2015 presidential contest but only to rise steeply again. Today, the trend is so high, indicating a high degree of intolerance of each other. The figures from the July briefing, for instance, shows 618 items conveying religious insensitivity, followed by 507 items on ethnicity, 192 items relating to Biafran agitation. Hate speeches around electoral realm is the least, obviously because there was no major contest of that nature in the month. The pattern for the previous month is the same except that ethnicity had higher score than religion but the two took more than 94% of the total for June 2016.

That is to say that, on the internet, many Nigerians have no inhibitions in using words with intention to insult, offend or convey maximum contempt for some other Nigerians, either along ethnic, religious or spatial lines. The implication is that when you call someone or some group a certain name, you are rationalising doing harm; the caller is consciously or otherwise distancing him or herself from responsibility for the humanity of the other person or group, making the target look deserving of being humiliated or killed or so. Language creates the enemy images which justifies attack, retaliation and vengeance, not the other way. There can be no retaliation if there is no such language. Those who write or utter such words might not connect themselves with the implications but ignorance of that does not exonerate them from liability as the UN Tribunal on Rwanda shows.

Those who are in the habit of dehumanizing or demonizing others must, therefore, know that they are walking on the wrong side of the law and they could end up at The Hague or a similar place. CITAD’ list of hate and dangerous speeches stretch from Insulting people’s religion; abusing people’s ethnic or linguistic affiliation; expressing contempt for people on the basis of their place of origin; disparaging or intimidating women or girls because of their gender; condoning discriminatory assertions against people living with disability. Others are abusing or desecrating symbols of cultural or religious practices; denigrating or otherwise ridiculing traditional or cultural institutions of other people; engaging in deliberate spread falsehood or rumours demeaning, maligning or ostracizing other people on the basis of identity such as religion, ethnicity, gender or place of origin or disability.

At the end of the day, it is back to the state. That is the Nigerian State, which has the monopoly of the legitimate use of violence. CITAD would like the state to reify itself quickly in terms of dealing with the hardship that it says explains the recourse to perceive others as enemies. Governments should equally provide adequate information so that people would understand the true circumstances of all decisions taken. This is grounded on the analysis that, underlying the spread of hate speech in the country are the perception that the Government headed by a Hausa-Fulani/Muslim northerner is discriminating against the Igbos; the counter perception that certain sections of the country are unhappy with the outcome of the 2015 election and are extending the electoral contest by making it difficult for the government to settle down; resistance to the anti-corruption agenda of the government by those who will want do everything to scuttle it and the increasing economic hardship that has resulted from the collapse of national earnings and some decision of the Federal Government.

But the security agencies; INEC; religious and ethnic leaders; the media and the public are not left out in this call to action against hate speech as an actual as well as a potential driver of conflicts in the country. It would be interesting to see what the trend would show in the next few months

http://intervention.ng/citads-hate-speech-monitoring-project-in-nigeria/

Are you an electrical/electronic engineer interested in being able to design, develop, prototype and test a quad copter drone?

Are you an electrical/electronic engineer interested in design, development and testing of mechatronics on the Arduino AVR platform?

Are you an electrical/electronic engineer interested in the fundamentals that enable design and development of modern control and communication systems?

You are invited to contact CITAD at one of its offices as follows:

• HEAD  OFFICE:3rd Floor, NSITF Building, No.1 A Social Insurance Road, Behind Trade Fair Complex Zaria Road Kano P. O. Box 10210,  Kano : 08054362931, 08023212501, Website: www.citad.org , e-mail: citadev@gmail.com  email:info@citad.org

• JIGAWA OFFICE: Flat B, Aduwa House, Behind Old Market, Aminu Kano Way, Dutse, Jigawa State, Tel. No. 08060820921, 08068078282,

• BAUCHI OFFICE: NUJ Secretariat Opp. Reinsurance House, Ahmadu Bello Way Bauchi, Bauchi State. Tel 08062528361, 08152758686,

For available slots in design and development internships in Embedded Systems Design;

Graduates of related disciplines are also welcome.

Embedded systems are the computers that are now our handsets, smart phones, cars, refrigerators, air conditioners, micro waves, TVs and soon our houses. Industrial production processes, air planes and other advanced systems were the first embedded systems in the last few decades._

The Objective – To introduce a new breed of engineer in Nigeria vast in embedded systems and general electronics. A core set of people for national engineering development and production planning.

An engineer who can design/develop products, carry out production planning functions. An engineer who can solve the technology problems around us by following a design process and ending with a full prototype using minimal or no input from America, Europe or Asia. An engineer who can design the production process for this prototype.

Interns who pass through this program will be ready to undertake the design and development tasks necessary to make Nigeria a technologically advanced nation. Individuals and companies working to begin design and production will readily employ these engineers. Companies, institutions and government agencies involved in activities related to engineering for the end user will find them superior to the average applicant.   Not an Entrepreneurship Program – The main aim is to move Nigeria away from importation of finished goods and the resultant distortion of definition of engineering by producing the critical human resource. There will be no installation or repair or maintenance or operation work in this program.  By inculcating a design and production mentality in this internship, a new crop of engineers will flower.