The Role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Tackling Security Challenges

in Nigeria

Paper prepared by Habibat Ndanusa Yakubu,

For the Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic 7th National Conference on Security Challenges in Nigeria:
The Role of Science and Technology 4 7 November 2014, Katsina.

ABSTRACT

Australia has the worlds largest uranium reservesone third of the world total1and
is part of the Asia-Pacific region, the region of largest growth in nuclear power
utilisation. when we say security, are we talking about food insecurity,

financial insecurity, personal security, national security, etc we are more

concerned about national internal security of Nigerians as far as lives and
property, and indeed, general well-being are concerned.
the Federal Government to leverage ICT in the fight against crime and national
insecurity in the country.
Africahasbeenhardhitwithpovertyanddiseaseandthishashadanimmenseeffectonthe
qualityofsocial,culturalandpoliticallivesofthepeople.Thishasmadedevelopmenttomove
ataveryslowpaceinthelastdecades.Butthepresenceofinformationandcommunication
technologies(ICT)hassomewhatcarvedoutanalternativepathtodevelopment.Not
withstandingtheurgencyandenthusiasmwithusingthisnewmediumforsocialandeconomic
change,theInternethasbroughtaboutnegativeaswellaspositivecontributionsto
developmentinAfrica.Thecontributionsofscholarsinthefieldoftechnologyinbringing
aboutchangeinthelivesofpeopleinAfricaingeneralandSouthAfricainparticularwillbe
discussedandanalyzed.Thereviewsandanalysisofthecontributionsofthescholarsinthe
fieldofdevelopmentwillbecriticalinjudgingtheoverallsignificanceoftheroleofthe
Internetinpromotingsocialchange.

ThemassmediainMalaysiahasbeenencouragedtoworkwiththe
governmentinmobilizingthepeopletowardsachievingnational
developmentobjectives.Apartfromtherolethathasbeenplayedbythe
traditionalmedia,InformationandCommunicationTechnology(ICT)isnow
thefocustoleadMalaysiaintheneweraofglobalizationandknowledgeand

consequentlydevelopment.Developmentpoliciesarecrucialinguidingand
layingthefoundationonwhichthenewmedia(Internet)canoperatetobring
aboutoracceleratedevelopment.
First, let me make it clear that more lives are lost in our country
through road crashes (call it transport insecurity, if you want);
diseases which could have been prevented if not for lack of
commitment and care by our various governments (I will call this
healthcare insecurity); infant mortality; ignorance, illiteracy and
poverty. I will indict successive governments for causing so many
deaths of Nigerians, directly and indirectly, mostly as a result of
massive and unchecked corruption, greed, selfishness, lack of
political will and conscience and of course, lack of vision and
purpose.

Second is that insecurity, especially internal insecurity is not a

problem that is unique to Nigeria. The US, the UK and many other
countries, face the challenges of insecurity within their borders on
a daily basis. The difference between them and our country,
Nigeria is how they manage the threats; how knowledgeable and
prepared they are; how they deploy resources against the threats;
how effective they are; how patriotic and united these people are
against threats of insecurity.

MajortransitionsarerapidlyreshapingAfrica.Populationsaregrowingsubstantiallyand
urbanising.Economicgrowthhasacceleratedoverthelastdecade.Newtechnologies,including
mobilephonesandsolarcells,aresweepingacrossthecontinent.Yetmajoruncertaintiesface
us.Howrapidlywillwebringcommunicablediseasesundercontrolandadvancetheeducation
ofourcitizens?CanAfricadiversifyitseconomiesandemployitsgrowingpopulationsin
manufacturingandservices,aswellassuccessfullymanagingthewealthgeneratedbyitsraw
materials?WillclimatechangeincreasepressuresonagricultureorwillAfricahaveitsown
greenrevolution?Howwillthecontinentbuildtheextensiveinfrastructuresthatitdesperately
needs?Whatwillbethequalityofourgovernance?Howwillexternalactors,both
governmentsandfirms,approachandaffectAfrica?

Africanssharecommongoals.Weseekextensiveandsustainablehumandevelopment.We
striveforconflictreductionandwidespreadacceptanceofandevensupportfordiversity.We
wishtoseehumanrightsrespectedeverywhere.Aswepursueourgoalsinthecontextsof
bothrapidchangeandgreatuncertainty,weneedinsightintothepaththatweareonandwhere
thatpathistakingus,aswellasintotheleveragethatourchoicesprovideus.

Few years ago, Nigerians were anxiously concerned on how the federal
government can tackle the corrosive and caustic corruption, education,
agriculture and power failure, but the recurring spate of hapless killings in the
Northern parts of Nigeria diverted the minds of Nigerians to make the federal
government to concentrate on tackling security threats in the country.
President Goodluck Jonathan should know that if the GDP of the country
increases to 60 percent and number 26th economy in the world, her citizens are
not protected, then the much celebrated GDP is zero percent to Nigerians. Apart
from food insecurity, financial insecurity and others, security failure has eaten
deep into the fabrics of the society making Nigerians not to be confidence with
President Goodluck Jonathans leadership anymore.

Depressionandalcoholuseproblemsrepresenttwoofthemajorcausesofdiseaseburdeninyoungpeopletoday.Theseconditions
frequentlycooccurandthiscooccurrenceisassociatedwithincreasedrisksandpooreroutcomesthaneitherdisorderinisolation.The
increasedavailabilityofInternetbasedprogrammestocomplementhealthcarepresentsauniqueopportunityinthetreatmentofthese
conditions.hispaperpresentsthefindingsofadevelopmentstageofthefirstInternetbasedprogrammeforyoungpeople.This

paper
develops a new approach towards understanding and explaining the causes behind the prevailing level
of insecurity in Nigeria today. n the first place it is often a victim of killer diseases

such as malaria, diarrhea, small pox, HIV/AIDs among others. In addition to

threats from diseases, are threats that are man-made. In the past, we used to
fear for the security of our property from armed robbers. Today, we fear for
our lives from kidnappers, political and economic related assassination and
extra-judicial killings. he impact of this massive sense of insecurity on the
both psychic and overall functioning of Nigerians cannot be overestimated.
Globalizationanddigitalconvergenceintheemergingknowledgesocietyhas
raisedcomplexethical,legalandsocietalissues.Wearefacedwithcomplexand
difficultquestionsregardingthefreedomofexpression,accesstoinformation,the
righttoprivacy,intellectualpropertyrights,andculturaldiversity.ICTisan
instrumentalneedofallhumansforthegatheringofinformationandknowledge,
andassuch,shouldbeguaranteedasabasicrighttoallhumanbeings.Alloverthe
world,rightsthatarealreadylegallyrecognisedaredailybeingviolated,whether
inthenameofeconomicadvancement,politicalstability,religiouscauses,the
campaignagainstterrorism,orforpersonalgreedandinterests.Violationsofthese

rightshavecreatednewproblemsinhumansocialsystems,suchasthedigital
divide,cybercrime,digitalsecurityandprivacyconcerns,allofwhichhave
affectedpeoplesliveseitherdirectlyorindirectly.Thechallengestotheregion,
reportedly,liemainlyinthegenerallackofawarenessofinformationsecurity
issues,therapidlyevolvingcomplexityofsystems,theincreasingcapacityand
reachofinformationandcommunicationtechnology,theanonymityaffordedby
thesetechnologies,andthetransnationalnatureofcommunicationnetworks.Few
countriesintheregionhaveappropriatelegalandregulatoryframeworkstomeet
thesechallenges.Evenwhereawarenessisgrowingandwherelegislationmaybe
adequate,capacitytouseinformationsecuritytechnologiesandrelatedprocedures,
aswellastoprotectagainst,detectandrespondeffectively,tocybercrime,islow.
Asaresult,reportsofcybercrimemayrepresentonlyasmallfractionoftheir
incidence,creatinganeedformoreaccurateestimatesoftheprevalenceof
cybercrime.(Duggal,http://www.cyberlaws.net/cyberindia/articles.htm). examines
the state and consequences of national insecurity in the country, and how such ugly trend
could be tackled using modern technology tools
Owing to the devastating effect of insecurity across the country, this piece seeks to highlight
the dangers of insecurity in the country, and the need for government to start thinking of using
technology tools in addressing the ugly trend of insecurity, just the way it is done in developed
countries of the world.
In some parts of the country, armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes such as
murder, assassination, mass killing, and political upheavals seem to be the order of the day.
Hardly any week passes without tales of woes of residents robbed, kidnapped or
assassination of political rivals.
Undoubtedly, Nigerians in most parts of the country sleep with their eyes open. Many
businesses have shut down while families have been thrown into pains and agony as a result
of the activities of militant gangs in different parts of the country.
The security of lives and businesses is key to the development of any nation and this informs
why most nations today pay premium attention to the provision of top of the range security
infrastructure and e-policing system to ensure that perpetrators of crimes are tracked down
and punished almost immediately the crime is committed. The role of ICT in tackling crime in
modern times cannot be overemphasised, going by the modern tactics deployed of the
western world in tackling crimes.
is to build the necessary backbone. What the federal government and the states need to do
next, is to begin to plan possible measures on how they
"We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals
involved,"
it doesn't really matter if the hack is or is not Apple's fault; the damage has been
done," said Ben Thompson, an independent analyst, in a Tuesday analysis on his

Stratechery website (subscription required). "The 'iCloud' name is associated with

this mess. [Whether it was or was not Apple's fault] won't matter because people
are conditioned to assume iCloud sucks." The torrent of coverage, which extended
to the mainstream media, could not have come at a worse time for Apple,
But the reality is that BYOD is expanding, not only because of the number of
employees doing it, but also because the kinds of devices are expanding as well.
Instead of just laptops and smartphones, there are now tablets and mini-tablets.
Ian Tibble argues at Infosec Island that the security of the devices themselves is
almost irrelevant. "The place where security is at these days, isn't a place where
we can effectively manage user device security ... we lost that battle," he wrote.
"The stance has to be based on an assumption that one or more devices in
corporate subnets has been compromised." Nigeria has many problems. These

include:

Corruption

Crime and terrorism, specifically Boko Haram

Unemployment

Education and university systems

The environment

Infrastructure

Gender

The Internet has often been a key outlet for the Chinese to express their opinions
publicly, but the new legal rules come at a time when the government is
tightening its hold on Internet content, and raising the level of online censorship
to unprecedented levels.

Cyber terror is now the new language of war that we understand only
vaguely. We know that more and more of our daily lives revolve around a
digital world on the Internet, our computers and our cell phones. We
expect that the providers who sell us those digital services are taking steps
to protect it against cyber attacks and we expect the government is doing
the same. But, experts warn us now that real danger is just around the
corner if our government and businesses are not able to create a strong
defense against cyber attacks.
A new novel I've just co-authored with David Hagberg titled Gridlock is a
story about a computer virus created in Russia, stolen by the Iranians and
used to shut down the electric power grid in the U.S. It causes chaos, loss of

life, and brings our economy to its knees... all done by an enemy we can't
see using digital weapons rather than firearms.
Our book is fiction, but that scenario and many others now constitute real
and serious threats to our country every day. Those threats are to our
personal identity, our bank accounts and the information we store on our
computers. Most importantly, the threats are to our country and the vital
services and national security interests that are essential to the functioning
of our economy.
The 2012 CPN Information Technology (IT) Assembly has blamed the countrys
security challenges on inadequate manpower and poor infrastructural facilities.
IT contribution to intelligence gathering in Nigeria had been hampered by the poor
infrastructural facilities, inadequate manpower, as well as absence of a national database for
the country.
Since information technology profession is knowledge-based, CPN said it would be extremely
difficult for the IT profession to play the role expected of it in intelligence gathering and
national security without a concomitant human capacity development.
As the nation continues to face rising national security challenges, it is critical to embrace a
digital transformation process that will help in tackling the national security challenges and
achieve economic and social policy goal of a 21st century nation.
He listed areas where Information Communications Technology (ICT) could improve national
security in the country to include financing, communication, surveillance, identification,
intelligence gathering, and coordination, among others.
While security pros hustle to patch Web sites affected by the widespread OpenSSL
flaw nicknamed Heartbleed, there are indications that cybercriminals are hoping
to beat them to the punch.

Informationa and Communications Technology can play a very important role in

tackling some of the security challenges plaguing the nation.
china,USA,UK,UAE
Keywords: development, security, poverty, unemployment, inequality, conflict, violence, Insecurity,

Extra-judicial and political Killings, Armed Robbery, Kidnapping and

Hostage Taking and Economic Frustration, Nigeria,SouthAfrica,Rural
communities,ICTprovision,ICTinfrastructure,ICTmanagement,he new media
(Internet) and development, ICT policy, benefits of the new media.

INTRODUCTION
cYBERCRIMES ARE ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS CRIMES TODAY BECAUSE OF THE
WIDESPREAD USE OF COMPUTER DEVICES AND INTERNET AND NIGERIA IS
nigeria has 48 million active internet users
ICT IN NIGERIA

SECURITY CHALLEGES IN NIGERIA

About 10 inmates were alleged to have been shot dead when they attempted to escape from
the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Kirikiri Town, in Apapa area of Lagos State, yesterday.

PAST SECURITY CHALLENGES AND HOW SOME OF THEM WERE OVERCOME WITHOUT
ICT

IMPLICATIONS OF ABOVE

NEW SECURITY CHALLENGES AND ROLE OF ICT IN AIDING AND PREVENTING THEM

TRENDS IN SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE WORLD AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR

NIGERIA

Current ICT Projects implemented to tackle security issues in the country and their effects