NCS Insists on Adoption of Emerging Technologies to Address Nigeria’s Growing Security Challenges

Emma Okonji

Worried about the growing security challenges in Nigeria, coupled with the impunity with which bandits attack communities at will, the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the umbrella body of all computer professionals in the country, has insisted that the adoption of emerging technologies would help to address the situation.

President of NCS, Prof. Adesina Sodiya, who said this in an interview with THISDAY Newspaper in Lagos, explained that the impunity was getting out of hand and also making the federal government to look helpless, but he insisted that the adoption of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Realities (AR), Robotics and the use of drones and unmanned vehicles, would help to checkmate those perpetrators that are involved in the act and those instigating others into horrific crimes in the country.

“NCS is suggesting the use of drones and unmanned vehicles, and other emerging technologies to monitor criminal activities in the country. We have the capabilities and the resources, what we need is collaboration from the federal government to address insecurity in Nigeria,” Sodiya said.

He further said: “NCS has a technical committee on national security and the committee has been working for quite sometime now and it has come up with its report, which NCS has forwarded to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Military Intelligence Formations and to all security organisations of government. The report itself is centred around how best we can use technology for intelligence gathering and how to use various devices to monitor insecurity across the country. We took interest in this because of the level of insecurity across the country, which is currently threatening development and unity of the country.”

Analysing the effect of insecurity in Nigeria, Sodiya said he became more worried when Nigeria was recently ranked among the top 10 nations with high security risks, as well as among the top 10 poor nations that have been ravaged by insecurity, insisting that such ranking is not good for us as a nation.

The professor of Computer Science said those perpetrating evil in the country were doing so with impunity and that government seems helpless. He however said Nigeria would need the adoption of emerging technologies to address all of these. 

He also said the ongoing registration to obtain National Identification Number (NIN) and the linking of NIN to Subscriber Identification Module (SIM), which was introduced by the federal government with the intention to address insecurity in the country, is a good initiative, but explained that the NIN-SIM linkage policy of government, must be well implemented. “Nigerians are currently facing challenges because of the policy but I know it will only last for some time and eventually ease off. Those whose SIMs have been barred, should do their best to resend their NIN to their network operators for revaluation and linkage. The situation where those who kidnapped people, still use mobile phones with registered SIM cards to call families of their victims to negotiate for ransom, is absurd and should stop. One of the ways to stop it, is to ensure that all SIMs are duly registered such that people could be traced to their geographical locations, when necessary,” Sodiya said. 

NCS, he said, recently had its Artificial Intelligence Summit in Nasarawa State, where it set up a working group on AI and Robotics, and mandated the working group to further escalate discussions on AI and Robotics, and to come up with workable ideas and solutions, with which the NCS will use in making useful recommendations to government on AI and Robotics development and adoption in Nigeria.