Publications | CCS-NSUK

A Critical Assessment of Nigeria’s Presence on the Cyberspace

Author(s): U. M. Mbanaso, G. A. Chukwudebe & E. E. Atimati | Published date: Dec, 2015

Abstract—This   paper   presents   a   study   of   the   Nigeria’s   presence   in   Cyberspace.   The   Cyberspace   (Internet)   is   now   critical  to  every  nation’s  socio-economic,  cultural  and  political  activities.  When  it  is  disrupted  or  fails,  can  grind  a  nation  to  a  standstill.  On  the  contrary,  its  correct  functioning  and  pliability  is  transforming  modern  society  with  exceptional  pecuniary  and  social  benefits.  With  nearly  all  traditional  activities  increasingly  moving  to  the  Internet,  Cyberspace  has  become  a  new  stage  for  innovations,  enterprises,  social  networking,  criminality  and  war.  For this study, the United Nations (UN) e-governance framework was  used,  the  highlights  of  the  United  Nations  E-Government  Survey  report  of  2014  was  analyzed  to  show  the  ranking  of  the  world leaders, West African countries and where Nigeria stands.  The    Internet    penetration    growth    and    evolving    Internet    infrastructure   provisioning   in   Nigeria   were   reviewed   and   a   critical  assessment  of  Nigeria’s  presence  on  the  Cyberspace  was  carried  out  using  the  UN  online  presence  index  methodology  between  the  months  of  August  and  September  2015.  The  web  content, interactivity, the currency of information, downloadable documents,  etc.  were  used  to  compare  various  sectors  of  the  Nigerian  economy;  all  tiers  of  government,  academia,  and  the  organized  private  sector.  The  study  revealed  that  the  organized  private  sector  and  private  educational  institutions  are  doing  better  than  government  educational  institutions  and  ministries.  Based  on  international  best  practices,  a  list  of  recommended  actions   for   increasing   cyberspace   presence   and   achieving   e-governance  for  improved  services  and  productivity  in  Nigeria  and similar developing countries is proffered.

Download pdf

The Use of Social Networking Service among Nigerian Youths between Ages16 and 25 Years

Author(s): U. M. Mbanaso, PhD; E. S. Dandaura PhD; G. N. Ezeh PhD; U. C. Iwuchukwu | Published date: Dec, 2015

Abstract- This  paper  presents  an  investigation  of  the  use  of  social  networking  service  among  youths  aged  16  through  25  years,  in  Nigeria.The  convergence  of  information  systems  and  networks,  the  Internet  and  mobility  has  brought  about  a  fundamental shift on how people generate and share information. Specifically,  social  media  has  emerged  as  a  powerful  tool  in  a  digitally   connected   world,   touching   every   aspect   of   human   existence.  This  paradigm  swing  cuts  across  people  of  diverse  age  albeit  affects  each  age  category  differently.  This  work  presents  the  outcome  of  a  study  conducted  in  select  towns  in  central  part  of  Nigeria  between  January  and  June  2015.  The  focus  was  to  determine  how  youths  (age  16  through  25)  use  social  media  platforms  in  terms  of  the  frequency,  and  purposes  of  social  networking  site  usage.  The  survey  revealed  that,  99%  of  the  respondents  have  social  media  accounts  out  of  which  95.2%  use  smartphones  to  access  various  social  media  platforms.  46.4%  from the respondents fall under the category of those very likely to  use  social  platforms  in  a  week,  while  26.8%  account  for  those  who  are  extremely  likely  to  use  the  social  networking  service  within  same  time  frame.  Only  0.7%  of  the  respondents  were  not  likely to use social networking service within a week. Among the twelve social media platforms surveyed, Facebook ranked top as the  most  commonly  used  social  networking  channel  with  91%,  followed  by  WhatsApp  (87%)  and  Tango  ranked  last  at  1%.  Based  on  the  analysis  of  the  result,  it  is  highly  likely  that  social  media  may  have  severe  impact  on  young  people  who  have  no  form  of  restrains  with  consequences  of  huge  distractions  and  privacy  intrusions.  Conversely,  the  fact  that  social  media  is  rapidly   building   social   and   communications   habits   into   the   youths  point  to  its  potential  to  enhance  their  learning  habits  if  properly harnessed and formalized to aid pedagogy at secondary and tertiary levels.

Download pdf

Conceptual Framework for the Assessment of the Degree of Dependency of Critical National Infrastructure on ICT in Nigeria

Author(s): Uche Mbanaso, Victor Kulugh, Habiba Musa and Gilbert Aimufua | Published date: Nov, 2019

Abstract  -  Critical  National  Infrastructure  (CNI)  are  assets that provide core functions to modern society, which failure   or   incapacitation   can   adversely   affect   national   security, economic prosperity and wellbeing of citizens. In an evolving digital society, CNI rely heavily on Information and  Communications  Technology  (ICT)  infrastructure  to  improve   productivity,   and   effectively   deliver   critical   services  in  timely  and  cost-effective  fashion.  However,  the  underlying  ICT  infrastructure  that  drives  CNI  amplify  cyber   risks,   threats   and   vulnerabilities   exponentially.   Consequently,   a   failure   in   ICT   infrastructure   has   the   potential to affect CNI in an unexpected manner. The risks associated with the use of ICT are dynamic, raising the need for  continuous  assessment  of  degree  of  ICT  dependency.  Presently  however,  there  is  rarely  a  framework  nor  a  publicly  available  tool  in  Nigeria  that  can  quantitatively  gauge  the  degree  of  CNI  dependency  on  ICT.  The  study  addresses  this  gap  by  the  development  of  a  conceptual  framework that can facilitate the assessment of the degree of CNI dependency on ICT. In this study, existing relevant documents on critical infrastructure, ICT frameworks and standards and critical process engineering principles were scanned,  analysed  and  synthesised  to  conceptualise  the  framework,  and  the  construction  of  the  building  blocks,  metrics and indicators. The framework was tested using a hypothetical    discrete    dataset.    The    outcome    further    facilitated  the  framing  of  ICT  Dependency  Index  (IDI),  a  predefined    quadrant,    of    which    the    computation    of    Dependency must fall within one of the quadrants.

Download pdf

Characterisation of Critical Infrastructure Organisation in Nigeria

Author(s): U. M. Mbanaso, V. E. Kulugh and J. A. Makinde | Published date: Dec, 2019

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the characterisation of critical infrastructures in Nigeria as an initial step towards development of a framework for the uniform designation of an infrastructure as a Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) in Nigeria. Notably, there is no globally acceptable criteria for the designation of an infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) or CNII. However, there is a consensus that CNIs are vital for a modern society, and drives economic growths and national prosperity. Although there are similarities in such infrastructures worldwide, every nation determines the value to attach to each CNI depending on its developmental goal, priorities and the level of dependency on such infrastructure. In Nigeria, there is no publicly available information on the categorisation of infrastructures as CNI or CNII. The mythological approach adopted was document scan, analysis and synthesis of publicly available information on CNI and CNII of some selected countries, followed by a comparative analysis. Five countries were selected from each of the six continents based on population size and adoption of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The findings revealed that about 90% of the countries studied categorised energy, transportation, water, communications and health as sectors of CNI. Conceptually, based on the outcome, CNIs in Nigeria were characterised into twelve critical sectors. This initial study forms the first step towards development of a framework for the correct designation of an infrastructure as a CNII in Nigeria as opposed to arbitrary designation.

Download pdf