Featured

We adopt a rational approach to risk management – Huawei

Published

3 years ago

June 7, 2022

To help reduce risks associated with managing the complex physical infrastructure of virtual worlds, requires a high level of understanding of the complexities of networks, Huawei Nigeria’s head cyber security officer, Osita Iweze has said.

“The virtual world requires a huge amount of complex physical infrastructure. How that physical infrastructure is configured varies from country to country, not least depending on the size of the country’s landmass and its population.

“Because we know how critical this is for customers and end users of our technologies, Huawei conducts objective, evidence-based analysis of threats and makes informed decisions based on risks,” he said.

“Huawei upholds the NCSC’s three technical pre-conditions. Firstly, we must have higher standards of cyber security across the entire telecom sector.

The FRAND principle – fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory – should be followed.Secondly, Telecom networks must be more resilient and so network architecture needs to ensure defense in depth and lastly, there must be adequate competition and sustainable diversity in the supplier market,” he added.

Iweze also maintained that the perception that countries of origin of technologies can influence their vulnerability to cyber threats was faulty.

“According to a public statement issued by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centra (NCSC) in relation a threat assessment, ‘[The attackers] were looking for weaknesses in how [networks] were architected and how they were run.

In the 1,200 or so significant cyber security incidents the NCSC has managed since we were set up, the country of origin of suppliers has not featured among the main causes for concern in how these attacks are carried out’.”

Share on Facebook

Featured

Senator Ndubueze’s Local Automotive Patronage Bill Passes Second Reading in National Assembly

Published

6 days ago

May 16, 2025

The Gleamer

By Jim Isilebo

On Thursday 15th May 2025,a Bill seeking to compel Ministries, Departments,and Agencies (MDAs) of governments in Nigeria at all levels to patronize locally manufactured vehicles,passed the second reading at the Nigerian Senate.

The Bill titled *”Local Automative Patronage Bill-2025″*, which is sponsored by distinguished Senator Patrick Ndubueze(FNSE) representing Imo North and introduced in October 2024 passed it’s 2nd reading at no less auspicious time as the period President Tinubu is rolling out his all-important and widely acclaimed “Renewed Hope Nigeria First Policy” to be soon backed by an Executive Order of the Presidency.

The Order will mandate all ministries, departments and agencies to give absolute priority to Nigerian goods, services and know-how when spending public funds.

During the plenary,senator Ndubueze in his lead debate reinforced the President’s thinking by stating inter alia,”…it is important that goods and services are produced locally,as it’s ripple effect is a reduction in import and a rise in export,with regards to the nation’s balance of trade”.

The Senator who have never hidden his aversion to the nation’s several years of poor support to local production capacities,stridently called on his colleagues in the National Assembly to buy into this laudable initiatives as captured in the Bill.He went further to state that the country has failed to institutionalize the use of indigenous brands as is the case in countries like China,India and Malaysia that have since banned the importation of cars as a national policy, for the purpose of growing domestic industries.

He reminded his colleagues that “today those countries have perfected their local processes and we are presently importing their products,some of which cannot compete with our locally manufactured vehicles”.

Ndubueze also revealed that over the years 54 Automative manufacturing licenses have been issued by the Nigerian government, noting that only 6 companies remain operational largely due to dearth in foreign exchange and poor infrastructure.

The Senator sadly regrets the fact that many automobile firms have moved to neighboring countries like Ghana where they are establishing plants whose production is targeted at Africa’s largest automobile market Nigeria.

Senator Ndubueze continued his painful lamentation with the following posers.;”How do we stem the free fall of the naira if we cannot address our appetite for foreign goods?”.

“How do we support the development of indigenous brands if the biggest spender(government),year on year, refuses to buy made-in-Nigeria goods?”.

He went on to make a proposal of a minimum of 75 percent of vehicles in the first instance, procured by public officers and civil servants to be locally manufactured(not just assembled), as it is the first serious step to saving our economy, protecting our currency,and creating jobs for our daily growing statistics of the employed.

A clearly passionate Ndubueze continued with a salient recommendation that only firms with at least 70% Nigerian workforce,75% local research and development(R&D) budget,and technology such as robotics painting machines and electrophoresis systems should qualify as local manufacturers.

The Bill which has already gained substantial traction amongst other senators including the day’s presiding officer, the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and Chief Whip Mohammad Monguno, whom in their respective complimentary contributions to the debate made very favourable supporting comments later referred it to the Senate Committee on Public Procurement for further legislative scrutiny, and feedback expected within the next four weeks.

Reacting to the event of the day right after the plenary,a former honorable member of the House of Representatives Hon Chidi Nwogu commended Senator Ndubueze for his unwavering diligence in pursuing the actualization of this crucial Bill,and moreso his praiseworthy presentation during the lead debate.

He went further to correlate the main meat of the debate with the position and recent announcement of the Minister of state of Industry Senator John Enoh, that Nigerian the President’s “Nigerian First Policy” is geared towards injection of well over N3 Trillion into the national economy(of which the local automobile industry will be a major contributor),as it aims to patronizing local content and indigenous enterprises, which will eventually strengthen domestic production and reduce import dependency.

Share on Facebook