Confirming this, the Lead Consulting Strategist, DigitalSENSE Africa and Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media group, Mr. Remmy Nweke, said that Sodiya, professor of Computer Science and Information Security at University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun state, is a seasoned professional to chair the 14th edition of Nigeria DigitalSENSE Africa forum (NDSF) series on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D).

The 2023 NDSF, Nweke said would be anchored on the theme “5G: Data Governance, Safety and Security” with a lineup of experts to explore the benefits with teeming participants, with a grand support by the likes of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) among others.

NDSF series on IG4D, he noted, is organised by DigitalSENSE Africa, an At-Large Structure (ALS) certified by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and a hosted by ITREALMS Media group; in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) together with top industry stakeholders like the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), among others, as part of efforts for shaping the future of the Internet.

Nweke recalled that Prof. Sodiya who holds PhD in Computer Science 2004 with a focus on Cybersecurity and Digital Forensic, has taught courses in many areas of computing and cybersecurity at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Sodiya, a pioneer researcher in the field of Information Security in Nigeria, he has over 25 years’ experience in conducting high impact research in cyber security, attack/intrusion detection, authentication systems, cryptography, systems’ security, privacy protection, and security of distributed systems.

Nweke revealed that Sodiya has supervised over six Ph.D. and 20 Masters students in different areas of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and computer science.

Currently, Sodiya serves as Postgraduate External Examiner/Assessor in about five universities locally and internationally with over 80 scholarly articles in local and international journals, as well as having presented papers at both local and international conferences, resulting in about thirty papers in referred conference proceedings, to name a few.

In 2010, Sodiya won TWAS-AAS-MICROSFT Award for outstanding Computer Science researcher living and working in Africa. He has also won several leadership, excellence in research and professional awards.

Prof Sodiya, a fellow of Nigeria Computer Society and served as Vice-President/Vice Chairman of Computer Professional (Registration council) of Nigeria – CPN between 2015 and 2017 and is the immediate past President of Information Technology Systems and Security Professionals (ITSSP).

He is a proud member of International Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE).  Apart from representing Nigeria in International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP), he is also a member of two technical committees of IFIP – ICT and Education TC-3 and Security and Privacy Protection in Information Processing Systems (TC-11).

He is a member of the Global Commission for the Stability of Cyberspace. Just as he served on various Presidential Committees including on e-Government and Digital Economy, even as he chairs the Board of Diplomates of Chartered Institute of Forensic and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria, among others.

Similarly, the umbrella body of IT practitioners in Nigeria, has appealed to the Federal Government to take steps to withdraw the Bill to ensure stakeholders’ inputs are carefully included in the provisions of the amendment Bill.

In recent times, the Nigerian public was inundated with the news about the proposed amendment to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Act No 28 of 2007 alleged to be sponsored by the management of the government agency.

NITDA initially had been established through the Act of parliament as an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria for the primary purpose of developing the Information Technology (IT) sector of the economy.

A study of the present NITDA Act shows that it was set up as an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria directly responsible for the development of the IT space in Nigeria.

Development in this concept entails administrative provisions and implementation of IT systems and infrastructures.

While achieving this, the Act requested NITDA to involve other relevant stakeholders in the common objective of acquiring standardization for the IT space and enhancing positive developments in the IT ecosystem.

Thus, IT professionals under the aegis of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) said that NITDA is believed to remain a government agency creating synergies and collaborations among other stakeholders in the development of IT sector in Nigeria.

But many stakeholders feel that this is not to be as they are alleging that the intention of NITDA is to arrogate all policies, controls, deployments and regulations in the IT sector to itself.

This assertion is corroborated with this recent pronouncement to amend the Act establishing NITDA without notifying other relevant parties in the profession with a singular aim of becoming the only entity of government to develop, moderate, deploy, control and even regulate the practice of IT in Nigeria”,

– Professor Adesina Sodiya, President of NCS said during a media chat

He told newsmen that the Bill currently in the National Assembly was hurriedly put together by vested interests.

“Unfortunately, we got to know from the social media that the bill was being proposed and it had gotten to the advanced stage by the time we got our information.

“We saw that the NITDA bill was not good for us as a nation, we called on NITDA to arrange for stakeholders meeting.

“The meeting was held in some cities, but all our inputs as stakeholders were not considered. We have asked questions if the new bill is for all of us as we are all part of government.

“Even the operators in the digital space must make contributions but we discovered our position was not considered by NITDA,” Sodiya said.

He said there was public hearing about two weeks ago on the matter, saying what the social media said concerning the bill remained the same.

Sodiya said even if the bill was to be upgraded, there was need to consider all stakeholders.

He noted with concern that the bill, if passed into law, would lead to multiple regulations for telecom operators and other service providers in the ICT sector.

Sodiya urged NITDA to focus on its core mandate of Information Technology development in Nigeria.

He said having NITDA as another regulator in the telecom sector would send wrong signals to investors as they would be subjected to multiple regulations and fees if they invest in the industry.

“As the agency of the Federal Government responsible for developing Information Technology in Nigeria, NITDA is empowered by its enabling Act to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardisation, application, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of ICT practices, activities and systems in Nigeria,” the NCS President added.

Integrity, they say, defines a man of substance and value. It distinguishes and honour a man that has it with respect and attraction.

These are few words to describe Prince Salih Musa Yakubu, the Executive Director of the Centre for Ethics and Self Value Orientations’ comments while decorating Professor Adesina Sodiya, President of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) with the Integrity Icon of Nigeria Award (IION) on Tuesday, April 17, 2023.

“Having conferred an award of IION on you, the issuance of Ethical Leadership & Conduct Compliance Certificate with your enlistment amongst the top 100 highly rated (most) ethically responsible global citizens in Nigeria 2021/2022, the Board of Trustees and management of the Centre do hereby grant you an authority to henceforth add to your name our Honourific award title at no cost to you”, Yakubu told Sodiya.

He said that Prof. Sodiya’s recognition is a testament to his commitment to community/humanity service, integrity, national interest, due process, innovativeness, emotional intelligence, participatory management style. Industrial harmony, crisis management /conflict prevention, members discipline and welfare transparency/accountable leadership, professional ethics compliance, fiscal discipline measures and ethical uprightness in both private and public sector service delivery in Nigeria.

“Your passionate resolve to work for a new Nation anchored on integrity, value leadership and ethical considerations is highly commendable after our secret independent assessment exercise conducted without your consent”.

He added that Prof. Sodiya’s sincere ethical leadership role in the administration of NCS and commitment to the advancement of IT and a corrupt-free nation earned him the ‘most cherished honourific title exclusively reserved for the incorruptible global citizens’ of which he was discovered to be one.

While receiving the Ethical Conduct/Leadership Compliance Certificate, Professor Adesina Sodiya, thanked the Centre for standing for the truth always.

“I express my heartfelt delight to the Centre for this recognition. I consider myself fortunate to have received this award from you. I hope to continue doing my best in the future. This is a significant milestone in my life. I extend my gratitude for allowing me to receive this reward. Thank you!”, the recipient said.

Sodiya is a professor of Computer Science and Information Security at the Department of Computer Science, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

He possesses B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science. He also has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). He became a fellow of United Nation University (UNU) in conjunction with International Institute of Software Technology (IIST) in 2004. This allowed him to have a 4-month study and research fellowship at University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

He started his work experience as a System Analyst/ Programmer at Microboss International Limited, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos State from December 1993 to January 1995.  He continued his career as the Senior System Analyst at the Bursary Department in the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State. In September 2001, he became an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. In May 2004, he became Lecturer II in the Department of Computer Science, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. He rose and became a Professor on 1st of October, 2015 in the same department.

He changed his research focus to Information Security in 2000 as a Ph.D student. He later became the pioneer researcher in the field of Intrusion Detection in Nigeria. Apart from information security, he is also interested in the applications of data mining in solving real life problems, building decision support systems and big data analytics.

Professor Adesina Sodiya presently is working on cyber security planning and management, adaptive IRS, hierarchical access control architecture, authentication systems and generally improving the security of enterprise networks. He has also conducted high quality research in applied IT and innovative systems.

He was the Chairman of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Ogun State Chapter from January 2009 to 2013. In July 2011, he became a national executive member of NCS, where he served as the Chairman, Publications, Standards, Research and Development Committee. Between 2011 to 2013, he has served as a member of Conferences Committee and Education and Manpower Committee. From 2013 to 2015, he served as the Chairman, Education and Manpower Development Committee of Nigeria Computer Society.

He was a CPN Council member from 2013 to 2015, where he served as the Chairman, Public Relation and Corporate Affairs Committee of CPN. He also served as a member of several Ad-hoc Committees such as Committee on the Review of the Draft IT Bill and Cybersecurity Bill, Committee on Automation of the Secretariat and so on.

He is a fellow of Nigeria Computer Society; and a member of Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN) and International Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE). He is also a member of two technical committees of International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) – ICT and Education TC-3 and Security and Privacy Protection in Information Processing Systems (TC-11).

He is also a member of the Global Commission for the Stability of Cyberspace. He is the current Ogun State Technical Adviser for Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB).

In July 2019, Professor Adesina Sodiya became the 14th President of Nigeria Computer Society.

The programme, which brought together stakeholders and experts from across various sectors, was designed to identify and analyze cyber-attacks in Nigeria’s ecosystem as well as provide reliable solutions to the Nation’s Cybersecurity challenges.

From security agencies to IT professionals, financial institutions, academia, and several other players, the stakeholders included Professor Olufemi Peters, the Chief Host and Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria; Professor Adesina Sodiya, (FNCS), the host and President of NCS; Dr Muhammad Sirajo Aliyu, (FNCS), the Deputy President; Mr. Ayoola Iyiola, (FNCS), Executive Secretary of NCS; Dr. Olusoji Okunoye, (FNCS), Chairman, Innovation, Research and Development; Mrs A. Ilebiyi, Chairman NCS Audit Committee; Alhaji Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola, Chair, African Union Cyber Security Expert Group (AUCSEG) and many others.

The forum was followed by a two days’ hands-on workshop where modern cybersecurity tools were taught and demonstrated to the participants.

The topic of discussion, Cybersecurity, was treated from three perspectives, they were people — critical examination of challenges, level of awareness as well as the knowledge and skill levels — process and technology.

It was agreed that a lot of work has been done in policy formulation and standards and modern cybersecurity technologies and tools were of utter relevance as a major tool for addressing the nation’s cybersecurity challenges. 

In line with the available facts presented and discussed, the forum, therefore, proffered the following resolutions:

1. Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), governments, and private organizations should continue to collaborate to develop massive cybersecurity skill sets needed to bridge the gaps identified in the ecosystem.
2. Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) strongly recommended that government institutions, and private, and public organizations should take the issue of cyber security very seriously.
3. Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), in conjunction with governments and private organizations, should develop robust and efficient cybersecurity awareness programmes that will also focus on non-IT professionals and those in remote areas.
4. Government should be more committed to the implementation of some of the cybersecurity policies and laws already enacted. NCS should provide the needed support for this.
5. Government agencies, institutions, and private companies were advised to be more proactive by developing and implementing strategic cyber intelligence for the effective protection of digital assets.
6. Government should establish a dedicated coordinating agency for cybersecurity activities in the country. The established cybersecurity agency should be capable of publishing cybercrime acts, coordinating, managing, and defending against attacks against our cyberspace.
7. Nigeria’s military should establish a joint cybersecurity operation command centre to monitor, prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to cyber threats against the nation. This will complement the efforts of the office of the national security adviser and other national efforts.
8. Government should develop a community incident database for cybercrimes which should be visible to all stakeholders with the appropriate clearance.
9. Governments and private organisations should strive to reduce their dependencies on foreign software to reduce the level of vulnerability on digital infrastructure and the challenge with FX rates.
10. Governments and regulatory bodies in education (such as UBE, NBTE, NCCE and NUC) should introduce basic cybersecurity skills in the educational curriculum at all levels.
11. Government, through the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and other relevant agencies, should develop a national intelligence database with biometric features and enabled cross-referencing by security agencies in cases of cyber and other attacks.
12. Government should integrate the CERTs by different agencies of government (NITDA, NCC and ONSA) for improved performance. The managers of the different CERTs should also improve citizens’ awareness of the existence, relevance, access, and usage of CERT.
13. Special regular and massive cybersecurity awareness programmes should be developed by NCS and other related organisations for children and the girl-child.
14. IT professionals and cybersecurity experts should constantly develop themselves through massive open online courses and other learning platforms on cybersecurity.
15. NCS, governments and private organisations should encourage and support Computer / IT Clubs in secondary schools. Cybersecurity education will be one of the major goals of the clubs to increase cybersecurity awareness.
16. Nigerian government should enhance our relationship and partnership with international organisations on cybersecurity such as ITU, United Nations, EU, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, etc, for strategic and technical development expertise in cybersecurity.
17. Nigeria should position itself to capitalize on the African and global cybersecurity solutions market, using its talented youth, to ensure that our economy uses cybersecurity for foreign exchange gain and not as a foreign exchange drain.