It is finished for all my yahoo friends,wetin man go do now.
When Nigeria’s telecoms revolution took off after
the licensing of GSM operators in 2001, it
heralded positive developments for Nigerians as a
people, and the economy in general.
Communications among Nigerians and between
Nigeria and the rest of the world, which was very
difficult, became simplified almost overnight.
As the GSM operators penetrated the virgin
market, information technology devices became
prime gadgets for acquisition by Nigerians.
In no time, computers with internet connections
became ubiquitous, and with the coming of data
services, devices with mobile internet capability
became choice attraction. When the tablet
computer took the world by storm, Nigeria and
Nigerians were not left out as tablets of various
brands found their way to Nigeria, and were
promptly gobbled up by a population whose
desire to communicate became almost insatiable.
Thus, Nigerians joined the rest of the world in
being active in cyberspace. Thousands, even
millions, opened email accounts, and started
playing games online. E-commerce gained ground,
and online retailers are smiling to the banks. But
like every good thing, the ugly came with it.
Scammers started operating in cyberspace,
ripping off the unwary. While the Police and other
law-enforcement agents tried their best, a major
flaw existed: there was simply no law that
captures cybercrime and prescribes punishment
for cyber criminals.
It was this that prompted many interest groups in
the ICT arena to clamour for a cyber crime law to
regulate activities in the sector as well as to take
care of the criminally-minded.
Only recently, the Senate passed the long-awaited
Cyber Crime Bill into law.
It would be recalled that in the past 10 years,
several bills on cybercrime had been pushed to
the National Assembly by the Nigerian
Information Technology experts, but none scaled
through the final reading on the floor of the
Senate.
Many of the bills did not even get a mention, but
recently, one of the bills eventually passed
through the final reading and was approved by
Senate, a development that has drawn
commendations from ICT professionals in the
country.
In 2011, Senator Gbenga Kaka (APC, Ogun East)
had presented a bill to stop cybercrime. But the
bill came under controversy due to a section
related to social media.
In January, President Goodluck Jonathan in the
bill titled, “Cybercrime Bill, 2013”, which was
routed through the Senate President, David Mark,
had urged members of the upper legislative
chamber to consider its enactment into law.
The bill introduced July 28, 2011, was targeted at
curbing the activities of internet scammers, who
always give the country bad name, both locally
and internationally.
Cybercrime
Cybercrime is a term for any illegal activity that
uses a computer as its primary means. It also
includes any illegal activity that uses a computer
for the storage of evidence.
Cybercrimes include crimes that have been made
possible by computers, such as network
intrusions and the dissemination of computer
viruses, as well as computer-based variations of
existing crimes, such as identity theft, stalking,
bullying and terrorism.
The passage of the bill is also part of the
continuation of measures towards safeguarding
the nation’s presence in cyberspace while
ensuring protection of critical national information
infrastructure. Accordingly, the bill provides for
the prohibition, prevention, detection, response,
investigation and prosecution of Cyber Crimes
and for other related matters, 2014.
Boosts Nigeria’s image
One thing is clear with the passage of the bill.
Cyber crimes, especially the advanced fee fraud
popularly known as 419 are expected to be
reduced to the barest minimum.
Similarly, with the passage of the bill, notable
official government websites including that of
National Information Technology Development
Agency (NITDA), the country’s clearing house for
IT projects will now be adequately protected..
Meanwhile, chairman of the Senate Committee,
Sen. Umaru Dahiru, while presenting the report
before the Senate for consideration and passage
said that the bill seeks to provide a legal
framework for the implementation and evaluation
of response and preventive measures in the fight
against cyber crime in line with international best
practices.
Provisions of the law
It provides a legal framework for the prohibition
and punishment of electronic fraud and
cybercrime whilst promoting e-government
services, electronic communications and
transactions between public and private bodies
as well as institutions and individuals.
The law has criminalized certain acts and
omissions in line with regional and international
best practices and provide procedural guidelines
for the investigation of such offences.
It also defines the liability of service providers
and ensures that national interest is not
compromised by the use of electronic
communications. Meanwhile, Deputy Senate
President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the
plenary session of the Senate on Thursday, 23
October, put the question on the bill that sailed
through third reading and was thus passed.
Ekweremadu noted that the Bill would go a long
way in fighting corruption as well as reduce to
the barest minimum the rate of cyber-crime in
Nigeria.
Stakeholders react
Commending the passage of the Cybercrime Bill
into law, CEO of Mobile Software Solutions, Chris
Uwaje however noted that the law is
fundamentally flawed by the fact that the
foundation for the ICT Legislation Architecture for
Nigeria which is the “National Information
Technology (IT) Bill” and its enabling Acts- has
not been laid.
For Lanre Ajayi, ATCON President, the passage of
the bill is welcome , adding that it would boost e-
commerce. Similarly, Jimson Olufuye, chairman of
the Africa ICT Alliance, also commended passage
of the bill, noting that what is critical is smooth,
full implementation of its provisions.
Speaking on the new development, Jide Awe,
Chairman Publicity, Trade and Event Committee
of Nigeria Computer Society believes that the bill
requires the President’s assent to become law.
“Cybersecurity legislation is however long
overdue” he said. The political class has actually
been quite slow and it is about having an
appreciation of the damage absence of cyber
legislation does to a nation and its people.
Provides for a safe digital environment
“Effective enforcement will deter and penalize
cyber mischief, and stem the negative
misconceptions about the Nigerian nation in the
foreign media and community.
Source Vanguard.
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