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Kashifu Abdullahi: An IT Czar and his Holistic Vision for NITDA

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NITDA DG, Kashifu Abdullahi

By Felix Onajite

President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of Mr Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi as the fifth director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has attracted applause from IT stakeholders from far and near.

Interestingly, before his appointment, Abdullahi was serving as technical assistant to the immediate-past director-general of the agency and current minister of Communications, Dr Isa Pantami.

Abduallahi, a graduate of computer science from the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, while addressing NITDA staff at the agency’s corporate headquarters in Abuja, recently, had said that his vision was to completely transform the agency into a smart organization.

In his words “My vision for NITDA is to completely transform the agency into a ‘smart organisation.

“Working as a team, everyone has a role to play, from those at the top to those at the bottom of the ladder.

Unknown to many, Abdullahi, a trained strategist with over 15 years of experience in IT operations, business transformation and solution architecture across both private and public sectors, is the architect of cashless banking in Nigeria.

Born on February 21, 1980, the new NITDA DG attended leadership and management courses at Harvard University in the USA, University of Cambridge in the UK and IMD Business School in Switzerland.’

He joined the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a technology architect in 2014, where he dedicated his time to developing technology architecture repository that gives 360 view of the bank’s IT infrastructure and easy decision on new IT investment. He was part of the team that executed software license rationalization which has increased cost savings for the bank in license annual subscriptions.

He has worked at Galaxy Backbone as Network Engineer, IP Network Field Engineer, Senior Network & Lead, IP Operations Team, and Senior Solution Architect & Lead, Technical Solution Design Team between 2004 to 2013.

Abdullahi was a key resource in the development of IT standards, which has reduced mean time to deploy/integrate new system by over 20 percent for the apex bank. One of his major achievements as a technology architect was the production of seven solution architectures for critical IT initiatives that helped in achieving cashless society in Nigeria.

As the first Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) in Nigeria’s public sector, he is also a certified project manager and solution architect. He also has many professional certifications in networking, telecommunications, service management and Solution design such as: Huawei telecommunications engineer, Cisco design professional, ITIL, Prince2, etc.

He joined NITDA in 2017 as technical assistant to the director general/CEO.  While serving in that capacity, Abdullahi managed execution of strategy which has increased ICT contribution to Nigerian GDP by over 13 per cent in Q2 2018. He also coordinated local content initiatives that increased ICT local production by over 200 percent in 2017. The IT czar also overhauled IT clearance process and encouraged shared services among agencies. This has helped the Federal Government save over N16 billion from IT projects.

Abdullahi also oversaw procurement process that has reduced cost of major projects by over five percent in two consecutive annual procurement cycles.

Additionally, he managed project execution that has implemented over 300 IT infrastructure intervention.

Mr Abdullahi is a member of both British Computer Society (BCS) and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) in addition to many memberships to his credit.

He is also a recipient of 100 Leading Telecom and ICT Personalities in Nigeria – By Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

With an intimidating profile like Abdullahi’s his appointment as the head honcho of the IT agency will usher in a new dawn as his wealth of experience and passion for service will help strengthen the agency.

Felix Onajite wrote from Maitama, Abuja.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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MTN Nigeria Suffers 9,218 Fibre Cuts in 2025

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Karl Toriola MTN Nigeria

By Adedapo Adesanya

MTN Nigeria has revealed that it experienced 9,218 fibre cuts in 2025, causing widespread network disruptions across the country.

The telecommunications giant also reported that 211 sites were affected by theft and vandalism as of November 30, 2025, impacting essential services relied upon by customers daily.

The company recorded a total of 1,624,263 customer complaints, all of which were resolved across various service channels during the year. Despite these challenges, MTN reached 85 million subscribers by September 2025.

The chief executive of the telco, Mr Karl Toriola, made these revelations in his latest post on LinkedIn, acknowledging the company’s responsibility for network performance and its efforts to improve the customer experience.

He stated that the services fell short of customers’ expectations and clarified that some of these gaps were shaped by real operational challenges such as fibre cuts, theft, and vandalism.

“Their impact is felt directly by customers and reflected in what they tell us. We take responsibility for the signals we receive and for how we respond to the realities that shape the customer experience on our network,” he said.

Regardless, Mr Toriola added that, “There is progress to be proud of. And we clearly still have work to do.”

“We are not where we want to be yet, but our commitment to putting the customer at the centre of everything we do remains constant.”

As MTN prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2026, Mr Toriola reaffirmed the company’s dedication to listening to customers, responding quickly to issues, and driving consistent service improvements.

Some other milestones announced include addressing 1,624,263 customer complaints across all communication channels as well as receiving best network recognition from Ookla, getting back to profitability, and declaring interim dividends to shareholders.

The report comes in the wake of a February 2025 initiative by the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, which established a joint standing committee on the protection of fibre optic cables in Nigeria.

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AI Legal Tech Firm Ivo Gets $55m for Contract Intelligence

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AI legal tech Ivo

By Dipo Olowookere

The sum of $55 million has been injected into an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered contract intelligence platform, Ivo, to support product development and scaling as the company deepens its reach across the hundreds of organizations that already rely on its product, including Uber, Shopify, Atlassian, Reddit, and Canva.

The Series B funding round comes after a year of substantial growth in product performance, customer adoption, and market traction to accelerate its mission of making contract intelligence available to every business.

Since its last funding round, Ivo has grown annual recurring revenue by 500 per cent, increased total customers by 134 per cent, and expanded adoption within the Fortune 500 by 250 per cent.

Business Post gathered that the latest funding support came from Blackbird, Costanoa Ventures, Uncork Capital, Fika Ventures, GD1 and Icehouse Ventures.

Ivo is purpose-built for in-house teams that need both reviews with surgical accuracy as well as visibility into their complete contract library.

The company’s AI-powered contract review solution, Ivo Review, allows users to complete reviews in a fraction of the time; customers report saving up to 75 per cent of the time that manual review would demand.

The product standardizes a company’s positions and precedents using playbooks built and implemented by lawyers. This means that every contract is reviewed accurately, consistently, and efficiently, critical for large and globally distributed teams.

“Our goal has always been to make interacting with contracts fast, accurate, and enjoyable. Every key relationship in a business is defined by an agreement, yet most organizations struggle to extract the insights inside them.

“Our focus is to give in-house teams a trustworthy solution that helps them work faster and gives them visibility into their contracts that was previously impossible,” the chief executive and co-founder of Ivo, Min-Kyu Jung, stated.

Also commenting, a Principal at Blackbird, Mr James Palmer, said, “In-house legal teams demand products that are deeply accurate and aligned to how they work. The most sophisticated teams are incredibly selective about the tools they trust.

“Ivo’s traction with some of the world’s best companies shows it consistently exceeds that bar. With exceptional product execution and an uncompromising quality bar, we believe Ivo is defining and leading the category.”

The Senior Manager for Contract Operations at Uber, Ms Kate Gardner, said, “Uber selected Ivo because it was intuitive to use, demonstrated a high level of accuracy, could work in multiple languages, and met its confidentiality requirements. Furthermore, the Ivo team was highly responsive to Uber’s needs.”

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Nigeria Leads in AI for Learning, Entrepreneurship—Google

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AI for Learning Nigeria

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A new report released by global tech giant, Google, in collaboration with Ipsos, has revealed that Nigeria is writing the playbook on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as it leads in AI for learning and entrepreneurship.

In the study titled Our Life with AI: Helpfulness in the hands of more people, it was shown that Nigerians are using AI tools for everything from education to entrepreneurship at a remarkable rate, showing immense optimism for the technology’s future.

It was disclosed that about 88 per cent of Nigerian adults have used an AI chatbot, a huge 18-point jump from 2024, placing the West African country well ahead of the global average of 62 per cent.

It was also found out that while the top use for AI globally has shifted to learning, Nigerians are taking it a step further, using AI as a powerful tool for personal and professional development.

A staggering 93 per cent of Nigerians use AI to learn or understand complex topics, compared to 74 per cent globally, with 91 per cent using the tool to assist them with their work.

In addition, the research observed that 80 per cent of Nigerians are using AI to explore a new business or career change—nearly double the global average of 42 per cent.

Nigerians have overwhelmingly positive feelings about AI’s role in the classroom and beyond, seeing it as a game-changer for education, with 91 per cent feeling AI is having a positive impact on how we learn and access information versus 65 per cent globally.

The report showed that 95 per cent believe university students and educators are likely to benefit from AI, as 80 per cent of Nigerians are more excited about the possibilities of AI, versus just 20 per cent who are more concerned. Globally, the split is much closer at 53 per cent excited and 46 per cent concerned).

Commenting on the findings, the Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Google in West Africa, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, said, “It’s inspiring to see how Nigerians are creatively and purposefully using AI to unlock new opportunities for learning, growth, and economic empowerment.

“This report doesn’t just show high adoption rates; it tells the story of a nation that is actively shaping its future with technology, using AI as a tool to accelerate progress and achieve its ambitions. We’re committed to ensuring that AI remains a helpful and accessible tool for everyone.”

Business Post gathered that the research was conducted by Ipsos between September 22 and October 10, 2025, on behalf of Google.

For this survey, a sample of roughly 1,000 adults aged 18+ who are residents of Nigeria and were interviewed online, representing the country’s online population.

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