The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has commenced operations of the National Public Key Infrastructure (NPKI) to ensure safety of communication services online.

Mrs Hadiza Umar, the Head, Cooperate Affairs and External Relations of NITDA, said this on Wednesday in a statement in Abuja.

Umar said that the commencement of the NPKI was unveiled by Mr Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of the agency in a Key Generation and Handover Ceremony for Root Certification Authority (RCA) for Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA) and Country Verification Certification Authority (CVCA) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

She said that the NPKI would be pivotal to the achievement of digital economy services in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS).

“The national PKI will guarantee, secure communication for all online services, provide security against unauthorised access and disclosure of stored information by addressing the fundamentals of cyber security confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation.

“The deployment of the national PKI will empower e-Government and digital economy transformations through the provision of secure data exchange and authentication for electronic transactions protection which can be leveraged by the banking sector and its regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“It will ensure accreditation and authorisation of web applications which can be utilised by startups, Micro Small Medium Enterprise and corporate organisations.

“NPKI will accelerate local and cheaper digital certificates for Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME), email signing and encryption for organisations,” Umar said.

According to her, it will ensure trust, transparency, accountability, validation services in the issuance,authentication of digital identity, passports and travel documents, stamp duty, tax clearance certificates, health test results and vaccine certificates among others.

She recalled that in August 2017, the Federal Government issued Presidential directives mandating NITDA to harmonise all Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) related projects in Nigeria, in line with its mandate.

Umar added that the deployment of the national PKI would facilitate effective administration and regulation of the national PKI, ensuring full use and benefits of the associated PKI-as-a-Service (PaaS).

“Deploying the national PKI will facilitate the issuance of Document Signer Certificates, the management of the Public Key Directory (PKD) via the Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA) Master-list.

“It will further enhance the use of digital certificates to authenticate documents, in line with the NDEPS,” Umar said.

The launch, she said was performed by Veridos Germany, witnessed by NIMC, Galaxy Backbone Limited,Standard Organisation of Nigeria, among other stakeholders.(NAN)

The Postmaster General (PMG) Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST), Dr Ismail Adewusi, has said that the outfit is not at war with any agency of the government.
Adewusi stated this on Wednesday in Abuja when he received the President, Silverbird Group Mr. Guy Murray-Bruce and the group’s management team at its national headquarters.
Adewusi said that rather than fight any battle with another government agency, the post was working with them to move the government forward.
He said NIPOST had a mandate which includes production of postage stamps including revenue stamps.
“Every government agency has its mandate.
“NIPOST has a mandate which includes production of postage stamps including revenue stamps which was covered by the Finance Act 2020.
“The postage stamps that NIPOST creates are not just to post letters but to also authenticate documents,” he said.
According to the PMG, the post worked in partnership with the government and law enforcement agencies to ensure safety and legality of public documents.
“ We are not tax collectors but we provide instruments to validate the taxes collected,” he said.
In his response, Murray-Bruce promised a refreshing and fulfilling partnership with NIPOST.
He stated that both parties should look at areas that they could both work on to ensure marketing of NIPOST products and services.

He also said that it was important for Nigerian to be knowledgeable in the area of postal code and its importance in data gathering of house addresses.
He added that the group was hopeful that the partnership would promote peace and stability. (NAN)

Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) FCT Chapter has appealed to food handlers and sellers to adhere to proper hygiene to avoid illnesses and possible death to consumers.

The Institute’s President, Mrs Nkechi Ezeh, made this call on Tuesday in Abuja at a market sensitization at Nyanya Market ahead of the World Food Safety celebration scheduled for June 7.

The Theme is, ‘Safe Food now for a Healthy Tomorrow’, which highlights the need of sustainable production systems that will ensure the health of people, the planet and the economy in long term.

According to her, people can fall ill or die as the case may be due to unwholesome ways of handling foods or foodstuffs.

“Such unwholesome activities include displaying food items for sale on bare ground, or around dirty places or areas.

“Washing of fruits with detergents or chemicals to give them fake colours or be attractive to buyers or using carbide to ripen fruits.

“We all know about illnesses such as cancer that affects different parts of the body, diarrhea, typhoid fever due to the way food was handled,” Ezeh said.

She said when such illnesses occurred; it is usually blamed on witches and wizards.

Ezeh said that food safety from farm to table was a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers saying everyone has a role to play to ensure the food we consume was safe and healthy.

“The World Food Safety Day celebration is aimed at drawing attention and also inspiring actions to help prevent, detect and manage food-borne risks.

“Thus contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, access to the market, tourism and sustainable development.

“WHO reported that more than 10 per cent of the world population suffers from food-borne diseases and about 420,000 people die annually due to contaminated foods.

“Children under age five are at higher risk,” she said.

The Women Leader of Nyanya market, Mrs Mary Ekezie, at the occasion said that the new management of the market had always instilled proper hygiene on all food handlers.

One of the traders, Mrs Mary Dayen, appreciated the efforts of the group, saying that they were trying their best as food was handled safely.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NIFST is a non-profit making professional association incorporated under the Company and Allied Matters Act.

It represents over 10,000 Food Professionals drawn from the Academia, Industry, Government and Research institutions in Nigeria. (NAN)