BY VICTOR BUORO – The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, says Nigeria’s continuous investment in Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions will effectively limit the risks associated with the spread of criminality through technology.
He also said a multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder strategy that involves technology specialists, legal professionals, and legislators, remains critical in keeping up with emerging criminal methods nationwide.
Speaking at the 11th Anniversary Lecture Series of RealNews Magazine in Lagos recently, Maida further advocated sustained public education and understanding of internet safety as necessary instruments to fight technology-driven crimes and criminality in the country.
The NCC boss defended his position thus; “ICT plays a critical role in combating financial crimes by enabling real-time surveillance, regulatory compliance, and secure data processing. It provides advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning to law enforcement organizations for better crime detection. Furthermore, hard technologies such as CCTV cameras and security systems supplement physical security measures.”
However, he submitted that given technological advancement, new avenues for illegal conduct have continued to emerge with cybercrime, deepfakes, and the exploitation of IoT devices all representing substantial concerns.
Consequently, Maida said; “It is critical to strike a balance between using ICT to prevent crime and protecting data privacy”, adding that; “Collaboration and international cooperation are required to effectively tackle financial crime. Financial crimes frequently cross borders, necessitating a collaborative effort by States to track down and capture culprits.”
The NCC Chief Executive, who noted that “conferences/lectures such as the Realnews Magazines Lecture Series allow worldwide stakeholders to share knowledge and best practices” further explained that in terms of sharing Intelligence and expertise, each country has its set of insights, intelligence, data and skills when it comes to tackling various types of financial crime.
According to him; “By pooling these resources, we can gain a better grasp of emerging criminal techniques and methods” that would ultimately help in the reduction of crimes and criminality at all levels.
Also noting that combating financial crimes requires enormous financial, technological, and human resources, Maida said robust partnerships would encourage the sharing of resources that make participating nations reduce the burdens of the huge associated cost while maintaining effective and efficient results.
“International conferences and gatherings where important players gather to debate and share best practices in preventing financial crime are crucial as well. The purpose of these fora is to provide a platform for worldwide law enforcement agencies, cybersecurity specialists, and financial institutions to discuss insights and tactics for countering cyber-enabled financial crimes” Dr Maida posited
