Airtel Nigeria, a telecommunications service provider,  says that its AI-powered Spam Alert Service has issued over 9.6 million spam alerts between March 13 and May 20, 2025.

Airtel Nigeria said this in a statement on Monday in Lagos.

It said that as part of its ongoing commitment to protecting customers from unwanted and potentially fraudulent communications, Airtel designed the AI Spam Alert service to analyse traffic patterns and detect anomalies.

It noted that the AI had identified 9,667,008 SMS as potential spam messages in the two months of its launch.

According to the statement, the system flagged 528,080 on-net and 9,138,928 off-net numbers as suspected spam messages, highlighting the magnitude of the threat and effectiveness of Airtel’s advanced technology.

Commenting, Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh restated Airtel`s commitment to protecting its customers.

“This milestone demonstrates the strength of our AI-driven infrastructure in combating the growing menace of spam and scam calls.

“At Airtel Nigeria, we are focused on connecting Nigerians and ensuring their safety and confidence while using our network.

“We understand that trust is the cornerstone of digital communication. That is why we are invested heavily in intelligent systems that not only detect potential threats but also learn and evolve with data.

“As threats become more sophisticated, so will our solutions. As a company, we remain focused on leading the industry in innovation and customer satisfaction, ensuring that every Nigerian can enjoy a safer and smarter digital experience, “Balsingh added.

Balsingh said the spam alert service was part of Airtel Nigeria’s broader strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into its core offerings to deliver smarter and safer experiences for its customers across the country. (NAN)

 Information Technology experts have attributed the recent technical glitch experienced during the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination to inadequate testing of the system.

The experts spoke during a television broadcast on Thursday night.

The experts said that the system should have been subjected to rigorous testing, which included regression testing, to ensure it could handle the high volume of users.

The body which runs Nigeria’s university entrance exams had admitted to a “technical glitch” which compromised some results of this year’s tests, after nearly 80% of the students got low grades.

The low pass rate had sparked widespread outrage, with students complaining about not being able to log in to the computers, questions not showing up and power cuts making it impossible to take the examinations.

The President, Mr Bimbo Abioye, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), said that system glitches could happen, irrespective of country.

Abioye noted that globally, big names like Microsoft, Meta among others have had their share of system glitches, as recent as 2024 and 2025.

He said that everyone was seeking perfection but anything technical could malfunction and one should not be too confident.

According to him, a whole lot can be done to minimise such possibilities and reduce the chances of error to near zero.

“Especially, when you are dealing with systems that the whole nation is relying on.

“The process has got to be very rigorous, the testing processes and the various validations before the system is rolled out.

“It is because system glitches can have significant impact just like we are seeing now,” Abioye said

The Vice-Chairman, Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria, Dr Eyo Essien, said that system failure was likely due to the inability of the software to handle the surge of users.

Essien said that the software was not subjected to proper testing to see if it could work with a high volume of users.

“A system that is not tested for three million or five million concurrent users will fail if suddenly there is a surge of users.

“The solution was not properly tested, especially for regression testing, which is designed to see if the system can function correctly under high load,” he said.

He, however, encouraged proper engagement of professionals such members of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria.

The experts also called for a comprehensive evaluation of the system to determine the extent of the problem and to prevent future occurrences.

JAMB had attributed the technical glitch to a network issue, but the experts believe that the problem may be more extensive than initially thought.

The development has raised concerns about the readiness of Nigeria’s education sector for digitalisation, with many calling for more robust systems and infrastructure to support online examinations.

The technical glitch affected over 1.9 million candidates who sat for the examination, with many experiencing difficulties in accessing the platform. (NAN)

 Enugu State Government has hailed youths in Enugu State for coming out in mass and contributing to the huge success of the just-concluded Enugu Tech Festival (ETF 2025).

The Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Lawrence Ezeh, gave the appreciation while giving a preliminary report on the just-concluded ETF 2025 on Tuesday in Enugu.

The just concluded three-day tech-innovative festival, which is tagged: “Coal to Code”, was held between May 6 and May 9, 2025.

The festival featured federal ministers, tech-innovative moguls, entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, exhibitors and government functionaries at all levels speaking and encouraging the youths to stick to tech-innovation.

According to Ezeh, I have to give thumbs up to youths in Enugu State as they have proven quite well that they are highly interested in tech and innovation.

He said that the festival had 15,000 youths duly registered, adding that they paid for their transport to the venue, stayed put till closing time and listened attentively to all presentations made to gain knowledge and insight.

The commissioner said that the ministry was able to manage the surge in number of participants by 250 youths’ volunteers and 90 ETF brand ambassadors, who worked seriously hard and free-of-charge, for the three days.

“For the first day, we recorded an overwhelming 15,000 youths converging at the venue, which put some level of strains on resources at the centre.

“The second day, we had over 6,000; and same number on the third day. They remained patient and attentively throughout the duration of the festival,” he said.

The commissioner said that the organization was superb and every aspect including electricity and medicals well taken care of.

He said that there was a standby ambulance and para-medics on ground.

Ezeh noted that throughout the festival, the ministry saw the youths’ hunger for learning and being path of the tech and innovation movement devoid of any immediate inducement.

He said, “Previously, you only see youths going to places to have fun and join in a musical jamborees and other places where freebies and political largesse are shared.

“But we have seen the reverse; and this is a good development for the state and entire country as our youths’ orientation is now on positive engagement and focusing on the real deal.

“We assured them training, which we have started to link them up to.

“They will be attaching them to tech and innovative mentors while the festival provided the opportunities for them to network and connect with youths with same progressive mind and passion.” (NAN)