President/Chairman of Council of Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN), Kole Jagun, x-rays the impact of the agency in curbing vices like examination malpractices, in this interview with David Lawani

What, in your view, constitute the main challenges to IT development in Nigeria?
The challenge is that we have a lot of people who are practicing, but who are not registered by the professional body. So, where there are issues, we are unable to protect the consumers. This is because those people who are providing the service are not registered with us. So, one of the things we are trying to do is to bring everybody under the umbrella of CPN; anybody who is practicing as an IT professional.

The profession, as you know, is very dynamic, and we cannot be too rigid. For instance, as an individual, you have to have a degree or HND in Computer Science or related courses. But we have also found out that a lot of people didn’t even study computer science, and they are practicing.

So, we want to look at those corporate entities, what they are doing, and then see how we can bring them into the fold so that everybody will be better protected, especially the consumers.

What is the council doing to regulate quacks in the ICT, like having a task force?
Our council regulates like a task force. One of the things we do is carry out enforcement. But right now, we are still operating at a skeletal pace.

We send messages telling you or informing you that this is what we do and who we are. And what are you supposed to do? We are still trying to be flexible. Eventually, when people are not doing what they are supposed to do by law, we have to find a way to sanction them so that others will not see them as an example.

We have the Act backing us upon what to do to ensure there is discipline and sanity among the practitioners. We are a little subtle in dealing with those who we feel are not doing the right things. For example, with the provision of the Act, it is a fact that nobody should be allowed to head an IT unit in any establishment if you are not a registered professional. But we find out that in most universities and other higher institutions, as well as other departments, most of their directors of ICT are not IT professionals, and this is against the Act.

These are some of the things we are going to face immediately. We want to tackle that aspect because it is key to us. How can you have somebody who has a Ph.D. in Zoology or Agricultural Science, and he is heading an IT directorate? It is wrong. Yes, we want to do enforcement, but in a friendly manner first, by letting people know that these are the Acts and the rules, and what is expected.

What plans are in place for CPN to ensure that teachers no longer write on the board and students start using computers to write their exams?
There is a limit to what we can do. For instance, we can equip the teachers with the knowledge and requisite skills. But the necessary hardware and infrastructure are still left for the government to do. So, we are not the one doing infrastructure, but the three tiers of government.

What partnership exists between the CPN and anti-corruption agencies in curbing cybercrimes?
You see, everything has gone digital. Everything is now digitalised. Your transactions, day-to-day activities are all on the web.

And as such, you should expect that a lot of people will want to find a way to penetrate. Even today, I was reading that the e-naira. People said they have started receiving messages. And that they should come and register for it. These are fake sites and manipulations of web domains. It has started, and it is normal. That is why I said we need to have core professionals providing services. You will always have something like that. But you must up your game to stay on top always.

One of the cyber security policies was recently launched by Mr. President in February 2021. Cyber security strategy for Nigeria which is domiciled under the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA). So, they have a unit to look at in this. We are cooperating with them. We are training people. We work with them to let them know what they need to do to protect themselves. Even in America, it is also a big business. I am sure you must have heard of ransom web.

A situation where some people will block your website and tell you to pay a certain amount, else they will not open it. It is everywhere. And as practitioners, we have to be one step ahead. They are bringing out something to counter it.

One of the key things is educating the people on how to identify things that are harmful when you are using your phone from the messages you receive that are destructive when you are using your computer. You see, once you are on the internet, you are open to hackers, you are open to cyber security threats. You must have the right tools to block all these things.

What is on the front burner for you as President/Chairman of Council?
One of the things we are trying to do is to bridge the gap between the industry and academia. This is because we found out that a lot of people when they graduate, cannot fit into anything. You will find out that they say they are graduates, but they cannot operate the computer as computer scientists.

They cannot do anything. So, one of the things I have in mind to do as president is to provide what I called CPN Academy, which is like a finishing school.

So, by the time you graduate with your HND, B.SC, NCE, you can decide to apply only to do some modules; maybe you want to be an expert in web development, an expert on social media, or specialised in artificial intelligence, or graphics designing, et cetera.

So, once you select the modules that make up the targets, which are going to be online, maybe at your own time, after you would have finished, you can become, or you are ready to be employed because we have given you the tools. It is not what you have studied in school.

This is a different thing. This is what is out there. So, that is one of the things we are trying to set up. The other thing is the all-inclusiveness to bring in people who are practicing the profession. I had a meeting with some people who are start-ups.

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They are IT entrepreneurs doing some new jobs. But you will find out that some of them are lawyers, some even said they read history. But they are doing things in the IT community space. And we have to find a way to bring them in. That is one of the things I am trying to do. I have to make sure that as a professional, we are seen to be doing what we said we will do as professionals, delivering quality service and others. But for people who are trying to demean the profession, we will identify them and also disciple them.

What is CPN’s relationship with JAMB?
We are cooperating and operating with JAMB. We have been collaborating with them for the past two years. That is the 2020 exam and the 2021 exam. We were fully involved as part of the monitoring team. We were fully in charge of all the CCTVs and other things. That is why you will notice the incidence of examination malpractice has reduced drastically.

Before, you will be hearing malpractice everywhere, but now, it is not so. You hardly hear of any malpractice again because we were involved. So, we have collaboration with JAMB, and we hope to join hands again against next year’s exam. We have already started the process of discussing with them. CPN and JAMB have an agreement to collaborate in delivering quality service in terms of examination results for our students seeking to gain admission to tertiary institutions.

We are also seeking collaboration with other agencies of government. Some of these are on teachers’ training. The essence is to train teachers all over the country so that they can deliver. If you observe, a lot of these younger ones are more adept at using their phones than the teachers.

What is CPN doing to put a stop to using paper methods in writing exams in our universities, instead of deploying computers?
It is also a common complaint by judges that writing court cases take a long time, instead of using computers. As I said, it is a gradual process. For instance, I know that the Lagos State Government has gone a step higher because they seem to have some of their operations computerised.

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A lot of some organisations have done the same. Some schools too. But it depends on what targets the school is aiming at. We are, however, there to assist anybody that wants to collaborate with us. We can give them the support they need.