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Combating Criminal Acts With Technical Measures (II)

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Just as IT, nanotechnology is also a type of technology (source: MIT)

Continued from here. 

Vehicle crime equally poses a dynamic challenge to these agencies. Vehicle crime investigators are invariably faced with ever-changing technology as well as regular introduction of new vehicle models.

Modern vehicles are more like mobile computers constantly threatened by hackers. The police must take note of this fact and advance on it.

Digital forensics is a branch of science encompassing the recovery and investigations of materials found in digital devices including computers, cell phones, and cameras. The police will continue to be challenged to acquire the needed tools and training to perform competent digital forensic investigations, and keep pace with criminal activity.

On this premise, it has become pertinent for digital forensic departments to be designed in all police quarters, and such units ought to be sustained by continually providing the required equipment, manpower, and environment as time progresses.

Legislation can also be of help while discussing this new innovation. Hence, lawmakers should provide a law, mandating all vehicles coming to Nigeria to bear micro-dotting technology. This would ensure that each vehicle contains approximately 1000 hidden markers that hold the identity of that vehicle, so that, in the event of the vehicle being stolen, it can be easily identified.

Importantly, the locations of the 0.5mm dots are not visible to thieves, thus cannot be altered by them. The police personnel should also be trained on how to identify data-dot technology. Continual in-service training would, therefore, be very helpful in this regard towards boosting staff confidence and competence.

The recently signed Cybercrime Act should equally be reviewed by the impending legislature and subsequently implemented by setting up a special unit under the Police Force that would be in charge of crimes involving the internet.

Such a unit must possess all the needed devices and experts. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is, on its part, expected to play a major role in crimes pertaining to the use of cell phones, thus the police must endeavour to collaborate with the commission.

The truth remains that, for Nigeria to properly tackle all kinds of crimes, the relevant authorities must boast of various well-equipped sensitive units on digital investigations, cyber security, and/or electronic discovery, as the case may be.

As sophisticated crimes evolve on a daily basis in our present days’ society, it has conspicuously become imperative for all the relevant authorities to equally consider deploying sophisticated measures with a view to tactically tackling the societal menace no matter whose ox is gored.

It’s on this premise I candidly implore the various law enforcement agencies and agents operating in Nigeria and beyond that are yet to embrace the current realities, to do so with all manner of seriousness and as a matter of urgency.

All the needed technicalities and techniques must be duly employed by the concerned bodies and individuals towards aptly arriving at the desired destination if they are prepared to fight crimes, which have ostensibly become the world’s dreaded nightmare.

It’s indeed high time we did the needful in a bid to salvage our respective societies that have seemingly been overtaken by men of the underworlds. This can only be accomplished by jettisoning all forms of frivolities for priorities’ sake.

Hence, as crimes prevail by the day in all corners of the world, every individual or entity, as the case may be, is enjoined to acknowledge that every aspect of criminalities could be aptly tackled with adequate deployment of technical measures.

So, as everyone, either individually or collectively, makes frantic and drastic efforts to combat crimes in our respective jurisdictions, we are urged not to despise the efficacy of the tech approach, which has apparently become the ultimate.

Combating Criminal Acts With Technical Measures

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In the contemporary global community, crimes have abruptly and obviously become prevalent in such a manner that one could boldly assert that they are swiftly becoming synonymous with the modern society otherwise known as the ‘digital age’.

As such uncalled and barbaric activities prevail unabated, it has conspicuously become imperative for the concerned authorities in every affected area to think inwards with a view to initiating new innovative mechanisms towards combating them.

Mobile technology such as tracking devices otherwise known as ‘trackers’, which has emerged as a powerful crime-fighting tool, has shown significant impact in recent years on most countries across the globe.

A tracker is specially programmed equipment meant to trace the actual location of a person or thing. However, it’s worth noting that devices like cell phones, computers, cameras, and what have you, can equally function as a tracker if adequately utilized.

Cell phones, particularly Smartphones, contain inbuilt mechanisms including Global Positioning System (GPS) among other location information that the various law enforcement agencies find valuable. Information like voice call history, text/multimedia messages, phonebook contacts, web browser history, and email, can tremendously help investigators to gather people’s aims and the occasions they have attended, thereby providing the required direction.

Tracking people via their mobile devices has been adopted by several agencies in most nations, and has become very much a part of most investigations because virtually every adult now possesses a cell phone. Cell phone records can identify calls made and received.

The cellular towers that were used in the conversation, data communication, as well as the Short Message Service (SMS), can as well be obtained.  The cell phone records hold latitude and longitude information that can be used as a historical reference to identify where the mobile device was at a particular period.

Similarly, citizens are advised to regularly send digital photos and videos of crimes in their custody to apt quarters. New technology allows sent images to be directly linked to the record of a related call, and be forwarded to emergency respondents on their way to the crime scene.

A good example of such technology is CrimePush, a multiplatform Smartphone app that allows users to report crimes effectively and at ease. It equally gives users the ability to forward multiple GPS-tagged distress messages to designated emergency contacts/quarters.

High-profile criminal incidents all over the world have proven beyond doubts how valuable mobile phone images can be during crime investigations. The bombings in the United Kingdom (UK), precisely London, in July 2005 marked a turning point in news coverage and the role of camera phone images.

Witnesses to the attacks used their cell phone cameras to record their experiences in the aftermath. Not only did it signal a new era of citizen journalism, but police in London were able to use the sent photos as clues towards tracking the terrorists that masterminded the bombings.

SMS is more discreet and safer in some circumstances to include burglaries and kidnapping. Several police departments in various countries have text-a-tip programs that allow people to send anonymous messages from their cell phones.

With a view to providing people with a confidential means of communication, SMSs are sent to a separate third-party server where identifying information is removed and assigned an encrypted alias to ensure callers’ anonymity.

The various security agencies in Nigeria, especially the police, are required to fully employ the use of various tracking devices in issues regarding crimes. Technology is being developed and deployed by several criminals to perpetrate crimes, with the aim of leaving no, or little, digital footprint. This ranges from selling illicit goods on the internet to mass identity theft and credit card fraud.

Nvidia’s Data Hackers Demand the Chipmaker Make Crypto Mining Faster

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Nvidia chip

Hackers who breached Nvidia’s database last month, stealing more than 71,000 employee’s information, have requested that the chipmaker allows its graphics cards to mine cryptocurrencies faster or face the imminent release of the company’s precious source code.

The Lapsus$ extortion gang, who claimed responsibility for the attack, gave conditions to Nvidia to avoid leaking the company’s sensitive data in their possession.

Lapsus$ has already published one tranche of leaked files, which among other things included the usernames and cryptographic hashes for 71,335 of Nvidia’s employees.

The Have I Been Pwned data breach notification service said the breach, which affects a total of 71,335 people, involves “email addresses and NTLM password hashes, many of which were subsequently cracked and circulated within the hacking community.”

Nvidia, which wasn’t quick to acknowledge the incident, confirmed on March 1st that its network was breached last month, with the attackers gaining access to employees’ login data and proprietary information. The company told BleepingComputer Tuesday that it detected “a cybersecurity incident which impacted IT resources” on February 23rd, but added that it found no evidence of a ransomware attack.

“However, we are aware that the threat actor took employee credentials and some NVIDIA proprietary information from our systems and has begun leaking it online. Our team is working to analyze that information,” Nvidia told BleepingComputer.

“We do not anticipate any disruption to our business or our ability to serve our customers as a result of the incident.”

Lapsus$ claimed they stole as much as 1TB of data in the breach that impacted Nvidia’s systems, causing a two-day outage. The group has threatened to leak hardware specifications info unless lite hash rate (LHR) limitations from GeForce RTX 30 Series firmware were not removed.

Lapsus$ also asked Nvidia to commit to open-sourcing their GPU drivers for Windows, macOS, and Linux devices until Friday, March 4th, to avoid having stolen information on all recent GPUs, including the RTX 3090Ti, leaked online.

‘Nvidia introduced LHR in February 2021 with the launch of its GeForce RTX 3060 models. Three months later, the company brought LHR to its GeForce RTX 3080, 3070, and 3060 Ti graphics cards. The reason: to make the cards less desirable to people mining Ethereum and possibly other types of cryptocurrencies. In recent years, the soaring prices of cryptocurrencies have created enormous demand for the cards because the cards are generally much faster and more efficient in performing the intensive computations required during the mining process.’

Lapsus$ went outside the usual financial ransom hackers demand to make the highly unusual demand: remove a feature known as LHR, short for “Lite Hash Rate,” or see the further leaking of stolen data.

“We decided to help mining and gaming community,” Lapsus$ members wrote in broken English. “We want nvidia to push an update for all 30 series firmware that remove every lhr limitations otherwise we will leak hw folder. If they remove the lhr we will forget about hw folder (it’s a big folder). We both know lhr impact mining and gaming.”

LHR works by looking for specific attributes of the Ethereum mining algorithm. When one of those attributes is found, LHR limits the hash rate, which dictates mining efficiency, by around 50 percent. “We designed GeForce GPUs for gamers, and gamers are clamoring for more,” Nvidia officials wrote when unveiling LHR.

Lapsus$ on Tuesday, added to its demand. The group now wants Nvidia to commit to making its GPU drivers completely open source.

“So, NVIDIA, the choice is yours! Either:

–Officially make current and all future drivers for all cards open source, while keeping the Verilog and chipset trade secrets… well, secret

OR

–Not make the drivers open source, making us release the entire silicon chip files so that everyone not only knows your driver’s secrets, but also your most closely-guarded trade secrets for graphics and computer chipsets too!

YOU HAVE UNTIL FRIDAY, YOU DECIDE!” they wrote.

Nvidia has not responded to the demands and it’s not clear, given its body language to the hack, if the chipmaker will yield to the demands. We still have until the end of today to find out.

68 amendment bills proposed by Senate, Reps on Review of 1999 Nigeria Constitution

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Here are the bills

1. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Abrogate the State Joint Local Government Account and Provide for a Special Account into which shall be paid all Allocations due to Local Government Councils from the Federation Account and from the Government of the State; and for Related Matters.

2. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to establish Local Government as a Tier of Government and Guarantee their Democratic Existence, Tenure; and for Related Matters.

3. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Change the Name Afikpo North and Afikpo South Local Government Areas; and for Related Matters.

4. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Change the name of Kunchi Local Government Area; and for Related Matters.

5. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Change the Names of Egbado North and Egbado South Local Government Areas; and for Related Matters.

6. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Change the Name Barikin Ladi Local Government Area; and for Related Matters.

7. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Correct name Atigbo Local Government Area; and for Related Matters.

8. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Correct the Name of Obia/Akpor Local Government Area; and for Related Matters.

9. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Financial Independence of State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciary; and for Related Matters.

10. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to compel persons to obey or comply with Legislative Summons; and for Related Matters.

11. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Regulate the First Session and Inauguration of Members-Elect of the National and State Houses of Assembly; and for Related Matters.

12. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Institutionalize Legislative Bureaucracy in the Constitution; and for Related Matters.

13. Bill for an Act to Provide for the Procedure for passing a Constitution Alteration Bill where the President withhold Assent; and for Related Matters.

14. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide the Procedure for Overriding Executive Veto in Respect of Money Bill; and for Related Matters.

15. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Procedure of Removing Presiding Officers of the Legislature; and for Related Matters.

16. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide Pension for Presiding Officers of the National Assembly; and for Related Matters.

17. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Establish the Federal Revenue Court and the Revenue Court of a State; and for Related Matters.

18. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Further Strengthen the Judiciary for Timely Dispensation of Justice; and for Related Matters.

19. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide the timelines within which Civil and Criminal Cases are heard and determined at Trial and Appellate Courts in Order to Eliminate unnecessary delay in Justice Administration and Delivery; and for Related Matters.

20. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Ensure Uniformity in the Retirement Age and pension Rights of Judicial Officers of Superior Courts of Records; and for Related Matters.

21. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Delete the Reference to the Provisions of the Criminal Code, Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Act, Criminal Procedure Code or Evidence Act; and for Related Matters.

22. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Exclude the Period of Intervening Events in the Computation of Time for Determining Pre-election Petitions, Election Petitions and Appeals therefrom; and for Related Matters.

23. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to allow Court or Tribunal Proceedings to be Conducted remotely, Virtually, Online or through any Media Platform or Technological Innovation; and for Related Matters.

24. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Expand the Interpretation of Judicial Office to include Courts or Tribunals created by an Act of the National Assembly or a State House of Assembly; and for Related Matters.

25. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for the Post Call Qualification of the Secretary of the National Judicial Council; and for Related Matters.

26. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Permit Public Servants to Engage in Healthcare Education, Production and Services beyond Farming; and for Related Matters.

27. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Impose the requirement of fair Hearing in the process of Recommendation of Removal of Judicial Officers by the State Judicial Service Commission; and for Related Matters.

28. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Include Judges of the National Industrial Court in the Composition of Election Tribunal; and for Related Matters.

29. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Move Airports from Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List; and for Related Matters.

30. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to move Fingerprints, Identification and Criminal Records from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List; and for Related Matters.

31. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Delete prisons in the Exclusive Legislative List and Redesignate it as Correctional Services in the Concurrent Legislative List; and for Related Matters.

32. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to move Railway from the Exclusive Legislative List to Concurrent Legislative List; and for Related Matters.

33. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to allow States Generate, Transmit and Distribute Electricity in Area covered by the National Grid; and for Related Matters.

34. Bill for an Act to Alter Part I of the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to include Value Added Tax on the Exclusive Legislative List; and for Related Matters.

35. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for Special Seat for Women in the National and State Houses of Assembly; and for Related Matters.

36. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Expand the Scope of Citizenship by Registration; and for Related Matters.

37. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for Affirmative Action for Women in Political Party Administration; and for Related Matters.

38. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide Criteria for Qualification to become an Indigene of a State in Nigeria; and for Related Matters.

39. Bill for an Act to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Empower the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission to Enforce Compliance with Remittance of Accruals into and Disbursement of Revenue from the Federation Account and Streamline the Procedure for Reviewing the Revenue Allocation Formula; and for Related Matters.

40. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Enhance the Independence of Certain Bodies; and for Related Matters.

41. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Remove Transitional Lawmaking Powers from the Executive Arms of Government; and for Related Matters.

42. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Expand Immunity to the Legislative and Judicial Arms of Government; and for Related Matters.

43. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Specify the Time within which the Executive shall present to the National Assembly any Treaty between the Federation and any other Country for Enactment; and for Related Matters.

44. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Specify the period within which the President or the Governor of State shall present the Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly or House of Assembly; and for Related Matters.

45. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Require the President or Governors to submit the Names of Persons Nominated as Ministers or Commissioners within thirty days of taking the Oath of Office for Confirmation by the Senate or State Houses of Assembly, and for Related Matters.

46. Bill for an Act to Alter Third Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to include Presiding Officers of the National Assembly in the Membership of the National Security Council; and for Related Matters.

47. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Establish State Security Council; and for Related Matters.

48. Bill for an Act to Alter the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Empower the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly Powers to summon the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Governors of States to answer Questions on issues on which the National and State Houses of Assembly have the Power to make Law; and for Related Matters.

49. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to reduce the Period within which the President or the Governor of a State may authorize the withdrawal of Monies from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in the absence of an Appropriations Act from six months to three months; and for Related Matters.

50. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Replace the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation with the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government; and for Related Matters.

51. Bill for an Act to Establish the Office of the Accountant –General of the Federal Government separate from the Office of the Accountant –General of the Federation; and for Related Matters.

52. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Specify the Timeframe for the Conduct of Population Census; and for Related Matters.

53. Bill for an Act to Establish the Office of the Attorney–General of the Federation and of the State separate from the Office of the Minister of Justice or Commissioners for Justice of the state in order to make the Offices Attorneys–General Independent and Insulated from Partisanship; and for Related Matters.

54. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for a State of the Nation and State of the State Address by the President and Governor; and for Related Matters.

55. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Include Former Heads of the National Assembly in the Council of State; and for Related Matters.

56. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Termination of Tenure of Certain Elected Officials on Account of a Change of Political Party; and for Related Matters.

57. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Enhance existing Provisions on the Formation of Political Parties; and for Related Matters.

58. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for Independent Candidacy in Presidential, Governorship, National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly and Local Government Councils Elections; and for Related Matters.

59. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for Diaspora Voting; and for Related Matters.

60. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for the Office of the Mayor for the Federal Capital Territory Administration Abuja; and for Related Matters.

61. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for Appointment of a Minister from the FCT; and for Related Matters.

62. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Correct the Error in the definition of the Boundary of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; and for Related Matters.

63. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to make Free, Compulsory and Basic Education a Fundamental Right of all Citizens under Chapter IV of the Constitution; and for Related Matters.

64. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to further define Acts that Constitute Torture, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment; and for Related Matters.

65. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Require the Government to Direct its Policy towards ensuring Rights to Food and Food Security in Nigeria; and for Related Matters.

66. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Reflect the Establishment and Core Functions of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps; and for Related Matters.

67. Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Establish the National and State Councils of Traditional Rulers to advise the President and Governors on Matters Related to Customs, Security and Public Order; and for Related Matters.

68. Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to, Provide Reserved Quota for Women; and for Related Matters.

Attend Tekedia Capital OPEN on Saturday, March 5 – 4pm WAT (Free Zoom)

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There are about six unicorns in Africa today. Unicorns are startups, usually technology anchored, which have a valuation of at least $1 billion. Across the east, west, north, south and beyond, Africa has become a farm where unicorns are bred.

In this presentation, we will explain how these empires of the future will alter the ordinance of market systems. Value will be created, economic systems will be transformed – and citizens will see improved welfare because market frictions will be fixed. And we expect at least 15 unicorns by the end of 2023 for Africa.

Join us tomorrow (Saturday) at 4pm WAT in Tekedia Capital OPEN for a conversation on how Africa has become a farmland to breed new species of animals called unicorns.

  • Topic: The Africa’s Unicorn Farms
  • Presenter:  Ndubuisi Ekekwe
  • Date: Saturday, March 5, 2022
  • Time: 4pm – 5pm WAT
  •  Zoom (free) link here