The Africa Research Centre for Information Security (ARCIS) in collaboration with the Tamale Technical University (TaTU) has held a public lecture in Tamale to educate members of the public on some emerging dynamics of terrorism in the country.
The lecture, under the theme: “Combating Terrorism in Ghana: A Focus on the Youth and Cyber Terrorism”, was attended by representatives of some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), youth groups, students amongst others.
The event was also used to launch a book entitled: “The Digital Colonization”, which provided comprehensive guidelines on cyber security.
Dr Arnold Mashud Abukari, Executive Director of ARCIS and author of the book, who delivered the lecture, bemoaned the over-concentration of the government’s efforts in safeguarding the country’s borders to the neglect of cyber space.
Dr Abukari, touching on the recruitment of ambassadors for the government’s flagship initiative dubbed: ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaign, proposed a broader key stakeholder consultation to strategise on a more comprehensive approach to help address the issues of cyber security in the country.
He said part of the new dynamics adopted by violent extremists in recruiting unsuspecting young people was advertisement of online jobs, recruitments, travelling opportunities amongst other mouth-watering business deals.
Dr Abukari called on government and NGOs to prioritise creating more jobs to meet the demands of the unemployed youth in the country to ensure that they do not fall prey to strategies of violent extremist groups.
He called on government to develop and implement policies and programmes that best safeguarded the country’s borders from terrorists’ attacks as well as ensure sanity in the cyber space.
