The Background :
I am a Chartered IT Professional (CITP), an Associate Professor, Pioneer Head, Cyber Security Department (2018-2022) at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and ISO27001 Lead Implementer and Auditor.
I had my primary education at Saint Saviour’s Primary School II, Ikirun, 1981-1985 and thereafter proceeded to Akinorun Grammar School, Ikirun, (AGS Class of ’91); Bachelors in Computer Engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso; Master and PhD – Computer Science – from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in 1998, 2005 and 2014 respectively.
Research Area, Afiliation and Mentorship :
My current research areas are: Blockchain, Threat Intelligence and GRC.
As a passionate students Club supporter, I served as staff /Technical adviser to Students’ Campus Tech groups such as ACM student Chapter, Google Students’ Club. In addition, I have mentored so many students who are successful in their fields of choice. I have the privilege of attending many international conferences and presented papers both locally and internationally. I am a member of several professional bodies: including Association of Computing Machinery; IEEE; Internet Society; Nigeria Computer Society; Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and Associate Member, Nigerian Institute of Management, ANIM. I am honoured to make the Top 50 Women in Cybersecurity Africa 2020 an initiative created by Cyber in Africa, in association with the Women in Security & Resilience Alliance (WISECRA) and the Africa Women in Security Network (AWISN).
As part of my community service, I am a member of the Board VigiTrust Global Advisory, Dublin; Nigerian Techsters Women Initiative with Tech4Dev on a Microsoft sponsored Programme. I have also spoken as panelist in tech event in Africa, Asia and UK.
Foray into Academics/ Computer Science :
My focus as a young girl from secondary school was to be a Medical Doctor, however, I was admitted to Industrial Chemistry Department with a desire to change Department in my second year. Along the line, I noticed my interest had shifted to Computing based on interactions with other students and the introductory course I offered in Computing. It was my first time of being exposed to Computing. So, rather than seeking to change to College of Medicine, I opted for Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department. On being accepted to CSE, I was fascinated by then Head of Department – Professor Matthew Olusegun Adigun – attending his Object-Oriented Programming Class capped it all. I was amused by his style of teaching and calmness coupled with relatable examples given in class. This fueled the passion I had always had to teach and enthusiastically encourage and impact the younger generation to see the potential and all they could be in the seemingly far future that is really very near as the clock ticks.
Since, I have gotten clarity on going into academics, I had made effort to seek Master’s degree at University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where I had my NYSC; and University of Ibadan, after the NYSC. As soon as I got my first job as System Analyst/Programmer II in the Bursary Department, FUTA. It was an avenue to leverage on the academic environment, and then I applied for Master degree to prepare myself for my desired career. Within two years, I bagged the Master in Technology in Computer Science, FUTA. And then there were vacancies in the then Computer Science Department, and I was appointed as an Assistant lecturer in 2006 which marked the beginning of my academic career.
Classroom Experiences :
It has indeed been a journey over the years with evolving strategies to ensure “la cram, la pour, la forget” is replaced with “la understand, la apply, la retain” paradigm. The students are motivated to learn and innovate as much as they are taught, guided, encouraged and exposed to contents that make them compete favourably with their global counterparts. They go extra mile to put in the extra work and we give them the necessary support. It has been so exciting and inspiring as those students rise to achieving their dreams in their respective career path. However, there are others that require more motivation and attention and they wobble through the system which I still make effort to connect and mentor even after graduation.
Research breakthroughs :
My teaching and research are in Information Security, Cryptography, Computer and Networks Security, Information Technology for Development and Biometrics. Some of these research outputs are of high quality and standard, thus justified by the publications acceptance in international and local journals of which some are indexed in IEEE Explore and Scopus databases among others. I have therefore contributed immensely to knowledge in my areas of specialization. Here are few of the research done and published among others:
Design of a Hybrid Aircraft Tracking System for Developing Countries; Towards Preserving the Confidentiality of Information in a Local Area Network (LAN) Messaging System; Modelling a Web Service Approach to Secure Data Access; Detection of Wireless Rogue Access Point Attack on Server Systems; Teeth Morphology Biometric Identification System Using PCA and DIE; Development of an Anonymous Key Exchange System for Roaming Services; On Cost and Energy Efficiency of Security in Cloud Computing; On Trust Models Investigation in Cloud Computing Services, A Secure System for Internet Enabled Host Devices; Selection of a Suitable Electronic Toll Collection System; A Multimodal Biometrics Verification System with Wavelet; Adaptation of single sign-on for National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS)) using Blockchain Technology; . Design and Implementation of Electronic Voting Using KECCAK256 Algorithm on Ethereum Network; Multifactor IoT Authentication System for Smart Homes Using Visual Cryptography, Digital Memory, and Blockchain Technologies; A Secure Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Healthcare System Using Blockchain
Grants and Honours :
National:
· Principal Investigator-Development of a Threat and Risk Assessment Model for Campus Network, sponsored by Tertiary Educational Trust Fund Research Grant (Individual Based Research (IBR)). Feb 2022 -Nov. 2022.
· Co-Investigator, Development of a Geospatial Technology-Based Information System (GTIS) for Crime Management in South-Western Nigeria, sponsored by Tertiary Educational Trust Fund Research Grant. (National Research Fund (NRF)) Jan. 2020 -Dec. 2021.
· Co-Investigator, Development of an Integrated Verification System: A Multimodal Biometrics Approach Using Face, Ear and Fingerprint, sponsored by Tertiary Educational Trust Fund Research Grant. (IBR) June. 2012- July 2013.
International:
· European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) Fellow Nov., 2022 – Till date (Finland)
· Co-Investigator on AHRC funded research project at Northrumbia University, Newcastle, United Kingdom with Grant Reference AH/S005773/1;https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FS005773%2F1 Feb, 2019- Jan., 2020.
· Association of Computing Machinery-Women International grad Cohort 2020. USA (April 16-20, 2020)
· GHC Scholar, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, GBCC Houston, Texas, USA. (Oct. 14 – 16, 2015)
· Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques (CIRM), Marseille, France (October 18- 24, 2014)
· International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, (June 1- 22, 2014) and International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, (May7- 15, 2008)
Publications :
I have contributed to two books, published fifty-three articles in reputable journals and twenty-eight articles (5 single authors and 23 lead authors) in referred conference proceedings, a total of eighty-three publications.
Nigeria in the Computer age :
The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) effort is commendable; however, more still need to be done in terms of curriculum integration and synchronization across all the stratum of the educational system. More importantly, the curriculum at the secondary level should engender solution-oriented content that targets Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs). This will propel an irrefutable impetus to the young school leavers as they progress in their studies to Higher Education Institutions (HEI); the resultant effect will yield world-class undergraduates that are able to proffer cutting-edge solutions to the country, Continent and with unparalleled talent pipeline to the global market.
The Quality of Education in Nigeria :
It is pertinent to differentiate the standard of education and quality of education. Hence, this is my posit vis-à-vis the two concepts. The standard of education is not declining in Nigeria. Our students are competing favourably internationally with most of them standing out among their contemporaries in their respective postgraduate programmes. Some of them were offered scholarship to start PhD programme with their first-degree programme from Nigeria. So, the educational standard comparatively is not declining to the best of my knowledge. However, I agree that the quality of education ,in the area of good worth, well made, critical-thinking propelled, fit for purpose, has declined for obvious reasons. It is evident that the learning environment is not conducive, students are not motivated to work hard, industry-academia synergy is not as expected, character decadence and high level of corruption in the society are some of the factors responsible for the decline in quality of education in Nigeria.
The Way Forward :
Situating this in the current context, the curriculum will require thorough review in order to integrate other pedagogical concept capable of sustaining students’ interests while actively engaging them with thought-provoking content. Infrastructure such as power, conducive lecture room, laboratory and hostel are major infrastructure with immense ripple effect on students’ lifestyle and performance as well remuneration of educators; fixing these will strengthen focus and increase commitment of the duo. Mental stress will be significantly reduced yielding a desirable attitude in students to tackle given tasks while educators leverage access to the vast resources available online with heightened concentration on pivoting their geniuses to impact knowledge on the students. This is a vicious cycle that when aspect is fixed, the viral effect is enormous as it permeates every sector yielding economic development. In the context of SDGs here is the effect if the FG fixes the power issues SDG 7, it impacts SDG 4, which in turn yields SDGs 1, 2, 3 and culminates to SDGs 8, 9, 11 & 12
Future Plans :
The industry-academia synergy geared towards training students with requisite skills is essential in the global competitive workplace. Aligned strategies adopted during my service as the pioneer Head of Department, Cyber Security, FUTA yielded outstanding results with high reverberated impetus from the students as evident in the laurels and accolades won at national and continental levels. It is quite laudable that majority of them are on good standing regarding their academic records as well as already interacting with industries both at home and abroad. Thus, I will, deo volente, keep abreast of the cutting-edge skills towards teaching and researching on top of high networking with experts from the industry in the ever-evolving field of Cybersecurity.
Post Script : Dr Thompson coached Team FUTA that won the 2019 National Cyber Security Competition .