The first edition of Coffee & Circumvention which was held at the Aiivon Hub, Wuse 2, Abuja, had 20 people in attendance.  

The event commenced at 5:15 pm and was hosted by Techher’s Myima Agu and Soniya Dawarga. After the welcoming of guests, brief introductions and stating of the objectives of the meet up by the TechHer team, the lead speaker for the event, Mr Boye Adegoke from Paradigm Initiative, came up to give a few insights and answer a few questions on the theme of the meeting, Digital Security. Mr Adegoke spoke succinctly on a number of critical issues around digital security including ways we endanger ourselves online, how we can protect ourselves and what steps the government and citizens need to take to ensure the protection of our online rights, privacy and data.

Mr Adegoke’s session was followed by a lively, enlightening discussion on a range of issues from the balance between convenience, security and regulation when making payments online to the ways negligence and carelessness are the major reasons why people fall victim to online fraud and scams and how to prevent those. We also briefly touched on the role of the government in securing the data of citizens, making reference to the Data and Privacy Bill which Mr President declined assent to last year.  

Lara Raji of ClueNG briefly discussed with the participants on the need for safety regulations and settings for minors using the internet.  

Chioma Agwuegbo rounded up the meet up with a thank you to participants and an invitation for collaborations on themes, hosting and speakers for subsequent events. 

The meet-up ended at 6:20 pm after snacks, drinks and presents for the early comers were passed around.