FG Plans National Institute to Support NITDA, Others Enforce Data Privacy Protection
TECHDIGEST – The Federal government has said plans are underway to establish a national institution to function in partnership with existing data regulatory authorities to ensure stringent enforcement of data privacy and data security in Nigeria.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, dropped the hint at one of the events to marking the National Privacy Week 2022 and presentation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) Performance Report for 2020 – 2021 by NITDA.
Pantami expressed delight over the high level of awareness raised by NITDA and other related government organizations on the importance of protecting the data privacy of the citizenry, adding that the government is taking steps to harmonize extant laws relating to data protection and security.
“The federal government of Nigeria through NIMC is working day in, day out to integrate existing legislation into full law and secondly, the federal government of Nigeria will also establish Nigeria data processing Institution that will work together with NITDA, NIMC, NCC, and other stakeholders to ensure the enforcement of data privacy, data security and many more.
“So am glad that the awareness we have been creating from time to time under the NDPR. It is not about pushing people to the wall to commit a crime but it is about creating awareness so that they will be highly responsible and law abiding and they will not commit the offence, and this is what NDPR has achieved.
Commenting on the tremendous contribution of the data privacy protection sub-sector of the digital economy, the Minister said: “this sector has become sub-sector within the digital economy sector that is doing so well when it comes to job creation, independency, essentiality, and also when it comes to revenue generation because if you look at the statistics, what is being generated under data protection regulations is indeed mind-boggling.
The Minister, commended NITDA, NIMC, security organizations, and other institutions for their impressive implementation of data protection regulations and promised to sustain the partnership among all stakeholders to advance the sub-sector for the benefit of Nigerians.
“The journey, so far, is highly commendable and I do hope in 2022 we will be able to consolidate our achievement’’, Pantami added.
In his welcome remarks, the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi maintained that the Agency remained committed to realizing all its objectives to consistently educate Nigerians on the need to take control of their personal data both online and offline, because according to him, “data drives the digital economy’’.
“Firstly to make you aware that you have right to be left alone and control your personal data. The second objective of this is to let the data collector and processor follow a proper way of dealing with personal data, and thirdly is to promote compliance with data protection regulations’’, he said.
The Chief IT Officer of the Federation noted that adherence to regulations guiding the efficient management of data privacy would help position Nigeria to leverage the limitless opportunities in technology to drive diversification and enforcement of data protection for economic growth.
