The Nigerian government says the Data Privacy and Protection ecosystem has the capacity to generate more revenue for the Information Communications and Techonlogy sector to drive the country’s economic diversification.
Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, made the assertion at the second anniversary dinner and awards night of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Minister who was represented by Permanent Secretary of the ministry Faruk Yabo said that the ICT sector in the second quarter of 2023 contributed 18.45 percent to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.
“With such figure which is the highest so far, it will be important that we continue to leverage on that success to ensure the development of the sector.
“Dataprotection is part of the core of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and we hope that the sector can continue to contribute to the growth of our digital economy,’’ he noted .
Earlier ,the National Commissioner of NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, explained with the signing of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) in 2023,a lot of
responsibilities had been vested on the Commission .
To this end, Olatunji said that in ensuring the implementation of the NDPA, the commission had come up with the Nigeria Data Protection Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (NDA-SRAP).
According to the National Commissioner the five pillars of the roadmap aligned with mandates of the Renewed Hope Agenda and that of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
The pillars include Governance which addressed the regulatory powers of the commission through actions and initiatives on the enabling law data protection.
Other pillars were human capital development, ecosystem & technology, cooperation & collaboration and funding & sustainability.
The NDPC boss assured Nigerians of the commission commitment to protecting their data, ensuring compliance from Data Protection Organisations.
He added that that they had made notable progress in the implementation of the act, Olatunji however said that a lot more needed to be done with support from relevant stakeholders.
The awards night marked the highlight of activities to mark the National Data Privacy Week which began on January 28 to February 4 February.
In Nigeria,the Data privacy week is being celebrated alongside the Global Privacy Day on January 28, set aside to create awareness on the need for data protection.
The Central Bank of Nigeria received the award for `Most Compliant Organisation.’
Special Recognition Award was given to , the Director-General, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr Lanre Gbajabiamila among others.
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