The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Pantami says unless proactive steps are taken to protect Nigeria’s critical infrastructure and assets, it could be exposed to worse cyber attacks.
Dr Pantami stated this at a stakeholders’ Summit on the Protection of Critical Infrastructure organised by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) tagged, ‘Synergy: Panacea to Effective Critical Assets and Infrastructure Protection,’ in Abuja.
He said his ministry was working on an executive order to enhance the protection of critical national infrastructure.
The Minister said: “Ransomwares have compromised a lot of critical infrastructure as they were hijacked. This is why we must have a multi-sector approach to protect national infrastructure and assets by deploying modern gadgets such as drones, 5G technology and satellites for remote surveillance.”
Artificial intelligence and robotics
“Our centre for artificial intelligence and robotics will be used for mentoring young Nigerians that are good in Information Communication Technology (ICT),” he stated.
Pantami said that the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has implemented a number of strategies and policies through its Agencies and Parastatals to ensure that Critical National Assets are protected.
He said; “As part of our efforts to ensure the protection of Critical National Assets, we are working with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to come up with an Executive Order to ensure that our Critical National Assets, particularly in the ICT sector are well protected.”
The Minister said; “In order to promote Research and Development in this regard, we have established a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), the first of its kind in Africa, where young Nigerians are mentored on innovative and disruptive ideas. They are identified and supported towards the development of technologies which we will be deployed as a means of protecting our CNI.”
He advocated for the sensitisation of citizens and a re-orientation approach to entrench the role of citizens in protecting national assets among the populace.
Dr Pantami also canvassed for a multi-sectoral approach to ensure the protection of Critical National Infrastructure by deploying modern technological gadgets, and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality etc that will make our work much easier through remote surveillance.
Research and Development
He urged the Summit to consider Research and Development as a viable tool for improving security in the country.
The Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Dr. Ahmed Audi, said the destruction of oil pipelines, electricity transmission poles, wires, transformers, transport systems, water and communications systems pose great security challenge that could impact on the entire nation, hence the need to ensure their protection.
Audi urged stakeholders to identify key critical infrastructure and assets with their vulnerability, to address their potential threats and identify consequences for vandals.
Lateefah Ibrahim
