The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) on Tuesday called for more collaboration to promote and create awareness of data privacy and protection in the country.
The National Commissioner, NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, made the call at an event to mark the 2025 World Data Privacy Day organised by the Data Knowledge Information Privacy Protection Initiative (DKIPPI) in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Data Privacy Day is a United Nations observance on Jan. 28 annually.
The theme for the 2025 edition is: “Respecting Privacy, Safeguarding Data and Enabling Trust.
Olatunji, who joined virtually, said that everyone should work together to ensure that issues around data privacy are prioritised, to attract foreign direct investment into the country.
He said that this was an important measure that needed to be worked on, to ensure that a very robust data privacy economy was developed.
According to him, it is also necessary to know that personal information and personal data are crucial and important.
“We need to know how to protect our personal information and data, and make sure that we do not share personal information anyhow.
“Data controllers and processors must also ensure protection of data in their care.
“More importantly, we need to develop a digital economy in the country. This involves a lot of data, resources, policies, plans, strategies, we all need to work together to make it happen,’’ he said.
Highlighting the Commission’s achievement so far, Olatunji said that over 10,000 had been trained with the idea being creation of 500, 000 jobs in the economy.
In his welcome address, the President, DKIPPI, Mr Tokunbo Smith, urged Nigerians to take advantage of the Nigeria Data Protection Law passed on June 12, 2023.
Smith commended President Bola Tinubu for signing the bill into law, describing the day of its passage as a day of freedom for Nigerians.
He emphasised that the law empowered individuals to sue anyone who abused their personal data, stressing that personal data was given on trust and must not be misused.
The expert also applauded the Nigeria Data Protection Commission for training data protection officers and providing certification exams.
He encouraged Nigerians to leverage the law to protect their personal data and explore career opportunities in data protection.
Smith gave a brief of how DKIPPI had been consistent in the celebration of World Data Privacy Day in the last 10 years.
The guest speaker, Mr Fiyinfolu Okedara, emphasised the need for continuous awareness on data privacy and security.
Okedara, in his presentation, said that data subjects and owners must be aware of how to protect their personal information.
He said that data privacy awareness was not a one-time event, but a continuous process that required regular attention.
Okedara recommended that organisations and individuals should prioritise data privacy awareness and cybersecurity education throughout the year, not just on World Data Privacy Day.
The Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative, Mr Gbenga Sesan, as a panel discussant, said that everyone was responsible to respect data privacy.
Sesan said all should safeguard their data by refusing to write down personal data indiscriminately and building trust by making it obligatory to protect data.
Another discussant, Mr Olumide Babalola, said as humans there was a need for serious consciousness of privacy
Babalola said that a time will come in Africa when children will begin to sue their parents, for creating digital footprints for them.
He said that privacy was bigger than just privacy, adding that there should be consent before a person was added to a WhatsApp group otherwise it would be a clear breach of privacy.
NAN reports that the event aimed at promoting data privacy awareness and best practices among individuals and organisations.
