Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami yesterday disclosed that the Nigerian data protection sector value had hit about N5.5 billion.
He revealed the figure at a news conference organised by the Nigerian Data Protection Bureau ((NDPB) to kick-off the data week 2023 under the theme, “Think Privacy First.”
Speaking on the impact of the NDPB on the nation’s economy, the minister said it “has created many jobs across the federation. The sector is now valued at about N5.5 billion.
“The Nigerian Data Protection Bureau has created many jobs today by 2022. The value of it today is around N5.5 billion in Nigeria.”
Pantami said the NDPB had so many benefits through having the law in place and an authority to implement it on behalf of the country.
“Today it is a global best practice that you must have the law in place, otherwise you will find it difficult to attract so many interventions and benefits to your country.
“Even potential investors these days ask questions whether you have data protection law covering your country or not.
“If you do not have any data protection law in place, they feel uncomfortable coming into your country to invest because today data is critical.
“We usually say data is the new oil but sometimes I even argue that data is water because water is a necessity for survival and data is a necessity for knowledge based economy survival.
“There is no way a knowledge based economy would be established without data. Water, when stored, could be used at any moment.
This is why the ministry proposed a full-fledged data protection institution and a principal legislation for data protection in the country.
“The law about data protection is not in any way to punish our citizens, but rather to create awareness so that we will all be data compliant.
“That is why it is important. We are urged to comply, and today because of awareness creation, reaching out to other institutions, sanctions and interrogating others, you will discover that the compliance rate is going higher,” Pantami said.
Specifically, the minister said data was critical “to the country. It is a global best practice. Otherwise, it will be difficult to attract so many interventions and benefits to the country.
He said that data privacy was not only an enabling law but a constitutional right as long as citizens were innocent and law abiding.
The National Commissioner of NDPB, Dr Vincent Olatunji, said the aim of the privacy week was to sensitise people and disseminate privacy practices and principles across the society.
Olatunji said the commission, born out of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), was to encourage everyone to own up to their responsibilities in order to bring about a culture of privacy.
“It is a day that has been set aside to create awareness of fundamental rights and freedoms relating to the privacy of citizens in the data processing ecosystem.
“As of today we have sensitised over 50 ministries, departments and agencies. We now have a circular that all government institutions must comply with the provisions of the law,” he said.
Last modified: January 29, 2023
