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- “Laws and processes are progressively moving at the direction of affirming the sanctity of data security.”
The Nigerian government has assured citizens and the international community that the country’s data are well secured against breaches as Africa’s largest economy of over 200 million people increasingly digitizes all government processes.
The international Data Privacy Day is January 28 of every year.
Laws and processes are progressively moving at the direction of affirming the sanctity of data security, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, said in his webinar goodwill message marking the World Data Privacy Day.
He said that data privacy struggle had achieved a lot for the country as its protection was enshrined in laws, by-laws and Acts of different institutions of government and the constitution.
Dr Pantami reiterated that “Nigeria is committed to data privacy and protection as demonstrated in Section 37 of our Constitution. So far we have 99 per cent privacy of data secured in Nigeria”.
“Our data is protected and we are also glad to inform the international community and investors that their data is protected in Nigeria”.
“That Section says that the privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondences, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications are hereby guaranteed and protected.
“Data privacy law is also in the Act of NITDA 2007, the Nigerian Communications Commission Act of 2007, the National Identity Management Commission Act and the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) as the ultimate bylaw,” he said.
“We have been doing well than most developing countries in the aspect of privacy protection”.
Pantami also said that in the Medical profession, it was against the Law to disclose a patient’s records, hence implementing the data privacy at different levels ensured protection.
He further stated that data privacy was in line with the development regulation pillar of the National Digital Economy and Policy Strategy (NDEPS) established in November 2019.
According to him, data protection regulation is not made to restrict people, businesses or institutions but designed for the country’s development and treated with confidentiality.
He also commended public organizations that have been compliant with the NDPR since its implementation as he assured Nigerians of continuous efforts by the Ministry to ensure data privacy.
Pantami said that the data privacy day has become a globally accepted event to mark and create more awareness on data protection and privacy policies as countries like Canada amongst others have keyed into the celebration.
He further noted that the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation is fundamental for digital transformation in Nigeria.
It will be recalled that Dr Pantami during his tenure as director general of NITDA initiated and brought to fruition, the NDPR.
