Africa
THE Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), on Monday, tasked the Somalian Data Protection Authority (SDPA), to strengthen its data protection ecosystem towards an inclusive African data protection and privacy.
The National Commissioner/CEO of NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, made the call when some data protection experts from the SDPA visited NDPC to understudy the Nigerian data protection ecosystem in Abuja.
Part of the aims was to study the organisational structure of NDPC,exchange valuable insights, explore ways of data protection that would be beneficial to both countries,among other objectives.
He said that for Africa to be part of the global digital economy, the continent needed to strengthen its digital identity and ensure its protection.
“It is all about working together to have a global digital economy and the foundation of the digital global economy is a digital identification.
“The need for the protection of all citizens of this world is now a paramount issue, even at the level of the UN because data protection is a human right.
“This is why all countries across the globe are trying to put in place measures, working to have enforceable data subjects rights, national legislation.
”There should also be an independent National Data Protection Authority to ensure that they enforce the laws they put in place in their countries,” he said.
According to him, out of 195 countries across the globe, 130 of them had established data protection authorities, while in Africa, 23 countries have their data protection authorities.
Olatunji told the experts that data protection implementation and enforcement were huge tasks that required passion, constant knowledge update to be conversant with events across the globe.
He said, ”There is no half measure in data protection, you will meet with resistance but you will need to let your people know that things have changed and are now being done differently.”
Olatunji added that they would need to invest in educating their citizens of what data protection was all about, engage with stakeholders across all spectrum to harness its benefits.
He urged, “This has to be done for your country to be valued and be respected as a country ready for digital business, you need to change the way you do things.”
Olatunji recalled that within a few years of Nigeria establishing the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), the country enacted the Nigeria Data Protection Act(NDPA) which empowered the commission to implement and enforce the law.
He stated that the NDPA had 12 parts and 66 sections, which the commission was deploying every strategy to implement and enforce, adding that the country was also learning from countries across the world with better experiences.
The national commissioner encouraged them to seek organisational support and cooperation from multinational corporations,adding that funding data protection programmes was a huge challenge.
Mr Jamal Mohamed, Somali Ambassador to Nigeria, said that Somalia was grappling with their development following the aftermath of its 30-year civil war.
Mohamed urged the experts that the solution they needed lied with Nigeria, hence the need for them to ensure that lessons were learnt.
“We have resources, longest coastline in Africa,agriculture,farming area,everything is available in Somalia but we need the knowledge, we need the experience of our brothers in Nigeria.
“We have young civil servants because they are the dynamics who can move Somalia forward,” he said.
The envoy stated that it was the policy of the government to avail the young people the opportunity in government institutions so as to recover the years of their passivity.
According to him, most of the government institutions are giving them the opportunity because for 30 years we have been in conflict.
“Now, we want to compensate them, put them in the field to work by themselves and we are trying our best,” he said.
The experts would be around in Nigeria for one week to understudy the country’s data protection ecosystem.(NAN)
Photo Captions: Mr Jamal Mohamed, Somalian Ambassador to Nigeria and Dr Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner of NDPC
3rd September, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Dr Vincent Olatunji NDPC Nigeria Data Protection Commission Somalian Data Protection AuthoritySDPA
