The need for data protection has again prompted celebrations to mark the World Data Privacy Day internationally on January 28. The day is internationally set aside to find out which data protection laws are in force in Nigeria, and how companies and institutions are implementing them.
In an event which held at LCCI, Ikeja under the theme “The Effect of Nigeria Data Protection Regulation on the Economy.” had professionals from various walks of life gathered at the Public Lecture organised by DKIPPI in collaboration with the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS)
President of Data Knowledge Information Privacy Protection Intiative (DKIPPI), Mr Tokunbo Smith urged citizens to protect their personal data to ensure their rights and freedom were not violated. He noted that it was necessary for citizens to know that data was very important and should not be misused or abused by individuals and organisations.
“Organisations are not allowed to use data anyhow or way they want because it does not belong to them, they can only use it on behalf of citizens.
“So it is necessary for organisations to respect people’s privacy by safeguarding their data,” Smith said.
He said to make Nigeria a better place, it was necessary to create awareness on data protection so that everyone would be informed and know how to safeguard their personal data.
“If Nigerian does not have a data protection law, the effect is that international organisations will not want to do business with us.
“Investors will not come to Nigeria because they are not sure we will be able to protect their data.
“To clear such doubts, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has developed and issued a Nigerian data protection regulation which will cater for the whole nation and a penalty will be paid by anyone that breaches the regulation.
“So many organisations are abiding by the regulation because NITDA has appointed 27 data protection compliance organisations to work with them to audit, consult and as well train organisations on the use of data,” he said.
Smith added that Nigeria was moving ahead and becoming a more responsible nation because of data.
