Telecom
NITDA Affirms Stakeholder Engagement in Re-Enacting the NITDA Act, 2007
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has began to rally ICT stakeholders and the general public on the process of repealing and re-enacting the NITDA Act, 2007 which is designed to ensure that Nigeria benefits maximally from the global digital economy.
Mrs Hadiza Umar, head, Corporate Affairs and External Relations, NITDA disclosed this in a statement released on Monday, in Abuja.
According to the statement, “the need to repeal the existing Act became necessary with the launch of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), which effectively replaced the Nigerian National IT Policy, 2000.
“You may recall that the vision of the National IT Policy was to make Nigeria an IT capable country by 2005. We can all attest that Nigeria has gone beyond the vision of using IT but aiming to become the digital economy capital of Africa.
“Furthermore, since the enactment of the NITDA Act 2007, NITDA has operated as the catalytic Government Agency for developing and regulating the Information Technology sector.
“However, in light of recent advancements in Information Technology and the shift in the global economy paradigm, the NDEPS was envisioned to “transform Nigeria into a leading digital economy, providing quality life and digital economies for all”.
“This current reality has necessitated the reimagination for the establishment of NITDA. It is a known fact that digital technologies have created new forms of economic activities that have been beneficial to the global economy.
“However, these digital technologies comes with their promises and perils such as cybercrimes, privacy invasion and other social problems. This necessitates the need to proactively manage their adoption through the development of a stakeholder-led robust regulatory architecture to enable Nigeria to maximise the benefits of such technologies and mitigate the negative consequences.
“Therefore, the need for a more agile and practical approach to regulations, standards-setting, and guidelines development for the country, with a focus on digital and emerging technologies, cannot be overemphasised.
“Based on the foregoing, we identified the need to update NITDA’s legal framework for regulating and developing a digital economy for Nigeria. The Agency’s current establishment law is outdated. It cannot meet the needs and requirements for supporting a digital economy as well as effectively protect the rights and interests of stakeholders in the digital world.
“The review of the NITDA Act 2007 aims to address contemporary digital issues, revamp Nigeria’s economy, build trust and protect the rights and interests of players in the ecosystem.
“Furthermore, the review of the NITDA Act 2007 would serve as an enabler for the growth and development of Nigeria’s digital economy.
Some of the highlights of the repeal include the following, amongst others, creating a framework for:
1.Promoting the startup ecosystem;
2.Promoting indigenous products and services through standardisation;
3.Collaborating with the requisite public and private sector partners to carry out activities that will assist in electronic waste disposal;
4.Fostering collaboration to facilitate the implementation of robust cybersecurity measures aimed at building trust in Nigeria’s digital economy;
5.Facilitating capacity building through the digital literacy and skills initiative;
6.Entrenching stakeholder participation in developing regulations through the rule-making process; and
7. Promoting the safe use of digital technologies, including social media, for the attainment of national objectives.
“The IT sector and general public will attest to the fact that NITDA has recorded unprecedented achievements in the past few years despite the limitations of the current establishment law.
“Some of these include: facilitating the substantial contribution of the ICT sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contributing 17.92% in the second quarter of 2021, catalysing job creation and igniting innovative activities in the tech ecosystem; the implementation of the IT Project Clearance initiative that supported the Federal Government’s fight against corruption.
“This has resulted in over 22.45 Billion Naira saving and has significantly increased local content consumptions by over 300% in 4 years. NITDA currently registered 1573 indigenous companies to enforce local content through IT Clearance;
the introduction and implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), subsidiary legislation enshrined to ensure data protection and privacy of Nigerian citizens.
“The NDPR is the first of its kind in Africa, serving as a source of reference for other African countries. It also facilitated the creation of a new industry valued at around 3.4 Billion Naira, stimulated new business models, and empowered thousands of Nigerians through capacity building and skills development. It also facilitated the creation of over 2,818 new jobs in the industry; executing strategic global initiatives in the innovation ecosystem such as MIT-Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration programme (MIT REAP), Bridge to MassChallenge and Clayton Christensen’s Framework of Disruptive Innovation to foster the growth and success of startup enterprises, facilitate key strategies to compliment innovation initiatives and accelerate economic growth and job creation through Innovation Driven Enterprises; andstrategic deployment of digital literacy, skills and entrepreneurship initiatives resulting in building capacities of millions of Nigerians and the emergence of new economic sectors like Fintech, e-Commerce, Venture Capital Investment, Business Process Outsourcing, and robust software industry.
“The proposed NITDA Bill aims to create a regulatory framework to accelerate Nigeria into the digital economy and substantially catalyse prosperity. This will include promoting and implementing policies that support indigenous content, access to digital services, investments in the sector, adoption of emerging technologies, innovation, research and development, with a particular focus on the rights of citizens and national interest.
“NITDA, as the apex regulator of the IT sector, will leverage the proposed NITDAs Bill to extensively engage with crucial IT stakeholders and protect its stakeholders’ interests in the best possible way. However, this can only be achieved through more excellent connectivity and collaboration by registration and licensing processes.
“Considering the importance of the NITDA proposed Bill. The Bill will be presented to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill. The process of Executive Bill is as follows: the Agency initiated the process by sending the initial draft to its supervisory Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, for policy review; the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy perform the policy review; upon completion of the policy review, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy conveys the initial draft Bill to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Office for legal drafting and statutory review; the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Office will revert with their legal opinion to the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy;NITDA will engage all IT stakeholders in line with the Rulemaking Process of the Agency; NITDA will send the updated draft Bill to its supervisory Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy; the Bill will be presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and upon approval, the President will transmit the Bill to the National Assembly for the enactment process, which will include public hearings and more stakeholder engagements; and upon passage by the National Assembly, it will be transmitted to the President for assent.
“As an accountable Agency, NITDA assures Information Technology sector stakeholders as well as the general public that the process will be transparent and subjected to comprehensive stakeholder engagements. We, therefore, count on the support of Nigerians towards the successful passage of the Bill and eventual signing into law. This will undoubtedly help towards ensuring that Nigeria harnesses the potentials of the ever-expanding digital economy,” the statement concluded.
MTN Foundation has been spotlighted as a model for private sector-driven healthcare development in Nigeria, following commendations at the 6th Arthur Mbanefo Lecture held at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
Themed “A Healthy Nation is a Wealthy Nation: The Role of Impact Investments and Sustainable Financing in Nigeria,” the lecture featured Dr. Tolulope Adewole, Managing Director of NSIA Advanced Medical Services Limited (MedServe), as keynote speaker.
Dr. Adewole praised the Foundation’s strategic investments, noting that MTN commits 1% of its profit after tax annually to development sectors. “They’ve invested ₦31.75 billion, reaching over 32 million Nigerians. Though only 25% went to health, it accounted for 51% of all lives impacted. That’s catalytic,” he said.
He cited MTN’s dialysis centre programme as a transformative intervention for patients with kidney disease, and highlighted community-focused initiatives like the Y’ello Doctor mobile scheme and ‘What Can We Do Together’ (WCWDT) programme, which revitalised 164 Primary Healthcare Centres, including 44 in 2024 alone.
Executive Director of MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic’s exposure of systemic health vulnerabilities. “When COVID hit, we realised a health emergency is also an economic and social emergency,” she said.
Sanya revealed that of the 52 PHCs remodeled in 2024, only one had clean water. “I’m not a doctor, but I know you can’t live a good life without clean water,” she added, reaffirming the Foundation’s commitment to bridging healthcare gaps in underserved communities.
Hundreds of university students across Africa are set to benefit from a new gamified learning experience on digital rights and inclusion launched by the leading pan-African non-profit organisation, Paradigm Initiative (PIN).
The Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) is a game developed by Paradigm Initiative with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF). The custom-designed board game provides young individuals with a fun and engaging entry point into digital rights and inclusion conversations, training sessions and storytelling tools.
The board game aims to build digital literacy, deepen understanding of online safety, and introduce young individuals to the organisation’s tools of impact. Currently being piloted in three universities: University of Lagos, Nigeria, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi, Kenya and the Dakar American University of Science and Technology (DAUST) in Dakar, Senegal, it will enhance interactions and create a holistic experience.
Speaking at the event launch at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, ‘Gbenga Sesan, Paradigm Initiative’s Executive Director, said: “PIN’s vision is to reach 20 million people through our Digital Inclusion and Digital Rights interventions. From Lagos, to Dakar, to Nairobi.. we will use the vehicle of our new Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) which entails using gamification, training, multimedia materials, tools and other interventions to connect African youth with digital opportunities and protect their digital rights.”
‘Gbenga gave the keynote address on “Digital inclusion at PIN, our Past, Present and Future” and Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer, said the goal of the learning experience would be instrumental in raising awareness of digital rights among the youth, building their capacity to address digital rights and inclusion issues in their communities. Prof. Olunifesi Adekunle Suraj shared a goodwill message with the students and other stakeholders.
Paradigm Initiative, which has been operational since 2007, started in a tiny cybercafe in Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria. Today, the organisation has expanded its wings to cover six African countries; Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe, impacting the livelihoods of over 150,000 young Africans.
The launch of DRIBLE builds on the progress the organisation has made over the years in tackling the challenge of digital exclusion across Africa.
Paradigm Initiative’s tools of impact include Ripoti, a platform that enables individuals to report digital rights violations, Ayeta, a platform that provides digital security resources for stakeholders, more so human rights activists, defenders, journalists and other vulnerable groups, and the organisation’s latest short film, Whispers in the Wires.
Targeted at students, PIN rolled out a Campus Tour in the three universities on the continent starting July 15th, 2025.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has intensified its crackdown on fake accounts and spam, announcing it removed over 10 million fake profiles and roughly 500,000 spam accounts in the first half of 2025.
The sweeping purge is part of Meta’s broader effort to combat impersonation, fake engagement, and content duplication, aiming to elevate authentic creators and improve the quality of content across its platforms.
In a blog post, Meta said: “We’re making progress. In the first half of 2025, we took action on around 500,000 accounts engaged in spammy behaviour or fake engagement. We also removed about 10 million profiles impersonating large content producers.”
Meta stressed that accounts which primarily repost or recycle content without meaningful edits will face penalties such as reduced reach and the loss of monetisation tools.
The company also warned that repeatedly sharing unoriginal content — whether videos, photos, or text — undermines the platform’s integrity by crowding out genuine voices and making it harder for new creators to grow.
To support authentic creators, Meta is rolling out new tools that automatically trace reposted content back to its original source. The company says this will help ensure rightful credit and give higher visibility to original posts.
“Pages and profiles that post mostly original content tend to enjoy wider distribution across Facebook. Simply stitching clips together or adding a watermark will no longer count as meaningful editing. Content that provides real value and tells an authentic story is likely to perform better,” Meta explained.
Creators are also being cautioned against uploading content that includes watermarks from other platforms. Such posts could see their reach restricted or lose monetisation privileges altogether.
As part of its latest update, Meta introduced post-level insights on the Professional Dashboard, allowing creators to monitor how individual posts perform. They can also check their Support Home screen to see if their content or earnings are facing restrictions.
In a parallel development, Google’s YouTube updated its monetisation guidelines, stating that content deemed mass-produced or excessively repetitive will no longer qualify for ad revenue. The announcement initially sparked concern among creators, who feared it was a blanket ban on AI-generated content. YouTube later clarified:
“We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetise.”
Both tech giants say these new policies are aimed at raising content standards and safeguarding genuine creators in a crowded and rapidly evolving digital landscape.
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