E-Business
Kashifu Inuwa: Three Years of Changing the Fate of IT in Nigeria
By Mubarak Umar
Three years? Yes, three years as the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and it is heartwarming to note that growing corps of well-educated, world class technocrats are coming to the public domain to help change the narrative in public service.
In these three years, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE defines diligence, hard work and dedication. His penchant for IT growth and vision-driven initiatives to see Nigeria grow its economy through digital technologies are unprecedented. He has demonstrated the purpose of encouraging Nigerians to embrace IT and use it as an enabler for their economic activities. He believes that IT as a source of inspiration, can be harnessed to develop new business value propositions.
As the Director General of NITDA, Inuwa has proved that Nigeria can be Africa’s largest digital economy. Since ascending the leadership of NITDA in August 2019, there has been an impressive implementation of the Agency’s Strategic Roadmap for the development of Nigeria’s IT sector envisioned by Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, as well as implementation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s core vision of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) through Information Technology.
Kashifu has been steadily building upon the foundation laid by the previous occupants of that office, driving the Agency to fulfil its core mandate in consonance with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) of the Federal Government.
To put Nigeria on a path to effectively operate a digital economy, NITDA, under the stewardship of Kashifu Inuwa mapped out a Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024), identified by the Agency as the fulcrum digital economy development.
In his numerous public presentations, Inuwa has spoken extensively about the pillars captured in the SRAP, namely Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy and Skills; Digital Transformation; Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship; Cybersecurity; Emerging Technologies; and Promotion of Indigenous Content.
Undoubtedly, his achievements as Director General of NITDA especially in implementation of IT Regulation in the sector in the last three years are unprecedented. He walks the talks by ensuring that Nigeria maintains an automated IT Project Clearance (ITPC) and creation of user accounts for Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), thus, saving the Nigerian Federal Government billions of naira.
It is on recorded that Kashifu continued with the visionary leadership of Prof. Pantami of facilitating the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), which resulted in the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB). This action further introduced NITDA to international stage thereby earning the Agency the position of Vice Chair of the African Union Policy and Regulatory Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA).
Inuwa knows the ICT global terrain deeply and he is very aware of the challenges, limitations and constraints keeping Nigeria – a nation of about 200 million people – lagging behind in the evolving world of digital economy.
Against all the odds Nigeria’s IT sector faces, the NITDA DG has shown his indefatigable vision and passion to take Nigeria into the comity of nations, running on digital economy.
Under his watch, the Agency has developed several regulatory frameworks for IT development, majority of which have been published both in hard and soft copy.
The Agency embarked on the development of two regulatory frameworks for Information Technology development in government establishments. The project is to give rise to digital skills in educational institutions and rural areas of the country. In addition, Information Technology (IT) knowledge is integrated into the underserved areas and cities so as to develop human capital and provide universal access to knowledge with the aim of creating a knowledge-based economy.
Early 2020, just few months after his appointment, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic presented a major challenge to Nigeria and other countries across the globe, and the distinguished strategist faced the challenge by constituting a Tech4Covid Committee that explored measures to be deployed in cushioning the economic effect of the Pandemic on Nigeria’s digital enterprise.
The Committee crafted a strategy that would later ensure the retention of about 100,000 ICT jobs and the creation of additional 30,000 jobs in the Post COVID-19 era.
With the needed strategy in place, the Agency has succeeded in programming, developing and mapping out digital processes to cushion the effect of Coronavirus since it is outbreak globally; the Nigeria COVID19 Innovation Challenge, an online innovation challenge that was set up to meet the challenges our society faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Creative minds across the country came together, experimented and built software solutions that helped address this crisis.
Furthermore, NITDA developed various digital educational contents that can be accessed remotely by thousands of Nigerians who were on lockdown, as well as strategies to assist the government in continuing its daily activities virtually.
With all the challenges posed by COVID-19, Kashifu continues to provide able leadership to NITDA in discharging its duty of regulating, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and development of the growth of the Nigerian IT sector and digital economy.
In these three years of Kashifu’s reign as Director General, the Agency uncovered unfolded the potentials in Nigerian farmers through Federal Government’s initiative of National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), a project aimed at changing the face of the agricultural sector in the country.
The National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture is an ecosystem-driven digital platform envisioned for the transformation of the agriculture sector in Nigeria. It is designed to help farmers and other agricultural ecosystem players navigate their journey across the agriculture value chain.
This journey cuts across farm production to management, processing, harvesting, storage, marketing and consumption. Farmers were trained and empowered with digital devices and seeds funding, which also created direct and indirect jobs in the country.
NITDA also launched the National Adopted School for Smart Education (NASSE) to promote digital literacy and skills. 500 students and 30 teachers at Junior Secondary School Karshi benefited from the pilot scheme. The Agency also supervised the training of thousands of Artisans across the 6 Geo-Political Zones on digital literacy and phone repairs.
The Agency trained women on ICT and Entrepreneurship, People Living with Disabilities, each provided with Laptops (with pre-installed e-learning & graphics Software), Internet Dongles & Bag-Packs, direct jobs and indirect jobs were created; trained hundreds of Nigerians on Software, Mobile App & Web Development, and Entrepreneurship.
In addition to making an effort in IT development as well as enhancing the IT capacity of the citizenry, hundreds of IT Hubs, IT Parks, and Community ICT Centres were established, furnished and equipped with world class facilities across the states of the federation. The Agency, through its strategic relations with Tecpreneurs, supported start-ups, IT hubs and ecosystem builders through Nigeria ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Vision (NIIEV). In the process, NITDA’s programmes have created employment for Nigerian youths.
To ensure Nigeria’s pool of talents were not left behind, the Agency under his watch, established National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), to drive and support research, development, and adoption of Emerging Technologies in Nigeria.
The Centre is creating the required environment for Nigeria’s teaming youths; encourage innovation and indigenisation of technologies to help address the continuous reliance on foreign products and services which has negative impact on the country’s economy. It serves as a bridge between the government, industry, and the academia in providing research environment for creativity, idea integration, collaborative environment, development of ICT policies, processes and strategies.
Kashifu commissioned Digital Fabrication Laboratory (Abuja FabLab 1.0), a unit within the Centre that serves as one of its revenue-generating components. FabLab offers training and capacity-building programmes for the Centre’s staff and external Agencies requiring such services.
While the FabLab serves all the entities within the ecosystem, it also maintains an open-door policy to the public, hence encouraging all digital innovators and makers to drive their ideas from inception to impact. It maintains an open access policy to allow the laboratory to serve as a digital innovation accelerator for all innovators and makers. It allows open-production and public access to aid innovation and entrepreneurship activities.
As a result of Kashifu’s commitment, Nigeria made history when it the Agency hosted the Key Generation and Handover Ceremony for Root Certification Authority (RCA) for Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA) and Country Verification Certification Authority (CVCA) of the National Public Key Infrastructure (NPKI), signaling the commencement of Public Key Infrastructure Service Provision in Nigeria.
As a results of NITDA’s high productivity, performance, excellence in service delivery and impact on the nation IT sector, the Agency received the prestigious National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award from the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. The honour is for the Agency to do more in getting all Nigerians on board the digital journey of the Federal Government. Interestingly, NITDA is the only government Agency that was honoured with this award.
These successes, certainly, have been achieved through the efforts of this distinguished personality who against all odds, leads his organisation to greater heights. As he celebrates three years in office, I join millions of Nigerians in congratulating him for these achievements.
I also pray that the Almighty continue to guide him as he leads NITDA to greater heights and facilitates Nigeria’s transformation into a leading digital economy where citizens use digital technologies in creating wealth and prosperity.
Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to protect data pilfering in the insurance industry.
The agreement was finalised on Friday and aims to address critical concerns around data privacy and ensure that the insurance sector complies with global best practices in data management.
Some of the objectives of a MoU include training and capacity building to enhance awareness and skills in data protection, setting up specialized clinics to address data protection concerns and provide guidance; conducting compliance activities by regularly, monitoring and enforcing compliance with data protection regulations and educating insurance companies on the importance of data protection and the benefits of adhering to best practices.
Mr Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance/ chief executive officer, NAICOM, said, “The collaboration marks a significant milestone in safeguarding the personal data of insurance policyholders and promoting trust in the insurance sector”.
To ensure the effective implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), an Implementation Committee will be established.
This committee will comprise representatives from the 2 agencies, as well as other key industry associations, including the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) and the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB).
The committee’s primary responsibility will be to monitor progress, provide guidance, and facilitate collaboration among stakeholders to guarantee the successful execution of the MoU.
Officials from both NAICOM and NDPC have expressed confidence in the partnership’s potential to strengthen data privacy frameworks within the insurance sector.
They noted that the initiative would boost public confidence, enhance compliance, and position the sector for greater innovation and credibility.
This collaboration is expected to pave the way for a more secure and trustworthy insurance landscape in Nigeria, ensuring the protection of personal data while fostering the industry’s growth.
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) will start prosecuting data privacy offenders from the beginning of 2025, according to Babatunde Bamigboye, head of the Legal Enforcement and Regulation Department of the commission.
This move is part of its efforts to enforce regulations and promote responsible data handling in Nigeria.
Bamigboye, disclosed this during a one-day cybersecurity awareness campaign with the theme “Utilising AI-Powered Services for Proactive Cybersecurity” in Abuja.
The event was organised by SOPHOS UK in collaboration with SPOKES Network and Net-Trix Solutions to foster networking with industry experts on how AI is shaping the future of cybersecurity.
Bamigboye explained that, due to the significant implications of data privacy breaches in Nigeria, the commission has embarked on awareness programmes to educate individuals on their data protection rights and inform data processors and controllers of their obligations.
To this end, he announced that beginning next year, the commission would prosecute any data controllers or processors found in breach of the law.
“At this moment, we have investigated quite a number of cases, and in terms of prosecution—as you know, as a lawyer, this means going to court—but we haven’t taken any matters to court yet.
“This is the formative stage; we understand the implications for the country as a whole. And usually, when you talk about prosecution, it also involves some criminal activities. So, at this moment, our focus has been on creating awareness.
“But from next year, we will step up enforcement in this area. What we have done so far is to take remedial actions against certain data controllers and processors who defaulted under the Act,” he noted.
He assured investors that Nigeria’s cyberspace is secure for digital transactions.
“Nigerian cyberspace is safe; otherwise, we wouldn’t be experiencing the smooth flow of digital transactions in Nigeria. It is safe but not without threats, and we are doing our best as a country to combat these threats.”
Christopher Odutola, a sales engineer at SOPHOS UK, noted in his presentation that 100% cybersecurity cannot be guaranteed, hence the need for proactive measures.
“A lot of people will come to you and say, ‘We can give you 99.9% or 100% cybersecurity.’ It’s not true.
“Nobody can provide 100% security anywhere in the world. What they can do, as I mentioned earlier, is reduce the risk for you. However, determining the extent of risk reduction is difficult.
“It’s impossible to eliminate 100% of risks anywhere in the world. What we provide is what we call a cybersecurity breach protection warranty. This warranty covers incidents such as data breaches or ransomware attacks. For instance, if you lose your files while we manage your SOC as a service, we will reimburse up to one million dollars in response costs.”
Odutola further stressed the importance of organisations reducing cyber threat risks to secure cyberspace.
“There are risks to businesses, risks from downtime, attackers, scammers, and the rest, trying to infiltrate networks.
“The risk is always high. As cybersecurity professionals, we are doing as much as possible to reduce these risks.
“The various security controls we implement—antivirus software, firewalls, email security, cloud security, network security, and others—are aimed at reducing risks. We must focus on minimising risks. For instance, we currently see risks originating from third-party suppliers and vendors.”
According to him, “We have a process called risk assessment, which helps to evaluate vendors to ensure they do not introduce risks into our environment. This is why these security controls are crucial.
“We have them in place. It’s equally important to involve senior management in the discussion, as this is often where the gap lies. Unfortunately, cybersecurity is often perceived as a cost centre.”
Harrison Oloye, chief executive officer (CEO) of Net-Trix Solutions, said the event aimed to raise awareness about cyber threats and equip users to manage potential attacks.
“What we did, as Net-Trix Solutions Limited in conjunction with Spokes Network, is to create awareness and educate the public and private sectors on how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to combat cyber threats.”
Speaking further on achievements in creating awareness, he said: “As part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), we educate and train as many people as possible on the dangers of cyber threats and cyber-related crimes.”
Ms. Sifon Ufot, head of Business at SPOKES Network, emphasised the need to take proactive measures against cyber threats.
“We need to stay cyber-safe because hackers working behind the scenes are not joking—they work 24/7. For us, staying proactive is essential. With the help of AI, we can stay proactive; it provides information beforehand and even prevents some attacks from reaching us.”
Check Point, a cyber security company has reported that Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Morocco are seeing targeted cyber-attacks on government, education, and financial institutions.
In its just released 2024 African Perspectives on Cyber security report, Check Point, said that the cyber security sector is growing by 20-25% annually, fuelled by investments in infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence-driven solutions.
The report said that South Africa has seen 3,312 attacks on government institutions every week and a 90% increase in ransomware, with cybercrime costing the country nearly 1% of GDP.
Kenya, in East Africa, sees 4,719 attacks on the government sector each week, indicating an urgent need for enhanced defenses.
According to the report, Nigeria sees 4,718 attacks every week, which is one of the highest in Africa.
In a recent incident, the report states that a banking trojan assault affected 100,000 customer accounts, resulting in a $3 million loss.
Morocco is one of Africa’s most targeted countries, with 8,733 attacks on government entities reported each week, the report said.
According to Check Point, the Moroccan government recently faced a state-sponsored cyberattack that compromised classified communications, raising significant national security concerns.
“Organisations in Africa are attacked roughly 3300 times per week, if we look at the global average it is about 1 800, it is almost double the attacks,” said Hendrik de Bruin, head of security consulting at Check Point SADC during the presentation.
Check Point noted that the continent’s GDP is predicted to exceed $4 trillion by 2027, and digital infrastructure has emerged as a key driver of economic growth. However, rapid digitisation has resulted in increased vulnerability.
De Bruin explained: “We are slowly, but surely digitalising our industries, we are digitising our governments, private sectors are digitising themselves, so we have got an expanding digital attack footprint.
“We also have cloud adoption, which is not new, but picking up pace in Africa. That is another way that these attackers are using to gain access to organisations, and we also see a large uptake on cloud specific attacks as well.”
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