Telecom
NITDA Set to Institutionalize Data Protection in Nigeria
In its commitment to upscale Data Protection in Nigeria, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has begun the process of licensing and partnering with a qualified institution to set standards, prepare exams and issue certifications on data protection skill in the country.
These processes are part of the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), a subsidiary of data legislation in the country.
Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of NITDA, strongly advised on the need for Data Protection Officers (DPOs), during a hybrid Symposium organized for Lagos State DPOs, saying; “data protection officers should constantly keep themselves abreast of trending innovations in keeping their data credible”.
Inuwa, while admonishing DPOs to improve their capacities by adopting best practices for Data Privacy, stated that Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Services are essential elements in safeguarding data from breach thereby enhancing the integrity of data.
He argued that it was pertinent to incorporate artificial intelligence into data protection to enhance its accuracy and consistency.
He further disclosed that there is need to sieve and categorize data elements which will determine the cloud adoption strategy to be used.
The DG also added that there is need to create professionals in the data protection ecosystem to meet global standards. “One of the ideas we are mulling is to have an industry association for DPOs and the proposed DPO Forum that would be a peer review mechanism and a point of contact with regulators to shape policies and propose standards for the industry”, he said.
According to Inuwa, since the issuance of the NDPR in 2019, NITDA has empowered DPOs by drafting, engaging the public, and publishing the NDPR Implementation Framework to shed light on the provisions of the NDPR for easy interpretation and application.
He further noted that the Agency’s partnership with the DPOs has created over 7,600 new job roles in the Data Protection sector.
“We envisage that Nigeria would lead Africa by certifying 350,000 persons with local and global competence in data protection by 2024”, Inuwa averred.
The Executive Commissioner of Ghana’s Data Protection Commission GDPC, Her Excellency Ms. Patricia Adusie-Poku, in her remarks applauded NITDA for the laudable initiative in organizing the symposium to add knowledge value to DPOs.
She stated that DPOs are like risk managers in their organizations and it is their responsibility to ensure that all requirements are put in place to checkmate data breach and promote Data Protection.
The symposium had in attendance, Mr Ridwan Oloyede from TechHive Advisory, Mr Yaya Itai from First Bank Plc, Mrs Moyosore Jide-Taiwo from Airtel Nigeria, Dr. Alexander Anago, Mr Bharat Soni from GTCO and a host of other data protection officers from various organizations.
Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) is planning to encourage geo-political regions that grants zero charges for ‘Right of Way’ approvals as well not implementing arbitrary charges on telecommunications base stations in their regions with zero tariff.
Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON disclosed this to Nigeria CommunincationsWeek against the backdrop of incessant closure of base stations in some states.
He said that operators believe that the way out of this arbitrary charges and high cost of RoW approvals is regional tariffs.
“Operators are advocating for a regional tariff which means that geographical regions of Nigeria where cost of doing business for telecommunications operators is extremely high will attract high tariff compared to regions where there is low operating cost.
“Our advocacy of regional tariff is not based on a particular state but on regions. As at today there are regions where we have zero cost of “Right of Way” and low cost of doing business. Tariffs should reflect on operating environment. This means that national rate plan should consider high and low cost of doing business.
“If this is implemented, in a long run we could witness some regions having zero tariff because operational cost in such regions are friendly to operators,” he said.
It would be recalled that Kogi State recently shut down some operators’ base stations on account of local levies which raises the call for discriminatory tariff among geographical locations.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has hit back at Meta Platforms Inc, warning the tech giant that its threat to exit Nigeria will not erase its legal responsibilities or liabilities under the Nigerian law.
Meta said earlier today, May 3, that it “may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures.”
Meta’s warning came after it lost a legal bid last week to overturn a ₦220 million fine imposed by the FCCPC for violations of data protection and consumer rights laws.
Reacting to Meta’s threat, FCCPC, in a statement on Saturday, May 3, described Meta’s statement as “a calculated” move aimed at “inducing negative public reaction and potentially pressuring the FCCPC to reconsider its decision.”
FCCPC said that Meta threatening to leave Nigeria does not absolve the company of liabilities for the outcome of a judicial process.
“These infringements included denying Nigerians the right to control their personal data, transferring and sharing Nigerian user data without authorisation, discriminating against Nigerian users compared to users in other jurisdictions and abusing their dominant market position by forcing unfair privacy policies,” FCCPC wrote on X.
“Interestingly, Meta had been fined for similar breaches in Texas ($1.5b) and only recently was asked to pay $1.3 Billion for violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules.
Elsewhere in India, South Korea, France and Australia, Meta had faced varying penalties for similar breaches. But Meta never resorted to the blackmail of threatening to exit those countries. They obeyed.”
Meta may shut down its Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in protest against the substantial fines imposed by multiple government agencies.
The tech giant has been ordered to pay nearly $300 million in fines in Africa’s most populous nation, following regulatory demands which Meta described as “unrealistic.”
In July 2024, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), imposed a $220 million fine on Meta for allegedly discriminatory and exploitative practices against Nigerian consumers.
The commission stated that Meta had failed to engage a Data Protection Compliance Organisation and had not submitted a Nigeria Data Protection Regulation audit report for two consecutive years.
Similarly, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), demanded $37.5 million over unapproved advertising, while the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), announced a $32.8 million fine for an alleged data privacy breach.
Meta challenged the decisions at the Federal High Court in Abuja but was unsuccessful, as the court upheld the fines in a ruling delivered last week.
The court directed the company to comply with payment by the end of June, but Meta has indicated it may not do so, according to the BBC.
“The applicant may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures,” the company stated in court documents.
Responding to the NDPC’s assertion that Meta’s data processing could expose Nigerian users to health and financial risks, the company said the agency had failed to “properly interpret the laws guiding data privacy.”
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