FG, Lagos seek stronger partnership on data protection

By Juliet Umeh

The Federal Government and Lagos State have called for stronger collaboration among regulators, businesses and other stakeholders to safeguard personal information and build public trust in the digital economy.

The call was made at the ongoing Data Protection Africa Summit in Lagos, organised by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).

The NDPC National Commissioner, Dr Vincent Olatunji, said collaboration was essential given Nigeria’s population, the scale of business activities and the growing volume of personal data being processed.

“It would be absolutely impossible for us to be able to do that without the support of our partners,” he said.

Olatunji said the commission was working with organisations to ensure they understood their responsibilities as data controllers and processors.

“There is no escape from it. Organisations must be accountable for how they handle personal information.

“It has to be treated as a two-way thing,” he said, describing data protection as a shared responsibility between regulators and organisations that collect or process personal information.

He said greater public awareness, capacity building and knowledge sharing were necessary to strengthen Nigeria’s data protection ecosystem.

“Privacy and data protection are still new to a lot of people,” he said, adding that citizens needed to understand their rights and responsibilities.

The NDPC chief also urged African countries to learn from one another, stressing the importance of knowledge exchange in addressing emerging data protection challenges.

“Nobody knows it all. When we think we want to learn from others, that is how we learn from each other,” he said.

Representing Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State Special Adviser on Technology, Innovation and Broadband, Engr Ganiyu Oseni, said data protection was central to building public trust in government institutions and digital services.

“Every time a citizen provides personal information to access a government service, that citizen places confidence in the institution receiving it. We have a responsibility to justify that confidence,” he said.

Oseni said Lagos State’s deployment of technology to improve public services, including residence and land registration, made it imperative for public institutions to protect information entrusted to them.

“When properly implemented, it strengthens public confidence, supports responsible innovation and creates a more secure environment for investment and economic activities,” he said.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of Africa Digital Rights’ Hub (ADRH), Ms Teki Akuetteh, called on African regulators to strengthen cooperation to facilitate cross-border business transactions and data transfers.

She identified differences in data protection laws and their implementation across African countries as challenges to seamless cross-border data flows.

“Across Africa, there is still that challenge of harmonisation of data protection laws,” she said, noting that differences between Nigerian and Ghanaian laws could affect the transfer of information and money.

“Even when you have the same laws, there are different individuals and regulators that sit to implement them. One person’s interpretation may differ,” she added.

Akuetteh said strategic partnerships would help build trust among regulators and promote common approaches to cross-border data transfers.

“That is why it is very important to have these strategic partnerships as a way of bringing people together, building trust among regulators and agreeing on a simple way to facilitate cross-border data flows.

“Everybody deserves the right to have their information protected,” she said.

In his remarks, Oba Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, Tẹlade IV, urged traditional institutions and universities to promote privacy awareness in communities and on campuses.

He described personal data as a valuable asset that required careful and accountable handling, urging stakeholders to take awareness campaigns to the grassroots and communicate them in local languages.

“Personal data is a valuable asset that must be handled with the utmost care, integrity and accountability,” he said.

“Digital privacy awareness must become a grassroots movement,” the traditional ruler added.