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The National Information Technology Development Agency says the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis are impeding compliance and enforcement of the regulation of data privacy in Nigeria.
NITDA’s Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, disclosed this on Monday at a virtual conference to open the ‘2021 National Data Privacy Week.’ The event is a global occasion that holds every last week in January.
“We are going to redouble our efforts in the direction of enforcement and compliance as data protection has become a pivot for the continued growth of the digital economy,’’ Inuwa said.
He, however, hinted that the agency was working to create more awareness on regulations. “Our current effort at enforcement is salutary but not nearly enough. We are considering all options to ensure we do not kill businesses while also ensuring businesses do not kill Nigerians through wanton abuse of their data,’’ the NITDA boss explained.
Calling on data controllers and processors to file their annual data audit report before March 15, Inuwa stated, “Our audit reports for filed entities of 2019-2020 from some DPCOs show compliance level of financial services at 35 per cent, fast moving consumer goods at 14 per cent and energy at 10 per cent.
“The consultancy sector compliance was at nine per cent, information and communication technology at eight per cent, transport and logistics five per cent and others at 19 per cent.
“In the direction we are moving on NDPR audit compliance filing, we are very glad that we have set out in the right way. Our strategy of licensing DPCOs is yielding bounteous fruits as Nigeria now has more data protection experts per capita than any other African country.”
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