…NITDA, FCCC Collaborate on Data Abuse
By Frank Momoh
The National Information Technology Development Agency, has said collaboration of agencies in the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, and the sector’s stakeholders have been largely responsible for the unprecedented 17.09% contribution of the digital economy sector to the Gross Domestic product of the second quarter of 2021.
The Director General, National Information technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, disclosed this in a paper titled “The Nigerian Digital Architecture: The Journey So Far.” The paper was presented at the World Fintech Festival, 2021. An event jointly hosted by Nigeria and Singapore.
Meanwhile, NITDA in continuation of its efforts to address the alarming rates of data privacy abuse by money lending operators, has entered into a strategic partnership with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
The DG, who was represented at the event by the Agency’s Director of e-Government Development and Regulations, Dr Vincent Olatunji, stated that the way forward for Nigeria in attaining vintage position in the global digital economy remains in the country’s resolve to public private partnership initiatives, funding, human capital, advocacy and continuity.
He said: “The digital economy, from Nigeria’s perspectives revolves around the utilization of digital transformation, knowledge and technology to deliver goods and services, economy that drives on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, (4IR), convergence of all sets of digital innovation that drives social economic development and economic output created from digital technologies and innovations.”
He said the redesignation of the Ministry and the launch of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, (NDEPS) were responsible for the paradigm shift in Nigeria’s digital economy adding that NDEPS was developed to reposition the Nigerian Economy in order to take advantage of the many opportunities that digital technologies provide.
He said that the eight pillars of NDEPS align well with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government and address the three key focus areas of Mr. President, namely economic development, anti-corruption and security noting that the various policies and strategies put in place by the ministry and being executed by its parastatals laid the foundation for the success recorded so far.
While listing Nigeria’s achievements through the Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan, he said the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation initiative has impacted the Ease of Doing Business, cross border data flow, creation of over 3000 jobs, international recognition, creation of a new sector worth N5.2 billion and protection of Nigerian against digital colonialism.
On IT project clearance, he said the initiative has saved the country over N30 billion and reduction in IT project failure in the country while under the Digital Literacy and Skill programme, over 20,000 Nigerians have been trained and 250,000 enrolled in both NITDA Academy and Digital Nigeria dot gov dot ng platform.
He concluded that “digital economy continues to play an important role in our developmental agenda as we move into the age of artificial intelligence.” Section 17(a) of the FCCPA, 2019 empowers the Commission to administer and enforce provisions of every Nigerian law with respect to competition and protection of consumers.
According to him, NITDA has therefore found the FCCPC as a key stakeholder in its efforts to rein in the activities of some micro-money lenders who have formed a penchant for abuse of personal data of Nigerians. These operators execute this by abusing their personal data, breaching their privacy and sharing it with others who are not part of the initial contract.
He said the agency has received over 40 petitions from members of the public on the personal data abuse of some lending companies. Our investigation led to the imposition of N10 million fine and other administrative sanctions on Soko Lending Company.
As an agency focused on using its mandate to empower Nigerians and make them active players in the digital economy, he explained that NITDA is concerned about the worrisome activities of the money lending companies are having on families, friends, and the society at large.
Some of the complainants had contemplated suicide, indicating that government needed to do more to protect vulnerable Nigerians, he added.
The partnership with FCCPC will lead to a more robust and concerted regulatory approach which we believe would ensure that Nigerians get necessary reprieve from the illegal use of their personal data for money lending operations. The partnership would entail joint investigations, enforcement and possible prosecution.
Warning money lending operators and other data controllers and processors that NITDA is set to enforce the privacy right of Nigerians in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019.