The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has disclosed recorded created 2,686 new jobs I’m less than 24 months through the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).
The Agency who made this known on Friday at its first annual NDPR Performance Report 2019-2020, said that 76% of Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs) complied with the regulation.
At the unveiling of the Report, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, expressed satisfaction on how NITDA provided support for industry adoption of the NDPR. He said: “I have reviewed the report and I am proud to see that we have through the NDPR, 2,686 job roles, thereby creating massive opportunities for young Nigerians to be recruited as Data Protection Officers, Data Protection Compliance Organisations, Compliance officers among others.
“The DPCOs have also earned over N2 billion in the first year of implementation. This is the intent of our digital economy policy- empowering Nigerians in a way that ensures global competitiveness.”
While giving his speech, the Director-General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, stated that the goal of the report is to give all stakeholders the opportunity to understand how the agency has fared in the implementation of the NDPR. He added that understanding between industry players would generate further research and provide guidance to other regulators, partners, data controllers, data processors and other stakeholders.
He said NITDA made a compilation of all the organisations who filed their annual audit report for the year 2019.
“Submission of an audit report does not conclusively indicate compliance with all tenets of data protection, this list shows organisations who have complied with the audit filing requirement of the NDPR, which is a key milestone towards compliance. It is important to note that non-filing of the NDPR audit report is a breach of the Regulation,” he said.
The DG added that, “the Report, being the first of its kind is aimed at highlighting key initiatives, successes and challenges of implementing the Regulation. The NDPR being a flagship of the NDEPS, is expected to be used as a learning curve for Nigeria and Africa on how to effectively implement global laws with due consideration of local peculiarities and opportunities.”
The NDPR was issued on 25th January, 2019 pursuant to Section 6(a,c) of the NITDA Act, 2007. The Regulation covers every person subject to the laws of Nigeria, whether resident in Nigeria or not. It is aimed at safeguarding the rights of persons to privacy; fostering safe conduct for the transactions involving the exchange of personal data; preventing manipulation of personal data; and ensuring that Nigerian businesses remain competitive in international trade through the safeguards afforded by a just and equitable legal regulatory framework.
