The Federal Government through the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has granted a licence to the Institute of Information Management (IIM) to conduct examinations and certify data protection professionals for global competitiveness.

The National Commissioner of NDPC, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, who said this on Monday while presenting licence to IIM in Abuja, said granting of the licence was part of the commission’s measures to implement Executive Order 003 and 005.

Olatunji added that certifying data protection professionals in the country would reduce capital flight, create over 500,000 jobs in the sector, and encourage more people to be certified.

While a few Nigerians with expertise in data protection had their training and certification abroad, Olatunji said having an institute to train and certify Nigerians locally would boost local content in the sector.

“We are trying to ensure the implementation of Executive Orders 003 and 005 to promote local content in Nigeria. Most of us who are certified data protection officers have international certifications; we paid some dollars to write exams as well as maintain the certificates. We are trying to domesticate this in Nigeria by having a national certification process” Olatunji said.

The NDPC National Commissioner said that with the size of Nigeria’s population, the country needs over 500,000 certified data protection officers. And if prospective candidates are to pay for the certifying examination in dollars, it will lead to capital flight.

Olatunji also said that the commission is considering adopting the licensing across Africa. According to him, the Commission is working towards having a pan-African initiative, whereby data professionals have the national certification that is being offered in Nigeria and can also practice in any part of Africa.

“It is a way of creating jobs for our people, reducing capital flight, and developing global human capital in the data protection ecosystem” Olatunji said. He explained the Commission have also gone further to develop the training model which is unique to the organization and will be used by trainers in Nigeria.

He added that the licensing would also create jobs for already licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs), who would be accredited to train prospective professionals to sit for data protection examinations. According to him, the national data protection certification will be a historic legacy that will transcend administrations and meet global standards.

Speaking on the licence, the President of the Institute of Information Management, Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, recalled that the certification process commenced in 2021.

He said the licence would bridge the gap in the data protection ecosystem. Oyewole assured Nigerians of the institute’s commitment to be the best in the education system of data protection in the country.

•PHOTO: L-R; Alexander Anago, Amb. Oyedokun A. Oyewole, President of the Institute of Information Management, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, FIIM, the National Commissioner – Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC)

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