Cybersecurity: Strategies Must Remain Agile, Forward- looking in Combating National Threats, Says NSA

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu says in tackling rising threats to national security by actors who have become more sophisticated and coordinated, strategies already in place must remain agile and forward-looking.

Ribadu said the tools and tactics they employed, from artificial intelligence-driven attacks to supply chain infiltrations and persistent threats targeting national infrastructure, demanded a strong cybersecurity workforce, which was the true foundation of national resilience.

Ribadu’s comments were contained in his keynote address yesterday in Abuja at the 2025 Information Technology Professionals Assembly, themed, “National Cybersecurity policy: Implementation and effectiveness.”

Represented by the director in the office of the NSA, Professor Abdullahi Ya’u, Ribadu said a strong cybersecurity workforce was the true foundation of national resilience and as such, strategies and technologies, no matter how robust, could not succeed without people.

He stated that cybersecurity was no longer a technical or regulatory issue, but a national imperative and prerequisite for innovation, investment, and sustainable development.

Reiterating that the federal government will continue to strengthen policy frameworks, deepen inter-agency collaboration, invest in talent development, and modernise the national cybersecurity infrastructure, Ribadu said it remained the bedrock upon which the nation’s digital economy and critical services rested.

He said, “Threat actors are becoming more sophisticated, more resourced, and more coordinated. The tools and tactics they employ – from artificial intelligence-driven attacks to supply chain infiltrations and persistent threats targeting national infrastructure, demand that our strategies remain agile and forward-looking.

“Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical or regulatory issue. It is a national imperative. It is a prerequisite for innovation, investment, and sustainable development. It is the bedrock upon which our digital economy, our critical services, and indeed our national sovereignty stand.

“Cybersecurity remains a top priority of the federal government of Nigeria. We will continue to strengthen our policy frameworks, deepen inter-agency collaboration, invest in talent development, and modernise our national cybersecurity infrastructure.”

Ribadu added that the NCPS 2021 will reach its four-year mark in 2025. “In line with global practice, where such strategies are typically reviewed every five years, very soon, we will be reaching out to commence the process of its review,” he said.

In his welcome address, President/Chairman of the Council of Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria, Mr. Kole Jagun, said with more than 45 per cent of the world population connected to the cyberspace, and with a growing number across the globe, cyberspace had become a driving force for productivity and development, which made the protection of critical information infrastructure a national security responsibility that required government, public and private sector to collaborate and synergise.

He added that the 2025 IT Professionals’ Assembly focused on appraisal of the implementation and effectiveness of the National Cybersecurity Policy, viz-a-viz the National Cybersecurity Governance, Coordination and Assurance Mechanism, Cybersecurity Capacity Building and Manpower Development, among other issues that were pertinent to mitigating the country’s cyber risk exposure.