Diplomacy in the Age of Digital Warfare: How Nigeria Can Protect Its Sovereignty

By Ugo Inyama

In today’s hyper-connected world, warfare has expanded far beyond guns and battlegrounds. The new arsenal includes disinformation, spyware, artificial intelligence, and bot-driven influence campaigns. Digital warfare is not only disrupting elections and economies globally — it is quietly eroding national sovereignty. For Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy and a rising economic power, this presents both a profound threat and a defining moment.

Digital Warfare: The Invisible Battlefield

Cyber threats now span a vast spectrum: from ransomware attacks on financial institutions to coordinated disinformation during elections. These assaults are often orchestrated by state actors, ideological groups, or mercenaries aiming to destabilise societies or reap strategic gains. The U.S. Senate’s 2019 confirmation of Russian interference in the 2016 election is a global warning. Within Africa, China’s provision of smart city surveillance systems has raised serious concerns about data sovereignty and silent digital dependencies (Feldstein, 2019; Freedom House, 2020).

Nigeria is no exception. The Nigerian Communications Commission recorded over 3.8 million cybersecurity threats in just the first quarter of 2021 (NCC, 2021). Yet the national response remains fragmented, underfunded, and reactive — a dangerous position in an era where cyber sabotage can cripple economies or ignite political unrest.

Nigeria’s Legislative Gaps in a New Digital Age

At the centre of Nigeria’s vulnerability is the inadequacy of its legal framework. The Cybercrimes Act of 2015, though pioneering at its inception, is now obsolete in the face of new digital threats. It lacks clear provisions on deepfakes, AI-driven disinformation, algorithmic manipulation, and cross-border data harvesting by foreign actors. These are no longer theoretical threats; they are lived realities in Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.

In the 2023 elections, synthetic videos, forged voice notes, and altered vote tallies circulated on social media, undermining public trust in democratic institutions (Centre for Democracy and Development, 2023). Meanwhile, foreign digital firms continue to extract, monetise, and externalise vast amounts of Nigerian user data — a practice that mirrors the patterns of data colonialism (Couldry & Mejias, 2019). Without updated legislation, Nigeria remains exposed.

Sovereignty Redefined: Control of the Digital Commons

National sovereignty in the 21st century must now be understood in data, infrastructure, and narrative control. Who tells our stories? Who owns our data? Who governs the platforms where our public life increasingly unfolds?

The absence of robust legal and regulatory guardrails allows foreign governments and companies to shape Nigeria’s digital environment, from election narratives to consumer behaviour. The threat is not only surveillance — it is influence, manipulation, and long-term strategic dependency.

The Case for The Revamped Cybercrimes Act

A reimagined Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2024 offers a crucial opportunity to reclaim Nigeria’s digital space. But it must go beyond routine cyber fraud provisions and squarely confront the strategic dimensions of digital warfare. It should:
• Criminalise the use of AI for impersonation, disinformation, and election interference, including the creation and dissemination of deepfakes.
• Establish liability for algorithmic manipulation by foreign tech platforms — particularly when used to distort public opinion or amplify hate speech.
• Prohibit unauthorised data harvesting, especially by entities not governed by Nigeria’s data protection frameworks.
• Mandate data localisation for critical infrastructure, and impose strict penalties for non-compliance.

Equally important is inter-agency coordination, bringing together NITDA, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, ONSA, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to form a central cybersecurity and digital diplomacy authority. Nigeria must speak with one voice — not only to its citizens, but to the global digital powers who seek to shape its future.

Conclusion: From Passive User to Digital Sovereign

The battles of the future will not be fought only on land or sea, but in cloud servers, digital platforms, and the minds of citizens. Nigeria must rise to meet this moment. Updating the Cybercrimes Act is not a legal nicety — it is a strategic necessity. Sovereignty today is defined by the ability to own, govern, and protect one’s digital domain.

The global digital order is still being written. Nigeria must ensure it is not a passive subject of this new script — but an active author, asserting its interests, values, and voice in a world increasingly run by code.

Valete ad Tempus

*Ugo Inyama, a commentator on African Affairs, Digital Governance and Strategy, writes from Manchester, UK