Repealing of NITDA’s ACT, Necessary to Strengthen National Digital Economy Policy, Says Abdullahi

Emma Okonji

The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has said the planned repealing and re-enacting of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Act, 2007, is necessary in order to strengthen the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), which effectively replaced the Nigerian National IT Policy, 2000.

President Mohammad Buhari in Abuja launched NDEPS last year in Abuja.

NITDA, in its efforts to ensure that Nigeria benefits maximally from the global digital economy, has drawn the attention of stakeholders in the Information Technology sector and the general public to its plan on how to commence the process of repealing and re-enacting the NITDA Act 2007.

According to Abdullahi, since the enactment of the NITDA Act 2007, NITDA had operated as the catalytic government agency for developing and regulating the Information Technology sector, and the Act had not been reviewed

“In the light of recent advancements in Information Technology and the paradigm shift in the global economy, the NDEPS was envisioned to transform Nigeria into a leading digital economy, providing quality life and digital economies for all. This current reality has necessitated the re-imagination for the establishment of NITDA. It is a known fact that digital technologies have created new forms of economic activities that have been beneficial to the global economy.

“However, these digital technologies comes with their promises and perils such as cybercrimes, privacy invasion and other social problems. This necessitates the need to proactively manage their adoption through the development of a stakeholder-led robust regulatory architecture to enable Nigeria to maximise the benefits of such technologies and mitigate the negative consequences, ”Abdullahi said.

He emphasised the need for a more agile and practical approach to regulations, standards-setting, and guidelines development for the country, with a focus on digital and emerging technologies.

According to him, “Based on the foregoing, we identified the need to update NITDA’s legal framework for regulating and developing a digital economy for Nigeria. The Agency’s current establishment law is outdated.

It cannot meet the needs and requirements for supporting a digital economy as well as effectively protect the rights and interests of stakeholders in the digital world. The review of the NITDA Act 2007 aims to address contemporary digital issues, revamp Nigeria’s economy, build trust and protect the rights and interests of players in the ecosystem.”

Abdullahi added that the review of the NITDA Act 2007 would serve as an enabler for the growth and development of Nigeria’s digital economy. He highlighted some areas that the planned repeal would address to include creating a framework for: promoting the startup ecosystem; promoting indigenous products and services through standardisation; collaborating with the requisite public and private sector partners to carry out activities that would assist in electronic waste disposal; and fostering collaboration to facilitate the implementation of robust cybersecurity measures aimed at building trust in Nigeria’s digital economy.

Others areas include facilitating capacity building through the digital literacy and skills initiative; entrenching stakeholder participation in developing regulations through the rule-making process; and promoting the safe use of digital technologies, including social media, for the attainment of national objectives.

The NITDA boss said the introduction and implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) by NITDA, which is a subsidiary legislation enshrined to ensure data protection and privacy of Nigerian citizens; and the implementation of the IT Project Clearance initiative that supported the federal government’s fight against corruption, that resulted in over N22.45 billion savings with significant increase in local content consumptions by over 300 per cent in four years, were some of the achievements of NITDA, despite the limitations posed by the current NITDA Act.