The National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji, delivered a lecture at the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC) Cybersecurity Awareness Week, 2024. The lecture was titled “Youths and Data Privacy: Educating the Next Generation of Digital Citizens.”
During his presentation, Dr Olatunji noted that 83 million Nigerian youths have access to the internet, hence, the growing importance of data protection and privacy, as well as the need to develop requisite skills in the data protection ecosystem.
He outlined the rights of data subjects which include consent, the rights to be informed, access, rectification, portability and erasure amongst others while their responsibilities include exercising their rights, security precautions, reading privacy policies, staying informed, and reporting breaches of personal data to the Commission.
Dr Olatunji also discussed NDPC’s efforts to invest in Nigerian youth by partnering with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development to train 5,000 young people in data privacy and protection. He further highlighted the domestication of data protection certification, allowing Nigerian youths to become data protection experts with reduced costs, payable in local currency (Naira). He encouraged Nigerian youths to seize employment opportunities within the data protection ecosystem and stressed the importance of educating young Nigerians on data privacy and responsible technology use to build a secure digital future.
