The National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji, received a delegation from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), led by its Secretary-General, Prof Andrew Haruna.
Stating the reason for the visit, Prof Haruna said data protection is essential in the digital world we live in. He noted that universities handle sensitive information, ranging from student records to research data and financial details of both students and employees. He added that they were at the Commission to continue collaborating with it until compliance is entrenched in every sector of university administration.
In his response, Dr Olatunji congratulated Prof Haruna on his recent appointment as CVCNU Secretary-General and commended his team for continuing the collaboration between the NDPC and the CVCNU. He reiterated that universities deal with a lot of sensitive information that must be protected. He said that there was no better way to have data protection and privacy enshrined in the university system than for Vice-Chancellors, who lead these institutions, to be familiar with the ecosystem.
He added that universities, as data controllers of major importance, should appoint Data Protection Officers (DPOs) and also have privacy policies that reflect measures put in place to secure personal data. He offered to re-train the CVCNU members, including Professors and principal officers.
