The National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji, received a delegation from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), led by the National Coordinator on Immigration and Border Governance at the IOM, Mrs Emiola Oke, during a working visit to the NDPC headquarters in Abuja.
During the meeting, Mrs Oke introduced their new project, Capacity. The project aims to enhance identity management, document verification, and policy development capabilities, while promoting safe, orderly, and regular migration. She noted that the implementation of the project involves processing large volumes of personal data, thereby necessitating strict compliance with data protection and privacy standards. Consequently, the IOM requested a capacity-building workshop for officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), particularly those at the Command and Control Centre and the Passenger Information Unit.
In his remarks, Dr Olatunji expressed the Commission’s readiness to collaborate with the IOM to ensure the protection of Nigerians’ personal data. He emphasised the critical importance of understanding and implementing data protection and privacy principles—especially in the immigration sector, which manages substantial amounts of personal information daily. He also underscored the need for organisations involved in such processes to appoint Data Protection Officers (DPOs), outlining their key responsibilities and the requirements for the role.
Mrs Oke shared an instance where a foreign country inquired about Nigeria’s adequacy in data protection before engaging with the country. This underscores the significance of the training, and she requested that it be extended to state command officers of the NIS. Dr Olatunji assured the team that the NDPC would provide the training, which will also help build trust and confidence in Nigeria’s data protection system.
