The National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji, delivered the opening remarks at the official movie premiere of the Virtual Privacy Academy (VPA), organised by the NDPC in partnership with Mastercard and Quadcore Technologies, held at Landmark Centre, Lagos.
During his speech, he noted that the privacy ecosystem has evolved over time, and appreciated all the partners that have worked with the Commission to get this far, emphasising that the Nigeria data protection ecosystem has been recognised as one of the best globally. He added that one of the Commission’s initiatives is the VPA in partnership with Mastercard, and gave a brief overview of the platform, as a self-paced Nollywood-styled learning platform.
Dr Olatunji noted that the VPA is the first of its kind in the global data protection ecosystem, giving individuals the foundation of privacy. He highlighted some of the modules in the training, including the definition of privacy, principles and bases of data protection as well as rights of data subjects and obligations of data controllers and processors, among others. He added that the next stage after VPA for participants is to become a Certified Data Protection Officer (CDPO). He highlighted the Commission’s domestication of the certification process, to further create a globally competitive pool of experts in Nigeria.
The National Commissioner added that over 66,000 individuals have been onboarded in Nigeria, including several organisations from the public and private sectors who have onboarded their staff. He urged other organisations and individuals to embrace the initiative, to further make privacy a culture in Nigeria.
The movie premiere also featured a panel session, which brought together representatives of organisations that have onboarded their staff on the platform to share their experiences. The panellists included the State Coordinator, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Gbolahan Oluwatobiloba; VP/Senior Managing Counsel, Privacy, AI and Data Responsibility, Mastercard (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa), Femi Daniels; DPO of Zenith Bank, Alero Onwubuya; Compliance Officer, AXA Mansard & AXA OneLife, Oyindamola Akinjuku; and DPO of Airtel Nigeria, Moyosore Adesanya.
The movie premiere was attended by representatives from stakeholders in the data protection ecosystem, bank executives, DPOs, Chief Compliance Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Security, among others.
