The National Commissioner of the NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, made the presentation of the 40-page Igbo version of the NDP Act on Thursday in Enugu.
Represented by NDPC Director, Ms Sanni Fatima, the NDPC boss noted that the move to create indigenous languages version of the act was to ensure its accessibility, readability and popularity.
He said, “The NDP Act, signed into law in 2023 by His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, establishes the framework for protecting and lawfully processing personal data in Nigeria.
“To promote inclusivity and accessibility, the Act has been translated into the three major Nigerian languages: Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo to ensure that every citizen can understand their rights and obligations under the law.”
Speaking at the presentation, Dr Ivan Anya, the National Chairman of Association of Licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisation, said the Act was meant to protect all Nigerians against data theft, manipulation and invasion.
Anya said that the Act provided penalty against data breach and ensuring accountability from all data officers, handlers, organizations and systems, thus, ensuring no one suffered any loss due to data breach.
He stressed the need for states to domesticate the NDP Act for the overall protection of their people as well as ensure that residents did not fall prey to scammers and digital fraud syndicates.
The national chairman also urged youths to take advantage of huge skill gap and job opportunities in being a certified and licensed data protection officers, which the commission and the association had been championing.
Anya, who is the Managing Director of Business Intelligence Technology Limited, noted that the Federal Government had authorised Institute of Information Management to certify and license Data Protection Officers while his association facilitated the training.
“Nigerians should be mindful and careful to whom they give out their personal information to and must understand the purpose and limit of use of their personal data, any individual or organisation,” he warned.
The presentation was attended by tech-innovation professionals and companies, data handling and management professionals, bank staff and NYSC members among others.
