FG generates N325m, creates 10,123 jobs through data protection

THE Federal Government, through the Nigeria Data Protection Commission ( NDPC), created 10,123 new jobs in 2023.

According to NDPC, this was through the various activities in the country’s data protection industry.

The Commission in its yearly Data Protection Report released at the weekend, said the number of jobs created in 2023 saw a 5.7 per cent increase when compared with the 9,577 jobs created in 2022.

In the report, NDPC reported that it increased compliance revenue from N94.4 million in 2022 to N325 million. It added that the number of verified Data

Protection Officers increased from 1, 928 in 2022 to 1,955 in 2023. It said the number of investigations rose from 117 in 2022 to 177 in 2023, among others.

According to NDPC, the 2023 data protection cumulative revenue rose to N6.2 billion as against N5.5 billion in

2022. The report stated that other areas where the rates increased included the Compliance Audit Report which recorded 3,451 reports from 2022 to 2023, against 1,864 from 2020 to 2021.

Commenting on the report, the Head of Legal, Enforcement, and Regulations of NDPC, Babatunde Bamigboye, described the successes of the commission as most remarkable.

“The NDPA laid the foundation for data privacy and protection in the country we are putting together the general application and implementation directive for the Nigeria Data Protection Act ( NDPA)

“We have also improved on our auditing. So, many organizations are beginning to file audit reports with us and we have been admitted into the Global Privacy Assembly ( GPA).

“The court also is beginning to recognise the importance of adequacy in terms of cross- border data transfer and we are happy that the ecosystem is evolving and getting stronger,’’ he said.

He explained that as a member of GPA, the country could get mutual legal assistance on enforcement, capacity building, information sharing, and intergovernmental collaboration.

Some other achievements, he added, were the launch of Nigeria Data Protection Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2023 - 2027, and commencement of bilateral cooperation with other jurisdictions, issuance of the

Data Protection Compliance Organisations code of conduct.

Indeed, as of the time the Nigeria Data Protection Bill was signed into law last June, the National Commissioner of the NDPC, Dr. Vincent Olatunji said that the industry had contributed N5.5 billion to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product ( GDP). With the Act in Place, Olatunji declared that the industry’s contribution to the GDP would jump.