President Muhammadu Buhari says that the Federal Government has achieved 100 per cent broadband penetration across Nigeria.

The president said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a Digital Economy Conference tagged: “Promoting a Vibrant Digital Economy, A Catalyst for Economic Growth in Nigeria”.

According to reports, the conference was organised by the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).

Represented by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isah Patami, the President said the figure was contrary to reports that the country had achieved 43 per cent penetration only.

According to him, reports on 43 per cent penetration is obsolete.

“One of the richest persons in the world announced that Nigeria out of the 54 African countries has outstanding broadband.

“As I speak to you today the broadband penetration in Nigeria is 100 per cent,” Buhari said.

He said that the Federal Government performed excellently in terms of achieving wider broadband for Nigerians.

According to him, from 23 per cent coverage in 2019, this administration increased the broadband by 77 per cent in 2022 and 100 per cent in 2023.

“As at today, the broadband can be accessed everywhere in the country whether in the urban area, rural area or desert.

“We are the first African country to attain this and the only one so far,” the President said.

Buhari further said the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy had been rated very high by an independent assessment.

He said, “70 per cent is distinction and the digital sector has surpassed it.

“We delivered excellently in all the eight priority areas in the sector.

“For instance on pillar number one, which is broadband penetration, we achieved 134 per cent,  pillar number two, which is 4G penetration, we achieved 127 per cent.

“Furthermore, we delivered 99 per cent on the third pillar, the fourth pillar, which has to do with national identity, we achieved 94 per cent.

“On the fifth pillar which is quarterly revenue generation, we moved from generating N51 billion in three months to N408 billion in three months”.

The President further said, “on the sixth pillar we achieved 103 per cent result, seventh pillar we achieved 111 per cent and the eight pillar we achieved 137 per cent.”

On call by the President of NACCIMA for inclusion of the organised private sector in the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the president said the provision had been made.

He asked NACCIMA to forward the names of their representatives for consideration.

Ide Udeagbala, National President of NACCIMA, said the conference was to among other things promote the technology ecosystem in Nigeria and establish potentials of the digital economy for job creation.

He also said the conference was being organised to identify the opportunities that existed in the technology industry and grow them by attracting local and foreign investments to Nigeria.

Udeagbala further said the conference would help identify challenges impeding development of the technology industry and encourage government to enunciate policies that would build on existing laws among others.

He said part of the discussions at the conference would also centre around establishing digital hubs in the six geo-political zones.

This according to him will give opportunities to the rural areas, promote start-ups and encourage innovations in the industry while discovering technology savvy experts.

The Federal Government has unveiled plans to train 250,000 data protection officers on enhanced management of data across organisations to safeguard the privacy of citizens.

Dr Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau, (NDPB) made this known during a capacity building workshop for data protection officers in the public sector, in Abuja.

He said that there is need for data protection officers operating in the public sector to understand the difference between data security and data privacy as they carry out their duties.

He bemoaned the poor statistics of data expert operating in Nigeria, adding that the Bureau would not relent in its drive to build capacities and train data protection officers in the country.

“We will develop a pool of competent data protection experts in the country. This is first set of data protection observers that we are training so far.

“We have gone round ministries and parastatals, we have trained them. We have done for the Attorney-General office, we have done for NTA, we have done for VON, we have done for Federal Polytechnic Nekede, we are working with the office of the secretary general to conduct their own.

“We are also working with the Federal Ministry of Health. We are pulling different people from ministries and departments and this is the first batch and I want to really congratulate all of them.

“Data privacy protection ecosystem is still emerging globally.

“In Nigeria the number of data processors and controllers that we have identified are over 500,000 and by our own estimates, those who are experts are not up to 10, 000, so there is a huge gap of over 490, 000 jobs available,” he said.

For his part, the Head, Legal Enforcement and Regulations, NDPB, Babatunde Bamigboye, said that the training is part of its activities to commemorate this year’s Data Privacy Day, celebrated yearly on Jan. 28.

Bamigboye said that the training which would be in series, is aimed at ensuring that the officers are placed at per with their counterparts in the western world.

On enforcement mechanisms to checkmate data breach on data protection by any organisation, he said that the Bureau would continue to create awareness and build capacities of data protection officers in the country.

“The bureau is currently investigating two banks because of data privacy issues. We realize that it is possible that organisations could have data privacy or protection policies at the very top.

“Sometimes they have third parties and these policies do not go down the strata. We have enforcement, though it is an emerging thing but we still have to create awareness even though ignorance of the law is not an excuse,” he said.

A participant, Patrick Odeh, from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) appreciated the Bureau for the training, adding that the knowledge gained from the training would make them more effective as they handle data issues.

“I believe that what NDPB is trying to do is to ensure that we understand what it takes to be able to manage our records, manage the data, and also put the subject data into consideration,” he said.