The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has kicked off a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Education to improve data protection and privacy compliance in schools across the country.
The initiative was highlighted during a working visit to the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, by the NDPC’s National Commissioner and CEO, Vincent Olatunji, with the Minister of State, Dr. Suwaiba Said Ahmad, also in attendance.
During the visit, Dr. Olatunji emphasized the growing importance of data protection as Nigeria transitions toward a digital economy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He highlighted the benefits of compliance for institutions, including global acceptance, accountability, and better governance.
The NDPC chief noted that compliance in the education sector remains low and outlined initiatives to raise awareness.
These include the Digital Privacy Awareness Campaign, Data Privacy Clubs in universities, the Secondary School Data Challenge, and the Adopt-A-School initiative, which reached about 8,000 students during National Privacy Week. He encouraged the Minister to leverage his office to ensure wider compliance across the sector.
Dr. Alausa praised Dr. Olatunji’s commitment, noting that data protection has often been treated lightly. He reiterated the President’s vision of producing 50 million digitally literate citizens, stressing that data protection must be central to this goal.
He also pledged to improve awareness and ensure compliance within the Ministry.As part of the collaboration, the NDPC offered free induction training for Ministry staff, access to Virtual Privacy Academy (VPA) vouchers, and potential participation in its free certification programme.
A working group was established to oversee the next steps in implementing these initiatives.