The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has granted the Institute of Information Management (IIM) a licence to conduct examinations and certify data protection professionals for global competitiveness.

The national commissioner of NDPC, Vincent Olatunji, who said this on Monday while presenting a licence to IIM in Abuja, said this was part of the commission’s measures to implement Executive Orders 003 and 005.

Mr Olatunji added that certifying data protection professionals in the country would reduce capital flight, create over 500,000 jobs in the sector and encourage more people to be certified.

“Most of us who are certified data protection officers have international certifications; we paid some dollars to write exams and maintain the certificates.

“We are trying to domesticate this in Nigeria by having a national certification process.

“Looking at our population, we need over 500,000 certified data protection officers. We cannot afford to allow capital flight in this area,” he said.

The national commissioner also said the commission was considering adopting the licence across Africa.

“We are looking at how this initiative will become a pan-African initiative, whereby data professionals have the national certification we have in Nigeria and can also practice in any part of Africa.

“It is a way of creating jobs for our people, reducing capital flight, and developing global human capital in the data protection ecosystem.

“We have also gone further to develop the training model that is unique to us, and that is what all the trainers in Nigeria will be using,” Mr Olatunji said.

He added that the licencing would also create jobs for already licenced data protection compliance organisations (DPCOs), who would be accredited to train prospective professionals to sit for data protection examinations.

According to him, the national data protection certification will be a historic legacy that transcends administrations and meets global standards.

Oyedokun Oyewole, president of the Institute of Information Management, recalled that the certification process commenced in 2021.

He said the licence would bridge the gap in the data protection ecosystem.

Mr Oyewole assured Nigerians of the institute’s commitment to being the best in the country’s education system for data protection.

(NAN)