In order to forestall possible external onslaught on the Nigeria’s cyber space and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) architecture, the Senate and stakeholders in the digital sector have concluded plans to propose bill to domesticate Nigeria ICT facilities.
The conclusion was reached yesterday in Abuja at the end of a four-day international legislative-stakeholders conference on digital technology and cyber security convened by the Senate Committee on Information and Communication Technology/Cybercrime.
The chairman, Senate Committee on ICT/Cybercrime and Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Senator Yakubu Oseni observed with nostalgia that the database of most of the Nigeria’s organizations are being managed by ICT experts domiciled in other countries, noting that such arrangement is highly susceptible to attack.
Other stakeholders who concurred with the lawmaker hinted that most Nigerian banks and government agencies using foreign software for their daily operations are not only vulnerable to attacks but detrimental to national security especially in times of unavoidable frosty diplomatic ties.
One of the participants queried “What if Nigeria is in diplomatic crises with that country that hosts our data. What it means is that the whole banking system and our government institutions will crash.”
The highlight of the four-day international conference was the award of investitures to appreciate and honour entities that have immensely contributed to digital technology development and training programme which was meant to create awareness and build capacity in ICT and digital sector.
In this vein, Kogi State and other state governments were awarded for their outstanding and progressive move towards building sustainable ICT infrastructure. Other agencies awarded were Nigeria Immigration Service, Galaxy Backbone, Federal Roads Safety Corps and others.
