The Academy to begin courses in privacy, data protection

The Privacy Academy has concluded plans to kick start an exceptional training on privacy and data protection in Nigeria that is in tandem with the regulations and laws in the country.

Uche Val Obi, chairman of The Academy, who addressed newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, said the multi-hybrid certification training was meant to bridge the gap, institutionalise and provide excellent training on privacy and data protection in the country.

“The Academy is poised to offer multi-hybrid certification training to persons interested in learning and upskilling in Nigeria’s privacy and data protection law and practice. The bespoke courses are designed to educate participants on varying areas of data protection and privacy in Nigeria,” he said.

Obi said the training was relevant to students, lawyers, judges, business owners, data subjects, and data controllers, among others.

“The faculty is drawn from local and foreign researchers. Law firms, auditors, scholars, and data entrepreneurs should be interested,” he said.

Olumide Babalola, director of The Academy, said the concept of the academy was to develop a special curriculum on data protection that was in line with Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR). Besides, it is to build a company of privacy professionals and stakeholders on issues of privacy and data protection in the country.

“The Academy has come to fill the gap of standardised privacy certification in the country. This is a Nigerian complaint in Nigeria law and European data protection,” he said.

The NDPR ensures that Nigerian businesses remain competitive in international trade through the safeguards afforded by a sound data protection regulation. The regulation applies to all storage and processing of personal data conducted in respect of Nigerian citizens and residents.

The objectives of the regulation are as follows: to safeguard the rights of natural persons to data privacy; to foster safe conduct for transactions involving the exchange of personal data

To prevent manipulation of personal data, and to ensure that Nigerian businesses remain competitive in international trade through the safeguards afforded by a sound data protection regulation,” he said.