The Nigeria Data Protection Commission has said Nigeria requires about 480,000 Data Protection Officers (DPOs) to meet the growing demand driven by the expansion of the country’s digital economy.
The National Commissioner of the Commission, Dr Vincent Olatunji, made this known on Monday in Abuja at the opening of a one-week training programme for the second cohort of the DPOs Training and Certification initiative.
He noted that while progress has been made in building data protection capacity over the past three years, the current number of certified professionals remains far below what is needed to effectively regulate the sector.
According to him, the surge in digital adoption has led to an increasing number of data controllers and processors, widening the gap in professional oversight.
“We have identified over 500,000 data controllers and processors who require the services of data protection officers.
At the moment, we have about 10,000 certified DPOs to work in that space. The gap of about 480,000 still exists, which underscores the need for sustained capacity building,” Olatunji said.
He explained that the Commission is scaling up training and certification efforts to close the gap and strengthen Nigeria’s data protection ecosystem.
“Our goal is to make Nigeria the go-to country when it comes to sourcing qualified data protection officers in Africa.
The certification we offer meets global standards, enabling practitioners to operate not just locally but globally,” he added.
Olatunji further said the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s drive to create jobs and deepen the digital economy.
Earlier, the Head of Research and Development at NDPC, Dr Tolu Fadipe, stressed the importance of data protection in sustaining digital innovation and economic growth.“As we move towards a digital economy, data becomes central and protecting that data is essential.
This training is designed to build competence and ensure organisations comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Act,” she said.
Also speaking, privacy and cybersecurity consultant, Ms Adeola Sopade, who served as head trainer, said the programme would equip participants with both theoretical and practical skills needed for certification.
She added that trainees would be guided from basic awareness to advanced application, including handling data access requests and understanding legal bases for data collection.
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