 President Balatunegu on Monday signed the Data Protection Bill into law. The Nigerian Data Protection Act of 2003 provides a legal framework for the protection of personal information and the practice of data protection in Nigeria. National Commission on Nigerian Data Protection Bureau, NDPB Dr. Vicente Balatunegu said these are the NDPD strategic roadmap and action plan SRAP validation workshop in Abuja. The bill was sent to the Senate and House of Representatives for consideration and passage on Tuesday, April 4, 2023 via letter from former President Mohamed Buhari. The commission will be led by a national commissioner with the responsibility of regulating the processing of personal information. I will now be joined by Okbeyemi Tomori, president, private telecommunications and communications senior staff association of Nigeria. Good evening Okbeyemi. Good evening. In Leslie Moth, we've seen the swearing, of course, since the swearing in of Balatunegu as president. We've seen subsidy gone, multiple exchange rates gone, electricity bill signed, education loan bill signed, and now the data protection bill has been signed. Does this bill worth celebrating? And if yes, what does it portend for the average Nigerian? Thank you very much. As it is right now, we know that for a long time before now in Nigeria, data protection has been something of very great importance and has been practiced in so many strata companies, both Nigeria companies and other global companies as well who reside in Nigeria. Data protection has been one of the things that's been so important and people have been compliant. But right now what it means is that even though some people take it for granted and information leakages happens once and I mean sometimes, but now based on what the president have signed into law, people will be held responsible for when this happens, and you can actually take people under the legal laws of the country and hold them accountable when such happens. So as it is right now, much more attention will be paid to data protection in Nigeria because there is a commission to oversee what is happening, how people do it, how personal information is accessed, how it is being stored and how it is being processed. How significant is this signing of the data protection law? How significant is it? Yes, as I mentioned, this is something that makes people sit up. So companies that are actually using this on a daily basis like banks, telecom companies that uses personal information and acquires them now have to pay so much attention to how this is being protected. Before now, the board have also been doing a lot of work to ensure that this happens but right now they have punitive powers based on this law. Now with this new law, would you say the issue of cyber threats and hacks would be reduced significantly? Not reduced, but it gets more difficult for those that have practiced this inglorious act and it will not be free day for people who try to get this personal information for their own personal use anymore. There will be much more attention paid to information security and also information will not just be requested anyhow because whoever requests information right now needs to also pay attention to how it is being processed, how it is being stored and whatever you need those information for have to be genuine. So yes, this will make it more difficult for these people to get bad people to get your data, to get these personal information but yes, this is not something that will confidently go away. We still have it happening also. Okay, let's look at the digital economy. How does this benefit the digital economy? Yes, the digital economy is based on data, data transfer, data sharing. So now that we have a legal framework to guide how this is being handled and it guides all the players in the industry, also there will be a lot more attention paid by even those individuals that supplies their information. So right from when the information is generated to how it is being stored and who has access to it is what we, the digital economy as you know is focused on how to provide access, to share the time and almost read time and make connectivity so easy for everyone. So in the course of doing this, we need to focus on the security aspect. So security aspect right now is going to be a very big business for everyone. So we also on our part are looking forward to this coming into play and as the president have already said, yes, this is likely and definitely going to generate more work on the labor aspect of it. Okay, good. Before we go, in the wake of privacy violations and data breaches, how far do you think this act will help in enhancing our customer trust? Okay, you know when there are commissions that look into it, for example you have commissions that guides the telecoms industry, NCC, now there is a commission that looks into this. So it makes it a very serious business now for everyone and every time someone needs to go into a business that pertains, I mean that entails you having personal information of people, then there will be a form of certification and licensing that will start happening in this aspect for compliance. Thank you so much. I may start by having some more info giving you all your time this evening. Thank you. Thank you.