Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) called for closer cooperation with the United States on data privacy and cybersecurity during a capacity-building workshop in January 2026.
NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi took part in the engagement. His remarks were reported by TVC News on January 14, citing an agency statement issued that day.
Okay News reports that the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) documented the workshop in an account dated January 12. It identified the United States Department of State and the Future of Privacy Forum as organisers of training for commission staff.
According to TVC’s account, Inuwa said cooperation on privacy, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity depended on public confidence in how information was handled. He called for international partnerships that would also develop Nigerian technical expertise.
He described the workshop as part of continuing bilateral cooperation, rather than the announcement of a new agreement.
NDPC National Commissioner Vincent Olatunji delivered welcome remarks. The commission said discussions covered the relationship between data-protection law and artificial intelligence governance, as well as international data transfers and regulatory priorities.
A session introducing the United States-Nigeria Data Protection Project was moderated by Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna, the Future of Privacy Forum’s vice-president for global privacy.
The panellists included Babatunde Bamigboye, head of the NDPC’s legal, enforcement and regulations department, and Aryeh Ness, a senior adviser on digital policy and data governance at the US Department of State.
