…Urges MDAs To Strengthen Cybersecurity
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to adopt a coordinated and proactive approach to safeguarding government digital infrastructure against the growing threat of cyberattacks.
The appeal was made at the opening of a two-day Cybersecurity Workshop for MDAs, themed “Securing Government Digital Infrastructure through Capacity Building.”
The Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, who was represented by the Assistant Director of the Agency’s Cybersecurity Department, Dr. Ayodele Bakare, said the workshop was timely given the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber threats targeting government systems.
Inuwa noted that cyber incidents such as website defacement, ransomware attacks, data breaches and the misuse of personal information now pose significant risks to governance, public trust and national development, saying government digital platforms, which millions of Nigerians rely on daily, have become attractive targets for cybercriminals.
“We have watched websites of government organisations defaced, hijacked and quietly redirected to gambling sites. We have seen coordinated ransomware attacks force government web portals to shut down and witnessed repeated attacks on government databases leading to data exfiltration and abuse of personal data,” he said.
Citing the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Cybercrime Assessment for Nigeria, Inuwa said Nigeria ranks among Africa’s three most targeted countries due to its expanding digital economy and growing cyberattack surface. He also referenced the Lloyd Cybersecurity Outlook, which estimated that cybercrime cost Nigeria more than $3 billion between 2019 and 2025.
He stressed that every government digital service represents a promise of efficiency, transparency and accessibility, but warned that these benefits can only be sustained if the underlying systems are secure.
According to him, today’s cyber threats are driven by organised and well-funded actors who exploit weaknesses across institutions, making collaboration among MDAs essential.
“A weakness in one MDA becomes a doorway into another. Our defences cannot be fragmented. Cybersecurity in government is a shared national obligation, and we are only as strong as our least protected system,” he said.
Reaffirming NITDA’s commitment to strengthening national cyber resilience, the DG highlighted the Agency’s Computer Emergency Response and Readiness Team (CERRT) as the government’s first point of contact during cyber incidents.
He, however, emphasised that the ultimate goal is to prevent attacks through continuous risk assessments, effective governance frameworks, policy implementation, awareness campaigns, technical safeguards, incident response planning and sustained capacity building.
Inuwa also underscored the critical role of personnel in protecting government systems, describing employees as the “human firewall.”
“No firewall or technical control can replace an informed, alert and security-conscious workforce. That is what we refer to as the human firewall,” he said.
He encouraged participants to make the most of the workshop, describing it as a platform for practical learning, intelligence sharing and collaborative problem-solving through discussions and real-life case studies.
He also disclosed that attendees would be the first external stakeholders to review NITDA’s draft Regulatory Guidelines for Government Information Security Management before wider stakeholder consultations.
Urging participants to openly discuss the cybersecurity challenges facing their organisations, Inuwa said sharing experiences would help other agencies strengthen their defences against emerging threats.
Concluding his address, he said Nigeria’s digital transformation presents enormous opportunities that can only be fully realised if the country’s digital infrastructure is adequately protected.
“Nigeria’s digital future is not a threat to be feared. It is an opportunity to be secured. Securing it is precisely the duty we have gathered here to take up together,” he said.
