Folarin Kehinde, Abuja
The Program Officer, Paradigm Initiative, Ihueze Nwobilor has urged the federal government to immediately pass the data protection bill to ensure data accountability and security.
Nwobilor while speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the 5th edition of the New Media, Citizens and Governance conference tagged ‘Protecting Digital Rights in Closing Spaces’ government should Pass the Data Protection Bill to and laws to prosecute offenders.
Nwobilor explained that one of the greatest challenges that Nigerians are facing today is if ones privacy is bridged, we don’t have the laws even when you catch those that bridged that privacy, we don’t have enabling laws to prosecute them.
“What we are talking about is to put the legal framework that can hold every player in the area of data and security of data accountable and one way to do this is to hold the legislature and everyone in data privacy bill accountable”.
Meanwhile, Nwobilor expressed worry that the government is gradually closing the civic space through excessive regulations that stiffens peoples voices.
“We have seen that government is also bringing actions that are making these spaces we are seeing that they are opening now to be closing through censorship, regulating and over regulating the media space”.
“We are not against regulating what happens on social media”.
“But when regulations becomes excessive, so you find out that it is tantamount to stiffening people’s voices”.
However, he charged that even citizens said they have their rights there is a limitation to the right and should not be abused.
Iyanuoluwa Bolarinwa speaking on behalf of budgiT stated that the conference aim at understanding the intricacies of new media, government and the country how Nigerians are using these platforms to democratize their voices.
Bolarinwa added that the question everybody needs to answer is to know how much data assets we have and how we can bridge the gap between citizens and the government and to make sure that government in the real sense represent the citizens and is able to give answers to citizens when questions are asked.