The Federal Government and relevant authorities have been cautioned against the misuse of national data to control or marginalize any segment of the citizenry.

The Honorable Chief Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission, Hon. Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf gave the charge while delivering a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the first Nigerian Data Expo and Conference 2021 held in Abuja with the theme “Data our New Oil; Working towards its growth and preservation in Nigeria, Challenges and Way forward”.

Hon. Ayo-Yusuf said national data is a sovereign asset which should be employed exclusively for the nation’s own development and not to be allowed into the hands of miscreants to be utilize for mischievous purposes. He stressed that the government needs to come up with an enabling legal framework to safeguard the use of data collated by relevant authorities.

While commending the Organizers of the Expo for putting up a three-day capacity training on data collation and management as part of the event, he urged all organizations invited for the training to make utmost use of the knowledge acquired to identify their challenges, find solutions and keep track of their activities.

Earlier in a keynote address, the representative of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami thanked Losafe Nigeria; conveners of the Expo and their sponsors for the initiative and called for is sustenance. He stated that the Country has since identified the importance of data to its development and has been working hard to harness its benefits.

Emma Ugboaja