FEDERAL MINISTRY OF ART AND CULTURE COMMITS TO DATA PROTECTION REFORMS TO SECURE NIGERIA’S CREATIVE ECONOMY
The Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, FMACTCE, has committed to implement reforms to safeguard its data infrastructure following a comprehensive Gap Analysis, saying data protection is key to securing Nigeria’s creative economy.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Abdulkarim Ibrahim, stated this in Abuja recently at a one-day Stakeholders’ Engagement on Data Protection Compliance. He was represented by the Director, Legal Services, Barr. Peter Mbam.
Ibrahim said the engagement was a strategic step toward securing the foundation of Nigeria’s cultural and creative assets in line with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda to position Nigeria as a global hub for art, tourism and creative enterprise.
He noted that global competitiveness in the 21st century depends on trust, and that trust is built on robust information security and compliance with data privacy laws.
“Compliance is not a static destination, it is a shared culture,” he said. “We cannot build an impenetrable information security system in isolation, which is why this engagement is vital. It is designed to share findings openly, gather your technical expertise and harmonise our security standards across all partner agencies and private sector stakeholders.”
To achieve this, Ibrahim said the Ministry initiated a Gap Analysis to evaluate its operational processes against two benchmarks: the ISO/IEC 27001 standard for Information Security Management Systems, and the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
According to Amadi Uloma, the Ministry’s Head of Press & Public Relations, he described the analysis as “an honest, transparent look in the mirror” to identify where the Ministry’s digital infrastructure is resilient and where it must urgently improve, especially as the Ministry transitions from paper to a paperless system.
“When communication becomes digital, information security and data privacy are no longer optional, they are the bedrock of institutional trust,” he added. “As a Ministry that handles high volumes of sensitive personal and strategic data from tourist profiles to intellectual property registrations, we cannot afford vulnerabilities.”
The Permanent Secretary assured that the Ministry would implement every recommendation from the process and would drive the reforms under the core principles of transparency, accountability, efficiency and strict adherence to the law.
Earlier, the Head of ICT, Mrs Agnes Mokoko, said the session provided an opportunity to assess current processes, identify challenges, and collectively determine gaps that must be addressed to improve service delivery.
She added that the exercise would provide insights to develop practical strategies to strengthen the Ministry’s digital systems and support its digital transformation objectives.
The event had in attendance Directors of the Ministry, representatives of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, technical partners, consultants, system auditors and industry stakeholders
