The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to adopt a unified and proactive cybersecurity strategy to safeguard Nigeria’s government digital infrastructure from the growing menace of cyberattacks.
The appeal was made during 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 Agency’s Assistant Director of Cybersecurity, Dr. Ayodele Bakare, stressed that protecting public digital assets has become a national priority as cyber threats continue to evolve in scale and sophistication.
Addressing participants, Inuwa noted that cybercriminals are increasingly targeting government digital platforms through website defacements, ransomware attacks, data breaches and the exploitation of citizens’ personal information. He warned that such incidents pose significant risks to governance, public confidence and Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
“Government digital platforms serve millions of Nigerians daily and have become attractive targets for cybercriminals. We have witnessed government websites being hijacked and redirected to gambling sites, ransomware attacks shutting down public portals, and repeated breaches resulting in the theft and abuse of sensitive data,” he said.
The NITDA boss cited findings from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Cybercrime Assessment for Nigeria, which ranks Nigeria among Africa’s three most targeted countries due to its rapidly expanding digital economy. He also referenced the Lloyd Cybersecurity Outlook, which estimates that cybercrime cost Nigeria over $3 billion between 2019 and 2025.
According to him, every digital service offered by government represents a commitment to transparency, efficiency and accessibility, but such promises can only be fulfilled when the supporting digital infrastructure is secure.
He warned that cyber threats are no longer isolated incidents but are orchestrated by organised and well-funded actors capable of exploiting vulnerabilities across multiple institutions.
“A weakness in one MDA can become an entry point into another. Our cybersecurity architecture cannot afford to be fragmented. Government cybersecurity is a shared national responsibility, and we are only as strong as our least protected system,” he stated.
Reaffirming NITDA’s commitment to enhancing national cyber resilience, Inuwa highlighted the Agency’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT) as the government’s frontline response mechanism for cyber incidents. However, he emphasised that preventing attacks remains far more effective than responding after systems have been compromised.
He explained that achieving a robust cybersecurity posture requires continuous risk assessments, effective governance structures, policy implementation, technical safeguards, regular awareness campaigns, incident response planning and sustained capacity development.
The NITDA DG also underscored the critical role of human capacity in cybersecurity, describing government personnel as the first line of defence against cyber threats.
“No firewall or technology can replace an informed, vigilant and security-conscious workforce. That is the essence of what we call the human firewall,” he said.
Encouraging participants to take full advantage of the workshop, Inuwa described it as more than a training exercise, saying it would provide opportunities for practical learning, intelligence sharing and collaborative problem-solving through discussions and analysis of real-life cyber incidents affecting public institutions.
He further revealed that participants would become the first external stakeholder group to review and contribute to NITDA’s draft Regulatory Guidelines for Government Information Security Management before the document is released for wider stakeholder consultations.
Calling for open engagement throughout the workshop, he urged participants to candidly discuss cybersecurity challenges within their respective organisations, noting that shared experiences could help prevent similar incidents across government institutions.
“Ask difficult questions and openly share the security concerns within your organisations because your experiences may help another agency strengthen its own cyber resilience,” he advised.
Inuwa concluded by reaffirming that Nigeria’s digital transformation should be embraced as an opportunity for national development, provided the country’s digital assets remain adequately protected.
“Nigeria’s digital future is not a threat to be feared. It is an opportunity to be secured. Protecting that future is the collective responsibility we have come together to fulfil,” he said.
The two-day workshop is expected to strengthen cybersecurity capacity across MDAs, foster greater inter-agency collaboration and reinforce Nigeria’s collective cyber resilience as part of NITDA’s broader commitment to building a secure, trusted and resilient digital ecosystem.
