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Stakeholders in Information & Record Management Call for Speedy Passage of Data Protection Law
Opinion-molders in Information and Record management sector have called on the national assembly to speedily pass the data protection law, if the country will truly make any meaningful progress.
Amb. Oyedokun Oyewole, President / Chairman Governing Council, Institute of Information Management- Africa (IIM-Africa) said this at the weekend to commemorate the International Archives Day 2018 Celebration, in Lagos.
He noted that the country lacked enabling laws that will ensure proper management of information and records.
“In Nigeria today, we don’t have data protection laws, just last week i was in the UK for Institute of Information Management Induction and a day before our induction in the UK, the UK government, reintroduce their data protection regulation, that is , the general data protection regulation.
“It came into force on May 25th, these are some of the things we as Africans should imbibe. There is need for the national assembly to speedily pass the data protection law in Nigeria”, he said.
Oyewole, decried the production and issuance of National Identity cards by the federal government without adequate laws to ensure that data captured were used for the purpose for which they are being captured.
In his words, “Over the years we have been hearing about the national identity card project, how on earth would you have such sensitive project without having enabling laws that will ensure that data, that are being captured are used for the purpose for which they said they are capturing them.
“And the usage of those data, how are they being governed, are there rules, are there specifications, are there processes, are there procedures that will ensure that your information, your data, my information , my data that are being collected are being used appropriately.
“So these are some of the several issues that are on ground that the institute is actually out to resolve because there is no government anywhere in the world that can move any country forward without recourse to quality information.
“If quality and correct information is not available, it would be difficult for government to know the number of unemployed citizen.
“It will be difficult for them to know those that are aged, it will be difficult for them to know the number of graduates we are churning out, so as to be able to adequately provide employment opportunity for them.
“It will also be difficult for government to know the infant mortality rate, health care requirements and so on and so forth.
“All of these things grossly depend on quality of information and that is why we are out, that is why we are trying to create awareness today,” he stated.
He added that, their aim is to let people know the importance of records and archives management, “because in this part of the world, people only see tangible things as physical assets , like building, vehicles , equipment and so on but information is another assets government should take seriously, they should pass all the necessary laws and make sure that people do the right things at the right time and also ensure that only trained and qualify personnel are saddle with the responsibilities of managing personal information, government information and corporate information”.
Oyewole, further explained that in a bid to sensitize citizens on the importance of proper information and record management, the institute has embarked on certification courses for citizens and professionals alike.
He said, “We offer certification courses for core information management professionals and general certification for all citizens, even the house help, the security people etc., are required to come for this program.
“It’s called General Information Management and Competence Certification (GIMC), which we developed by what we have observed in the society because information just gets to the public domain haphazardly and in order for us to nib that to ensure that people are at best in their roles and responsibilities, we decided to come up with that and it’s just a one day certification program.
“Also there are roles and responsibilities when it comes to managing the dynamics of information and also making sure that organisations, government and individuals imbibe certain standards when it comes to managing records and information,” he added.
Jummy Adetoyese Olagunju, Director Awards, Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa, said that their aim is to change people’s orientation to have the right approach to things and enable them leverage on information record management and archiving to make the country better and the world at large.
He said, “Today is international archive day and it is also a day when the IIM organise free quarterly training.
“It’s free because it’s not something you have to pay for; members come in, even people from outside come in as well and they are imparted with knowledge for free, which a lot of people pay for outside.
“So there are two things in one, first is marking the international archive day and having the quarterly training as well.
“What we are doing today will help in steering Nigeria in the right direction, because where we are presently, we are not yet there.
“That’s why in most situations, we are reactive, we react to issues, we react to national disaster, and we react to very important things.
Olagunju identified ignorance as the greatest challenge facing management of records and information in Nigeria.
“If we can take ignorance out and bring the right education for people, the challenge that was imposed years back about storage, archiving will no longer be there.
“We now have storage that can be contained in a very small midget, that could house the entire information but not many people even understand or even have the knowledge of such existence.”
The Institute also said that they have come up with Miss Archive beauty pageant in order to encourage young female folks to become members of the institute.
Chidinma Mbagwu, Project Manager, Beauty Pageant, Institute of Information Management, said that the aim of Miss Archive beauty pageant is solely to create awareness in the minds of our youths about the importance of information and record management.
She said, “Miss Archive beauty pageant is another way of attracting interest from young people and creating awareness in information and record management.
“A beauty pageant will arouse young people’s interest in becoming aware of the importance of information and record management.
Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) has dragged Tunji Bello, executive vice chairman, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), before the Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged disobedience of a subsisting court order in a legal dispute involving telecom-based lending services.
Tunji Bello, EVC, FCCPC
Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria initiated this in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/760/2026 pending before the court.
According to court documents, Bello was issued a Form 49 Notice to Show Cause, directing him to appear before the court on 22 May 2026 to explain why an order of committal should not be made against him for allegedly failing to comply with interim orders issued by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa on 15 April 2026.
The court had earlier granted interim injunctions restraining the FCCPC, its officers, agents and privies from enforcing provisions of the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 against members of WASPAN, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The restraining orders specifically barred the commission from interfering with services rendered by WASPAN members, including airtime lending, data advances and other mobile value-added services.
The orders also restrained the FCCPC from imposing sanctions, penalties or directives connected to the disputed regulations.
In the Form 49 notice dated 18 May 2026, WASPAN alleged that despite being aware of the court orders and having been served with Form 48 — the statutory notice warning against disobedience of court orders — the FCCPC and its Executive Vice Chairman allegedly continued actions contrary to the directives of the court.
The notice stated that the alleged contemnor refused to comply with the orders and had continued to deliberately defy the orders of the court.
An affidavit of service filed before the court disclosed that Form 48 was served on Bello at the FCCPC headquarters located at 23 Jimmy Carter Street, Asokoro, Abuja, on 6 May 2026.
The latest development followed earlier proceedings in which Justice Lewis-Allagoa declined an application by the FCCPC seeking to vacate the interim injunction.
The court instead directed that the substantive suit and the commission’s preliminary objection be heard together.
WASPAN is challenging the FCCPC’s authority to regulate telecom-based lending services, arguing that certain provisions of the DEON Regulations encroach on the statutory powers of the Nigerian Communications Commission to regulate telecommunications services in the country.
Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria, is the primary self-regulatory body and trade association for licensed Value-Added Service (VAS) providers and aggregators in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector
Lagos State government has raised alarm over the growing misuse of its emergency hotlines, and warned that fake calls are delaying response times and putting lives at risk.
According to the state, fake emergency calls or prank calls, account for a massive majority of distress communications—nearly 70 per cent.
This severe misuse dangerously delays response times for real emergencies like fires, crimes, and medical crises, and wastes critical first-responder resources
Olugbenga Oyerinde, commissioner for Special Duties, called the numbers (nearly seven out of every 10 calls made to Lagos emergency hotlines) deeply troubling.
The scale of the disruption has significantly affected emergency response operations, with the government disclosing that 5.47 million incoming calls went unanswered during the period under review.
The abandoned call rate climbed sharply from 9.3 per cent in January 2025 to 37.6 per cent by April 2026, suggesting worsening pressure on operators handling emergency traffic.
Officials warned that if the current trend continues, more than 7.2 million calls could go unanswered before the end of 2026
The Lagos State Command and Control Centre serves as the central coordination hub for emergency response agencies across the state, including the fire service, ambulance services, traffic management authorities and neighbourhood safety operatives.
According to the report, the sheer volume of fake and misdirected calls has forced the system to devote significant operational resources to filtering non-emergency traffic before genuine distress cases can be handled.
To address the growing burden, the ministry said it plans to introduce artificial intelligence-driven call screening technology designed to detect and filter nuisance calls before they reach human operators.
The proposed system, expected to be introduced before the end of 2026, is projected to reduce operator handling time by 35 per cent.
Other reforms outlined in the ministry’s strategic response plan include expanding agent capacity by 40 per cent, deploying automated callback systems for abandoned calls and establishing a real-time analytics dashboard for emergency response monitoring.
Yet one of the most striking figures in the report was not the 16.39 million nuisance calls, but the fact that only 39 calls were officially categorised as hoax calls requiring legal follow-up during the same period.
Google and Blackstone (BX.N), said they will form an artificial intelligence cloud business venture aimed at capitalising on an insatiable demand for AI computing services.
Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, will invest an initial $5 billion in equity to help bring 500 megawatts of data centre capacity online in 2027, with further expansion planned over time.
The U.S.-based venture will provide data centre capacity along with Google’s custom AI chips, known as Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, through a compute-as-a-service model.
The total investment value could reach $25 billion, including leverage, according to Bloomberg News.
Both companies did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the Bloomberg report. Blackstone has appointed Benjamin Sloss, a long-time Google executive, as CEO of the new venture.
Thomas Kurian, chief executive of Google Cloud, said the venture would help address growing demand for TPUs by offering organisations additional ways to access computing capacity.
Analysts and investors have said Google is taking a sizeable share of new AI-driven computing demand, supported by its business tools and custom chips that have attracted customers such as Anthropic.
“This isn’t the biggest headline number we’ve seen. But it’s a high-quality bet on sustainable growth in AI infrastructure,” said Brittain Ladd, AI and supply chain consultant at Florida-based Chang Robotics.
Blackstone has stepped up investments in AI-related infrastructure, including data centres, power generation and transmission assets.
Those investments are valuable as the AI boom pushes operators to secure long-term energy supply deals.
The new partnership reflects rising demand for AI infrastructure and the need for large-scale capital deployment, Blackstone President Jon Gray said.
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