ON Friday, May 10, 2013, the Nigerian First Lady and
President, African First Ladies Peace Mission, Dame (Dr) Patience Goodluck
Jonathan, was appointed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as
its Child Online Protection (COP) Champion, at a meeting she held in Abuja with
representatives of ITU Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré, the Director
of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, Mr. Brahima Sanou, where they
discussed issues related to cyber threats and cyber security in the Africa
region.
According to Dr. Touré, “Her commitment is further
confirmation of the key role that ITU is playing as a global catalyst and
facilitator in international dialogue and cooperation in the area of cyber
security.”
Mr. Sanou, in the company of Datuk Mohd Noor Amin,
Chairman of the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats
(IMPACT), ITU’s executing arm for cyber security, and Andrew Rugege, ITU
Regional Director for Africa, described the appointment of Dame Patience as
ITU’s COP champion as a great honour to Africa and Nigeria precisely.
“Her commitment is further confirmation of the key role
that ITU is playing as a global catalyst and facilitator in international
dialogue and cooperation in the area of cyber security,” he said.
The COP framework, he said, has become a crucial means of
creating a safe environment for our children while they are on the Internet,
stressing that both ITU and IMPACT have faith in Her Excellency’s ability to
spread this message and push for reforms not only in the Africa region but
across the globe.
Datuk Mohd Noor Amin said Dame Jonathan, who has won
numerous accolades for her charitable work involving women and children, would
be the perfect advocate for ITU’s Child Online Protection initiative, declaring
“Her Excellency is both a progressive leader and renowned humanitarian, and is
the ideal candidate to help ITU-IMPACT in its mission to push for COP awareness
and the need for national online protection frameworks to protect and support
the younger generations online.”
An outcome of that meeting was the consent of the Federal
Government to host the ITU’s Regional Cyber security Centre in Nigeria, which
is part of the International ITU and IMPACT collaboration on cyber security.
This centre, Sanou said, would play an essential role in
supporting the expansion of ITU-IMPACT’s network globally, by localizing cyber
security services to meet the unique needs of the region.
The proposed Regional centre would become a vital hub of
expertise and constitute an important component of the multi-stakeholder
network that must be built to support government, industry and citizens, so
that the full benefits of information and communications technology could be
assured for all citizens.
Sanou noted that the Centre, while acting as a catalyst
for greater regional collaboration to address escalating cyber threats, would
further help promote Nigeria as an advanced cyber security hub for the region.
Noteworthy is that since the Centre will be located in
Nigeria, it’s also evident that a good chunk of Nigerians will gain employment,
in addition to other adjoining jobs it will create. Therefore, it’s a welcome
development and should be encouraged by way of federal government ensuring that
the cyber security law scale through the national assembly.
This has become imperative given that in the event of
executing cyber security related cases, a country that prides itself like
Nigeria as a regional hub for cyber security and cyberthreats should as a
matter of urgency have an enabling legislation, especially on child online
protection, to give credence for the location of such a hub in her domain.
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