NITDA Raises Alarm As Cybercrime Cost Nigeria $3bn. .... Pushes Unified Defence for MDAs

Representing the Director General of NITDA, Ayo Bakare delivers the opening remarks at the Two Day Cybersecurity Workshop for MDAs, underscoring the importance of strengthening cybersecurity resilience across government institutions to safeguard Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.

"No government institution can tackle the menace alone." NITDA 

.... Urges Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to adopt a coordinated cybersecurity strategy to protect critical national digital assets.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has raised fresh concerns over the growing threat of cyber attacks on government digital infrastructure, revealing that cybercrime cost Nigeria more than $3 billion between 2019 and 2025.

The agency warned that no government institution can tackle the menace alone, urging Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to adopt a coordinated cybersecurity strategy to protect critical national digital assets.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day Cybersecurity Workshop for MDAs in Abuja, the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, represented by the Assistant Director of Cybersecurity, Dr. Ayodele Bakare, said government websites, databases and digital platforms are increasingly under attack from sophisticated cybercriminals.

He disclosed that incidents ranging from website defacement and ransomware attacks to data breaches and the misuse of personal information now pose serious threats to governance, public trust and national development.

Citing the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Cybercrime Assessment, Inuwa noted that Nigeria is among Africa's three most targeted countries due to its expanding digital economy and growing cyberattack surface.

"A weakness in one MDA becomes a doorway into another. Our defences cannot be fragmented. Cybersecurity in government is a shared national obligation, and we are only as strong as our least protected system," he said.

The NITDA boss stressed that securing government digital infrastructure goes beyond deploying technology, describing public servants as the "human firewall" and the first line of defence against cyber threats.

He said the agency's Computer Emergency Response and Readiness Team (CERRT) remains the government's first point of contact during cyber incidents but emphasized that prevention through risk assessments, policy implementation, awareness campaigns and continuous capacity building remains the most effective strategy.

Inuwa also disclosed that participants at the workshop would be the first external stakeholders to review NITDA's draft Regulatory Guidelines for Government Information Security Management before wider public consultations.

He urged participants to openly share institutional cybersecurity challenges, saying such collaboration would help strengthen the country's collective cyber resilience.

The workshop is expected to enhance cybersecurity capacity across MDAs, improve inter-agency collaboration and reinforce Nigeria's drive towards a secure and resilient digital ecosystem.