Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK) have joined forces to combat rising cyber-crime as part of a broader strategic partnership between the two countries.

This was stated during a recent high-level roundtable meeting in Abuja, which focused on strategies for combating cyber threats and strengthening Nigeria's digital resilience.

The event, held at the Office of the President's National Security Adviser, drew industry specialists from both the public and private sectors.

Kashifu Inuwa, director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency, led the discussion and emphasised the significance of strengthening Nigeria's cyber security infrastructure.

He stressed that Nigeria's cyber security resilience is critical for both national security and economic development.

According to Inuwa, by encouraging partnership between Nigerian and UK businesses, the initiative intends to strengthen Nigeria's cyber security resilience and open up new opportunities for growth.

In the same vein, James Carroll, the British High Commission's West Africa cyber lead, called for collaboration at an event hosted by the Ministry of Communications, Innovations, and the Digital Economy and sponsored by Galaxy Backbone and the World Bank.

Caroll said: “The UK’s strategy focuses on engaging its young, tech-savvy population to teaching digital skills, promoting cyber security careers and creating a digital pipeline.

“Nigeria, with its youthful demographic, can adopt similar approaches like educating kids on cyber security, encouraging tech enthusiasm and developing digital literacy.”