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A specialised programme to equip Nigerian women with critical cyber security skills has been launched by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in partnership with Women in Cyber security.
The initiative, titled “Cyber for Women”, was held in Abuja and is part of efforts to increase female participation in Nigeria’s digital security workforce.
The programme is a strategic move to position women at the centre of the nation's evolving digital ecosystem, said Mohammed Lawan Ahmed, director of cyber security at NITDA, represented by Ayodele Bakare, head of technology division at the agency.
The training goes beyond capacity building and acts as a long-term investment in Nigeria’s digital future and global cybersecurity resilience, Ahmed added. He emphasised that women must play a leading role in shaping the country’s response to growing cyber threats.
While global demand for skilled professionals continues to rise, women remain underrepresented in the field. The programme is designed to bridge this gap by providing participants with practical knowledge, tools and opportunities for collaboration, according to Ahmed.
The initiative comes amid concerns over Nigeria’s widening cyber security and data protection skills gap. The country faces a shortage of about 480 000 data protection professionals, Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, noted.
Although certified data protection officers now exceed 10,000, the figure is still far below what is needed to serve over 500,000 data controllers and processors nationwide, Olatunji explained.
The “Cyber for Women” initiative forms part of NITDA’s broader strategy to promote digital inclusion and build a resilient cybersecurity workforce.
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