The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has raised fresh concerns over the growing wave of cyberattacks targeting government digital platforms, warning that a single weak link within the public sector could compromise Nigeria’s entire digital ecosystem.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day cybersecurity workshop for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Abuja, the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, called for a coordinated national approach to protecting government digital infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
Represented by the Agency’s Assistant Director of Cybersecurity, Dr. Ayodele Bakare, Inuwa said cybercriminals are deploying more advanced tactics, with government websites and databases becoming prime targets.
“We have watched websites of government organisations defaced, hijacked and quietly redirected to gambling sites. We have seen coordinated ransomware attacks force government web portals to shut down and witnessed repeated attacks on government databases leading to data exfiltration and abuse of personal data,” he said.
He warned that the growing dependence on digital government services has expanded the country’s cyberattack surface, making stronger collaboration among public institutions more urgent than ever.
“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 stated.
Highlighting the scale of the threat, Inuwa cited the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Cybercrime Assessment for Nigeria, which identifies Nigeria as one of Africa’s three most targeted countries for cyberattacks due to its rapidly expanding digital economy.
He also referenced the Lloyd Cybersecurity Outlook, which estimates that cybercrime cost Nigeria more than 3 billion dollars between 2019 and 2025, underscoring the economic impact of digital insecurity.
The NITDA boss stressed that safeguarding government digital services requires more than sophisticated technology.
He urged MDAs to institutionalise regular risk assessments, strengthen governance frameworks, implement robust cybersecurity policies, improve incident response capabilities and invest in continuous staff training.
He described government employees as the “human firewall,” noting that informed and security-conscious personnel remain the first and most effective line of defence against cyber threats.
Beyond building technical capacity, Inuwa said the workshop would serve as a platform for agencies to exchange experiences, analyse real-life cyber incidents and contribute to the review of NITDA’s draft Regulatory Guidelines for Government Information Security Management before wider stakeholder consultations.
He encouraged participants to openly discuss the cybersecurity challenges facing their organisations, saying shared experiences would help strengthen resilience across the public sector.
The workshop is expected to enhance cybersecurity capacity across MDAs, deepen inter-agency collaboration and reinforce Nigeria’s efforts to build a secure, trusted and resilient digital ecosystem as the country accelerates its digital transformation agenda.