The Lead Convener, Naija Cybersecurity Conference, Rotimi Akinyele has calked for Public-private Cybersecurity related partnership in order to prevent the import of cybersecurity experts into the country.
Akindele made this known to newsmen at this year’s Naija Security Conference held in Lagos.
He said the cybersecurity space will be sanitised if the partnership is established.
According to him, “For us, I think one of the key things government can do is to see how we can have partnership in terms of private and government cybersecurity related partnership in order to build solid local cybersecurity experts.”
Akinyele also urged governments at all levels to develop and harness talents.
“One of the key parts which I think the government can really leverage on is how to develop and harness talents.
“We have a lot of talented people out there and which is one of the key things we are trying to do. For instance, we have a cybersecurity competition, where we bring Cybersecurity students in Nigeria down here.
“If we have a Cybersecurity programme by the government or an innovation hub where we easily have those students and then sponsor them and be able to put them on the right track.
“This is because they have the required skill set and if they are not utilized properly, they might just go into fraudulent things” Akinyele said.
The Lead Convener said the rationale behind the conference was to make available quality cybersecurity materials and empower local experts.
“This is a cybersecurity conference for Nigeria and for Nigerians. We realised that for people to get quality cybersecurity material, they have to travel out of the country to look for skilled cybersecurity experts. It therefore gives everyone the platform to network and present if there exists, any cybersecurity research they have been working on,” Akinyele said.