The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to institute the Master of Laws in Information and Communication Technology (LLM in ICT).
In order to facilitate the objective, NITDA at the weekend in Lagos, signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Lagos.
As part of the agreement the regulatory body for Information Technology in Nigeria NITDA will provide financial and technical fulcrum for UNILAG to enhance research at master’s degree level in law and produce post-graduates with specialty in ICT laws putting into consideration the increasing degree of the relevance of technology in national and global spheres. .
The Director-General of NITDA, Isa Ali Pantami at the signing of the memorandum was full of commendation for UNILAG for its trendsetting position in education, he also expressed hope that its new agreement with UNILAG will further enhance legal and technology practice in the country.
Pantami said, “It is indeed historic for me to be here in UNILAG. This is the first time for me to be here physically. I have read and heard a lot about the developments in this University which is among the first generation university and has kept with the pace of developments in the educational and ICT space.
“I consider the MOU as something very important as it relates to ICT law. We have serious challenge in the area of cyberlaw or ICT law because as we all know NITDA was established in 2011 to implement a national policy of year 2000. Six years Later NITDA Act was passed. Therefore, part of our strategy to develop IT is award scholarship to brilliant Nigerians. We have been implementing this policy and where the challenge lies in the Information Technology regulations.
“You can only regulate with ICT lawyers; if not, you will find it difficult to enforce or implement regulatory rights. Through this programme we want to have sufficient number of ICT lawyers to make sure the sector is protected”.
Also, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe expressed appreciation for NITDA towards its gestures to the institution and also solicited for NITDA’s assistance to advance the Campus’s Innovation Centre inside UNILAG.
