Sign digital right bill into law- NGO urges Buhari

By Samuel Luka, Bauchi

President Muhammadu Buhari have been urged to sign into law, the Digital Right Bill in order to enable people have access to the Internet without hindrance. 

A non-governmental Organization, Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) made the call yesterday at a workshop held in Bauchi. 

The Technical Officer of the organisation, Mr. Aliyu Dahiru Aliyu made the call while presenting a paper entitled “Nigerian Digital Rights and Freedom Bill” said, the signing of the bill will provide maximum protection for the rights of Internet users in the country.

He added that the bill when signed into law will safeguard their privacy, protect their dignity, improve server security and create room for gender inclusion in the internet usage.

According to Aliyu, people have been prevented from using the internet because of fear of molestation, accounts hacking, bridge of privacy and a lot of issues surrounding the internet which infringes upon their rights to freedom of expression.

He therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the ‘Digital Right Bill’ has been signed into law, so as to bring sanity into the internet usage and minimize the spread of fake news and hate speech in the society.

Reports indicated that the House of Representatives and the Senate have already passed the ‘Digital Right Bill’ and forwarded to the president for signing, which is still being awaited as the president requested for more clarification on the bill.

In her remarks, the Program Officer of CITAD in charge of Gender and Internet Advocacy Maryam Ado Haruna said women are far left behind in the use of Internet despite several advantages they stand to achieve, especially in the area of business development opportunities.

She noted that studies have shown a huge gap between the way women and men access the Internet which have placed women at the very low state due to fear of falling victims of Internet violence.

The Program Officer tasked women in the country to take advantage of the digital world and improve their lives, thereby bringing their talents for the world to see and equally excel in their business endeavours.