Cybersecurity professionals and industry leaders have called for a fundamental shift in Nigeria’s approach to digital security, emphasizing the need to move from compliance-based practices to a culture of resilience.
The discussion took place at the Nigeria Telecoms Forum, hosted by Eventhive, where experts gathered to examine emerging risks in the country’s rapidly evolving digital infrastructure, particularly within the context of 5G expansion, cloud adoption, and artificial intelligence.
Cybersecurity leader Gbemisola Osunrinde moderated a key session titled “Securing the Digital Backbone: Cyber Resilience and Data Protection in the Age of 5G and Cloud,” where panelists explored the growing complexity of securing national telecom infrastructure.
Participants highlighted that one of the biggest challenges facing organizations is not technology itself, but coordination gaps across leadership, operations, and incident response structures. Experts warned that these silos significantly increase vulnerability across critical systems.
Panelist Tunji Alabi stressed the importance of physical infrastructure security, noting that data centers are often prioritized while supporting assets such as fiber networks and telecom towers are overlooked. He called for improved simulation of physical threat scenarios to strengthen national preparedness.
The discussion also addressed insider threats, with experts noting that vulnerabilities often extend beyond technical systems to include personnel and third-party service providers. They called for stronger accountability frameworks to secure all access points within critical infrastructure.
Additional panelists, including Oluseyi Lala and Daniel Ugwejeh, challenged the assumption that cloud migration automatically guarantees security. They emphasized that cybersecurity must be actively managed across both cloud and on-premises environments.
Another key concern raised was the increasing exposure of organizations to AI-driven vulnerabilities. Jason Ikegwu noted that artificial intelligence systems are now capable of identifying long-standing software vulnerabilities, raising urgent questions about board-level risk awareness and governance.
Experts also underscored the human factor as a critical vulnerability in cybersecurity systems. Innocent Mbulu highlighted that employee awareness and continuous training remain essential, warning that regulatory compliance alone does not equate to true security.
Osunrinde concluded that cybersecurity resilience must be embedded as a culture rather than treated as a periodic compliance exercise. She emphasized the need for integrated solutions that combine governance, training, monitoring, and fraud prevention to strengthen organizational defenses.
Industry stakeholders agreed that Nigeria’s digital future will depend not only on technological investment but also on sustained cultural and institutional commitment to cybersecurity best practices.