The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria has urged human resource professionals to take a leading role in driving cybersecurity and regulatory compliance to protect organisational and employee data.
This call was made during the 17th Special Human Resource Forum, themed ‘The Role of HR in Cybersecurity and Compliance: Protecting Employee and Organisational Data’, held virtually recently.
The forum convened HR leaders, cybersecurity experts, and regulators to address HR’s evolving role in managing digital risks, emphasising the need for HR to safeguard organisations against data breaches and cyber threats.
In his opening remarks, President and Chairman of the CIPM Governing Council, Mallam Ahmed Gobir, declared, “When data becomes gold, HR must become the vault.”
He highlighted HR’s unique position, with access to employee data from onboarding to exit, to foster a culture of cyber resilience.
“When HR gets cybersmart, the whole organisation becomes cyber strong,” Gobir added.
Guest speaker Executive Coach and Director at Leadership House, Linda Rogers, stressed the importance of embedding cybersecurity knowledge within HR roles.
She advised HR professionals to manage the Joiners, Movers, Leavers lifecycle effectively, ensuring timely revocation of access and implementing measures to prevent phishing attacks.
Rogers also emphasised the ethical use of artificial intelligence, warning, “AI must be aligned with company data policies to prevent exposure and misuse.”
From a regulatory perspective, Dr Ayodele Bakare, representing the Director-General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Abdullahi, underscored the need for third-party risk assessments and compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act.
“When engaging a vendor, conduct third-party risk assessment compliance with government and industrial frameworks, ensuring that a partner does not introduce cybersecurity or data management risks,” Abdullahi stated.
He urged HR to prioritise education on data privacy laws and industry standards through robust training and regular audits to “domesticate NDPA”.
Head of HR at SYNLAB Nigeria, Adeyemi Ajayi, described HR as “a collaborator and a human firewall”, advocating for continuous tracking of employee access throughout their lifecycle.
Similarly, acting Chief Technology Officer at Credit Direct Limited, Bashar Babatunde, proposed that “cybersecurity should be a standalone division,” with HR ensuring clear reporting lines to empower cyber functions with authority and visibility.
Vice President of Infrastructure Security at Cloudware Africa, Sandra Ukor, emphasised technical safeguards, stating, “There must be a right encryption mechanism that includes specified data classification.”
She explained that HR must collaborate with IT to classify personal and sensitive data correctly, ensuring access is restricted to authorised personnel under stringent encryption controls.
The forum concluded with a strong call for organisations to appoint Data Protection Officers and position HR at the forefront of awareness, training, and audit initiatives.
CIPM emphasised that as cyber threats grow increasingly sophisticated, HR must evolve into a digital safeguard, protecting not only data but also organisational trust and compliance.
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