Lagos-Built Privacy Platform Targets Corporate Data Drift Under Nigeria’s Data Protection Laws

By Kingsley I. Ilechukwu, Bureau Chief, South West, Nigeria

In the growing ecosystem of Nigerian digital services, millions of citizens daily upload sensitive personal details to school portals, job application forms, fintech platforms, and merchant accounts. However, technology entrepreneur Abraham Esandayinze Tanta warns that many corporate entities still struggle to reconcile their formal privacy policies with the actual security of the personal data they hold.

Mr. Tanta, speaking at the launch of a new Lagos-built software platform named Asiri, argued that weak data governance carried a direct cost for everyday citizens, manifesting in persistent spam calls, unauthorized identity exposure, and unmonitored access to personal records.

“It starts with a person. Then their information becomes part of your business. A name becomes an account. An account becomes a record,” Tanta said, emphasizing that corporate accountability must extend beyond audit season.

Under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA), organizations handling public data face explicit legal requirements to protect citizen privacy. Yet according to Tanta, many corporate teams frequently mistake having a published privacy policy for operational compliance.

“Data protection has to become operational,” Tanta explained. “Businesses need systems that help them know what they have, what they have done, and what evidence exists to support their claims.”

The newly introduced platform, developed through Tanta’s technology firm Tanta Innovative, aims to address this operational gap by serving as a central workspace where companies can track data registers, manage individual privacy requests, record security incidents, and maintain verified documentation required by regulatory auditors.

Built on the operating principle that declared measures must be backed by verifiable evidence, the software incorporates features such as Ask Eri—an automated assistant designed to help staff verify compliance records against actual working files—and a Public Trust Center that allows organizations to publish live privacy statuses directly from their internal records.

To facilitate compliance oversight, the platform integrates a marketplace on asiri.ng, connecting data controllers with licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs) and Data Protection Officers (DPOs). Tanta noted that the platform does not replace licensed compliance officers or file regulatory returns itself, but instead provides a standardized repository of evidence for human experts to review.

To ensure small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not priced out of regulatory compliance, the platform includes a free entry-level tier, with paid subscription tiers starting at ₦49,000 annually.

As Nigeria continues to digitize critical sectors including financial services, education, and healthcare, industry analysts suggest that sustainable growth will increasingly depend on whether corporate entities can provide transparent, verifiable records of how citizen data is handled on a day-to-day basis.

“It starts with a person. Then their information becomes part of your business. A name becomes an account. An account becomes a record”, Tanta.