The Minister of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has hinted that the Federal Government is targeting the provision of internet access for additional 20 million Nigerians through the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited’s (NigComSat’s) broadband service channels.
The minister, represented by the Director, National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), Ajala Olubumi, made this disclosure on Tuesday during a public and private sector stakeholders’ engagement roundtable hosted by AI-powered telemedicine platform – MySmartMedic.
Noting that telemedicine innovation requires connectivity to benefit the population, the minister assured that with the Federal Government’s NigComSat, areas that lacked internet access would be reached.
Tijani clarified: “For technology like this to truly deliver transformation, we must have connectivity. And we still have about 20 million Nigerians that have no access at all to the internet.
- Advertisement -
“We’re leveraging that by combining NigComSat to beam internet to locations because Nigeria is one of the few nations in West Africa with its own satellite”, the minister added.
Speaking at the forum, the National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr. Vincent Olatunji, urged Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and telemedicine platforms in the country to embed data protection at the architecture stage of their applications in compliance with Nigeria’s data protection laws.
The industry expert, who was represented by Barr. Alexander Onwe, stressed that while the digital transformation of healthcare was not only inevitable but also critical for achieving universal health coverage, strengthening health systems, and expanding access to underserved populations across Africa, compliance with data protection laws, especially those guarding against privacy breaches, cannot be over-emphasized.
According to him, telemedicine, electronic medical records, AI-powered diagnostics, remote monitoring, and mobile outreach have become essential tools in bridging healthcare access gaps, as they provide speed, scalability, affordability, and widespread reach.
Despite the value-adding benefits of these innovations, Olatunji explained that this transformation required responsibility, hence legal compliance remained essential to ensure that the very data powering digital healthcare does not become a threat to the dignity, privacy, or security of individuals being served.
The NPDC boss stressed that the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 remained an indispensable hub for building an equitable and trustworthy digital health ecosystem.
While charging all stakeholders in the telemedicine space, particularly operators on the need for strict compliance with the provisions of the legislation, he pointed out that for medical and telemedicine services, explicit, informed, and unambiguous consent was often required, especially where remote consultations and automated decision-making tools are used.
Olatunji urged telemedicine operators to collect only essential data, retain it only for as long as necessary, and use it strictly for the purpose communicated to users.
He maintained that as telemedicine often involved cross-border cloud hosting, remote specialists, or foreign technology partners, all operators in the telemedicine space should always ensure Commission-approved safeguards for such transfers.
