Experts Want Specialised Courts To Address Data Innovation Challenges

Legal and technology experts have called for a dedicated court and reforming Nigeria’s regulatory frameworks to align with global trends in data protection, Fintech, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and future technologies.

The experts also underscored the urgent need for Nigeria to evolve from reliance on codes and guidelines to full-fledged data protection legislation.

They spoke in Lagos at the 19th Annual International Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL).

The three-day conference, with the theme “The Future of Business Law in an Intelligence Age,” aimed to advance the knowledge of lawyers and encourage them to be digitally friendly since the world is evolving with modern technology, such as AI.

The Director Legal, IHS Towers, Mrs Yemisi Diya-Salawu, noted the absence of specialised courts as a critical gap in the ecosystem.

She said, “We don’t have specialised courts for fintech or digital innovation.

So lawyers spend valuable time educating judges and regulators. It’s inefficient.

“We must push for dedicated legal frameworks and institutions that understand the nuances of digital infrastructure.”

On his part, the founder, Sparkle, Uzoma Dozie, stressed that trust, transparency, and simplicity are the guiding principles in applying technology.

Dozie said, “If customers don’t trust us, they won’t share data. That’s why transparency is a regulatory requirement and a strategic advantage. It’s up to businesses to decide how much they want to share with their customers. But in the end, data leads to information, which leads to better decisions”.

The managing founder of DigitA, Oswald Guobadia, acknowledged the misalignment between regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which he described as a process problem that results in confusion and diminished market value.

He advocated a collaborative model called the Big Ten approach, in which all stakeholders, including regulators, innovators, and lawyers, are brought together to debate and co-create policy frameworks.

Also speaking at the conference, Ms. Stephanie Brown from the Law Society in England pointed out the importance of legal institutions in advocating for and adapting to technological innovation.