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Nigeria Eyes National Blockchain Nigerium for Data Sovereignty
Nigeria is keeping an eye on a new native blockchain network to protect the country’s data sovereignty.
According to local media, a team from the University of Hertfordshire has proposed the new blockchain, Nigeriato the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Chanu Kuppuswamy, who leads the team, argued that relying on blockchain networks whose developers are located in other regions poses national security risks to the Nigerian government. He further said that Nigerium would allow the West African nation to customize the network to meet specific needs, while also promoting data sovereignty.
In his presentation, Chanu cited the recent migration of Ethereum to test of participation (PoS) consensus as an instance in which no Nigerians were involved but whose impact is far-reaching.
“Developing an indigenous blockchain like Nigerium is a significant step towards achieving data sovereignty and promoting trust in digital transactions in Nigeria,” he said.
While receiving the proposals in Abuja, NITDA’s Kashifu Abdullahi acknowledged the benefits a local blockchain would bring to Nigeria, including increased security of citizens’ data.
However, a NITDA spokesperson later clarified that Nigerium is still at the proposal stage and that the government has not yet decided whether to proceed or not.
“The committee is still discussing the possibility with stakeholders. Even if a decision is finally made, there is no guarantee that the name will be Nigerium,” the spokesperson told the media.
Nigerium’s reception in the country has been mixed. Some, like financial analyst Olumide Adesina, To say the network is “dead on arrival”. He believes the Nigerian government’s poor record in following through on its big technology plans will claim another victim. He pointed to the eNaira as a missed opportunity whose chances of success were much higher than those of Nigerium.
Others welcomed the proposal. Chimezie Chuta, who chairs the renewed The Nigerian Blockchain Policy Committee is “extremely optimistic“that Nigerium will be more successful than eNaira.
Speaking to a local news agency, Chuta stressed that eNaira failed because the central bank initiated the project on its own, without involving any stakeholders.
“They just cooked it and expected everyone to like it. [With Nigerium]there will be a lot of collaboration,” he said.
Registration of property title, digital identity and Certificate Verification are among the use cases that Nigerium is expected to initially target. However, Nigeria has already made progress in some of these fields through public blockchains.
SPPG, a leading school in governance and politics, announced in May the country’s first blockchain certificate verification system. Built on the The BSV BlockchainIt was developed in collaboration with the blockchain data recording company VX Technologies and local lender Sterling Bank.
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