Is Nigeria's Proposed Homegrown Nigerium Blockchain Key to its Data Sovereignty?

"So in terms of the potential [...] it ['Nigerium'] makes sense because what drives a blockchain is the use case. For instance, budget monitoring becomes very easy. I mean, you can't hide or manipulate transactions on the blockchain. So that in itself aids adequate recordkeeping and reduces fraud within the government. But what I will say, that the blockchain in itself will not bring about data protection and will not bring about national security and all that by itself. It has to be backed with efficient frameworks and regulatory policies that are guiding its application," Ojengbede says.

"Leveraging, blockchain's transparency and immutability, let's just assume "Nigerium," can enhance government's efficiency, and more improved service delivery [...]. This potential domestic solution can also foster a vibrant startup ecosystem in Nigeria, which can also lead to job creation and technological advancement [...]. Financial inclusion can be increased through offline transactions and agent networks [...]. Blockchain technology's non-financial use cases include securing patient records and managing supply chains," Oladipo says.

"The dollar is performing several functions, not just one, two, three. There are about four, five of them that dollar performs, and so until it becomes difficult for de-dollarization to be completely achieved [...]. So the issue we have on ground is such that the digital currencies that are in space right now, they are not under the control of these developing countries. Developing countries don't have so much assets in them. We are just players and fringe players at that level. And because of that, the capacity to influence things, to move things in our favor with the use of digital currencies is extremely limited," notes Adetiloye.