The Chief Executive Officer of Unitellas Edge Cloud, Smith Osemeke, has urged the adoption of data domestication to protect the country from increasing risks of foreign surveillance and cyber attacks.

Osemeke said hosting sensitive data outside Nigeria leaves both public and private sectors vulnerable to external breaches, data manipulation, and loss of digital sovereignty.

He said locally hosted edge cloud platforms unlike traditional foreign-based public clouds are better equipped to deliver real-time performance, reduce latency, and enhance data sovereignty, especially in sectors such as oil and gas, banking, and national security.

He explained that through a strategic partnership with U.S.-based edge cloud provider Zadara, Unitellas has deployed edge cloud infrastructure directly within Nigeria, ensuring real-time data processing and full compliance with national data protection laws.

According to him, Unitellas’ locally hosted platform supports millions of secure daily transactions, particularly in finance and oil & gas, where real-time data integrity is critical.

He noted that the company’s Security Operations Center (SOC) detects and neutralises cyber threats from both domestic and foreign sources in real time.

“Hosting data locally gives us control over who can access it, when, and under what conditions. That level of precision is not possible with foreign-hosted platforms,” he said.

Osemeke pointed that Unitellas has played a leading role in the Federal Government’s 1Government Cloud initiative, in partnership with Galaxy Backbone, supporting the digital transformation of over 700 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) which aligned with Nigeria’s Data Protection Act and broader digital policy goals.

He said beyond security, the economic impact of local cloud infrastructure offer services a naira-denominated, subscription-based model, which eliminates the burden of foreign exchange fluctuations and makes advanced cloud services more accessible to Nigerian businesses.