As Nigeria continues to grapple with rising cyber threats targeting public institutions and critical infrastructure, cybersecurity expert Temilade O. Adesokan-Imran has emphasized the need for robust cybersecurity governance as a key pillar of national security.

In an exclusive interview, Temilade, a distinguished professional with over 15 years of experience in IT audits, risk assessment, and cybersecurity compliance, described the current digital landscape as a volatile environment where the consequences of weak cybersecurity can cripple entire economies and threaten public safety.

“Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical function—it is a governance issue that demands executive commitment, public-private collaboration, and international coordination,” she said.

Temilade, who has led major IT General Controls (ITGC) assessments and cybersecurity audits across complex environments in financial services, telecommunications, and consulting sectors, revealed how her daily work ensures compliance and resilience. She explained that her efforts include system access controls, segregation of duties analysis, and deployment of smart audit tools for real-time monitoring and risk mitigation.

Her influential academic research, The Impact of Cybersecurity Governance on National Security, published in 2025, has become a reference point for policymakers. According to her study, organizations that adopted globally recognized frameworks such as NIST and ISO 27001 recorded a 75.8% reduction in cybersecurity incidents. Additionally, IT audits led to a 38–45% drop in identified vulnerabilities, while proactive risk management increased the average time to breach by over 260 days.

“This time buffer is not just a statistic; it can be the difference between a contained incident and a national emergency,” she noted.

Temilade did not shy away from highlighting the challenges faced by developing nations like Nigeria, citing regulatory inconsistency, skills shortage, and outdated technologies as key barriers to cybersecurity governance. She used statistical tools like Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to rank these challenges and urged urgent intervention.

Her recommendations include the enforcement of routine cybersecurity audits, integration of real-time threat intelligence, mandatory framework adoption across sectors, and massive investment in cybersecurity education and workforce development.

“These recommendations are not optional; they are urgently needed if we are to strengthen our national resilience in the face of escalating cyberattacks,” she warned.

Temilade’s career has spanned the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) audit space, digital healthcare privacy, cloud security, and AI-powered threat detection. With over 40 professional certifications, including the globally respected Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), she has proven her deep, multidisciplinary expertise in securing digital systems.

In a world where data breaches, ransomware attacks, and cyber sabotage are on the rise, experts like Temilade are playing a frontline role in safeguarding national interest. But her approach goes beyond technical fixes. As she puts it: “Cybersecurity governance must be embedded at the highest levels of leadership—it’s not just about responding to threats but about anticipating and building systems that can withstand them.”

Her message is clear: national security in the digital age cannot succeed without cybersecurity at its core