The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), through its Centre for Financial Studies, in collaboration with Digital Jewels Africa, hosted a Cyber-Resilience Tabletop Simulation Exercise in Lagos on Wednesday.
The one-day workshop was specifically designed for Board members and executive management of financial institutions, addressing pressing issues in cybersecurity and organisational preparedness.
In his opening remarks, Professor Olanrewaju Pius Oladeji, President/Chairman of the CIBN, represented by Mr. Mary-Fidelis Abiahu, Director of the CIBN Centre for Financial Studies, welcomed participants and urged them to take full advantage of the session.
He emphasized the need for Board members and executives to familiarise themselves with the evolving cyber risk landscape, stressing that the workshop would enhance their ability to proactively respond to ecosystem-wide cyber threats.
The workshop attracted a distinguished group of participants including Chief Technology Officers, Information Security Analysts, Credit Risk Managers, ICT Leads, CISOs, Independent and Non-Executive Directors, Audit and Risk Committee Chairs, COOs, CFOs, and Heads of Information Security across various financial institutions.
During the interactive sessions, participants raised critical questions regarding emerging cyber threats, such as cloned websites used for phishing and fraudulent transactions. Other concerns included the development of internal quality assurance systems to filter misleading information, and the need for streamlined data collection processes across departments to minimise breaches.
In her keynote presentation, Mrs. Adedoyin Odunfa, MD/CEO of Digital Jewels Africa, highlighted that cyber resilience—not just cybersecurity—must become a business priority. She explained that while cybersecurity aims to prevent attacks, resilience accepts that breaches are inevitable and focuses on how quickly and effectively an organisation can respond and recover.
“Digital technology can be either a game changer or a game ender,” she remarked, underscoring the dual nature of IT in today’s business landscape. She further outlined the upside of IT—including productivity gains, enhanced customer experiences, and new growth opportunities—but warned that the downside is the increasing ease of launching cyber-attacks, especially with the rise of AI.
“The impact of a cyberattack can be massive,” she stated. “The incentive to attack is very high. Cyber aggressors today are not unskilled individuals—they’re highly intelligent, well-organised, and extremely motivated. Sometimes, they only need to succeed once.”
The session also explored AI-related cyber risks such as deepfakes, impersonation, privacy invasion, ethical concerns, job displacement, and fraud, with an emphasis on data privacy as a critical concern in Africa’s digital economy.
Participants were introduced to the concept of an organisation’s “Crown Jewels”—digital assets of the highest value, whose compromise could lead to significant business impact. These assets, due to their strategic importance, are prime targets for cyber adversaries and must be prioritised in any security strategy.
The second part of the event was Cyber-Resilience Tabletop Simulation Exercise, facilitated by Mrs. Odunfa. The highly engaging and practical session featured real-world cyber incident scenarios, enabling participants to develop response strategies and assess their organisation’s readiness to navigate complex threat landscapes.
The event concluded with closing remarks from Mr. Mary-Fidelis Abiahu, Director of the CIBN Centre for Financial Studies.
