The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has restated the Federal Government’s commitment to deepening digital literacy, accelerating innovation, and expanding technology infrastructure as key drivers of inclusive national development.
Inuwa made this remark in his address at the 2-Day Interactive Session on Government–Citizens Engagement with the themed “Assessing Electoral Promises: Fostering Government Engagement for National Unity”, organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation at Arewa House in Kaduna.
The NITDA boss told the participants at the even that digital transformation remained not only key to achieving the eight priority areas outlined by the present administration, but also foundational to uniting the country through equitable access to opportunities.
He described the digital economy as a cross-cutting enabler capable of enhancing productivity across all sectors, from agriculture and education to healthcare and financial services.
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Inuwa clarified: “Digital technology is not a vertical sector, it is pervasive and foundational. It powers everything else and provides a framework for inclusive growth.”
He outlined the agency’s strategic focus around three key pillars: human capital development, digital infrastructure, and innovation-driven entrepreneurship, noting that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration has brought renewed vision and energy to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), enabling them to act in concert and foster stronger trust between government and the private sector.
On human capital, the NITDA Director-General maintained that Nigeria’s greatest resource remained its people, and developing digital skills at scale is crucial to unlocking that potential.
According to him, through initiatives such as the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme and the Digital Literacy for All campaign, NITDA has trained over 350,000 individuals in Northern Nigeria since 2023. He explained that the goal is to ensure that by 2027, more than 70 percent Nigerians would have attained basic digital literacy.
To achieve this, Inuwa said NITDA was collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Education to embed digital skills into the formal education system from kindergarten to tertiary level. He added that partnerships with the National Universities Commission (NUC) are ongoing to ensure digital literacy becomes part of the general studies curriculum across Nigerian universities.
In addition, he disclosed that the agency had been collaborating with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to train of corps members annually, who in turn serve as digital literacy champions, taking technology skills into rural communities and informal sectors.
On technology infrastructure as another critical area of focus of the government in view of the catalytic importance in national development drive, Inuwa said that the Federal Government had approved the deployment of 90,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables across the country to expand broadband penetration.
He also spoke on three digital centres currently being built in each state to ensure that underserved and unserved communities can participate in the digital economy, adding that so far, 13 IT Community Centres, 101 Digital Economy e-learning Centres and One Cybersecurity Research Centre have been established in the last two years.
The NITDA chief also disclosed that the conducive investment climate fostered by President Tinubu’s reforms had sparked renewed interest from global technology companies, with tech giants such as Google and Microsoft bringing significant investments in Nigeria.
Inuwa also disclosed that Nigeria would host two major global technology events in the coming months, GITEX Nigeria in September and the United Nations’ ICT for Governance (ICEGOV) Summit in November, both of which are expected to attract global innovators and investors.
