The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to leveraging digital technology as a critical tool for fostering unity, inclusive governance, and socio-economic transformation.
Speaking at a two-day interactive session organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in Kaduna, Inuwa emphasized that digital inclusion must be central to achieving President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The forum, themed “Assessing Electoral Promises: Fostering Government Engagement for National Unity,” brought together a cross-section of stakeholders, including policymakers, civil society actors, and academics. Inuwa noted that digital technology should not be seen as a separate sector but as the foundation for driving development in agriculture, education, healthcare, finance, and security. He stressed that attaining 70% digital literacy by 2027 is key to realising national goals.
Highlighting NITDA’s three-pronged strategy, human capital development, digital infrastructure expansion, and innovation-driven entrepreneurship , the DG cited initiatives such as the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme and the “Digital Literacy for All” campaign, which have already trained over 350,000 individuals in Northern Nigeria since 2023. He also revealed ongoing collaborations with the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to mainstream digital skills across all levels of education and rural communities.
On infrastructure, Inuwa announced the federal government’s approval for 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable to improve broadband penetration and digital centres being constructed in every state. He stated that 13 IT community centres, 101 digital e-learning hubs, and a cybersecurity research facility have already been established in Northern Nigeria. With global tech giants such as Google and Microsoft increasing their presence in Nigeria, the country is set to host GITEX Nigeria and the UN’s ICEGOV Summit in 2025, further cementing its position as Africa’s emerging digital powerhouse.