In a move to position Nigeria as Africa’s digital powerhouse, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has unveiled an ambitious training initiative that aims to equip 50 million Nigerians with vital digital skills by 2027, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The director general and CEO of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, made this known during a recent engagement in Kaduna, where he provided insight that the agency is working tirelessly to ensure that no Nigerian is left behind in the ongoing digital revolution.
According to him, human capital development remains central to the administration’s economic diversification and inclusion vision.
“As an agency, we crafted our Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan based on the President’s priority areas, especially the one focusing on digitalisation, industrialisation, creative economy and innovation”.
He stressed that in a fast-growing digital economy, human capital not natural resources, is the nation’s most valuable asset.
He noted that NITDA has launched a wide-reaching digital literacy programme structured around three pillars: formal education, the civil service workforce, and the informal sector, adding that the overall target is to train 50 million Nigerians between 2023 and 2027.
“We have developed digital literacy curricula for integration into the formal school system. The major challenge now is training teachers to deliver this effectively in classrooms. We are also working with the National Universities Commission (NUC) to make digital skills a general course across tertiary institutions, like English and Mathematics”.
“In addition to integrating digital literacy into education, NITDA is collaborating with the Head of Civil Service to train public servants across ministries, departments, and agencies”.
According to the DG, this will empower government workers to function effectively in an increasingly digital environment.
“A third and critical component of the agency’s strategy focuses on the informal sector—arguably Nigeria’s largest and most diverse workforce, through a partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), NITDA trains digital champions in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“These NYSC digital champions are expected to cascade their knowledge by training hundreds of Nigerians in their respective communities annually. It’s a multiplier effect approach, and if implemented effectively, we will reach millions”.
He noted that these training efforts, coupled with improved infrastructure and innovation hubs, would position Nigeria as a competitive force in the global digital economy.
