Digital Literacy: How NITDA has empowered over 3m Nigerians –Inuwa

*Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency informs global participants in a recent summit in Florida, United States, of how NITDA has empowered 3.3 million Nigerians with several digital literacy and skills through multi-sectoral capacity-building programmes in the West African country

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

As part of its digital skills training programmes and move to accomplish the facilitation of 95 percent digitally literate Nigerian population by 2030, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has “successfully built the capacity of over 3 million Nigerians.”

Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, Director-General of NITDA, disclosed this development to a global audience while speaking at the Council on Global Partner Summit held in Orlando, Florida, United States (US).

Inuwa, at the forum, provided a glimpse into Nigeria’s burgeoning digital economy as well as its vision of equipping Nigerians with relevant digital literacy skills.

The Director-General stated: “NITDA has empowered 3.3 million Nigerians with several digital literacy and skills through multi-sectoral capacity-building programmes, such as Stem Bootcamp for Kids, digital skills training for students, public servants, journalists, Digital Marketing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Programming, Digital Entrepreneurship and many more.”

According to him, the global participants that Nigeria would ensure massive digital literacy training for her youths to position the country as a global Information Technology (IT) hub that could address the global digital skills shortage.

Inuwa restated that Nigeria is committed to developing policies, regulations, and initiatives that would deepen digital literacy and skills in the country.

The NITDA Director-General also canvassed that Mobile Information Literacy should be included into future versions of Certiport’s IC3 Global Digital Literacy Standard in order to meet the requirements of millions of Nigerian and African citizens who rely on their mobile phones to connect to and participate in the digital economy.

The three-day event, which saw six Nigerian students participating at Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC), who were selected during the Nigerian National Championship organised by ReadManna Empowerment Initiative (REI) was witnessed by global experts consisting of corporate executives, government officials, academicians, and industry influencers who were involved in the definition and positioning of digital literacy standards and validated delivery systems.

NITDA commends Nigerian participants

Applauding the country’s representatives at the championship in Orlando, Inuwa declared that they had made Nigeria proud and put the country at the forefront of global digital literacy and skills.

He as well described their emergence at the global competition as a demonstration of West African country’s “immense human capital potential and a frontrunner in the race for a digital nation.”

Inuwa also eulogised ReadManna Empowerment Initiative for its efforts in promoting ICT education in Nigeria, urging other stakeholders to follow its example.

He said: “NITDA is willing to collaborate with similar organisations to further enhance digital literacy and skills across the country.”

In her remarks, Edna Agusto, Founder of the organisation, represented by Ms. Efeoma Olotu reaffirmed that the MOSWC is open to all students aged between 13 and 22 years who were enrolled in an academic institution.

Agusto disclosed that interested academic institutions that would like to compete in future editions of MOSWC can always contact ReadManna Empowerment Initiative to successfully participate in the championship.

She said: “Nigeria is indeed blessed with enormous human capital that has continued to assert its position as a country to reckon with on the global stage, especially in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). With continued talent nurturing, Nigerians’ indomitable spirit to attain success, government support, as well as the commitment of key stakeholders in the ICT sector like ReadManna, Nigerians will continue to thrive and inadvertently propel the country’s standing as a leader in the digital sphere in this technology-driven era.”

The NITDA Chief Executive used the platform to present Nigeria’s recently launched National Digital Literacy Framework to global experts while they, in turn, shared valuable insights into how digital literacy is being implemented in other countries and offered to support Nigeria to achieve its objective of achieving 95 percent digital literacy by 2030.

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