{"id":5765,"date":"2026-10-30T15:27:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T15:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5765"},"modified":"2026-10-30T20:01:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T20:01:56","slug":"nitda-stronger-partnerships-critical-to-closing-nigerias-digital-skills-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5765","title":{"rendered":"NITDA: Stronger partnerships critical to closing Nigeria\u2019s digital skills gap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General, National Information Technology <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Development Agency, advocates stronger partnerships among Nigerian industry stakeholders, academic institutions, and innovation ecosystem stakeholders, to close digital skills gap, boost productivity, and translate digital literacy into sustainable economic growth in the country <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect<\/p>\n<p>For economic sustainability, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has advocated stronger partnerships among industry players, academic institutions, and innovation ecosystem stakeholders in Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>NITDA said the effort would enable the West African country to close its digital skills gap, boost productivity, and translate digital literacy into sustainable economic growth.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"1RuLYBuK3r\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5747\">ONSA, NCC, NITDA, others advocate collaboration, cyber resilience over AI-generated attacks<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cONSA, NCC, NITDA, others advocate collaboration, cyber resilience over AI-generated attacks\u201d \u2014 Consumer Experience Is A Top Priority\" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5747&amp;embed=true#?secret=yQfUczaxav#?secret=1RuLYBuK3r\" data-secret=\"1RuLYBuK3r\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>ConsumerConnect<\/em> reports Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of NITDA, stated this while speaking as a discussant at the MTN Breakfast Session, with the theme: \u201cWhen Transnationals Invest\u201d, during the Nigerian Economic Summit (NES32), in Abuja, FCT.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa emphasised the need for a coordinated national strategy for digital skills development.<\/p>\n<p>He also urged industry stakeholders to move away from fragmented initiatives, and adopt a unified approach that aligns education and training with industry demands.<\/p>\n<p>The Director-General of the agency warned that the persistent disconnect between academic institutions, industry players and the innovation ecosystem continued to undermine efforts at developing a workforce capable of meeting Nigeria\u2019s changing economic and technological needs.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa further explained though academic institutions play a critical role in developing human capital, their training programmes and graduate output must reflect the practical needs of industry to ensure that graduates possess relevant, applicable and market-ready skills.<\/p>\n<p>He declared: \u201cOur human capital is our greatest national resource.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The NITDA Chief Executive as well underscored the importance of aligning education and skills development with industry requirements.<\/p>\n<p>He equally clarified that the agency\u2019s digital literacy mandate was not to turn every Nigerian into an IT professional, but to equip citizens with the digital competencies required to improve their work, raise productivity, and expand economic opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Measures to achieve NITDA&#8217;s digital economy objective<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In order attain this objective, NITDA noted it developed the National Digital Literacy Framework, which targets 95 percent digital literacy by 2030, with an interim target of 70 percent by 2027, as set by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu&#8217;s administration.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa said meeting the targets would require sustained collaboration across sectors, prompting the agency to introduce the Digital Literacy for All initiative to expand digital skills nationwide through a multi-pronged approach.<\/p>\n<p>He also mentioned that a major component of the initiative is the integration of digital literacy into formal education across Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa disclosed that NITDA had partnered with the Nasarawa State University and Cisco, to develop learning content based on the National Digital Literacy Framework.<\/p>\n<p>He explained the framework covers six competency areas and three proficiency levels: basic, intermediate and advanced.<\/p>\n<p>In response to emerging technological demands, the agency is also reviewing the framework to incorporate artificial intelligence literacy.<\/p>\n<p>As part of efforts at embedding digital competencies in the education system, the Nasarawa State University has integrated digital literacy into its general studies curriculum.<\/p>\n<p>The move is making the subject compulsory for students, Inuwa stated.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond training and curriculum development, NITDA is strengthening coordination and accountability through its National Digital Literacy Dashboard, a platform designed to track interventions and provide visibility into the contributions of organisations working to improve digital skills across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa disclosed that 252 organisations had reported their activities on the dashboard, documenting the training of approximately 2.77 million Nigerians from 2023 to date.<\/p>\n<p>The reported interventions covered all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 14,664 communities, demonstrating the nationwide reach of the programmes captured on the platform.<\/p>\n<p>The Director-General of the agency identified Cisco as the leading contributor to the reported figures.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, Cisco&#8217;s its educational platforms had been used to train more than 1.073 million Nigerians.<\/p>\n<p>The NITDA Director-General urged organisations implementing digital literacy programmes, including those operating through foundations and corporate social responsibility initiatives, to report their activities on the dashboard.<\/p>\n<p>He said comprehensive reporting would improve coordination, minimise duplication of efforts and help ensure that underserved communities benefit from digital skills interventions.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa also emphasised that collaboration must go beyond delivering training programmes to ensuring that acquired skills translate into measurable productivity gains and broader national prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>The NITDA Chief, therefore, urged industry stakeholders, educational institutions, innovators and other partners to work together to identify the skills employers need and align training programmes with those requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa submitted that a coordinated digital skills ecosystem, backed by common standards, reliable data, and shared national objectives, would be essential to building a digitally capable population and maximising technology\u2019s contribution to Nigeria\u2019s economic development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, advocates stronger partnerships among Nigerian industry stakeholders, academic institutions, and innovation ecosystem stakeholders, to close&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of NITDA, Participating in a Session Titled, 'Inclusive Growth in the Digital Age', at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#32), in Abuja, FCT\u00a0\u00a0 Photo: 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href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=3\" rel=\"category\">InfoEducation<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=4\" 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