By James Ishaku,

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reiterated

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reiterated the need for a digitally skilled public sector workforce, saying the success of government reforms and the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will depend largely on the digital capacity of civil servants.

Director General of the NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, stated this during a Digital Skills Masterclass organised by the Agency in collaboration with Meta for selected officers from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). He was represented at the event by NITDA’s Director of Digital Development Services, Olawumi Dejo.

Speaking at the event, Inuwa said Nigeria’s aspiration to build a thriving digital economy requires a public service equipped with the knowledge and competencies to embrace emerging technologies and modern governance practices.

He explained that NITDA developed the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF) to provide a standardised roadmap for digital skills development across the country, ensuring that Nigerians acquire competencies aligned with international best practices while addressing local needs.

According to him, the framework is built around six core competency areas: device and software operations, information and data literacy, digital content creation, communication and collaboration, digital safety, and problem-solving.

He noted that the framework would enhance the ability of public servants to effectively utilise digital technologies, safeguard government information, strengthen collaboration across MDAs and improve the delivery of public services.

The NITDA Director General stressed that digital transformation extends beyond the deployment of technology, insisting that meaningful and sustainable reforms can only be achieved by investing in people.

“Technology alone cannot transform institutions. Real transformation happens when people acquire the right digital skills to rethink processes, improve productivity and deliver better outcomes,” he said.

Inuwa described continuous learning as indispensable in an era of rapid technological advancement, particularly with the growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence, urging civil servants to continuously upskill and reskill to remain effective.

He also encouraged participants to serve as change agents within their organisations by transferring the knowledge gained during the masterclass to their colleagues through a train-the-trainer approach that would accelerate digital capacity development across the public sector.

The Director General disclosed that NITDA, in collaboration with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, has trained more than 53,000 civil servants in digital skills, describing the initiative as a major step towards building an AI-ready and digitally competent public service.

He assured participants that the Agency would continue to expand digital learning opportunities to equip government workers with the skills needed to support ongoing reforms, enhance service delivery and position Nigeria to maximise the opportunities presented by emerging technologies.

The Digital Skills Masterclass is part of NITDA’s broader implementation of the National Digital Literacy Framework and its commitment to strengthening the human capital required to drive Nigeria’s digital economy.

In her remarks, Meta’s Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa, Victoria Oloni, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda through its partnership with NITDA.

Oloni observed that the increasing adoption of digital tools across government from electronic salary payments to the use of messaging platforms for official communication shows that the public service is steadily transitioning from analogue to digital operations.

She, however, noted that the next phase should focus on achieving institution-wide digital transformation rather than isolated adoption of technology by individuals.

According to her, digital transformation is a continuous journey that requires sustained learning, collaboration and openness to innovation. She explained that the masterclass was designed to provide participants with practical skills for leveraging digital technologies to improve communication, efficiency and service delivery across Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

Oloni urged participants to maximise the opportunity presented by the training, emphasising that a digitally empowered workforce remains essential to building a more efficient, responsive and citizen-centred public service.

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is intensifying efforts to cultivate impactful global partnerships aimed at fostering inclusive growth, driving innovation, and accelerating technological advancement across Nigeria. This strategic direction was highlighted during a recent meeting held at NITDA Headquarters.

The NITDA Director General, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa , CCIE who joined the engagement virtually due to a scheduled follow-up meeting with Google in the United States regarding investments in national sovereign infrastructure was was ably represented by the Director of the Information Technology Infrastructural Solutions Department, Mr. Oladejo Olawumi.

The meeting focused on discussions with Mr. Hiro Mashita, the founder of SGgrow, a firm committed to identifying and supporting promising Nigerian startup investment opportunities and connecting them with global ecosystems.

Inuwa highlighted NITDA’s proactive approach to international collaboration, emphasising the Agency’s strong existing relationship with the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

He announced an upcoming signing ceremony for a significant innovation project being established in Abuja with JICA’s support adding that there is ongoing partnership with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) to establish a dedicated fund.

While noting that the success of the collaboration with JICA is the iHatch initiative, a co-designed idea incubation program, the DG stated that “We have been collaborating with them on so many initiatives like iHatch. The pilot we did resulted in creating over 117 direct jobs and more than 370 indirect jobs, and now we are working together with them to expand it to all 36 states and the FCT. The initiative provides Nigerian startups with six months of incubation, leveraging JICA’s expertise and resources to develop market-ready products”.

He added that, “NITDA and JICA are actively working to bridge the Nigerian and Japanese tech ecosystems, facilitating networking opportunities and sponsoring Nigerian startups to participate in activities in Japan.”

Inuwa affirmed that SGgrow’s objectives strongly align with NITDA’s mandate to digitally empower Nigeria through inclusive technology and innovation. “Your presentation perfectly aligns with our mandate and what we do as an Agency,” he stated, emphasising the Agency’s vision of leveraging technology across all sectors to drive national prosperity and inclusivity. He stressed the crucial role of a robust startup ecosystem in achieving this vision.

NITDA is actively building a repository of labeled and compliant startups to enhance transparency and facilitate potential government incentives, including matching funding through collaborations. The agency is also developing an investment framework, including efforts with Google to build vital digital sovereign infrastructure.

The NITDA boss expressed NITDA’s keen interest in exploring a collaborative framework with SGgrow, potentially involving their existing partnership with JICA. “We can explore how we can work together to build a framework; maybe even to work with JICA to have strong participation from the Japanese government, startups, and other investors. For me, it is more about cooperation than competition,”he disclosed.

Earlier, in his statement, Mr. Mashita of SGgrow articulated his company’s mission to identify and support promising Nigerian startups, providing them with opportunities for growth and exposure. He highlighted their long-term investment approach and belief in Nigeria’s potential as an economic giant, aiming to serve as a key liaison between Nigeria and Japan.

He proposed exploring potential joint projects, enhancing support for Nigerian startups, and examining the possibilities for stock exchange effects within the Nigerian startup ecosystem. He also underscored the importance of intergovernmental relationships in fostering a conducive investment environment.

This engagement underscores NITDA’s commitment to seeking and fostering international collaborations that inject expertise, investment, and opportunities into Nigeria’s burgeoning digital economy, ultimately driving inclusive growth and technological advancement for the nation.

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In line with the presidential priority areas of reforming the economy for sustained inclusive growth and improving governance for effective service delivery, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has commenced a training programme for 1000 civil servants from various MDAs on Information Technology (IT) Project Clearance processes in creating a digitally viable workforce in the public sector towards achieving the desired digital transformation mandate of the present administration.

The opening of the capacity building programme for ICT, Budget, Finance and Planning Officers of Federal Public Institutions, held at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) in Kubwa, Abuja, will be conducted in batches to equip participants with essential knowledge, skills, and best practices.

It aims to enhance collaborative planning, budgeting, and management of ICT system acquisition, deployment, operation, and sustainability in the public sector, ensuring a whole-of-government approach to digital projects.

In his opening remark with the theme, “Empowering Public Sector ICT Excellence Through Strategic Planning and Effective Funding”, the DG NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, emphasised the critical role of strategic planning and funding in enhancing public sector service delivery.

While reiterating the agency’s commitment to digital transformation through the implementation of its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2.0, the DG who was ably represented by the agency’s Director of IT Infrastructure Solutions department, Mr Oladejo Olawunmi, underscored the importance of equipping public sector employees with the necessary tools and knowledge to drive digital initiatives effectively.

Disclosing that NITDA is spearheading digital transformation efforts through its SRAP 2.0, he stated, “This plan aligns with national priorities and aligns with our strategic pillars such as talent development, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, innovation, and policy-enablement to foster a sustainable digital economy”.

However, Inuwa acknowledged the challenges hindering digital transformation in the public sector, including inadequate collaboration among stakeholders, short-term project planning, poor ICT infrastructure maintenance, software licensing issues, and insufficient capacity-building. These barriers, he noted, have contributed to suboptimal outcomes in government-led digital initiatives.

Noting that most project stagnations or failures are attributed to inadequate integration of modern trends such as cloud computing, remote support, and enterprise network services into project planning, Inuwa averred that the agency has strengthened its IT projects clearance process to ensure that digital initiatives are well-conceptualized, planned, and executed in alignment with intended objectives.

“While there have been notable achievements, only 12 percent of Federal Public Institutions, FPIs comply with the process, necessitating a whole-of-government approach for full alignment with national digital transformation goals,” he revealed.

Emphasising that effective resource allocation ensures initiatives are adequately funded and properly executed to deliver real value to the public, he urged participants to manage public funds prudently and prioritise projects that yield measurable outcomes.

“We will explore how to optimize budgeting processes, improve financial oversight, and build systems that ensure transparency and accountability. This event has been structured with your professional development in mind, with sessions led by experts in the field, interactive discussions, and practical case studies that will provide you with actionable knowledge you can apply in your respective roles,” he concluded.

Highlighting the critical role of ICT, project, finance, and planning officers, Inuwa admonished participants to take full advantage of the program’s sessions, designed to strengthen their expertise in strategic planning, monitoring, evaluation, and financial management.

“Each of you plays a crucial role in the management and distribution of resources, the planning and implementation of programmes, and ultimately the delivery of services to our communities. Together, you form the backbone of efficient and transparent governance,” he concluded.

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has unveiled the second phase of the Nigerian e-Government Master Plan, towards ensuring a seamless and inclusive access to digital services with the aim of enhancing transparency in government processes.

The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE made this known at the handing over of deliverables to CEOs of NITDA, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) on Thursday which was held at the e-Government Training Centre, Kubwa, Abuja.

The event symbolises the implementation of the first phase of the Nigerian e-Government master plan, which was sponsored by the joint implementer, the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

Inuwa, who was represented by Mr Oladejo Olawumi, Director I T Infrastructure Solutions in the agency, said that the aim of the event was to strengthen the progress made so far and properly position the general government enterprise architecture as a cornerstone of building the foundation for digital governance in Nigeria.

The DG said under the Strategic Road map and Action Plan, which was named SRAP 2.0, the pillar of infrastructure in the project was committed to ensure seamless and inclusive access to digital services.

“The enterprise architecture is a disciplined way of organising enterprise resources, which includes business processes, data, information, tech, finance, ETC, to provide the capabilities required to consistently achieve outcomes of the organisation’s functions and mandates.

“It specifies the principles, practices, standards, and policies that guide the way capabilities enable the IT to evolve over time and continue to deliver results even under continuous changes in political, administrative, and economic conditions.

“It is therefore in line with this administration’s commitment to ensuring the implementation of sustainable initiatives and programmes that will stimulate and rejuvenate the economy.

“Federal Ministry of Communications
Innovation and digital economy’s strategic plan of driving towards a resilient, inclusive and prosperous digital Nigeria by utilising ICT to drive transparency in government as well as improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of public service delivery in Nigeria,” Inuwa explained.

He also noted that NITDA, in line with its mandate had developed the Nigerian Government Enterprise Architecture as part of the implementation of the first phase of the Nigerian e-government master plan.

“The framework launched in March 2019 was developed as an overarching document to guide the effective and efficient adoption and implementation of IT projects in government so that expectations and outcomes of IT projects can be achieved in the short and long term.

“The implementation has led to the development of programmes and initiatives which include the clearing of many IT projects, improvement of the national IT clearance policy drive, IT systems anddigital services assessment of 200 federal and public institutions, the Nigerian Government Enterprise Architecture portal, establishment of digital transformation technical working group DTTWG in 100 federal and public institutions, training of 442 members of the DTTWG and engagement of 10 FPIs under digital transformation performance and readiness,” he added.

He asserted that the Nigerian Government Enterprise Architecture is a critical factor in the implementation of the following e-government related regulatory instruments.

The Director General further explained that the Nigerian e-government interoperability framework was designed to enable interoperability between all the services provided by the government.
Stressing that the Digital Public infrastructure (DPI) as it were is key to the present administration’s drive towards making government services to be integrated among themselves.

He listed the national cloud computing policy and strategy; business process management guidelines,electronic document management system guidelines of FPIs, government digital service framework and digital government transformation performance assessment tool kit, among other core elements of the project.

Mr Songil Son, the Korean International Corporation Agency’s (KOICA’s) country Director,stated that ‘the project has four components,and the Enterprise Architecture is one of the components.

“NITDA is coordinating the whole process and so much progress has been made so far by properly positioning the overall government enterprises architecture as a cornerstone of building the foundation for digital governance in Nigeria’.

Earlier, representatives of Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service took turns to express their optimism that the values outlined in the guide would ease the perfection of digital governance and foster inclusiveness, transparency and progress in the country.

They gave assurances that the services would be committed to leveraging the framework of the project as a catalyst for achieving the Nigeria’s strategic aspirations.

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TECHDIGEST – E-procure, IFFMER, and E-xpose emerged first, second third positions respectively among seven shortlisted innovations that pitched at innovations and ideas for the Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) Hackathon Demo Day organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) with the technical support by the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA) and in conjunction with the Ford Foundation.

The sum of 1.5 million, 1 million, and five hundred thousand naira cash prize were given to the three winners respectively

The hackathon with the theme “Innovative Technology Ideas to Curb Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows in Government Budgets and MDAs Procurement Process in Nigeria” took place at the ICPC Auditorium; was with the aim to develop indigenous solutions to curb Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and check for indigenous movement of funds within Nigeria and across international borders to ensure the effective monitoring procurement processes.

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The seven startups that pitched at the hackathon used the School Feeding Programme (SFP) as a case study.
Giving his remarks, the NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE represented by the Director Standards, Guidelines, and Frameworks Mr. Oladejo Olawunmi said the hackathon is captured under three pillars of the Agency’s seven Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024) one of which are Indigenous Content Promotion, Digital Innovation, and Emerging technologies.

Inuwa while speaking on Indigenous Content Promotion said “we believe that we have to actually promote our content and have homegrown solutions here in Nigeria”.

He stated that “when we import technology only the technology is transferred and not the knowledge”.

He opined that it was not ideal to fight corruption with imported technology as there is always a back end.

For Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the DG said that innovation or idea pitched at any hackathon NITDA is part of, does not end there, but that the Agency takes it upon itself to ensure that those ideas are incubated, young innovators are mentored and given the needed exposure both within and outside the country to attract investors.

“NITDA has taken startups to international exhibitions and has won prizes at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX)”.

He added that Emerging Technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Big data and many more are new technologies that will be useful in curbing corruption.
The ICPC Chairman, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN during his opening remarks appreciated NITDA for the technical support it has rendered to make the hackathon successful stating that “the School Feeding Funds investigation and experience has led us to today’s activities support by Ford Foundation.

“IFFs remains a major avenue for diversion of revenue both in the local and transnational transactions and activities and the deliverables from this event is to have negotiation guidelines that we hope will be adopted by the government, and those who have businesses to do with the government will have a template to guide them on how to act for the government.
Giving a brief of the IFFs hackathon selection process, the team lead from NITDA, Dr. Zareefa Mustapha said there was a call for application and even there were over 2400 applications. She said for the screening processes hubs were engaged as consultants, as they know what is happening in the technology space and are in the best position to identify viable solutions.

Dr Mustapha said, “In the first stage of the selection process it was screened down to 50 and from, that it was screened down to 22.

“The 22 were interviewed and they did a demo of their technologies and that was how the top seven were selected”, she added.

Dr. Mustapha explained that the selected seven innovators were judged based on six criteria adaptability, originality, practicability, sustainability, accessibility, and technicality.

She said there was a booth camp for the selected seven at the Agency’s subsidiary National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) and there were technical partners to guide them through.
The Regional Director, Ford Foundation West Africa Dr. Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye commended the innovators for intellectually tasking themselves to come up with their various innovations.

“Your technology may end up not being what the ICPC needs but it may be something that the Ford Foundation can take to the next level, “said the Regional Director

He added further that, “Even if you don’t win you are a winner, the technologies that you have developed could always be used for something else.”

The other innovations at the demo day were DBlaze App, Blockchain
Solution, CAVAS, and FoodySchool.

In attendance was the representative of the Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, Mr. Kashim Ibrahim a Deputy Director in the ministry.

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