UNGA81: Digital Identity Must Become Gateway to Nigeria’s Digital Economy – NITDA DG
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, has described digital identity as the foundational “trust layer” required to unlock Nigeria’s digital economy and expand access to essential services.
Abdullahi made the submission while participating in a high-level panel session titled “Identity in Action and Access to the Digital Economy,” convened by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as part of discussions on “The Digital Public Ecosystem: Identity, Trust & Inclusive Access” at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81).
The session brought together key stakeholders, including the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia; National Coordinator of the Renewed Hope National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, Aderemi Adebowale; and Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola.
The discussion was moderated by Diwura Oladepo, Executive Director of Technology for Social Change and Development (Tech4Dev).
Speaking on how Nigeria could leverage digital identity to expand access to services and strengthen interoperable Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Abdullahi stressed that digital identity should be viewed beyond a card or identification number.
“Digital identity is the trust layer of the digital economy,” he said.
According to him, a trusted digital identity infrastructure could reshape Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem by allowing authorised innovators and service providers to build on existing foundational identity systems rather than creating separate and fragmented identity platforms.
He said such interoperability could accelerate customer onboarding, reduce verification costs and expand access to trusted digital services across sectors including financial technology, healthcare, education, agriculture, insurance and government.
The NITDA DG illustrated the potential of an interconnected digital public ecosystem with the example of a farmer who could use the National Identification Number (NIN) to establish identity, verify eligibility through an agricultural platform, receive support through a payment system and access authorised government services through trusted data exchange.
Such an ecosystem, he noted, would reduce the need for citizens to repeatedly provide the same information to different institutions while improving the efficiency and accessibility of public and private services.
Abdullahi, however, stressed that the growing scale of digital identity must now translate into practical and trusted services for citizens.
He said Nigeria’s priority should progressively shift from merely establishing identity to ensuring that identity infrastructure becomes useful, secure and interoperable across the digital economy.
“Digital identity is not the destination; it is the doorway,” he stated.
The NITDA chief said the ultimate objective should be to build a trusted and secure digital ecosystem capable of enabling Nigerians, irrespective of their location, gender or economic circumstances, to access services, participate safely in the digital economy and unlock new opportunities.
The discussions at the UNGA81 panel therefore highlighted the importance of moving from identity enrolment to identity-enabled opportunity, with interoperability and trust positioned as critical elements of Nigeria’s digital transformation journey.
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