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- Seeks more private sector input
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is hinging its future on collective leadership and individual accountability.
A fallout of a 2-day brainstorming session at the annual management retreat that held recently in Lagos, the regulatory agency resolved to consistently focus on prioritizing the needs of their stakeholders in formulating policies, programmes and instruments to further boast developmental guidelines to promote Nigeria’s digital economy.
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The agency also stressed a bottom-up approach as a modified method to its stakeholders’ engagement going forward, and increase private sector contribution in the formulation of standards, guidelines and frameworks.
Head of the management team and Director-General/CEO of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, expressed the need to reshape the agency’s future with collective leadership and individual accountability.
He implores heads of departments and units to always work with their team rather than in silos for the best idea to emerge.
Abdullahi said he has done a lot in democratizing the leadership by giving free hands for individuals to perform their tasks using their ideas and innovations.
He said, this is the only way to train and duplicate leadership such that everyone takes responsibility for their actions and decisions, adding that part of their role as management staff of the agency is to enable subordinates to gain perspective and content as well as to think and behave rightly.
His words: “NITDA is winning today no doubt, as we are among the top Agencies in the country but that is not enough, we need to shape our tomorrow. If we think we are winning today and we are comfortable, tomorrow we would be forgotten because what helped us to win today will not help us win tomorrow.
“The need to develop collective leadership skills and strategically position the Agency to consolidate on the present wins for a better tomorrow, and continuous dedication to the implementation of Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024), developed two years ago, was extensively discussed at the retreat.
The two-day management retreat with the theme “Connecting the dots for an Accelerated Digital Future” had resource personnel that addressed the management staff on “re-imagining NITDA’s role in Achieving a Sustainable Digital Economy in Nigeria”.
A stimulating presentation by the president of ISPON, Chineneye Mba-Uzokwu, applauded NITDA’s laudable strides even as admitted that the interactions he had with the management has further earned the agency his loyalty and respect being the first time he will come in contact with a public institution that operates with a private organisation’s mindset.
The second presentation titled: “An Understanding of the Regulatory Function of NITDA as a Developmental Agency in a Digital Economy” by Kolawole Osinowo, tasked the management on creative thinking exercise where groups were given tools to build and create their perception of NITDA as a development organization. It was a thrilling exercise.
The annual retreat has become a tradition in NITDA, stemmed from the management’s decision to upscale the performance of the agency through review of the past activities, evaluation of current programmes and initiatives while strategizing for future implementation.
Another presenter, Dr Nwachukwu Ibeabuchi, a Professor Medicine at the University of Lagos (Unilag) and one of the resource persons, stressed the importance of balancing the work-life approach for a healthy lifestyle, stating the need for regular checkups. He disclosed the need for exercise because a healthy lifestyle consists of exercise, eating healthy meals and resting well.
The retreat resolved to continue to build trust with existing stakeholders while expanding engagement within the eco-system.
