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The National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) has empowered over three million Nigerians with digital literacy, its Director General, Kashifu InuwaAbdullahi has disclosed.
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Abdullahi who was speaking at the Council on Global Partner Summit in Orlando, Florida, United States of America, said NITDA plans to facilitate a 95% national digital literacy by 2030 to drive Nigeria’s burgeoning digital economy.
“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,” said Abdullahi adding that Nigeria would ensure massive digital literacy training for her youths to position the country as a global IT hub that could address the world’s digital skills shortage.
Nigeria is committed to developing policies, regulations, and initiatives that would deepen digital literacy and skills in the country, he stressed.
Abdullahi argued 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 other Africans who rely on their mobile phones to connect to and participate in the digital economy.
Six Nigerian students participated at the headlined Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC) at the three days event. The six students were selected during the Nigerian National Championship organised by ReadManna Empowerment Initiative (REI) which 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.
While commending the Nigeria’s representatives at the championship, the NITDA boss declared that they have made Nigeria proud and put the country at the forefront of global digital literacy and skills. He further described their emergence at the global competition as a demonstration of Nigeria’s immense human capital potential and a front runner in the race for a digital nation.
Abdullahi commended ReadManna Empowerment Initiative for its efforts in promoting ICT education in Nigeria, urging other stakeholders to follow its example.
“NITDA is willing to collaborate with similar organisations to further enhance digital literacy and skills across the country,” he noted.
In her remarks, the founder organisation, Edna Agusto, 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.
She 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.”
