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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is partnering with Meta, owners of Facebook, to help Nigeria achieve 95% digital literacy by 2030 and also curtail the menace of fake news.
The NITDA/META collaboration is timely, according to the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, as this will help to tackle the growing menace of fake news on social media, a threat to the national security.
Abdullahi said Facebook must make effort to checkmate fake news.
“How can we make it better to make sure that the menace of fake news is reduced to the barest minimum? Many people do not read their messages talk more of verifying their authenticity. Therefore, adopting a simpler verification mechanism will reduce the spread of unsubstantiated news,” he said.
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On the benefit of bringing Metaverse investment to the African continent, Abdullahi describes it as huge and called for the company to consider bringing such to Africa.
“We know Metaverse is coming and is coming big, and you are investing in Europe; what are you doing for Africa?
“We need to look at the laws in our country, what can we do to make sure whatever you are doing is following the rules and carry our people along in building the Metaverse same way you are taking the Europeans.”
The NITDA’s boss said the realisation of digital literacy by 2030 remains sacrosanct as it is critical to the Buhari administration.
“We cannot do it alone; we have an ambitious target where we need partners like you to achieve that. It would help if you equally had people that will consume your services, and they need to be digitally literate before they can access your services.”
Earlier, the leader of the team, Adaora Ikenze, and Head of Public Policy (West Africa) Meta describes NITDA as “our principal regulator in Nigeria. We recognised the importance of this agency, and as the catalyst for the sector and economic development in Nigeria, we equally recognised the importance of the vital regulatory role you are providing in this space,” she said.
Ikenze explained that Meta’s visit to the agency is the beginning of a more cooperative and collaborative relationship. she noted that the sector and Nigeria are reflective points at the moment.
“We are fortunate enough to be one of the more supportive platforms in the country; we understand the importance and value that our platforms and products bring to the country; by that, we would like to have a more open collaborative relationship with our regulators,” she added.
