The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, has called for stronger collaboration between the federal, state, and local governments to accelerate Nigeria’s digital transformation and drive inclusive economic growth across the country. Inuwa made the call during a strategic engagement with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Secretariat in Abuja.
Speaking at the meeting, Inuwa stressed that Nigeria’s digital progress cannot be sustained if the transformation efforts remain centralized. “Our mandate isn’t just federal—it’s truly national, which means it must embrace state and local governments. We need to embed our initiatives directly within state and local structures,” he stated.
He noted that Nigeria has made remarkable progress in its digital journey. When NITDA was established, fewer than 500,000 Nigerians used computers and ICT contributed less than 0.5 percent to the country’s GDP. Today, over 130 million Nigerians have internet access and the ICT sector contributes more than 17 percent to national GDP.
Inuwa attributed these gains to strategic partnerships involving government institutions, the private sector, and development partners. He reaffirmed NITDA’s goal of building a digitally empowered nation guided by its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP), adding that digital literacy remains central to national growth.
To achieve this, NITDA aims to attain 70 percent digital literacy by 2027 and 95 percent by 2030 through initiatives such as the 3 Million Tech Talent (3MTT) programme and the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF). The agency is also working with the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to integrate digital skills across all education levels nationwide.
Inuwa further disclosed ongoing partnerships with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to train corps members and civil servants under the NYSC Digital Literacy Champions Initiative, which is expected to reach up to 10 million Nigerians annually, particularly in the informal sector.
“No one succeeds in isolation. We must work as an ecosystem to create prosperity and inclusivity through technology,” he said, while inviting state governments to participate actively in the upcoming International Conference on Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) and the Digital Nigeria Conference.
In his response, the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Dr. Abdulateef Shittu, described the visit as an important step toward a more coordinated digital economy agenda across the 36 states. He commended NITDA’s leadership and noted that technology has become a key driver of competitiveness, opportunity, and broad-based development.
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Shittu explained that the Forum is already supporting states through initiatives such as the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Readiness Report and the Intelligent Revenue Authority Readiness Report, which guide reforms in digital identity, secure data exchange, payments, and trust systems. He expressed confidence that ongoing collaboration on digital standards and the Nigeria Data Exchange Framework will strengthen secure and interoperable systems across government institutions.
“With strong partnership and shared accountability, we will unlock a future where every Nigerian, urban or rural, has access to the tools and opportunities of the digital age,” Shittu stated.
