NITDA Deploys 1,500 Digital Centres, Seeks UBEC Support for Impact
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, has disclosed that the agency has deployed over 1,500 digital learning centres across the country as part of efforts to promote inclusive access to digital infrastructure, saying stronger collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, is needed to maximise their impact in schools.
Inuwa made this known when he received the management team of UBEC, led by its Executive Secretary, Dr Aisha Garba, during a courtesy visit to NITDA headquarters in Abuja.
According to him, the digital centres were established under the agency’s strategic pillar aimed at expanding access to technology and digital services nationwide.
He, however, admitted that while some of the centres are fully utilised, others remain underused.
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“We have deployed more than 1,500 digital learning centres across the country. While some are being fully utilised, some are not. We want every Nigerian to have access to digital infrastructure and services,” he said.
The NITDA boss stressed the need for both agencies to harmonise their data and map out their interventions to ensure that the centres directly support teaching and learning in the basic education system.
“For us, partnering with you will help us achieve more in terms of reaching all students in basic education,” he said, noting that collaboration with UBEC would help drive measurable impact.
He emphasised that beyond deploying infrastructure, the focus must shift to tracking outcomes, particularly the number of students benefiting from digital literacy initiatives.
“We have achieved a lot in training teachers, but impact must be measurable. We need the numbers. How many students are being reached?” Inuwa queried.
He reiterated NITDA’s national digital literacy target of 70 per cent by 2027 and 95 per cent by 2030, stressing that data analytics and Artificial Intelligence would play a critical role in monitoring progress.
“With the right system, we should be able to know each teacher and how many students they are impacting, so that we can keep proper records,” he added.
Inuwa also raised concerns over internet connectivity in schools, describing it as essential to unlocking the full potential of the digital centres.
He called for the exploration of sustainable connectivity models to ensure that the facilities are not left idle.
“Let us explore multiple services they can use. How can we get more internet services to schools?” he asked.
Beyond infrastructure, he offered to share NITDA’s digital transformation framework with UBEC to support institutional reforms within the commission, noting that digital transformation is a continuous process.
“Digital transformation is a journey. It is not a one-off initiative. At each stage, when you reach your target, you need to set a new one,” he said.
In her remarks, Garba described the partnership with NITDA as critical to UBEC’s mandate of ensuring universal access to quality basic education.
“For us in UBEC, our key mandate is universal access to basic education for all Nigerian children. So, it’s a big responsibility,” she said.
She noted that over 47 million children are currently within Nigeria’s basic education system, underscoring the scale of the task and the importance of leveraging technology to bridge access and quality gaps.
“Partnering with NITDA is a necessity for us. We need to work together to use technology to bridge the lack of access in the country and improve the quality of education,” she added.
