NITDA to Train Grassroots Digital Instructors, Targets Wider Tech Inclusion
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NITDA to Train Grassroots Digital Instructors, Targets Wider Tech Inclusion
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA says it has plans to train community-based digital instructors as part of efforts to sustain digital literacy programmes and deepen technology inclusion across underserved communities in Nigeria.
Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, disclosed this during a courtesy visit by the Executive Director of Cal-Maji Foundation, Faith Ayuba, to the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
Represented by the Director of Digital Development Services, Oluwunmi Oladejo, Inuwa said the proposed initiative would strengthen community ownership of digital literacy programmes and ensure the sustainability of NITDA’s interventions at the grassroots.
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He urged the foundation to submit a formal request, supported with evidence of activities at its Knowledge Access Centre, to facilitate further collaboration.
The NITDA boss said the agency remained committed to leveraging partnerships with community-based organisations to bridge Nigeria’s digital divide and ensure no citizen was left behind in the country’s digital transformation agenda.
“It is always gratifying to receive feedback from communities that have benefited from our interventions. Many of these projects were implemented years ago, and it is rewarding to know they are still creating opportunities,” he said.
According to him, NITDA continues to monitor intervention centres across the country while deploying emerging technologies to improve digital learning and virtual capacity-building.
He added that the agency’s National Digital Literacy Framework was designed to equip children, students, artisans, farmers, professionals and other groups with the skills required to participate in the digital economy.
Inuwa, however, identified the cost of providing internet connectivity at intervention centres nationwide as a major challenge, saying innovative funding models and partnerships would be needed to sustain operations.
Earlier, Ayuba praised NITDA for supporting initiatives based on measurable impact, noting that the agency’s Knowledge Access Centre in a border community in Kogi State had transformed access to digital education.
She said the ICT facility had enabled young people who previously lacked access to computers and the internet to acquire digital skills, while more than 1,000 children had benefited from the foundation’s education programmes.
Ayuba also appealed to the agency to upgrade computer systems at the centre, train community instructors and expand access to digital capacity-building initiatives, stressing that rural communities must not be left behind as Nigeria embraces emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
