The Director-General of Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has unveiled strategic plans to bolster resilience and self-reliance within the nation’s IT industry.
Speaking at a recent youth conference event in Abuja, Abdullahi stressed the urgent need for developing durable capabilities and local competencies to future-proof the sector against potential shocks.
“We must be resilient in the face of challenges, and this is particularly important in the IT industry,” Inuwa stated at the event. “We are working on various initiatives to promote resilience in the sector, including the establishment of IT hubs in universities, and the promotion of local content development.”
Abdullahi pinpointed robust initiatives already underway encompassing the establishment of university innovation hubs alongside policies encouraging indigenous digital adoption and content creation.
With cybercrime proliferating and global tech dynamics in flux, the NITDA head affirms building sufficient shock-absorbing capacity across Nigeria’s digitization drive remains imperative going forth.
Experts welcomed the resilience-focused roadmap as a timely catalyst for shielding economic progress from disruption. Abdullahi further reiterated his agency’s firm commitment to constructing durable anchors for national growth via strategic IT interventions countywide.
As one speaker commented: “This is a significant step to building resilience in Nigeria’s IT sector.” Another expressed hope that NITDA’s master plan will “lead to a stronger and more resilient industry.”
The director-general concluded by underscoring his organization’s central role in establishing reliable pillars to elevate Nigeria as an influential digital powerhouse in the coming decade across Africa.
