The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mal. Kashifu Inuwa has stressed the need for Nigeria as a country to continue to adopt digital transformation.
The NITDA DG, who was speaking at the Closing Ceremony of a 4-Day Capacity Building Programme on e-Government and Digital Transformation Programme for Permanent Secretaries and Directors in Kano State, believes that adopting digital transformation is key to accelerating the growth and modernisation of Nigeria’s economy and governance.
“As digital technologies continue to change the world by transforming existing traditional processes to digital processes to enhance productivity, Nigeria must re-emphasised the need to adopt digital transformation in order to succeed,” the DG, who was represented by Ag. Director, Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department of the Agency, Dr. Amina Sambo Magaji said.
He stated that a forward-looking organisation is aware of the relevance of civil servants as the key to delivering government policies and programme. Thus, the training, he argued digital transformation efforts of the government cannot be completed without actively involving the Civil Servants.
Affirming the Federal Government of Nigeria’s keen interest in digitalising its activities for which Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are central to the implementation, NITDA said to institutionalise the digitalisation programmes in MDAs, it has structured its Strategic Roadmap and Action plan (SRAP 2021-2024) towards the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).
“We have Digital Literacy and Skills as a strategic pillar to complement the National Digital Literacy Framework in achieving President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s target of 95% digital literacy by 2030. We have supported so many state governments with digital tools and training, we are already collaborating and will always be willing to partner with stakeholders to support our e-Government Transformation, Digital Economy, Diversification and Sustainability Plan for the country”, he added.
Meanwhile, the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, who was represented by his Chief of Staff and Head of Service, Alhaji Usman Bala Mohammed, gave an overview of the Capacity Building Programme, affirming that the participants are staff drawn from MDAs of Kano State.
He further explained that the training is timely, considering the fact that the world is rapidly changing from analog to digital.
“Upskilling Permanent Secretaries will help Kano State to catch up with the rest of the world in the areas of digitisation, technology adaptation and digital transformation programmes in the workplace,” he said.
Governor Ganduje expressed his hope that the batches which have a number of 214 participants have learned a lot and will utilise the knowledge gained to achieve the desired aim of the training