NITDA, NCFRMI Forge Strategic Alliance For Inclusive Digital Transformation Of Displaced Nigerians
By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to advancing inclusive digital transformation, particularly among Nigeria’s displaced population.
In a press statement e-signed by the Director of Corporate Communications & Media Relations at NITDA, Hajia Hadiza Umar, Mallam Abdullahi made this known during a strategic engagement with the leadership of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) at NITDA’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja, north central, Nigeria.
Abdullahi highlighted the productive partnership NITDA and NCFRMI had cultivated over the years through staff training and ICT support and announced plans to “reactivate and scale up this collaboration by supplying new IT equipment and introducing customised digital literacy programmes in resettlement cities.” This initiative, he said, aligned with NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2024–2027), which aimed to achieve 70 per cent digital literacy nationwide by 2027, a central pillar of the Federal Government’s digital economy agenda.
Outlining NITDA’s renewed efforts including several key strategies: Establishing community-based digital learning centres with shared devices; Deploying trained National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to deliver ICT training in resettlement camps; and Providing ICT infrastructure tailored to the unique needs of each community, the NITDA boss also revealed that NITDA was partnering with an international organisation to deploy innovative tech hubs within Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across the Federal Capital Territory.
He emphasised the need for a formalised workstream between both agencies to conduct joint needs assessments in resettlement cities and camps, design and deliver customised interventions for each community, and develop a scalable, replicable model for nationwide adoption. This collaboration, Inuwa reiterated, was crucial for scaling impact and reaching more Nigerians in need, aligning with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Federal Commissioner of NCFRMI, Hon. Tijani Aliyu Ahmed,commended NITDA’s leadership in driving national development and noted that Nigeria currently hosted over 6.1 million internally displaced persons due to insecurity, insurgency, and natural disasters, with over 125,000 Nigerians also seeking refuge in neighboring countries.
While the Federal Government was addressing these challenges, Hon. Ahmed said deeper partnerships were essential to empower vulnerable populations.
Commissioner Ahmed stressed that the partnership extended beyond digital tools, aiming to restore dignity and opportunity and added that strengthening host communities by improving access to clean water, rehabilitated schools, and healthcare services was also a goal.
He informed that resettlement cities had already been developed in Kano, Borno, Zamfara, Katsina, and Daura, with a new site in Keffi, Nasarawa State, housing over 40 households. These centers, he added, provided homes, healthcare facilities, markets, schools, vocational training hubs, and agricultural land to empower displaced persons to rebuild their lives.
“Digital literacy is now a vital component of empowerment. With initiatives like JAMB’s shift to Computer-Based Testing, we must ensure that displaced children and youth acquire the ICT skills needed to thrive in today’s world. “We are fully committed to working with NITDA to ensure no Nigerian child is left behind,” he said.
