NITDA Partners UniAbuja To Drive Tech Innovation, Advocates Research For Inclusive Economic Growth
By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria
In a decisive move to align academic research with Nigeria’s digital economy agenda, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has affirmed its commitment to advancing integrated research across Nigerian universities to develop technology-driven solutions that solve real-life local problems across various sectors.
According to a statement e-signed by the Director of Corporate Communications and Media Relations at NITDA, Hajia Hadiza Umar, the Director-General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, made the assertion when the management team of Yakubu Gowon University (UniAbuja), led by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi, paid a familiarisation visit to the agency’s corporate headquarters in Abuja, north central, Nigeria.
Mallam Abdullahi emphasised that NITDA was ready to partner with the Yakubu Gowon University (UniAbuja) and other tertiary institutions, noting that such partnerships were critical to nurturing innovation ecosystems, equipping citizens with practical skills, and positioning Nigeria as a hub for technology-driven development.
Abdullahi highlighted the importance of increased investment in research as the foundation for leveraging emerging technologies to foster inclusive economic growth and technological innovation.
“We need to invest more in in-depth research with universities to build a robust research ecosystem that will help us develop solutions. Research will focus on harnessing AI, IoT, blockchain, cybersecurity, and Cloud technology, among other emerging technologies, to improve our lives and grow our digital economy.
“NITDA has a vision to make Nigeria a digitally empowered nation. You (UniAbuja) are the talent factory, and we cannot achieve our vision without talented Nigerians. The only way to achieve that is working with institutions like yours. So, we need to build talent.
“We can work together to explore ways of introducing AI across the board as a general study course in tertiary institutions. Elements of AI should be included in every field of study to equip our students with the hands-on skills for navigating the real world,” Abdullahi stated.
The NITDA DG disclosed that the agency was currently in partnership with education sector institutions including the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and the National Commission for Colleges of Education. He reiterated NITDA’s ongoing efforts to incorporate digital literacy programmes into the curriculum across all levels of education to enhance graduates’ readiness to fit into industry.
Earlier, the Yakubu Gowon University (UniAbuja) Vice Chancellor, Prof. Fawehinmi, explained that the purpose of their visit was to seek NITDA’s partnership and support to improve digital infrastructure for educational training within the institution. Prof. Fawehinmi expressed gratitude for NITDA’s contributions to the Digital Geoscience Centre.
Fawehinmi assured that the institution was eager to partner with NITDA in joint research projects, capacity-building initiatives, and innovation programmes that aligned with NITDA’s vision of leveraging technology to drive socio-economic growth.
“We could go into partnership with you to provide data, collaborative engagements, staff exchanges, joint research hubs, so that we can produce high-level human resources. The university is committed to serving as a strategic academic partner to NITDA by providing academic expertise required to advance your national digital transformation initiatives,” Fawehinmi promised.
