Director General of NITDA Kashifu Inuwa flanked by the Executive Director of Operations and Programmes of Afre.lib Mrs Joice Gomina, members of the NITDA Management team and other representatives of Afre.lib
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is committed to achieving a 70% digital literacy level by 2025. This goal will be pursued through innovative approaches, continuous collaborations, and active stakeholder engagement, as stated by the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE.
Inuwa shared this vision while receiving representatives from Afre.lib Academy, led by their Executive Director of Operations, Mrs. Joice Gomina, at NITDA’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja. The visit aimed to seek NITDA’s partnership in co-hosting Afre.lib Academy’s upcoming events: the bootcamps in August, the 2024 Tech and Career Expo themed “Tech for Earth” in September, and support for their Tech Challenge Winners.
Highlighting the Agency’s digital literacy strategy, Inuwa explained: “We focus on three key areas. Firstly, Formal Education, where we are collaborating with the Ministry of Education to revise the curriculum and integrate digital skills. This involves extensive teacher training and providing necessary equipment.”
“Secondly, for those outside formal education, we have the ‘Digital Literacy for All’ initiative. This includes developing an Edtech platform, a Learning Management System, where individuals can learn at their own pace. We plan to translate this platform into Nigerian languages to ensure accessibility for non-English speakers.”
“We are also exploring partnerships with the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) to utilize their presence in 774 local government areas for onboarding individuals. Simplified content will be made available so that anyone can benefit from it. Through NYSC, we aim to reach a critical mass.”
“Finally, for the formal workforce, we provide training for government and private sector employees to enhance digital literacy and productivity.”
Inuwa assured Afre.lib Academy of NITDA’s full support, noting that both organizations share a vision of fostering IT development and digital literacy. He emphasized the need to align the Academy’s curriculum with the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF) and highlighted NITDA’s plan to establish at least one Innovation Hub per state to support the development of learners’ proof of concept.
He also suggested collaboration on establishing tech clubs across schools in Nigeria.
Mrs. Gomina of Afre.lib Academy praised NITDA’s support and outlined the Academy’s mission to bridge the gap between digitally native children and their traditionally trained teachers. The Academy aims to build a platform for mentoring children, providing them with a safe space to explore technology ethically.
“We aim to foster a mentality of citizenship and responsibility among children, showing them how they can contribute to nation-building through technology,” Gomina said.
She highlighted the Academy’s activities, which include bootcamps for children, summer tech challenges, and teacher training. The Academy also demonstrated prototypes developed by children who have undergone their training programs.
