The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has commended National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for promoting various projects and initiatives to boost Nigeria’s digital economy drive.
The Yoruba monarch gave the commendation when he received NITDA’s director-general, Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, yesterday in Abuja.
He expressed satisfaction with the way NITDA is engaging Nigerians, particularly in the area of Information Technology.
He said, “I have been following the activities of NITDA over the years, and all I can say is, I am very happy and satisfied with all that you are doing.
“I must also commend the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who under his watch, the ministry and also the agencies he supervises are doing wonderfully to move this country forward especially with regard to digital economy,” he said.
The Ooni further charged NITDA to do more in the area of youth development, saying Nigerian youth are the backbone of the country’s growth.
“As someone who is passionate about youth development, I will love to see NITDA doing more in regard to youth empowerment. There is need for the agency to expand its initiatives across other regions, especially the north, so that the youth can catch up with their counterparts in other regions of the country,” he said.
Abdulllahi had in his remarks thanked the royal father for his words of encouragement and assured him of the agency’s commitment in ensuring that it discharges its duties by providing Nigerians with basic digital skills through capacity building.
He said digital innovation and entrepreneurship and promotion of indigenous contents as one of the agency’s strategic pillars basically involves the maximum empowerment of youth and use of local innovators to come up with indigenous content that will bring digital solutions for the nation.
The NITDA boss further said the agency had been coming up with digital innovation solutions through various innovation challenges across the country and assured that NITDA would continue to come up with developmental initiatives that would make the lives of Nigerians better, especially in the area of emerging technologies.
