The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has promised to increase developmental initiatives through implementing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in Kwara State.
The director-general of the agency, Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, made this known during the commissioning of the Kwara State e-library and Ed-Tech Hub under the aegis of ‘Tech2Grassroot Project’ and the 2nd Kwara Digital Education Summit and Awards in commemoration of the International Education Day and bridging digital gaps in the state.
While commending the commitment of the people of the state and the state government in closing digital gaps through the building of the e-libraries across the 16 local government areas of the state, Abdullahi revealed that the objective aligns with the NITDA’s agenda.
“Your approach towards ensuring sustainable development in the educational sector of the state, coupled with striving for a digital transformation in the state is highly commendable because it identifies with three of NITDA’s seven strategic pillars,” he stated.
He stated that part of the agency’s strategic pillars was to develop the digital skills of Nigerians across different works of life, provide a robust digital platform to drive digitalisation and enable small, medium and innovative-driven enterprises to thrive.
“All of these keys into the present administration’s NDEPS and shows [that] we are all harnessing our resources towards securing the future of education by closing the digital gaps,” Abdullahi said.
Buttressing his point further, the NITDA boss opined that the commissioning of the e-library with the other proposed ones would boost the literacy rate of the state’s students in information and communication technology (ICT) and the acquisition of other skills.
“No socio-economic transformation can take root in any modern-day society without e-learning facilities. If it is true that e-learning is the engine room of today’s digital economy transformation, then it has become imperative in modern education of any society.”
Abdullahi gave assurances that in addition to the 27 well-equipped developmental projects set up by NITDA in schools and local government areas of the state, the agency is encouraged to add more initiatives. “Your effort, I must say, has challenged us in NITDA to significantly increase the developmental initiatives in Kwara State as we can see evident commitment towards the sustainability of such projects. As NITDA’s contribution to this unique initiative, I wish to assure you that the agency will forge linkages, collaborations and partnerships towards the sustainability of this programme for the good people of Kwara State,” he added.
