By BONIFACE AKARAH

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has unveiled a national digital literacy dashboard, reporting 2,769,512 digital literacy training achievements recorded by 252 organisations across Nigeria over the past three years.

The figure represents 5.54 per cent of the Federal Government’s target of reaching 50 million beneficiaries by 2027. It was disclosed at the 2026 National Digital Literacy Workshop in Abuja, where the dashboard was presented as a tool for tracking interventions and coordinating efforts to equip Nigerians with digital skills.

The initiative is being driven by NITDA under its Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) programme, which brings together government institutions, technology companies, educational institutions, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders.

Speaking at the workshop, NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa CCIE said investment in digital skills was essential to improving productivity and expanding economic opportunities, describing human capital as Nigeria’s greatest resource.

“Our ambition is not to turn every Nigerian into an IT professional. Our ambition is to make every Nigerian digitally capable,” Inuwa said.

He explained that digital literacy should enable people to use technology to improve their existing occupations rather than require everyone to pursue careers in information technology.

Traders, for instance, could use digital tools to maintain business records and receive electronic payments, while farmers could access weather forecasts and market information. Teachers could improve classroom learning, and public servants could use technology to deliver more efficient services.

Inuwa said digital literacy had become as fundamental as reading, writing and numeracy as technology and artificial intelligence continued to change how people learn, work, communicate, trade and access public services.

The dashboard shows that participating organisations have reported activities across all 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory and the country’s 774 local government areas.

Young people below the age of 35 account for 2,092,697 reported training achievements, while informal-sector workers account for 1,609,183.

Female participation stands at 32.9 per cent. The platform also records 65,767 beneficiaries from rural communities and 17,156 persons with disabilities, figures that point to the need for stronger inclusion in digital literacy programmes.

Companies make up the largest category of reporting organisations, accounting for 151 of the 252 participants, or 59.9 per cent. Government institutions account for 43 organisations, while non-governmental organisations account for 34. Cooperatives, community organisations and other entities make up the remaining participants.

Cisco recorded the highest number of reported training achievements, with 1,073,604, followed by NITDA with 960,424 and Meta Platforms Inc. with 333,816.

Other contributors include Imo Digital City Limited, the Sokoto State Ministry of Innovation and Digital Economy, the Bureau for ICT and Digital Economy, technology agencies in Jigawa, Kaduna and Zamfara states, and the Centre for Information Technology and Development.

Inuwa said the dashboard would help the government and its partners identify underserved communities, coordinate interventions and assess whether investments in digital skills were producing measurable results.

He noted that the absence of coordinated reporting had sometimes led different organisations to deliver similar interventions in the same communities while other areas received limited attention.

“At NITDA, we see our role as an ecosystem orchestrator,” he said, explaining that the agency’s responsibilities extended beyond implementing its own programmes to establishing standards, partnerships and coordination mechanisms that would improve the collective impact of digital literacy initiatives.

The Director-General, however, cautioned against interpreting the reported training achievements as an exact count of unique Nigerians who had attained a defined level of digital proficiency.

He said the figures needed to be supported by credible assessments of participants’ acquired competencies, their application of those skills and the benefits generated in their lives and communities.

According to Inuwa, the agency intends to measure progress beyond attendance figures by assessing whether beneficiaries can communicate more effectively, protect themselves against online fraud, access information confidently and improve their businesses, jobs and livelihoods.

The National Digital Literacy Framework, established in 2023, provides the foundation for the initiative. It identifies six areas of competence: device and software operations; information and data literacy; communication and collaboration; digital content creation; digital safety; and problem-solving.

NITDA launched the DL4ALL programme in 2024 to translate the framework into practical interventions across formal education, workforce development and the informal sector.

Its partnership with the National Youth Service Corps has also enabled Digital Literacy Champions to take training into markets and communities. Programme reporting records more than 20,000 trainers and over 803,000 trainees through the informal-sector initiative.

The national framework targets 70 per cent digital literacy by 2027 and 95 per cent by 2030, supporting the Federal Government’s broader ambition to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

Speakers at the workshop called on state governments, technology companies, educational institutions, development partners and civil society organisations to register their interventions and submit reliable data to the dashboard.

They stressed that achieving the national digital literacy targets would require coordinated action and shared responsibility across the public and private sectors.

The initiative is ultimately intended to widen access to digital skills, enabling more Nigerians to improve their productivity, pursue economic opportunities and participate meaningfully in the country’s digital economy.

•PHOTO:Director General NITDA Kashifu Inuwa CCIE (middle) flanked by other supporting partners at the formal launching of the National Digital Literacy Dashboard in Abuja.