NITDA DG Tell Nigerian Youths To Leverage On Digital Skills To Contribute To Economy

Kashifu Inuwa

Mr. Kashifu Inuwa, Direc­tor General of the Nation­al Information Technology Development Agency (NIT­DA), has urged Nigerian youths to develop their digi­tal skills to support govern­ment efforts toward build­ing a digital economy.

Inuwa, who gave the ad­vice during an online inter­active session with Nigerian youths on the topic, “Educa­tion, Employment and Tech­nology in Nigeria: Gaps and Opportunities Post COVID-19 Pandemic,” said developing their digital skills would help them to be self-reliant in post COVID-19 era.

According to him, “Ni­gerian youths should stay committed and focused on their endeavours because time to hold-on to only ed­ucational qualifications without prerequisite skills is gone, especially now that the world has changed in different dimensions.


“The outbreak of the nov­el Coronavirus has been a monumental disaster glob­ally, and Nigeria inclusive.

“It has led to unprece­dented disruptions to glob­al economy, sharp drop in global crude oil prices, Ni­geria economic mainstay and financial markets are struggling; massive loss of employment to the teeming youths, lockdown of schools and institutions of higher learning, among others.

“As of March 28, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is caus­ing more than 1.6 billion chil­dren and youth to be out of school in 161 countries. This is close to 80 per cent of the world’s enrolled students.”