The Man Leading the Thrive of Nigeria’s IT Space, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the reappointment of National Information Technology Development Agency, as the Chief Executive Officer and Director General of the agency for another term, it came as a well deserved affirmation of trust and affirmation of believe in the capabilities of Kashifu Inuwa.

In appreciating the President, Kashifu Inuwa could not still leave out his thirst for continued technological innovation, he wrote; “I extend my heartfelt gratitude to President @officialABAT for reappointing me as DG of @NITDANigeria. I'm committed to driving the Nigerian Digital Vision under the leadership of our Minister @bosuntijani. Thanks to all who have congratulated me and offered prayers for my success; your support is deeply appreciated. Together, we will harness technological innovation to transform Nigeria into a great nation.”

In February 2023, former President Muhammadu Buhari also described NITDA under Kashifu as one with “remarkable successes”. As the Director General of the NITDA, he has shown himself as a leader; a leader is not known by what he says alone but by what he has been able to achieve with his team and impacts visible under his leadership; Kashifu has shown that if the public sector is led well, results can be gotten.

Under him, NITDA has trained about a million Nigerians of various cadres in digital skills and awarded scholarships for Masters and PhDs to 49 Nigerians.

Recently, he embarked on a talent development programme to train 1 million software developers in 18 months.

Under him the NITDA’s Academy for Research and Training dedicated to training Nigerians on different information and communication technology skills have been alive than always. This has helped digital literacy and development in the country. Journalists have also been beneficiaries of trainings by the NITDA; having understood the role the media plays in the development and evolution of the Information Techology Sector.

This development has further helped in amplifying the work NITDA does even to the grassroots, a feat that is no mean. Under Kashifu, NITDA has been gender sensitive, embracing the empowerment of women and strengthening women as key players in the country’s digital economy drive. Impressively, the NITDA positioned that when women are empowered, families get stronger and children have better access to care and education, creating a room for a more inclusive society.

The mandate of e-governance has not been left out by the IT regulators, with different sectorial leaders trained on e-Governance under the NITDA initiative. At different fronts, Kashifu has not hidden his passion for the IT space in the country, time to time taking giant strides in ensuring that no stone is left unturned to helping Nigeria get its rightful position as a global leader in the IT space .

The agency also has led the quest for “Smart Agriculture “ training and empowering Nigerians on technology driven agricultural sector including that driven by artificial intelligence 

Different programs have been initiated by the NITDA while innovators have been supported to continue to ensure that the ecosystem is robust and well productive. The innovators clusters planned for thirty-six states of the country is another example of such massive development that will be pivotal for startup’s development in Nigeria.

The reappointment of Kashifu further gives room for strengthening of the IT sector and for further technological innovations in the country.