National Information Technology Development Agency

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is a public service institution established by NITDA Act 2007 as the ICT policy implementing arm of the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It has sole responsibility of developing programs that caters for the running of ICT related activities in the country.[1] NITDA is also mandated with the implementation of policies guideline for driving ICT in Nigeria.[2] It plays advisory role in copyright law by verification and revision of applicable laws in tandem with the application of software and technology acquisition. Majority of these activities are achieved through organization of workshops which cater for training needs of her staff, government functionaries and education sectors.[3]

National Information Technology Development Agency
Agency overview
Formed18 April 2001 (18 April 2001)
JurisdictionGovernment of Nigeria
HeadquartersAbuja, FCT, Nigeria
Agency executive
  • Dr. Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi, Director General Dr. Vincent Olatunji, Director Corporate Planning & Strategy
  • Mr Christopher Okeke, Director Cyber Security
  • Dr Agu Collins Agu, Director Information Technology & Infrastructure Support Hadiza Umar (Mrs), Head Corporate Affairs & External Relation.
Websitenitda.gov.ng

History

As part of the history of Nigeria, ICT related activities started in 1950. NITDA was commissioned by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo through the perfection of a bill designed to provide for the establishment of National Information Technology Development in 2007 (NITDA Act).[4] Operations of NITDA started in 2001, six years before the bill was passed into law. The agency's main objective is to provide ICT as a tool in tertiary institution to drive the mechanism of education sector in the country. Its creation has given birth to the establishment of state ICT agencies in other states of Federation such as the Plateau State Information And Communication Technology Development Agency. The agency started her operation in Abuja, FCT with 30 computers. These devices were used for the training of major government functionaries which include the president and his ministers. Within the first three years of establishment, the agency supplied 5700 computers system to over 187 educational institutions in the country which includes: universities, secondary and primary schools.[5][6]

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NIRDA) is known for introduction of professional training programme across various states in Nigeria. In the year 2020 NITDA announced it would train 75,000 youths in Kaduna state in information technology,[7] fast forward 2022, they organize a programme called the "Digital Economy Employability Programme" which is aimed at training over 200,000 thousand Nigerians from all over the country.

References
  1. Muhammad, Abubakar Sadiq; Kaya, Tuğberk (2023-03-19). "Factors affecting the citizen's intention to adopt e-government in Nigeria". Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society. 21 (3): 271–289. doi:10.1108/JICES-05-2022-0054. ISSN 1477-996X.
  2. 2006 Information and Communications for Development Global Trends and Policies. January 2006. ISBN 9780821363478. Retrieved 5 January 2016. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. "NITDA to train 600 youths in software and technology". IT News Africa. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  4. Abdulaye Gematie (11 October 2014). Computing in Research and Development in Africa: Benefits, Trends ... Springer Shop. ISBN 9783319082394. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  5. Patient Idaresit Akpan-Obong; Peter Lang (2009). Information and Communication Technology in Nigeria. ISBN 9781433103100.
  6. "NITDA ACT" (PDF). NITDA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  7. "NITDA to Empower 75,000 Kaduna Youths with Digital Skills". Vanguard News. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
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