By Saminu Ibrahim
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and 251 other organisations have recorded 2,769,512 digital literacy training achievements across Nigeria in the last three years, representing 5.54 per cent of the Federal Government’s target of reaching 50 million Nigerians by 2027.
The figure was disclosed at the 2026 National Digital Literacy Workshop in Abuja, where NITDA unveiled the National Digital Literacy Dashboard to track digital skills training and interventions nationwide.
The dashboard shows that 252 organisations are reporting their activities across all 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the country’s 774 local government areas.
The initiative is being implemented under NITDA’s Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) programme, which seeks to equip Nigerians with digital skills through partnerships with government institutions, technology companies, educational institutions, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the workshop, NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, said Nigeria’s human capital remained its greatest resource, stressing that deliberate investment in digital capabilities was essential to improving productivity and expanding economic opportunities.
He said digital literacy had become as fundamental as reading, writing and numeracy, particularly as technology and artificial intelligence continued to transform education, business, communication and public service delivery.
“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 the initiative was designed to help Nigerians apply digital tools to their existing occupations, noting that traders could use technology to manage business records and receive digital payments, while farmers could access weather forecasts and market information.
According to him, teachers could improve classroom learning through digital tools, while public servants could deploy technology to deliver more efficient services.
The dashboard revealed that young people below the age of 35 accounted for 2,092,697 training achievements, while informal-sector workers recorded 1,609,183.
Female participation stood at 32.9 per cent, while 65,767 beneficiaries were recorded from rural communities and 17,156 were persons with disabilities.
The figures, however, highlight the need to expand access to digital skills training, particularly among women, rural dwellers and persons with disabilities.
Companies accounted for the largest share of participating organisations, with 151 entities representing 59.9 per cent of the total. Government institutions accounted for 43 organisations, while non-governmental organisations recorded 34, with cooperatives, community organisations and other entities making up the remainder.
Among the leading contributors, Cisco recorded 1,073,604 training achievements, followed by NITDA with 960,424 and Meta Platforms Inc. with 333,816.
Other contributors included Imo Digital City Limited, the Sokoto State Ministry of Innovation and Digital Economy, the Bureau for ICT and Digital Economy, state technology agencies in Jigawa, Kaduna and Zamfara, and the Centre for Information Technology and Development.
Inuwa said the dashboard would improve coordination among stakeholders, identify underserved communities and ensure that investments in digital skills development produced measurable results.
He noted that the absence of coordinated reporting had sometimes led to multiple organisations implementing similar interventions in the same communities, while other areas remained underserved.
“At NITDA, we see our role as an ecosystem orchestrator,” he said, adding that the agency was committed to establishing standards, partnerships and coordination mechanisms to maximise the collective impact of digital literacy programmes.
The director-general, however, cautioned against interpreting the reported training achievements as the number of unique Nigerians who had attained a defined level of digital proficiency.
He said the figures must be complemented by credible assessments to determine the competencies acquired by participants, how they apply their skills and the benefits generated in their communities.
According to him, NITDA intends to measure progress beyond training attendance by assessing whether beneficiaries can communicate more effectively, protect themselves against online fraud, access information confidently and improve their businesses and livelihoods.
The National Digital Literacy Framework, established in 2023, provides the foundation for the initiative, outlining six competence areas: 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 collaboration with the National Youth Service Corps has also enabled Digital Literacy Champions to take training to markets and communities. Programme records show that the informal-sector initiative has engaged more than 20,000 trainers and over 803,000 trainees.
The national framework targets 70 per cent digital literacy by 2027 and 95 per cent by 2030, in line with the Federal Government’s broader ambition to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Earlier, speakers at the workshop urged state governments, technology companies, educational institutions, development partners and civil society organisations to register their interventions and submit credible data to the dashboard.
They stressed that achieving the national digital literacy targets would require collective action and sustained collaboration among stakeholders.
The initiative ultimately seeks to make digital literacy accessible to all Nigerians, enabling them to improve productivity, access economic opportunities and contribute to national development.
