The Director General stated this while playing host to the participants of the 2024 Senior Executive Course 46 who were on a strategic tour to understudy the Agency’s operations on the advancement of Digital Economy in line with the present administration’s Agenda.

The team at NITDA was led by Abdulrahman Idris, the brigadier general of NIPSS.

Inuwa noted that no organisation can achieve its goals and objectives in isolation, adding that, “We need to collaborate with other institutions to learn and share ideas that will impact on the lives of citizens, improving the living standards of individuals across the country.”

He highlighted that collaboration between NITDA and NIPSS will highlight the importance of leveraging technology and digital innovation to drive economic growth and create more job opportunities for citizens, attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

He said,

“At NITDA, we started by re-imagining and reinventing our social contract with Nigerians and the ecosystem, which led to the change of the Agency’s mission and vision to improve service delivery and the swift growth of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. We need to ensure that our core values reflect our willingness to discharge our duties and we exist to serve Nigerians.”

Providing insights into NITDA’s strategic direction, Inuwa mentioned the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2024-2027) 2.0, structured around eight pillars which include Fostering Digital Literacy and Cultivating Talents, Building a Robust Technology Research Ecosystem, Strengthening Policy Implementation and Legal Frameworks, Promoting Inclusive Access to Digital Infrastructure and Services, Enhancing Cybersecurity and Digital Trust, Nurturing an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Forging Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations, and Cultivating a Vibrant Organisational Culture with an Agile Workforce.

Earlier in his remarks, Brigadier General Idris stated that NIPSS was established by Decree number 20 of 1979, now Cap N-51 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

He said the Institute was conceived as a high-level institution with the primary objectives of serving as the nation’s foremost policy think-tank to develop a crop of top-class technocrats of high intellectual capacity, who will conceptualise and anchor the implementation of innovative and dynamic policy initiatives and strategies that are critical for national development.

Idris added that the institution since inception has graduated 45 courses which are supporting government institutions in the implementation of policies for national development.

He said,

“The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has tasked the institutions with the mandate to address some issues of national interest around the digital economy sector and NITDA is one of the critical stakeholders in the sector and this has informed our visit’’.

Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, the executive vice chairman and chief executive officer (EVC/CEO), NASENI, disclosed this while welcoming participants of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 46 of NIPSS who were at the Agency on Strategic Institution Study tour on Monday, 15th April, 2024.

Halilu said he was elated that NASENI was identified as one of the federal government’s agencies that have all it takes to empower and create job opportunities for Nigerian youths, and make the country self-reliant in manufacturing and digital economy.

The EVC said strengthening the capacity of key stakeholders in Nigeria to access, adopt and scale up technologies is an essential outcome of such cooperation and collaborations currently being undertaken by the Agency and “must be supported by the relevant offline conditions, such as an enabling policy environment, access to finance, appropriate incentives and innovation capacities.”

The Director-General of NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, who led the delegation, said Nigerian youths can be empowered through translation of NASENI innovations to finished products and to strengthen the collaboration between the two organizations.

According to him, various groups from the institute have been sent to different agencies to study how policies for national development can be developed, adding that the Group in NASENI will do a deep study on NASENI on how the Agency can help in creating job opportunities for Nigerian youths using some of its technological innovations.

He said:

“Nigeria cannot have good manufacturing without infrastructures and NASENI is very important in all the sectors in the country, especially in manufacturing industries. We need an Agency like NASENI to live up to expectations, we can work together with you to find means of transferring your innovations to effective job creation and youth empowerment.”

He noted that the Course 46 participants from NIPSS wanted to know the vision, mission and roles of NASENI and how they can be translated to job creation for youths in a digital economy.