• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • Mohammed Idris Malagi, Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation

      FG Reaffirms Non-Interference in ICPC, EFCC Operations

      ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • NUPENG

      NUPENG Suspends Strike After Truce With FG, Labour, Oil Stakeholders

      Customs, Defence Bureau Unveil Airboat for Smuggling War

      Customs Begins Live Operations of Automated Excise Register System

      Still on the “National Single Window” Project By Abdulsalam Mahmud

      Minister of Finance Wale Edun and the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adeniyi decorating OP Olaniyan

      Customs Generates N3.7trn in H1 2025 as FG Targets Enhanced Private…

  • National
    • Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and Nafisa Abdullah Aminu

      Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami

      Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

      Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri…

      NIPR President Ike Neliaku

      NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity

      Ahmed Balarabe Sa'id

      Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

      The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa

      FG to Schools: Get Certified Teachers or Lose WAEC Accreditation

    • Government
      • Bauchi Muslim Parliament

        Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts

        Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and Nafisa Abdullah Aminu

        Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami

        Charlie Kirk

        Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

        Governor Kabir Abba Yusuf and the conjoined twins

        Kano Separated Conjoined Twins Return Home After Successful Surgery in S/Arabia

        Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Kano State

        Kano Government Approves ₦1.1bn for School Uniforms to Tackle Out-of-School Children…

  • Security
    • airforce helicopter

      NAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in Chikun

      Nigerian Troops Eliminate Notorious Bandit Deputy Commander in Kogi

      Police Officer

      Police Arrest 56 Suspects in Coordinated Raids Across FCT

      Military Troops in Action

      Military Eliminates Terrorist Commanders in Yobe, Foil Attacks in Sokoto, Zamfara

      court Judiciary

      Court Okays DSS Request to Accelerate Trial of Al-Barnawi, 4 Other…

  • Features
    • Charlie Kirk

      Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

      Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

      Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri…

      Omoyele Sowore, Bayo Ononuga and Adeola Ajayi

      Sowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS Overreach

      Ahmed Balarabe Sa'id

      Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

      Traffic officials tolling the vehicle at the scene in Abuja

      SPECIAL REPORT: Extortion, Blood and Impunity Behind Abuja’s Agbero Menace

  • State
    • Bauchi Muslim Parliament

      Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts

      airforce helicopter

      NAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in Chikun

      Police Officer

      Police Arrest 56 Suspects in Coordinated Raids Across FCT

      Charlie Kirk

      Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

      Military Troops in Action

      Military Eliminates Terrorist Commanders in Yobe, Foil Attacks in Sokoto, Zamfara

  • Event
    • Prof. Abubakar Mu’azu

      UNIMAID appoints Prof. Mu’azu as Pioneer Dean, Faculty of Communication

      NIPR President Ike Neliaku

      NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity

      Baze University Management visits TETFUND, Showcases Tech-Driven Growth, National Impact

      PHOTOS: BUK Alumni Association Launches Digital Hub to Unite Global Graduates,…

      Founder Image Merchant Promotion Ltd, Yushau Shuaib, Nigeria Customs CG, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the IPRA representative during the 2024 GWA awards in Belgrade, Serbia

      Again, ​IPRA Shortlists Nigeria Customs, IMPR for Golden World Awards, Celebrates…

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Government Innovating Nigeria: The Rise of True Compatriots By Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
  • Government

Innovating Nigeria: The Rise of True Compatriots By Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

By
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
-
June 5, 2021
PRNigeria logo fearured image
  1. Innovating Nigeria: The Rise of True Compatriots
    By Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

Beneath the obvious national contradictions and challenges we face, there is a deep revolution brewing that is “innovation at the speed of thought”. One of the biggest perks of the Office of the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is the privilege of meeting the smartest people in Nigeria and beyond. I had looked forward to visiting the technology ecosystem in Lagos since early 2020, but COVID struck. So, we kept in touch virtually.

During COVID, the tech ecosystem made huge contributions to the nation, especially through the Tech4Covid committee. I had the privilege to inaugurate the committee under the supervision of the Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. Thanks to the advice of that committee and other efforts, the digital ecosystem was able to help Nigeria out of COVID induced recession that promised to deal a death blow to our national economy.

On the 19th of May 2021, I had my long-sought opportunity to begin a 3-day tour of Lagos to meet with the innovation industry. After a breakfast meeting with the press, we hit the road to brave the legendary Lagos traffic to get to the Governor’s office.

The Lagos State Government had just implemented the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) for the health sector. Please take a pause to note that this scale of data protection implementation has not been reported anywhere in the world. Yes, we did it in Nigeria!

My team scheduled a visit to validate the work done by the Lagos Ministry of Health, but Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu decided to host us despite his busy schedule. In the meeting, the Governor and I compared notes. He reeled out the smart Lagos projects and innovative initiatives Lagos implements across the state. You could see passion, vision, and a clear strategy to take Lagos to the next level of excellence. I had the opportunity to brief Mr Governor on the groundbreaking initiates we also implemented in Lagos to support the State Government. So far, NITDA has implemented more than 40 projects in the state.

Furthermore, I shared our Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024) document with Mr Governor, wherein I discussed the seven strategic pillars that would help catalyse Nigeria to greatness. Mr Governor’s remarks, “with you, Nigeria’s information technology sector is in safe hands”, humbled me. The Governor and I agreed that we would set up a team to support Lagos Smart Initiatives and that the state would host NITDA’s proposed NDPR Toolkits for the health sector.

Our next stop was at Rack Centre, a tier-3 data centre located at Oregun. The welcome reception from the Rack Centre Managing Director, Mr Ayotunde Coker, was thrilling. We had an exciting and productive engagement going around the state-of-the-art facility. We got first-hand information on the capacity of Nigeria to be the leader in data hosting and cloud service provision for Africa.

Read Also:

  • Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts
  • Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami
  • NAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in Chikun

I saw faith at work in this complex. While many are checking out, some Nigerians are not just digging in. They are attracting foreign investment into the country. I took notes and stressed that we as government must do more to support enterprises like this.
The next day we visited the AfriOne factory, a licensed original equipment manufacturer in Lagos. I was pleased to see that technology hardware are assembled from the minute components. Some phones, laptops, tablets come with indigenous Nigerian languages such as Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. Many young Nigerians work in this place while also training people to become phone and computer technicians. It was quite interesting, and we are working diligently to promote the indigenous content as a core pillar of SRAP. Our next stop was MainOne MDXi, another iconic data centre. We had a first-hand understanding of what we have in the country in terms of data centre as a solid infrastructure for the digital economy. With what I saw at Rack Centre and MainOne MDXiMainOne MDXi, I am proud to say that we have the massive computing power needed to process any amount of data in Nigeria. We are on track to securing our digital sovereignty as a country and Africa at large. These companies must be encouraged, promoted and patronised by all government and private entities.
On the 21st of May 2021, we started the day with a breakfast session with shakers and movers of the African largest innovation ecosystem. Top startups such as Innovation Support Network, Future Africa, Smile Identity, 54gene, Advocacy for Policy and Innovation, amongst others, graced the occasion.

We had an insightful session and discussed some issues affecting the tech ecosystem and areas that needed urgent intervention, including talent, demand, infrastructure, regulation, and capital. We also deliberated on the need to include the tech industry representatives in the SRAP projects steering committee and structured engagement between the government and private sector to implement all the initiatives across SRAP pillars and disseminate information across the ecosystem.

We had many invitations from different innovation companies, but time would not permit us to visit all. But there was one more stop I could not resist. Vibranium Valley (Venture Garden Group) which is located within the Lagos local and international airport premises. It is a story that I love to relive repeatedly. For context, this Valley is bunkered inside the factory of the former Concord Press, which signifies the symbol of what Nigeria can do. Concord newspaper was so successful that it was being sold on London and New York streets in the 1970s/80s.
So, for some intelligent young people to take over this abandoned factory and re-purpose it for a technology hub is the single most profound statement of Nigeria’s intent to reimagine and take our place in the world for good. In the Valley, we saw used cargo containers and old bus parts being turned to offices. Young people in t-shirts, shorts and dreadlocks were busy solving national and international problems in governance, healthcare, education, traffic and many more. The Valley has tens of products, lots of experienced programmers and hundreds of staff.

This last stop is a fitting reminder to me that we have the talent to be the best we can. With the kind of smart digitally native guys, I met Nigerian digital economy vision, and our aspiration to be the African leader is possible; our only limitation is our imagination.

At NITDA, our belief is we cannot succeed in implementing our mandate in isolation. We are part of the innovation ecosystem. Therefore, we need to strengthen the partnership and broaden the collaboration. Together we can create and capture value in the digital economy.

NITDA pledges to be a close partner and broker between the tech ecosystem and government to ensure cohesion of purpose, direction and implementation of initiatives to make Nigeria achieve its digital economy vision. In a journey like this, some see despair and find excuses to jump ship, but we have many unsung heroes working hard to solve the Nigerian problems and make us great in the tech and innovation ecosystem. For such patriots, NITDA is here to serve.

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE
Director General/CEO,
NITDA

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Innovating Nigeria
  • Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
  • MainOne MDXi
  • NITDA
  • Technology
Previous articleCounter-Insurgency: NAF Graduates 1,031 New Recruits
Next articleTwitter Ban: Malami Orders Prosecution of Offenders
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
Xing

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Bauchi Muslim Parliament

Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts

Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and Nafisa Abdullah Aminu

Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami

Charlie Kirk

Who Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-Kayode

Governor Kabir Abba Yusuf and the conjoined twins

Kano Separated Conjoined Twins Return Home After Successful Surgery in S/Arabia

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Kano State

Kano Government Approves ₦1.1bn for School Uniforms to Tackle Out-of-School Children Crisis

Omoyele Sowore, Bayo Ononuga and Adeola Ajayi

Sowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS Overreach

Police Nab ‘Obi of Lagos,’ Foil ₦1.5 Billion New Palace Fraud

Ahmed Balarabe Sa'id

Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa

FG to Schools: Get Certified Teachers or Lose WAEC Accreditation

ECOBANK

ECOWAS debt: Court Remands Ecobank Legal Head over Perjury, defamation of Judge character

FACT-CHECK: Did Governor Uba Sani describe El-Rufai as “Godsent” who assisted him with various needs, including property acquisitions and even against Peter Obi?

The Arrest of Ansaru Kingpins Mahmud Muhammad Usman aka Abu Bara’a, and Mahmud al-Nigeri aka Mallam Mamuda

DSS Secures 15-Year Jail Term for Ansaru Leader Over Illegal Mining

Recent Posts

  • Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba’s Peace Efforts
  • Global Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa Pantami
  • NAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in Chikun
  • Nigerian Troops Eliminate Notorious Bandit Deputy Commander in Kogi
  • Police Arrest 56 Suspects in Coordinated Raids Across FCT
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Bauchi Muslim Parliament Backs Senator Buba's Peace EffortsGlobal Winner Nafisa Visits Professor Isa PantamiNAF Airstrikes Destroy Bandit Hideout in ChikunNigerian Troops Eliminate Notorious Bandit Deputy Commander in KogiPolice Arrest 56 Suspects in Coordinated Raids Across FCTWho Really Killed Charlie Kirk? By Femi Fani-KayodeMilitary Strengthens Counter-Insurgency Drive as PCRC, NSCDC Seek Support in BornoNAHCON staff commend Chairman Over New Postings, PromotionsMilitary Eliminates Terrorist Commanders in Yobe, Foil Attacks in Sokoto, ZamfaraUNIMAID appoints Prof. Mu’azu as Pioneer Dean, Faculty of CommunicationKano Separated Conjoined Twins Return Home After Successful Surgery in S/ArabiaCourt Okays DSS Request to Accelerate Trial of Al-Barnawi, 4 Other TerroristsKano Government Approves ₦1.1bn for School Uniforms to Tackle Out-of-School Children CrisisPolice Chief Tasks Border Patrol Commanders on Enhanced SecurityAir Chief Links Fiscal Discipline to Nigeria’s National Security, Operational Readiness
X whatsapp