• 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
    • 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…

      Customs Gets 4 New Deputy Comptrollers-General, 12 ACGs, Promotes 3,312 Officers

  • National
    • ICPC, State Information Chiefs Forge New Alliance to Combat Grassroots Corruption

      ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night…

      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…

      Army Neutralize Notorious Bandit Leader, Others, Rescue Victims, Recover Weapons in…

      The road accident scene

      Nigeria’s Deadly Roads and the Menace of Trailer Accidents, By…

    • Government
      • ICPC, State Information Chiefs Forge New Alliance to Combat Grassroots Corruption

        Shettima Condemns Borno Attack, Assures Perpetrators Won’t Escape Justice

        ​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on Tinubu

        JUST IN: NNPP Expels Reps Member Abdulmumin Jibrin Days After Visiting…

        Ganduje: A Lifetime of Service Beyond Politics By Garba Yusuf Abubakar

  • Security
    • ​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on Tinubu

      A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Borno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns Violence

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Busts Drug Cartel, Arrests Kingpins, Seizes N6.4bn Worth of Narcotics

      ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night…

      Army Neutralize Notorious Bandit Leader, Others, Rescue Victims, Recover Weapons in…

  • Features
    • PRNigeria logo fearured image

      Recollecting a Media Dialogue on Words and Extremism in Abuja

      ARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night…

      The road accident scene

      Nigeria’s Deadly Roads and the Menace of Trailer Accidents, By…

      Ganduje: A Lifetime of Service Beyond Politics By Garba Yusuf Abubakar

      ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi

      DCP Olumuyiwa Adejobi: The Spokesperson Who Redefined Police Communication

  • State
    • A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

      Borno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns Violence

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Busts Drug Cartel, Arrests Kingpins, Seizes N6.4bn Worth of Narcotics

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

      Military troops

      Army Neutralise Scores of Bandits as 8 Security Guards Killed in…

      Troops Neutralise Gunrunner, Armed Militia, Recover Weapons in Plateau

  • Event
    • 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…

      BUKAA Announces 2025 AGM at BUK New Campus: Join In-Person or…

      Vice President Kashim Shettima and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

      Shettima at 59: Tinubu Hails VP’s Loyalty, Commitment to Service

      Erasmus Ikhide damaged Vehicle and Dangote Cement Truck

      Erasmus Ikhide Narrowly Escapes Death in Collision with Dangote Truck

    • 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:

  • NAF Establishes Forensic, Digital Crime Lab to Tackle Insecurity
  • ICPC, State Information Chiefs Forge New Alliance to Combat Grassroots Corruption
  • Recollecting a Media Dialogue on Words and Extremism in Abuja

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

NAF Establishes Forensic, Digital Crime Lab to Tackle Insecurity

ICPC, State Information Chiefs Forge New Alliance to Combat Grassroots Corruption

Shettima Condemns Borno Attack, Assures Perpetrators Won’t Escape Justice

​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on Tinubu

A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

Borno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns Violence

PHOTOS: BUK Alumni Association Launches Digital Hub to Unite Global Graduates, Drive University Development

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 70th Anniversary in Africa

Army Neutralize Notorious Bandit Leader, Others, Rescue Victims, Recover Weapons in Kogi

The road accident scene

Nigeria’s Deadly Roads and the Menace of Trailer Accidents, By Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

Troops Neutralise Gunrunner, Armed Militia, Recover Weapons in Plateau

NAF, Ground Troops Neutralise 30 Terrorists in Joint Operation at Dar Jamel

JUST IN: NNPP Expels Reps Member Abdulmumin Jibrin Days After Visiting Tinubu

Recent Posts

  • NAF Establishes Forensic, Digital Crime Lab to Tackle Insecurity
  • ICPC, State Information Chiefs Forge New Alliance to Combat Grassroots Corruption
  • Recollecting a Media Dialogue on Words and Extremism in Abuja
  • Customs, Defence Bureau Unveil Airboat for Smuggling War
  • Shettima Condemns Borno Attack, Assures Perpetrators Won’t Escape Justice
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
NAF Establishes Forensic, Digital Crime Lab to Tackle InsecurityICPC, State Information Chiefs Forge New Alliance to Combat Grassroots CorruptionRecollecting a Media Dialogue on Words and Extremism in AbujaCustoms, Defence Bureau Unveil Airboat for Smuggling WarShettima Condemns Borno Attack, Assures Perpetrators Won’t Escape Justice​DSS Demands Retraction, Apology from Sowore Over Comments on TinubuBorno Village Attack Leaves Dozens Dead, UN Condemns ViolenceNDLEA Busts Drug Cartel, Arrests Kingpins, Seizes N6.4bn Worth of NarcoticsARASE! I Will Forever Cherish your Kindness and Love -Good Night BossMilitary Plants Trees, Donates Relief Items to Orphans in PlateauPHOTOS: BUK Alumni Association Launches Digital Hub to Unite Global Graduates, Drive University DevelopmentAgain, ​IPRA Shortlists Nigeria Customs, IMPR for Golden World Awards, Celebrates 70th Anniversary in AfricaArmy Neutralize Notorious Bandit Leader, Others, Rescue Victims, Recover Weapons in KogiNigeria’s Deadly Roads and the Menace of Trailer Accidents, By Mukhtar Ya'u MadobiArmy Neutralise Scores of Bandits as 8 Security Guards Killed in Katsina
X whatsapp