By Chimezie Godfrey
In commemoration of the International Education Day and bridging digital gaps in Kwara State through implementing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, NDEPS, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, has promised to increase developmental initiatives in the state.
The NITDA DG made this known when he gave an address as the special guest of honor at the commissioning of the Kwara state e-library and Ed-Tech Hub under the aegis of ‘Tech2Grassroot Project’ and the 2nd Kwara Digital Education Summit and Awards.
Inuwa, while commending the commitment of the people of Kwara and the State government in closing digital gaps through the building of the e-libraries across the sixteen local government areas of the state, disclosed that the objective aligns with the NITDA’s agenda.
“Your approach towards ensuring sustainable development in the Educational sector of Kwara State coupled with striving for a digital transformation in the state is highly commendable because it identifies with three of NITDA’s seven Strategic Pillars,” he stated.
He stated that part of the Agency’s strategic pillars was to develop the digital skills of Nigerians across different works of life, provide a robust digital platform to drive digitalization, and enable small, medium, and innovative-driven enterprises to thrive.
“All of these key into the present administration’s NDEPS and shows we are all harnessing our resources towards securing the future of education by closing the digital gaps,” Inuwa said.
Buttressing his point further, the NITDA boss opined that the commissioning of the e-library with the other proposed ones would boost the literacy rate of the state’s students in areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) coupled with skills acquisition.
He added, “No socio-economic transformation can take root in any modern-day society without e-learning facilities. If it is true that e-learning is the engine room of today’s digital economy transformation, then it has become imperative in modern education of any society.”
Inuwa gave assurances that in addition to the twenty-seven well-equipped developmental projects set up by NITDA in schools and local government areas of the state, the agency is encouraged to add more initiatives.
“Your effort, I must say, has challenged us in NITDA to significantly increase the developmental initiatives in Kwara State as we can see evident commitment towards the sustainability of such projects. As NITDA’s contribution to this unique initiative, I wish to assure you that the Agency will forge linkages, collaborations, and partnerships towards the sustainability of this program for the good people of Kwara State”, he pledges.
