By Harriet Tornguvan -Abuja
Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) deployed as digital champions under the Federal Government’s Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) programme have trained more than 500,000 Nigerians in basic digital skills nationwide.
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, disclosed this at the NYSC National Headquarters in Abuja during the presentation of eight laptop computers to outstanding Corps members who excelled in both training and field performance at the national level of the programme.
Abdullahi said the DL4ALL initiative was driven by a presidential mandate tasking NITDA to achieve 95 per cent digital literacy by 2030, with an interim target of 70 per cent by 2025.
He noted that, in collaboration with the NYSC, the agency had trained 17,760 Corps members across the country within one year to serve as digital literacy champions.
“About 80 champions are trained per state in each batch, translating to nearly 17,760 champions annually nationwide.
"Each champion is expected to train at least two Nigerians daily, which amounts to a minimum of 60 persons every month,” he explained.
According to the NITDA boss, the partnership with the NYSC has contributed significantly to national economic diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing and innovation.
He stressed the importance of including Nigerians outside the formal sector, as well as senior citizens, in the country’s evolving digital economy.
“A large portion of our population is engaged in petty trading and informal businesses, while many senior citizens are not digitally literate. Our goal is to ensure they are not left behind in the digital economy we are building,” Abdullahi said.
He further disclosed that NITDA had developed a national digital literacy framework in collaboration with the NYSC and would continue to empower Corps members with relevant IT skills to enable them train Nigerians at the grassroots.
Abdullahi added that the training model focuses on direct, one-on-one engagement in marketplaces, religious centres and motor parks, targeting vulnerable groups who are often exposed to online fraud and digital exclusion.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, commended NITDA for its commitment to promoting digital literacy across the country.
He noted that with over 400,000 graduates mobilised annually, the Scheme remains a strategic platform for equipping young Nigerians with skills that translate into job creation and national development.
Nafiu described Corps members as a vital channel for achieving the national objective of digital empowerment for all Nigerians.
The event also featured the presentation of a N3.5 million dummy cheque by the NITDA Director-General to the NYSC in support of the Corps digital champions programme.
