From Adanna Nnamani and Onyedikachukwu, Abuja
Nigeria has recorded about 2.76 million digital literacy training achievements, with interventions reported across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, disclosed this at the 2026 DL4ALL National Digital Literacy Workshop, where a national dashboard for tracking digital literacy interventions was unveiled.
Abdullahi said Nigeria was targeting 70 per cent digital literacy by 2027 and 95 per cent by 2030 under the National Digital Literacy Framework.
He said the Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) initiative, launched in 2024, was designed to drive digital skills development across formal education, the workforce and the informal sector.
According to him, the dashboard showed that 248 organisations had reported interventions, with activities recorded across all 774 local government areas. Women accounted for about 32.9 per cent of reported participation.
The NITDA boss said the agency was working with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to train people in markets and communities through its Digital Literacy Champions programme. He said the initiative had recorded more than 20,000 trainers and over 803,000 trainees, while the broader plan was to reach 50 million Nigerians.
Abdullahi, however, cautioned against relying solely on the number of people trained to measure progress, stressing the need to assess whether beneficiaries could apply the skills acquired.
“Counting training beneficiaries is not, by itself, the ultimate measure of national digital literacy,” he said, adding that the focus should extend to competence, practical application and impact.
Also speaking, Lailah Sanusi, Research Lead at Digitalcore Nigeria Limited, said the dashboard recorded 2.7 million beneficiaries as of October 16, 2026, compared with about 707,000 at the beginning of the year. She said 244 organisations had registered and received approval on the platform, but only 44 had submitted data.
“Is this growth because of more training? Or is this growth because of more reporting?” Sanusi asked, urging stakeholders to improve data submission to give a clearer picture of digital literacy interventions nationwide.
She said youths below 35 years accounted for 75 per cent of beneficiaries, while women represented 32 per cent and persons with disabilities 0.62 per cent. Sanusi called for more deliberate efforts to improve inclusion and ensure that reported figures reflected the reach and impact of digital skills training.