By Nkechi Eze
Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) enlisted as Digital Champions under the Federal Government’s Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) initiative have trained more than 500,000 Nigerians in basic digital skills since the commencement of the programme, marking a significant milestone in the country’s drive toward inclusive digital empowerment.
The disclosure was made by the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, during a ceremony at the NYSC Headquarters in Abuja, where eight laptop computers were presented to Corps Members adjudged outstanding for their exceptional performance during both the training and field implementation phases of the programme at the national level.
In an official signed statement, Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, stated that Abdullahi recalled that the DL4ALL initiative was born out of a Presidential mandate directing NITDA to achieve 95 per cent digital literacy across Nigeria by 2030, with an ambitious mid-term target of 70 per cent by 2025. He explained that, in pursuit of this mandate, NITDA, in collaboration with the NYSC, had within one year trained a total of 17,760 Corps Members nationwide as digital literacy champions.
According to the NITDA boss, each batch of the programme produces an average of 80 trained digital champions per state, translating to nearly 17,760 champions annually across the federation. He noted that each champion is required to train at least two Nigerians daily, amounting to a minimum of 60 persons every month.
In his words, “Approximately 80 champions per state are trained in each batch, amounting to nearly 17,760 champions annually nationwide. Each champion is tasked with training at least two Nigerians daily, translating to a minimum of 60 persons monthly.”
Abdullahi further stated that the strategic partnership between NITDA and the NYSC had contributed to accelerated diversification of the economy through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing and innovation. He emphasised that a significant portion of Nigeria’s population operates outside the formal sector and must not be left behind in the evolving digital economy.
“We have a large size of our population, who are not actively in the formal sector, which are doing petty businesses. We have our senior citizens, who are not digitally literate, but we want them to be part of this digital economy we are building,” he said.
The Director-General disclosed that NITDA, working closely with the NYSC, had developed a National Digital Literacy Framework to guide the implementation of the programme. He assured that the agency would continue to empower Corps Members with relevant information technology skills to enable them effectively educate Nigerians on basic digital competencies.
Explaining the grassroots-focused approach of the initiative, Abdullahi said each digital champion was expected to conduct one-on-one trainings in marketplaces, religious centres and motor parks, noting that these locations host vulnerable groups who are often targets of online fraud.
“Our target is for each champion to train at least two people in a day and sixty in a month. This training is going to be one-on-one, in the market places, religious places and motor parks, because these people are mostly the vulnerable groups and victims of online fraud,” he explained.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, commended NITDA for its sustained commitment to promoting digital literacy among Nigerians. He noted that with over 400,000 graduates passing through the Scheme annually, the NYSC remains a strategic platform for deploying skilled and empowered young Nigerians back into society.
Nafiu stated that the Scheme was producing refined Corps Members equipped with relevant skills and empowerment tools, positioning them as job creators and employment ambassadors. He described Corps Members as the ideal channel to drive the critical national objective of achieving digital empowerment for all Nigerians.
A major highlight of the occasion was the presentation of a dummy cheque of N3.5 million by the NITDA Director-General to the NYSC for the support and motivation of Corps Members serving as digital champions under the DL4ALL programme, reinforcing the Federal Government’s commitment to bridging the digital divide and building an inclusive digital economy.
