Telecom
NITDA Advocates for Adequate Local Capacity Processes to Solve Local IT Problem
Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has emphasized the need to build local capacity processes that would solve relevant local IT problems.
Pantami said this at day two of the ongoing 27th National Conference organised by Nigeria Computer Society at International Conference at University of Ibadan, in Oyo State.
He said, “if we want to be successful in IT we must build capacity locally. Use local innovations to solve local problems.”
According to him, this way the country would create a technology value chain, a formidable tech ecosystem with many suppliers and consumers, with many innovators for national growth development.
“Nigeria loses a significant amount of foreign exchange annually from the importation of ICT goods and services.
“A large proportion of this is spent on software imports. We are working hard to reverse this trend and indigenous ICT businesses, including the many who are members of CPN, stand to benefit greatly from a local content policy that encourages the development of local ICT products and services’, adding, this must change.”
He explained that to this end the Agency has trained over 740 persons in digital technology and deployed 86 digital learning centres across the federation.
NITDA embarks on Regulation, Capacity Building, Local Content Development, Digital Job Creation, E-Governance, Cyber Security, and Digital Inclusion as pillars of its 4-year Roadmap.
NITDA’s vision, he said, is to be Nigeria’s prime Agency and catalyst for transforming Nigeria into a knowledge-based and IT-driven economy.
Strategic partnerships with leading institutions like NCS are necessary to ensure sustainable development in the sector.
“The process of developing an ICT sector as diverse and complex as ours is quite daunting.
He added that, the potential benefits of developing such a critical sector would result in benefits that far outweigh the challenges.
He said a well-developed ICT sector will significantly improve any economy. “It will reduce capital flight, create jobs, generate revenue and help to position Africa as a producer of world-class ICT products and not just consumer of such products.”
“Proper regulation makes development easier to achieve.
“As such, we renewed our emphasis on regulation and developed standards and guidelines for different aspects of the ICT sector.
“In addition to this, we have put the necessary machinery in place to ensure compliance.
“As the clearing house for Information Technology Projects in Nigeria, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the government now come to us for the clearance of their ICT projects.
“We do this to ensure that there is no duplication, there is value for money and that the projects are sustainable, he explained.”
Speaking further, Pantami said all the MDAs have been provided with a copy of the template and the IT clearance process will help in building standardized IT infrastructures as well as efficient IT systems and services.
It will reduce the cost of IT investments and will ensure commensurate value is derived from every IT investment.
Eventually, these efforts will spur innovations and enhance MDAs responsiveness to their obligations.
Local Content Development and Promotion was chosen as one of the pillars of our Roadmap because we understand the importance of indigenous entrepreneurs to the growth of the sector.
We already have Local Content Guidelines and are actively enforcing them. We have issued guidelines for government websites and are currently supervising the repatriation of all government regulated and generated data.
He noted that the Federal Government issued Executive Orders #3 and #5 is to support the development of local content in the country and we are supporting the Federal Government in the enforcement of these orders.
“On the one hand, we are creating a market for our local OEMs by ensuring that government institutions give a preference to local products in their procurement process.
“We have also increased the level of regulation of these OEMs to ensure that they meet global best practice standards and provide readily accessible after-sales support for their customers.
“We also learned that a Cybersecurity department was created to focus on this sector.
“We have been proactive in securing the Nigerian Cyberspace and this ensured that the Wannacry Ransomware and similar global threats did not affect us in Nigeria.
“We are also currently embarking on a massive cybersecurity awareness programme across the country.
“We have had engagements with most of the MDAs as part of our effort to promote Government Digital Services.
“Some of our activities include the training of CEOs of these MDAs in emerging areas of ICT.
“A workshop was recently organized for MDAs on the IT clearance process.
“As part of our efforts, we have also entered into partnerships with key parastatals like the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
Pantami said it is currently developing an Enterprise Architecture for the Nigerian government and have a draft Nigerian Interoperability Framework (NeGIF).
We are reviewing the .gov.ng process and have significantly shortened the registration turnaround time from 2 weeks to 24hrs. E-government is an enabler for productivity and efficiency in government and we know that an IT-enabled public service will provide better service for the citizens.
The need for effective capacity building efforts cannot be over emphasized. We have enabled thousands of our youth to improve their capacity in leading areas of ICT and have helped them to develop their entrepreneurial skills using ICT.
We have supported the development of the startup and innovation ecosystem through our subsidiary, the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
MTN Foundation has been spotlighted as a model for private sector-driven healthcare development in Nigeria, following commendations at the 6th Arthur Mbanefo Lecture held at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
Themed “A Healthy Nation is a Wealthy Nation: The Role of Impact Investments and Sustainable Financing in Nigeria,” the lecture featured Dr. Tolulope Adewole, Managing Director of NSIA Advanced Medical Services Limited (MedServe), as keynote speaker.
Dr. Adewole praised the Foundation’s strategic investments, noting that MTN commits 1% of its profit after tax annually to development sectors. “They’ve invested ₦31.75 billion, reaching over 32 million Nigerians. Though only 25% went to health, it accounted for 51% of all lives impacted. That’s catalytic,” he said.
He cited MTN’s dialysis centre programme as a transformative intervention for patients with kidney disease, and highlighted community-focused initiatives like the Y’ello Doctor mobile scheme and ‘What Can We Do Together’ (WCWDT) programme, which revitalised 164 Primary Healthcare Centres, including 44 in 2024 alone.
Executive Director of MTN Foundation, Odunayo Sanya, reflected on the COVID-19 pandemic’s exposure of systemic health vulnerabilities. “When COVID hit, we realised a health emergency is also an economic and social emergency,” she said.
Sanya revealed that of the 52 PHCs remodeled in 2024, only one had clean water. “I’m not a doctor, but I know you can’t live a good life without clean water,” she added, reaffirming the Foundation’s commitment to bridging healthcare gaps in underserved communities.
Hundreds of university students across Africa are set to benefit from a new gamified learning experience on digital rights and inclusion launched by the leading pan-African non-profit organisation, Paradigm Initiative (PIN).
The Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) is a game developed by Paradigm Initiative with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF). The custom-designed board game provides young individuals with a fun and engaging entry point into digital rights and inclusion conversations, training sessions and storytelling tools.
The board game aims to build digital literacy, deepen understanding of online safety, and introduce young individuals to the organisation’s tools of impact. Currently being piloted in three universities: University of Lagos, Nigeria, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi, Kenya and the Dakar American University of Science and Technology (DAUST) in Dakar, Senegal, it will enhance interactions and create a holistic experience.
Speaking at the event launch at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, ‘Gbenga Sesan, Paradigm Initiative’s Executive Director, said: “PIN’s vision is to reach 20 million people through our Digital Inclusion and Digital Rights interventions. From Lagos, to Dakar, to Nairobi.. we will use the vehicle of our new Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) which entails using gamification, training, multimedia materials, tools and other interventions to connect African youth with digital opportunities and protect their digital rights.”
‘Gbenga gave the keynote address on “Digital inclusion at PIN, our Past, Present and Future” and Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer, said the goal of the learning experience would be instrumental in raising awareness of digital rights among the youth, building their capacity to address digital rights and inclusion issues in their communities. Prof. Olunifesi Adekunle Suraj shared a goodwill message with the students and other stakeholders.
Paradigm Initiative, which has been operational since 2007, started in a tiny cybercafe in Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria. Today, the organisation has expanded its wings to cover six African countries; Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe, impacting the livelihoods of over 150,000 young Africans.
The launch of DRIBLE builds on the progress the organisation has made over the years in tackling the challenge of digital exclusion across Africa.
Paradigm Initiative’s tools of impact include Ripoti, a platform that enables individuals to report digital rights violations, Ayeta, a platform that provides digital security resources for stakeholders, more so human rights activists, defenders, journalists and other vulnerable groups, and the organisation’s latest short film, Whispers in the Wires.
Targeted at students, PIN rolled out a Campus Tour in the three universities on the continent starting July 15th, 2025.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has intensified its crackdown on fake accounts and spam, announcing it removed over 10 million fake profiles and roughly 500,000 spam accounts in the first half of 2025.
The sweeping purge is part of Meta’s broader effort to combat impersonation, fake engagement, and content duplication, aiming to elevate authentic creators and improve the quality of content across its platforms.
In a blog post, Meta said: “We’re making progress. In the first half of 2025, we took action on around 500,000 accounts engaged in spammy behaviour or fake engagement. We also removed about 10 million profiles impersonating large content producers.”
Meta stressed that accounts which primarily repost or recycle content without meaningful edits will face penalties such as reduced reach and the loss of monetisation tools.
The company also warned that repeatedly sharing unoriginal content — whether videos, photos, or text — undermines the platform’s integrity by crowding out genuine voices and making it harder for new creators to grow.
To support authentic creators, Meta is rolling out new tools that automatically trace reposted content back to its original source. The company says this will help ensure rightful credit and give higher visibility to original posts.
“Pages and profiles that post mostly original content tend to enjoy wider distribution across Facebook. Simply stitching clips together or adding a watermark will no longer count as meaningful editing. Content that provides real value and tells an authentic story is likely to perform better,” Meta explained.
Creators are also being cautioned against uploading content that includes watermarks from other platforms. Such posts could see their reach restricted or lose monetisation privileges altogether.
As part of its latest update, Meta introduced post-level insights on the Professional Dashboard, allowing creators to monitor how individual posts perform. They can also check their Support Home screen to see if their content or earnings are facing restrictions.
In a parallel development, Google’s YouTube updated its monetisation guidelines, stating that content deemed mass-produced or excessively repetitive will no longer qualify for ad revenue. The announcement initially sparked concern among creators, who feared it was a blanket ban on AI-generated content. YouTube later clarified:
“We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetise.”
Both tech giants say these new policies are aimed at raising content standards and safeguarding genuine creators in a crowded and rapidly evolving digital landscape.
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