Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving as digital champions under the Federal Government’s Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) initiative have trained over 500,000 Nigerians in basic digital skills since the program began.
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, disclosed this at the NYSC Headquarters in Abuja while presenting eight laptop computers to outstanding Corps Members recognised for excellence in training and field performance at the national level.
Abdullahi explained that the DL4ALL initiative was launched following a Presidential directive mandating NITDA to achieve 95 percent digital literacy nationwide by 2030, with an interim target of 70 percent by 2025.
He noted that in collaboration with the NYSC, the agency trained 17,760 Corps Members across the country in digital literacy within one year.
“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,” he said.
He added that the NITDA-NYSC partnership is also supporting economic diversification through industrialization, digitization, creative arts, manufacturing, and innovation.
According to him, the initiative focuses on reaching vulnerable groups, including small-scale traders and senior citizens who are not digitally literate but are expected to participate in the growing digital economy.
Abdullahi further revealed that NITDA, in collaboration with the NYSC, has developed a national digital literacy framework and will continue to equip Corps Members with IT skills to enable them educate Nigerians on basic digital competencies.
He explained that digital champions conduct one-on-one training sessions in marketplaces, religious centres, and motor parks to reach vulnerable populations who are often targets of online fraud.
In his remarks, the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, commended NITDA for promoting digital literacy across the country.
He stated that with over 400,000 graduates participating in the Scheme annually, the NYSC remains a strategic platform for empowering young Nigerians as job creators and ambassadors of employment.
He described Corps Members as the ideal vehicle to drive the national objective of digital empowerment for all Nigerians.
A major highlight of the event was the presentation of a symbolic cheque of N3.5 million by the NITDA DG to his NYSC counterpart in support of the Corps digital champions program.
