Celebrating Mr. Kashifu’s First Year’s Tremendous Achievements as DG-NITDA, By Comrade Doji Doji
POLITICS DIGEST – Nigeria is now going through a lot of economic quagmire as a result of this novel Corona Virus that has put the world on a standstill. On the other hand, Nigeria has never been lucky like this time of massive digital economic revolution, where new policies have been designed and implemented to the taste of time.
The Minister of Finance warned just last week that, the country was heading to another recession. Therefore, leveraging on technology and tapping on the opportunities therein is the key in reviving the economy, hence the need for Nigeria to shift from resource based economy to knowledge-based economy.
Many thanks to a seasoned Information Technology Officer. A rare gem; computer guru with credentials that speak volume. A man with proven integrity. Mr. Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). We have no doubt in his capacity and we all believe that his effort will leapfrog our economy to combat the threats of recession posed by the virus.
Mr. Kashifu’s achievements at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), where he joined in 2014 as a Technology Architect are still the pillars that support CBN from left, right and centre. He dedicated his time in developing Technology Architecture Repository that gives 360 view of the Bank’s Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure and facilitated ease of decision making on new IT investment.
His intelligence in IT gave birth to so many opportunities and championed himself as part of the team that executed software license rationalization. This has increased cost savings for the Bank in license annual subscriptions.
Mr. Kashifu is as cold as an ice because he hardly engages himself in unnecessary talks and sometimes his mind seems to be whispering to computers, he is extraordinarily calm and collated. His gentlemanly nature befriends technology right from his childhood. A 360’ leader who attracts quality service delivery in IT industry. As the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), he exercises high level of tolerance and patience courtesy of Leadership and Management courses he attended at Harvard University in the USA, University of Cambridge in the UK and IMD Business School in Switzerland, equipped him to move any organization forward.
He was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT Sloan Trained Strategist with 15 years of experience in IT operations, business transformation and solution architecture, across both private and public sectors. He joined NITDA in 2017 as Technical Assistant (TA) to the then Director General/CEO and now the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr. Isah Ali Ibrahim Pantami. Kashifu as a Technical Assistant to the recent past DG, helped in the execution of strategy which has increased ICT contribution to Nigerian GDP by over 13% in Q2 2018.
Still, while serving as TA in 2017, he coordinated Local Content initiatives that have increased ICT local production by over 200%. A member of both Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) and the British Computer Society (BCS).
Today, I am celebrating Mr. Kashifu’s first anniversary as DG NITDA with outstanding achievements he has recorded in the areas of capacity building within a year where selected 200 women were trained on ICT and Entrepreneurship, 30 MDAs trained on Digital Identity for Development, he pulled out selected officials from Local Governments in the 6 geo-political zones and trained them on e-Government to improve the civil service. Another 20 Staff trained on e-Government Awareness, Regulations and Enterprise Architecture.
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In his effort to complement Mr. President’s agenda in farming, the DG trained 130 farmers on Smart Agriculture Practice and modern system of farming. The agency organized workshop for members of the Nigeria Police Force where hundreds of police officers were trained in new media. In less than a year about 2686 jobs were created as a result of IT empowerments initiative.
150 Institutional capacity building Programme for Librarians, Lecturers, Students and other Researchers at Tertiary Institutions and also a Specialized CISCO Appreciation Training for 150 NYSC and SIWES students, 6 candidates were awarded PhD NITDEF Scholarship, 37 candidates were awarded MSc Scholarship, while another 6 candidates were awarded with MSc IT Law.
Another achievement in capacity building includes convening of a multi-stakeholder forum for awareness, education and information sharing for all Nigerians and corporate for 200 participants. 80 Digital Capacity Training Centers deployed across the country. There are 3 Special Purpose IT Hubs, 4 IT Innovation & Incubation Parks, 4 Special Purpose Community IT Training Centres and 4 Special Purpose Capacity Development Centres, 2000 laptops provided to institutions and N2.25M awarded to 3 best startups (winners at virtual Covid-19 Innovative challenge) All achieved in his first year in office.
The DG commences the enforcement action against 125 MDAs for violations of the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT and the Guidelines for Clearance of Information Technology Projects for MDAs.
NITDA is aware of the threats faced by the Nigerian state in cyber-attack and breach of trust by hackers, the agency quickly organized cyber security sensitization workshop for FCT, held, with a record attendance of 250 participants and the department responsible for awareness campaign on cyber security is currently spreading its wings across the country. There are 400 Artisans train-the-trainer Programme for NITDA Intervention Centre Managers across the country.
In IT Project Clearance (ITPC), the DG has successfully created 272 user accounts to enable MDAs submit their IT Project, cleared 151 unique IT Projects of 72 MDAs, with a total amount of 1,185,223,483,015.54 The Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) licensed 16 additional Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCO).
The Director General ordered the Commencement of enforcement action against 125 MDAs, Developed Interactive platform for MDAs consumer and IT service providers to enhance quality of service delivery in government institutions and Conducted Stakeholders’ engagement on the SLA framework that will guide MDAs in drafting SLA agreements with service providers.
Most of the indigenous IT companies operate without certificate hence the chance to provide poor services to the consumers. Mr. Kashifu’s effort in the certification of indigenous IT companies, contractors and OEMs, the process led to 240 certificates issued for various forms of registration and training.
He has also achieved tremendously in the audit of MDAs where he initiated and provided IT systems, Processes, Digital Services and Capabilities assessment for 100 MDAs, establishes Digital Transformation Technical Working Group (DT-TWG) across the first 100 MDA.
Mr. Kashifu initiated the 7 Pillars of the NITDA Strategic Roadmap, and the 8 Pillars of the Digital Economy Policy and Strategy. It highlights the extent to which the set objectives of the agency are achieved and mapped to the priorities of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy as set by the Federal Government.
On this crucial note, I wish to felicitate with Mr. Kashifu in celebrating his first anniversary with outstanding achievements at NITDA.
Congratulations Sir, we are waiting to receive more and more as you embark on this great journey of digital economic revolution.
Nigeria is proud of you.
