NITDA assures continuous support for people living with disabilities

By Etuka Sunday 

As part of efforts to promote digital inclusion, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has assured that it would continue to give equal opportunities to the vulnerable especially People Living with various forms of disabilities in the country.  

This assurance was made by the NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, at the just concluded five days training and empowerment program on Digital Skills and Entrepreneurship program organized for People Living With Disabilities, (PLWD), the South-South edition which was held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The NITDA boss who was represented at the closing ceremony by the Acting Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Aristotle Onumo, maintained that empowering differently able people in our society would promote digital inclusion.

While describing digital transformation as one of the panaceas to the mirage of problems confronting the nation, Inuwa maintained that training and empowering the PLWD is part of the initiatives to lift Nigerians out of poverty, hence the approval of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, NDEPS, by president Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

He said the training and empowerment for the “differently able” in our society are to make them financially independent and close the digital divide created by their conditions.   

He further states that; “the empowerment program is one of the many opportunities given to Nigerians towards the implementation of the NDEPS agenda. This program also speaks to three pillars of NITDA’s Strategic RoadMap and Action Plan, SRAP 2021-2024, which are Digital Transformation, Digital Inclusion, and Digital Literacy and Skills,  all of which were designed to make Nigeria a sustainable digital economy.”

“Through the training, NITDA has been able to provide opportunities for participants to acquire the ability to use digital technology to create an enterprise that would culminate into wealth creation”, he said.

Inuwa, while encouraging the beneficiaries of the empowerment program to continue to engage in personal development which would aid the increase of their productivity added that they should return to their various communities and transfer the knowledge to others. 

The Director-General affirmed the NITDA’s continual inclusion of PLWD in all its initiatives adding that attaining a digitally inclusive society requires collaborative efforts from all stakeholders. 

While encouraging the PLWDs to be more industrious, Inuwa quoted Dr. Ashi Mary Magdalene of the Department of the Special Education University of Calabar who posits that “no matter how disabled anyone is, they should not feel sorry for themselves. The disabled are not special, just a little different.”

The lead, Technical and Operations, Rivers State ICT Department, Mr. Austin Dimkpa who represented the State government at the closing ceremony remarked that the empowerment program provides an opportunity for the beneficiaries to join the league of the financially stable people in the world adding that the 10 richest people in the world are in the Information Technology sector.  

While expressing his profound appreciation to NITDA for training and empowering the PLWDs in Rivers State with computers and IT working tools, he advised beneficiaries to make judicious use of the tools to better their lots and reduce their reliance on other people.