The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has described digital identity as a critical foundation for building trust, inclusion and wider access to Nigeria’s digital economy.
Abdullahi stated this while participating in a high-level panel session, “Identity in Action and Access to the Digital Economy,” convened by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) during discussions on “The Digital Public Ecosystem: Identity, Trust & Inclusive Access” at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81).
The NITDA DG joined the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia; National Coordinator, Renewed Hope–National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, Aderemi Adebowale; and Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, at the session moderated by Diwura Oladepo, Executive Director, Technology for Social Change and Development (Tech4Dev).
Speaking on the role of digital identity in expanding access to services and strengthening interoperable Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Abdullahi said digital identity should be viewed as more than a card or identification number.
“Digital identity is the trust layer of the digital economy,” he said.
He explained that trusted digital identity infrastructure could reshape Nigeria’s innovation landscape by enabling authorised innovators and service providers to build on foundational identity systems rather than developing fragmented identity platforms independently.
According to him, such interoperability could accelerate customer onboarding, reduce verification costs and expand access to trusted digital services across sectors including fintech, healthcare, education, agriculture, insurance and government.
Illustrating the potential impact, Abdullahi said an interoperable digital ecosystem could enable a farmer to establish identity through the National Identification Number (NIN), verify eligibility on an agricultural platform, receive support through a payment rail and access authorised government services through trusted data exchange without repeatedly submitting the same information to different institutions.
He noted that Nigeria’s next challenge is to translate the growing scale of digital identity into trusted and practical utility across the economy.
The NITDA boss stressed that the objective should extend beyond merely identifying citizens to building a secure, trusted and interoperable digital ecosystem capable of expanding opportunities for Nigerians.
“Digital identity is not the destination, it is the doorway,” Abdullahi added.
He said the emerging digital ecosystem should enable Nigerians, irrespective of their location, gender or economic circumstances, to access essential services, participate securely in the digital economy and unlock new opportunities.
