The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has partnered with the National Association of Women in Colleges of Education (NAWCE) to launch a nationwide digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiative aimed at empowering female educators and equipping young girls with the digital skills needed to thrive in the technology-driven economy.
The partnership was unveiled during a meeting at NITDA Headquarters in Abuja, where the Association’s North-West Zonal Coordinator, Zainab Inuwa Adamu, formally presented the proposal and invited the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi CCIE, to serve as Patron of the Association’s forthcoming National Conference of Federal Colleges of Education.
Speaking during the meeting, Adamu highlighted the Association’s more than three decades of commitment to promoting the welfare of female educators and empowering young girls through practical vocational programmes such as tailoring, knitting, soap-making, and other income-generating skills.
She noted that the proposed partnership with NITDA would build on these achievements by integrating digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and STEM education into the Association’s empowerment programmes, thereby preparing women and girls for opportunities in the digital economy.
Responding, the NITDA Director-General welcomed the invitation and reaffirmed the Agency’s commitment to sustainable capacity development, stressing that long-term investment in digital skills would deliver greater impact than one-off interventions.
Inuwa proposed the development of comprehensive digital literacy and information technology training programmes for members of the Association, with a nationwide rollout to be launched at the upcoming national conference. According to him, the initiative would equip participants with practical digital competencies that could be applied in education, business, and everyday life.
He explained that the programme would extend beyond basic digital literacy to include digital marketing, business planning, entrepreneurship development, and mentorship initiatives designed to strengthen women’s economic ventures while enabling them to pass on knowledge and opportunities to the girls they mentor.
Underscoring NITDA’s commitment to gender-inclusive innovation, the Director-General stressed the need to expand the pipeline of young women pursuing careers in STEM fields, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), data science, cybersecurity, and other emerging technologies that offer high-value employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.
As part of the collaboration, Inuwa also pledged NITDA’s support through the provision of digital tools, learning resources, and capacity-building opportunities to ensure the success of the initiative. He further invited members of the Association to participate in the forthcoming Digital Nigeria Conference 2026, where they will engage with technology experts, innovators, policymakers, and industry leaders driving Nigeria’s digital transformation.
Both NITDA and the National Association of Women in Colleges of Education reaffirmed their commitment to building a lasting partnership that will promote digital inclusion, strengthen women’s participation in technology, and empower female educators and the next generation of Nigerian girls with the knowledge and skills required to excel in an increasingly digital world.
