Bridging Technology Gaps!
The information technology (IT) sector is a driving force behind many industries globally, revolutionizing how businesses operate and societies function. It continues to shape economies by cultivating digital innovation, facilitating communication, and streamlining processes across various sectors such as finance, education, healthcare, and agriculture.
Its pervasive influence is enabling new business models, improving productivity, and driving economic diversification. With technological advances such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cybersecurity becoming increasingly critical, the industry has become integral to national development strategies in both developed and developing nations.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the Director General and CEO, is leading these advancements and shaping the digital economy with his vision and leadership. Known for his ability to bridge the gap between technology and business, he focuses on designing solutions that meet real-world needs. With a career rooted in technical expertise and an early passion for problem-solving, his leadership emphasizes clear communication, adaptability, and the empowerment of his team. His values of creating impact and standing out have driven his efforts to lead change within the information technology sector.
Under Kashifu’s guidance, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is bringing initiatives aimed at making Nigeria a digitally empowered nation. The agency’s mandate includes promoting technological innovation to drive economic diversification and creating an inclusive environment where digital technology enhances productivity across all sectors. NITD A’s comprehensive strategy, aligned with national priorities, outlines a roadmap for the next se veral years, addressing areas such as digital literacy, cybersecurity, and the nurturing of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through strategic collaboration and policy implementation, NITDA is helping Nigeria realize its digital potential.
Let’s explore Kashifu’s innovative leadership journey in IT:
Rising to the Top in IT and Networking
Kashifu’s inspiration came from someone who was not even an IT person. He was born and raised in a community full of artisans, where one could find the best carpenters, brickla yers, and plumbers. Howe ver, there was someone in the community who repaired electronics, radios, and televisions, and they called him “Engineer .” This individual did not attend any higher institutions but could open and repair any electronics.
Growing up, Kashifu used to stay with this “Engineer” and expressed his desire to become an engineer too. One da y, the “Engineer” advised him to become a computer engineer. When Kashifu asked what a computer was, the “Engineer” admitted he had never used one but knew about it, describing it as the next generation of electronics. This advice inspired Kashifu to study computer science. His community and family values also played a significant role in shaping his career and who he is today. In his community, everyone strives to stand out and get noticed in their work.
His family values, instilled by his parents, emphasized being different and creating value. Combining his community and family core values, Kashifu’s career was shaped. He started as a young computer science student with the inspiration of opening and repairing electronics. He forced himself to learn how to repair computers while in his second year of university. During holidays, he would go to business centers to service computers and printers.
As he progressed, during his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Kashifu found himself moving files from one office to another on a 9-to-5 basis. One day, he challenged himself, questioning why he should study computer science only to move files. He asked his supervisor if he could develop a website for the company.
Although the company had no funds to pay for it, his supervisor allowed him to proceed if he could do it. Kashifu used his NYSC allowance to pay for the domain name and hosting, created the website, and included his contact details. Within six months, a private company contacted him to develop a similar website, paying him 1.5 million naira. This core value of standing out and creating value quickly made him a millionaire.
Kashifu then started his career as a network engineer. Before joining the company as a network engineer, he already had skills in software development. He found himself in a new terrain, networking, and had to challenge himself to learn it. At one point, he contemplated pursuing an M.Sc. or Ph.D. but realized that professional certifications were more beneficial for his career. He started studying for the Cisco Networking certification and achieved the highest networking certification, CCIE, reaching the peak of his networking career.
Disliking routine tasks, Kashifu sought new challenges. One day, while attending to a priority customer who had invested heavily in ERP but was dissatisfied, Kashifu used Excel to show the customer how to achieve his goals without the huge investment. This experience led Kashifu to question why people always go for the latest technology without understanding their needs. He decided to help businesses understand the technology they need by becoming a solution designer, bridging the gap between business and technology.
Kashifu built skills in solution design and found an opportunity to work with the Central Bank of Nigeria as a technology architect, accelerating his career progression. At that time, any IT professional’s dream was to become a CTO or CIO. Kashifu’s career dream was to become the CIO of the Central Bank of Nigeria. However, he found himself working as the technical assistant to the then Director General of NITDA, who is the Chief Information Technology Officer of Nigeria.
From dreaming of becoming the CIO of an organization, Kashifu found himself as the CIO of Nigeria.
Implementing National I.T. Policy for Economic Growth
NITDA was established in 2001 to implement national I.T. policy. As the CEO of NITDA, Kashifu’s responsibility is to ensure the implementation of the national I.T. policy. In 2019, the National Digital Economy policy was introduced, marking a significant shift from merely encouraging the use of technology to promoting its use for economic activities.
In 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu outlined his priorities and mandated the Ministry to accelerate Nigerian economic diversification by enhancing efficiency across critical sectors through technological innovation. The Minister also de veloped a blueprint for the Ministry. Consequently, NITDA recalibrated itself and crafted a strategic roadmap.
Today, NITDA’s vision is to make Nigeria a digitally empowered nation, fostering economic diversification through technological innovation. The mandate is to enable e very Nigerian to use digital technology to enhance productivity in their respective fields. The digital economy or I.T. is pervasive; it is not a vertical sector by itself but horizontally permeates all critical sectors.
How can technology be used to boost productivity on a farmer’s farm? How can technology be used to deliver personalized learning experiences to students? How can technology be used to deliver quality healthcare services to citizens? The mandate is extensive and broad, but NITDA has articulated a strategic roadmap and action plan to achieve these goals in alignment with the Ministry’s blueprint and the President’s Priority Areas.
Building Trust with Openness and Engagement
Kashifu’s leadership style is multifaceted, as he belie ves that a single approach is not always effective. He emphasizes the importance of adapting leadership styles to achie ve desired results. His primary approach in volves creating a clear vision, which facilitates communication within the organization. At NITDA, he has articulated the agency’s objectives and ensures that everyone understands and takes ownership of this vision.
Another key aspect of his leadership is unleashing energy in people. He recognizes that a leader cannot accomplish everything alone. He views the team as the engine driving the agency’s success. To energize his team, he employs psychological techniques to foster ownership, belief in their work, and trust. Building trust is achieved through openness, transparency, and engagement, allowing everyone to understand the agency’s activities.
Creating a psychologically safe learning environment is also crucial to his leadership. This environment encourages individuals to challenge processes, contribute ideas, and be actively in volved. This approach has helped build trust within NITDA, which is essential for achieving the agency’s objectives and contributing to a better Nigeria.
Kashifu acknowledges that everyone wants to be associated with success and will willingly contribute to it. However, he also stresses the importance of shaping the future while achieving current goals. He believes that focusing solely on present initiatives can lead to future setbacks. Therefore, NITDA has a dedicated policy team researching global best practices to ensure continuous improvement and sustained success for Nigeria.
Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan
Kashifu and his team have outlined a Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan, which is essentially a four- year plan. NITDA’s mandate is broad, touching various areas, and it is not feasible to address all of them at once.
Therefore, based on the administration’s priority areas, NITDA has crafted its own priority areas to align with the Administration’s vision and the Ministry’s vision and strategy. From this alignment, NITDA has identified its priorities and is now working on SRAP 2.0, which spans from 2024 to 2027. The objectives ha ve been articulated, and an e xecution plan, along with initiatives to be implemented by 2027, has been de veloped. The Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan consist of eight pillars:
Develop Digital Literacy and Cultivate Talent: The Ministry’s mandate is to accelerate Nigerian economic diversification through technological innovation. This necessitates becoming a knowledge-based country, which is achievable by building digital literacy and talent. A knowledge-based economy is centered around people. The greatest resource is not the mineral resources beneath, but the intellectual capacity.
Develop Digital Literacy and Cultivate Talent: The Ministry’s mandate is to accelerate Nigerian economic diversification through technological innovation. This necessitates becoming a knowledge-based country, which is achievable by building digital literacy and talent. A knowledge-based economy is centered around people. The greatest resource is not the mineral resources beneath, but the intellectual capacity.
Strengthen Policy Implementation and Legal Framework: It is crucial to create an enabling environment that will help people start and grow technical and innovation businesses in Nigeria.
Promote Inclusive Access to Digital Device Infrastructure and Services: It is essential to ensure that all Nigerians are included in this transformation. NITDA emphasizes gender inclusion, digital inclusion, and support for people with special needs.
Strengthen Cybersecurity and Enhance Digital Trust: As digitization progresses, building citizens’ confidence in using technology is necessary.
Nurture an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Encouraging people to start and grow businesses is vital.
Forge Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations: NITDA believes in an ecosystem where no one succeeds in isolation. It aims to bring everyone together to co-create and design Nigeria’s digital future.
Cultivate a Vibrant Organizational Culture and Agile Workforce: To stay ahead of the curve, NITDA focuses on internal transformation to position itself as a leader in technology and regulation.
Inclusive Teamwork Encourages Learning
Psychological safety helps NITDA create a culture of learning because e verybody is included. NITDA has a structure whereby people sit together and brainstorm an idea, unlike the hierarchical way of working in a typical go vernment office. In a typical go vernment office, the CEO will minute something to the director, the director to the deputy, the deputy to the assistant, and finally to the last person to do the work. When it comes back, most people do not understand.
However, NITDA encourages people to sit down as a team to brainstorm. During brainstorming, there is no hierarch y. NITDA takes superior acumen, which inspires people to learn and contribute to whatever they do because they have to know something before they can do it. Additionally, NITDA has a reward and benefit system that encourages people. When someone performs well, they are rewarded. If someone does not do what they are supposed to do, there are consequences for that. This helps NITDA create a learning environment as well.
Key Players in the Ecosystem
The key challenge is building trust between the government and the ecosystem. Kashifu observed that the government and the ecosystem previously did not engage; they merely complained. The ecosystem felt that the government was either doing things incorrectly or did not understand certain aspects, but there was no engagement. The government would sit in the office and use armchair theory to develop policies and regulations to impose on the ecosystem.
To address this, NITDA started by reinventing its social contract with the ecosystem, promoting co-designing and co-creation. Everything NITDA does today in volves a collaborative framework, bringing all key stakeholders together to co-design and co-create initiatives. This approach ensures that the ecosystem owns the initiatives while the government acts as just a player.
There are five critical players in the ecosystem: higher institutions that produce human capital, corporate organizations that buy products and services and employ human capital, entrepreneurs who start and grow businesses, risk capital providers such as venture capitalists, and the government. Policies, legal frameworks, and infrastructure initiatives are implemented to support unserved and underserved communities through government intervention.
Integrating Professional and Personal Life
Kashifu always strives to integrate his work life rather than balance it. He believes that balance implies having separate work and social lives. However, by integrating them, his work and social life blend seamlessly. Whatever he does at home contributes to his work, and what he does at work also helps him at home. He practices integration and enjoys spending time with his family, engaging them in matters related to his work.
Creating Value through Collaboration and Listening
Kashifu believes the most important thing in this digital era is that no one knows it all. He suggests that aspiring leaders need to develop a way to always engage with their teams and be able to balance some paradoxes. There are some paradoxical situations that need to be considered.
For example, in the IT world, everything is globalized. While thinking about what is happening in developed countries, it is also essential to consider the local situation to blend the global with the local. Leaders need to be humble heroes. If they do not know something, they need to admit it and listen to the people around them. Being a leader does not mean that everything they say is final.
He highlights the importance of engaging people, getting ideas, and always listening. When leaders are wrong, they should believe they are wrong and retract their steps. Additionally, they need to find a way to embrace and create value via the ecosystem. Nobody succeeds in isolation, so it is crucial to work as an ecosystem to create value within it.
These are some of the few things that, if done correctly, will lead to success as a leader. Furthermore, as technology is introduced, it is important to remember that technology is meant to serve humanity. If technology cannot solve human problems, it will be useless.
Cultivating Meaningful Contributions
His future goal for NITDA is to ensure NITDA has a psychologically safe environment where e very staff member feels they are part of the Agency and can contribute meaningfully to its success. Therefore, he is institutionalizing everything at the Agency. It is about the institution itself, not about an individual.
By institutionalizing, a legacy is created; whereas focusing on individuals means leaders come and go. It is not about a strong leader, but a strong institution. That is why everything is being institutionalized at the Agency.
