The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has unveiled a digital capacity-building programme that will see Nigeria’s entire federal civil service workforce — estimated at more than 700,000 staff — acquire essential digital skills by the end of 2025.
The initiative, launched at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, is powered by the Cisco-backed DISCO learning platform and aligns with the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF). Currently, only 30% of civil servants are considered digitally literate, a figure NITDA says must rise to 100% within the next two years.
Currently, only 30% of civil servants are considered digitally literate, a figure NITDA says must rise to 100% within the next two years.
Under the programme, every federal civil servant is mandated to complete a structured online training within two months, with progress tracked in real time through a competitive performance dashboard that ranks ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
To drive the rollout, 43 MDAs have each nominated two digital champions, empowered with administrative rights on the DISCO platform to onboard colleagues, manage classes, and offer peer-to-peer technical support.
The digital literacy push, builds on the broader “Digital Literacy for All” campaign, which has so far benefitted more than 300,000 Nigerians through online learning, school curriculum integration, and grassroots outreach via the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
According to Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, NITDA Director-General, represented by Dr. Ahmad Tambuwal, the civil service-focused initiative is designed to upgrade efficiency across government operations while preparing staff to navigate emerging technologies, strengthen data protection, and mitigate cybersecurity risks.
The NDLF, introduced in July 2023 and adapted from the European DIGCOMP framework, has been tailored for Nigeria’s mobile-first context, prioritising smartphone-based literacy to match the country’s internet adoption patterns, according to the government tech agency.
“With this programme, every civil servant becomes a beneficiary of Nigeria’s digital future,” Abdullahi said, adding that the initiative represents one of the most ambitious public sector digital upskilling efforts on the continent.
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