Tijani spoke on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the 18th
International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance
(ICEGOV) in Abuja.

The four-day event, themed ‘Shaping the Future of Digital
Governance Through Cooperation, Innovation and Inclusion,’ was organised by the
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Tijani said platforms like ICEGOV provide opportunities for
countries to research emerging technologies and develop policies that align
with their societal needs.

According to the minister, Nigeria’s participation in ICEGOV
2024 demonstrated the country’s need to deepen research in the digital economy,
a track record that earned it the trust and confidence of partners to host the
2025 edition.

“The Nigerian government is not just doing this as a show
because immediately after ICEGOV last year, we funded over 55 research
projects,” Tijani said.

“At the minute, we are putting together about N12 billion to
fund further research projects that are focused on the digital economy.

“We are setting up three research clusters of six
universities, each one focused on artificial intelligence, another focus on the
biggest issue in our nation today, which is connectivity, where we are
investing significantly.

“Thirdly, because of our population, we are also funding
another research cluster that is focused on digital skills and literacy.”

He noted that digital technologies have become central to
modern human life, stressing that societies remain underdeveloped without them.

The minister added that the technologies should not be
viewed merely as economic instruments, but as vital tools for reshaping and
governing society.

Elsa Estevez, chair of the ICEGOV steering committee, said
addressing the risks linked to artificial intelligence requires collaboration
among countries, organisations, and governments at all levels.

“In the past years, we were profoundly affected by digitally
driven innovations, and we often adapt them without much reflection and such
innovations dramatically change the way we interact, socially, work, build and
complement our capacities,” Estevez said.

“We need to ensure that innovations are not just
technological, but human centered and contributing to better societies.

“For inclusion, governments, states need to listen and
moderate discussions about public affairs, shape political agendas to respond
to uncovered needs, secure the digital space of discussions on fake speech,
fake news and political manipulation.”

She said securing the public digital space requires
regulation, education, and awareness, all based on strong information ethics.

‘DIGITAL LITERACY WILL BE INTEGRATED IN SCHOOLS BY NEXT
YEAR’

In his remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director-general (DG) of
NITDA, said plans are underway to integrate digital literacy and skills into
Nigeria’s school curricula by 2026.

Inuwa said the move was necessary to align the technological
growth of Nigeria’s young population with the government’s initiatives.

“In Africa, we have a very young population, our citizens
are digitally native and they are all online, therefore governments need to
meet them where they are,” he said.

“We have so many initiatives in Nigeria based on the
ministry’s knowledge policy, we have the digital literacy framework, where we
are working on integrating digital literacy into our formal education.

“As of today, we have the approval in collaboration with the
ministry of education and directive of the president that by next year, we
should have digital literacy and skills integrated into our formal education.”

The DG added that the government is also putting measures in
place to enhance the digital competence of public servants for better service
delivery in the public sector.