The National Information Development Agency (NITDA) has urged the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to consider short courses on digital skills for students.

The director-general of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, made the call on Monday when a team from NELFUND, led by its executive secretary, Akintunde Sawyer, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

NELFUND is the administrator of the student loan initiative programme, and its visit is to learn, collaborate, and present a demo of its portal to NITDA for input.

Mr Inuwa said digital skills would position students to be conversant with the trends of the digital society, which was shifting from paper qualifications to skill acquisition.

According to him, digital skills will empower citizens with high-demand global skills and position Nigeria as a hotspot for brain export.

The director-general observed that no institution could succeed in isolation, saying that higher institutions, corporate organisations, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and the government must work collaboratively to build the ecosystem.

“Higher institutions of learning produce human capital. So, they need to be worked with closely because they need to understand the skills in demand.

“Any gap between the institution and corporate organisations will make it difficult to place graduates in jobs.

“This is because most of our graduates cannot fit into the private sector unless they undergo these short courses,” the director-general said.

He said venture capitalists should be encouraged to invest, as Nigeria’s technology ecosystem attracts more than 30 per cent of foreign direct investment (FDI).

According to him, 70 per cent of such investment comes from the United States, while Nigeria has citizens who have money and can invest.

Mr Inuwa added that the agency would set up seed funding for startups to encourage indigenous venture capitalists.

He recalled that the agency was working with the Federal Ministry of Education to review the curriculum of tertiary institutions to meet the demands of the ecosystem.

The NITDA boss commended the work put into developing the NELFUND portal, suggesting it should be mobile-friendly for easy accessibility.

Earlier, Mr Sawyer said the initiative was intended to connect many Nigerians to the fund to obtain tertiary education and refund payments after their one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps programme.

He said, “Our mission is to strive to revolutionise higher education accessibility in Nigeria by providing interest-free loans to eligible students.

“We want to help as many people as possible get to the next level, as it will benefit individuals, institutions, and the nation at large.” 

(NAN)