Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), participated in the high-level panel session, “Identity in Action and Access to the Digital Economy,” convened by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as part of discussions on “The Digital Public Ecosystem ; Identity, Trust & Inclusive Access.”
The DG joined Sen. Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria; Aderemi Adebowale, National Co-ordinator, Renewed Hope – National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme; and Olugbenga Agboola, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Flutterwave. The session was moderated by Diwura Oladepo, Executive Director, Technology for Social Change and Development (Tech4Dev).
Speaking on how Nigeria can leverage digital identity to expand access to services and strengthen interoperable Digital Public Infrastructure, Abdullahi described digital identity as much more than a card or identification number: “Digital identity is the trust layer of the digital economy.”
He explained that trusted digital identity can transform the innovation landscape by allowing authorised innovators and service providers to build on foundational identity infrastructure rather than repeatedly creating fragmented identity systems.
This can enable faster customer onboarding, reduce verification costs and extend trusted digital services across fintech, health, education, agriculture, insurance and government services.
Using practical illustrations, the DG demonstrated how interoperable infrastructure could enable a farmer to establish identity through the NIN, verify eligibility through an agricultural platform, receive support through a payment rail, and interact with authorised government systems through trusted data exchange, without repeatedly submitting the same information to multiple institutions.
The DG emphasised that Nigeria’s next challenge is to convert the growing scale of digital identity into trusted utility moving progressively:
His central message was clear: “Digital identity is not the destination; it is the doorway.”
The goal is not simply to identify Nigerians, but to create a trusted, secure and interoperable digital ecosystem that enables every Nigerian, regardless of geography, gender or economic status ; to access services, participate safely in the digital economy and unlock new opportunities.
