The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has called for the transformation of Nigeria’s expanding digital identity infrastructure into a trusted and interoperable platform capable of unlocking wider access to services and opportunities across the digital economy.
Abdullahi made the call while participating in a high-level panel session titled “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 session brought together key stakeholders, including Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria; Aderemi Adebowale, National Coordinator, Renewed Hope–National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme; and Olugbenga Agboola, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave.
It was moderated by Diwura Oladepo, Executive Director, Technology for Social Change and Development (Tech4Dev).
Speaking on how Nigeria can leverage digital identity to broaden access to services and strengthen interoperable Digital Public Infrastructure, the NITDA DG stressed that digital identity should be viewed as a foundational component of the digital economy rather than merely a means of identification.
“Digital identity is the trust layer of the digital economy.”
According to him, a trusted digital identity framework can significantly reshape Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem by enabling authorised innovators and service providers to build on foundational identity infrastructure instead of repeatedly developing fragmented identity systems.
He noted that such an approach could accelerate customer onboarding, lower verification costs and facilitate the delivery of trusted digital services across critical sectors, including fintech, healthcare, education, agriculture, insurance and government.
Abdullahi illustrated the practical value of interoperable digital infrastructure with the example of a farmer who could establish identity using the National Identification Number (NIN), verify eligibility through an agricultural platform, receive support through a payment rail and access authorised government services through trusted data exchange, without having to repeatedly submit the same information to different institutions.
He emphasised that the challenge before Nigeria is now to translate the growing scale of digital identity into practical, trusted utility that can serve citizens and businesses across the economy.
His central message was clear: “Digital identity is not the destination; it is the doorway.”
The NITDA chief said the objective should therefore go beyond simply identifying Nigerians to building a trusted, secure and interoperable digital ecosystem through which citizens, irrespective of their location, gender or economic status, can access essential services, participate safely in the digital economy and unlock new opportunities.