Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the federal government body responsible for driving information technology development in Africa’s most populous country, is exploring closer cooperation with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the public regulator that oversees radio and television broadcasting in Nigeria.
The talks were discussed when NITDA’s Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), received NBC’s Director General, Charles Ebuebu, during a courtesy visit focused on potential partnerships in digital transformation and stronger regulatory frameworks for Nigeria’s fast-changing media and technology space.
Okay News reports that Inuwa told the visiting delegation that digital transformation and regulation must move together as Nigeria’s digital ecosystem grows and becomes more complex. He described digital transformation as an ongoing process that requires continuous improvement, clear targets over time, and organisations that can adjust quickly as technology and public needs change.
Inuwa said NITDA has been working to reposition itself from a traditional public service structure into a faster, smarter public sector organisation. He explained that the agency’s transformation push became necessary because many staff members initially came from the mainstream civil service, where bureaucracy and rigid work habits can make change difficult.
“More than 70 or 80% of our staff came from the mainstream public service, and we know the mindset of public servants, so we started changing that narrative by focusing on people, resetting mindsets, building capacity, and fostering a culture that supports innovation and accountability,” he said.
He explained that NITDA’s approach is built on three pillars: people, processes, and technology. Inuwa said modern tools alone cannot deliver results without the right skills, clear workflows, and accountability across departments.
He added that the agency invested in cultural reorientation efforts, including cultural audits and programmes aimed at improving staff confidence and openness within the workplace. Inuwa said the goal was to create an environment where staff members can share ideas, question procedures in a constructive way, and work across teams without fear.
Inuwa also stressed that internal culture shapes whether public sector reforms succeed, warning that even strong plans can fail when workplace habits and attitudes do not support implementation.
As part of its reforms, he said NITDA adopted a wider framework that looks at people, processes, culture, content, and technology together. He explained that this helped the agency identify and reduce long-standing public sector problems such as strict command structures, fear of taking reasonable risks, and delays caused by too much dependence on senior-level approvals.
He said the agency documented more than 396 internal processes and reviewed them to remove bottlenecks and repeated approvals. Inuwa explained that some routine tasks that once needed several layers of sign-off were redesigned so departments could serve as gatekeepers, allowing top leadership to focus more on broader priorities.
He added that improving processes also makes it easier to automate tasks and introduce digital tools in a more organised way.
On training, Inuwa said all NITDA staff members completed mandatory training in artificial intelligence (AI). He described AI as a tool for improving productivity, not replacing workers, and said staff across departments are already using it to improve workflows, develop ideas, and shift from manual administrative tasks to AI-supported system administration and oversight.
He said NITDA’s use of technology is guided by clear business and public value, rather than adopting new tools simply because they are popular. Inuwa also said the agency has developed a digital transformation playbook that captures key lessons from its experience, and that NITDA is prepared to share it with NBC and other government institutions.
To move the partnership forward, Inuwa proposed practical areas for cooperation. These include sharing NITDA’s playbook, designing training and capacity-building programmes for NBC staff, and enrolling NBC personnel in digital literacy initiatives developed with global technology partners such as Cisco, a United States-based networking and technology company.
He also offered technical support to help modernise regulatory approaches so they better reflect the realities of digital media, where content creation, distribution, and audience engagement increasingly rely on internet-based platforms and data-driven systems.
In his remarks, Ebuebu said closer collaboration between NBC and NITDA is needed and long overdue, especially as media and technology continue to merge. He said he has had previous engagements with Inuwa, but argued that cooperation must now be formalised between both institutions to respond better to new developments in media, technology, data governance, and Nigeria’s digital future.
Ebuebu said a structured partnership would help both agencies regulate a changing media environment more effectively, support the use of technology in content production and distribution, encourage local media growth, promote knowledge transfer within the public sector, and protect Nigeria’s cultural and national interests as digital platforms expand their influence.
