Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi: The new kid in the NITDA saddle

When the Senior Special Adviser on Media to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Garba Shehu, announced Dr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi as the new Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in August 2019, the question on the lips of many was: who is Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi?

But the answer was not far-fetched. He was the 39-year-old ICT expert who had been seconded from the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2017 on the express permission of the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to work as Technical Assistant to then Director General of NITDA, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who was newly appointed Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. Abdullahi was in 2014 engaged as Technology Architect by the apex bank with a brief to develop Technology Architecture Repository (TAR) that gives a 360 view of the CBN’s IT infrastructure.

More than that, he had been recommended by Pantami as a capable replacement for him, both men having synergised to great effect at NITDA while they worked together.

Not surprisingly, the IT operations and solutions architecture professional hit the ground running as the new Director General and has since been responsible for leading NITDA’s implementation of policy guidelines for driving ICT and developing programmes that cater to ICT-related activities in Nigeria. Indeed, the country has now established itself firmly among the big ICT players in the world.

The benefits Abdullahi has brought to NITDA are of immense proportion as he has implemented over 300 infrastructure in the ICT sector, placing the parastatal as the most prominent under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

Those who have known Abdullahi over the last 15 years since he emerged in the ICT sector are the least surprised at his feats as the NITDA boss. The graduate of Computer Science from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, who turned 40 on February 21 this year, laid a solid foundation for himself at Galaxy Backbone where he started as a Network Engineer and Solutions Architect, as well as IP Network Field Engineer, IP Operations Team, Senior Network & Lead and Senior Solution Architect & Lead between from 2004 to 2013. He thereafter ventured into the public sector, after which he earned executive certificates from the MIT Sloan School of Management, in addition to acquiring management and leadership training at Harvard University in the USA, University of Cambridge in the UK and IMD Business School in Switzerland. He is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained strategist and the first Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) in Nigeria’s Public Sector. A member of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) and British Computer Society (BCS), Abdullahi is also recognised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) as one of the 100 Leading Telecom and ICT Personalities in Nigeria.

Although Abdullahi officially joined NITDA in 2017, he has helped the agency to attain some feats, specifically managing the execution of a strategy that increased ICT contribution to Nigeria’s GDP by 13% in 2018, thereby helping the Federal Government save over N16 billion from IT projects by overhauling the clearance process in addition to encouraging shared services among agencies. It is on record that over 5% cost reduction occurred during major projects whose procurement processes he managed.

In less than one year in the saddle as NITDA’s DG, Abdullahi has achieved the major targets of the agency which include playing its regulatory role remarkably, supporting the local content, driving capacity building and job creation and protecting data.

Despite all the successes recorded by Abdullahi, however, he has continued to attract detractors within the ICT sector in Nigeria. His sins, as it were, include his closeness to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who recommended him for the NITDA’s DG post. There are some who also insist that Abdullahi is too young to occupy the post, in total disregard for his qualification, competence and exposure to the best of trainings around the world. It is a fact that young people drive the world’s ICT and Abdullahi fits the bill perfectly, while drawing inspiration from his contemporaries who are already leading nations like Canada, Belgium and France.

At any rate, Abdullahi has refused to be distracted by his adversaries because he has his eyes on the targets he hopes to achieve for NITDA in the years ahead.