Former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, at the weekend challenged the North to urgently embrace digital technology and mainstream it into every facet of development.
El-Rufai spoke at Ceedi Plaza Cinema, Abuja, during the premiere of Fasahar Zamani, a 12-episode Hausa digital-literacy series produced by Blue Sapphire Hub and funded by the United Kingdom Development International. The series is subtitled in English to help bridge the region’s widening digital gap.
The premiere drew a cross-section of prominent Northern leaders.
El-Rufai, who once served as FCT Minister under President Olusegun Obasanjo, lamented the region’s slow adoption of digital tools, saying the North remained “regrettably behind” in technology uptake and deployment.
He urged Northern governors to invest deliberately in digital infrastructure, nurture young tech entrepreneurs and provide them sustainable seed funding.
“Northern Nigeria is yet to come to terms with the reality of the tech age,” he said. “We must find a soft, appealing way to introduce this and make it exciting for our young people. This 12-episode production will help draw the attention of our youths – and their parents – to the urgency of adopting technology, particularly digital technology, as we enter the age of AI.”
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“The way forward now is for the state governments in northern Nigeria to take this messaging to the next level. On our own part, I have been partnering with state governments to host Arewa TechFest.
“And I will call on all the northern states governors to use this opportunity to take it a step further by identifying digital and tech entrepreneurs in their states and supporting them with seed money so that they can develop their ideas, create jobs, and put Nigeria on the technology map.”
El-Rufai also said digital technology can be used for Nigeria future elections, saying that he deployed it in Kaduna for local government elections. He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could leverage digital technology for the 2027 elections.
Speaking at the film presentation, the Country Lead and Programme Advisor for the U.K. Government’s Global Digital Access Programme, Idongesit Udoh, noted that the project was among others being supported by his organisation to bridge digital gap.
“This is a piece of project that the U.K. government has supported to bring on board people who are excluded from the growing digital economy in Nigeria.
“As you may know, Nigeria’s digital economy is blossoming. It’s the fastest growing sector of the country’s economy and contributes hugely to the GDP.
“But also there is the fact that there are people who are not included in this sector. So the advanced digital adoption in Nigeria was a piece of project specifically designed to bring on board women, people with disabilities, and people from communities that are completely unserved or underserved, “Udoh said.
