Digital Literacy and Skills Development in Nigeria: Policies, Barriers and Recommendations

Abstract

Digital literacy and skills are becoming indispensable due to the ubiquitous nature of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and their wide-ranging applications in every aspect of human life. However, individuals must learn or acquire digital skills to enhance their standard of living and contribute to national development. This paper examines government policies formulated to facilitate digital literacy and skills development in Nigeria in the last two decades. We examined in detail the formal education approach to digital literacy and skills development, along with the barriers that hinder it. The empirical data results indicate that the majority of programmes offered in universities, polytechnics, and similar institutions provide basic and intermediate digital skills to their students, while the majority of programmes offered in colleges of education primarily focus on arts and humanities education, offering only basic digital skills at best. We consider this to be a primary cause for the inadequate teaching of digital skills in Nigeria's public basic education schools. Therefore, Nigeria should increase the number of programmes that train ICT or computer teachers for basic education. Interestingly, in order to reach a 95% digital literacy level in Nigeria by 2030, we've proposed some helpful suggestions to overcome obstacles to the growth of digital skills and equip Nigerians with the necessary digital skills to engage in the digital economy.