*Reveals how state ‘ll emerge next tech hub in 5 years

*Partners with Oracle on IT Institute

By Nnamdi Ojiego

Zamfara State is on track to become Northern Nigeria’s leading tech hub, thanks to its robust ICT strategy spearheaded by the Zamfara Information and Communications Technology Development Agency, ZITDA. In this interview, ZITDA’s Executive Secretary, Dr, Habib Gajam, outlines the agency’s comprehensive efforts to transform the state’s digital landscape. According to him, with initiatives ranging from expanding broadband infrastructure and e-governance platforms to fostering digital literacy and empowering local businesses, Zamfara is positioning itself as a key player in Nigeria’s growing tech ecosystem. Excerpts:

Congratulations on your award as one of the few states that have given zero right-of-way charges to telecom companies during the NBAN launch in Lagos recently. What does this recognition mean to you?

Well, first of all, we are not surprised because we have put in a lot of hard work and effort in the last two years since we came on board at the helm of affairs in Zamfara State. We have devised relevant policies and frameworks that will incentivize broadband investments in the state. Before that award, we were also at the National Council for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy that was held in Markudi, Benue State, late last year, and Zamfara emerged as the best state in terms of digital infrastructure development. So this is a recognition of the efforts that we are making in expanding our communications and digital infrastructure in terms of fibre connectivity, in terms of automation, and many other areas that we feel will help the state in propelling its digital economy. So the award in Lagos is a culmination of a lot of hard work and effort that we have put in place over the years.

Can you elaborate on ZITDA’s mandate and objectives, and how they align with the state government’s overall vision for Zamfara State?

ZITDA is vested with the responsibility of developing clear ICT policy, strategy, and direction for the state and it’s fundamentally built upon three core pillars: the first being the expansion of communications and digital infrastructure; the second being the implementation of e-governance platforms, and the third being the attainment of digital skills and digital literacy, in other words, ICT human capital. So these three critical pillars are the main vested responsibilities that the law has given the ZITDA to operate. And we have done a lot in these three critical areas that I have highlighted to you. Perhaps I will elaborate more later.

How does ZITDA plan to achieve its objectives, and what strategies has it put in place to drive ICT development in the state?

In terms of the first pillar, which is communications and digital infrastructure, we have removed right-of-way charges for telecom companies. We have taken it down to zero and that has attracted a lot of incentives even from the NCC through the Universal Services Provision Fund to lay fibre in about eight public institutions spanning around 10 kilometres including the Government House, the State Secretariat, the State House of Assembly, the High Court, the Specialist Hospital, the School of Nursing, the Internal Revenue Service as well as the GSM Village within the Gusau metropolis, all in an effort to drive the digital economy using internet access. The second pillar is e-governance implementation, and we have just launched the Zamfara Electronic Governance platform (e-GovConnect) which we are piloting for the State Executive Council to make governance seamless. We are trying to reduce the use of paperwork and files and all of those things. The third pillar has to do with training, and manpower capacity development in terms of our civil service. We aim to train civil servants across all levels in one form of digital literacy or the other to help them adapt to the new digital economy. Beyond that, we are also engaging stakeholders to launch the Zamfara Digital Framework which encapsulates our students in primary and secondary schools to make sure that they are trained with the ICT curriculum and even the wider society. So we are achieving a lot across these three critical pillars that I have highlighted.

What is the current state of ICT infrastructure in Zamfara? And what plans does ZITDA have to improve connectivity and access to ICT services?

So as I mentioned, when this administration came on board, the ICT infrastructure in Zamfara was in total comatose, so we had to build from scratch. Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, don’t have working tools and infrastructure to carry out the business of governance. At the moment, we have a plan in place to deploy over 1,000 systems across MDAs and this includes our Institutions of Higher Learning CBT Centers including the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Gusau, School of Health and Technology Sciences in Tsafe, Zamfara College of Arts and Sciences in Gusau, College of Education in Maru, College of Agriculture in Bakura, and a whole lot of other government agencies so that we make the process of administration quite easy and seamless. And again, coming back to connectivity, that is the reason why we have mapped out about 30 kilometres of fibre routes across the Gusau metropolis and we want to make sure that we connect every government institution with high-speed internet access. And we have just started the first phase, which is about 10 kilometres that I mentioned to you, highlighting the institutions that I discussed earlier. The next phase will also take another 10 kilometres because it’s a huge investment. So we are very deliberate in terms of expanding the the ICT sector in the state.

You’ve said a lot about what ZITDA is doing in public sector in terms of e-governance, do you have any initiatives to support the growth of ICT-based businesses and startups in the state?

We are trying to develop an ICT ecosystem by bringing together, all players in the state. Sometime mid-last year, we attended the GITEX Africa, one of the largest technology shows in the world which was hosted in Marrakech, and Zamfara State sponsored three startups to go and showcase to the world the kind of innovations and technologies that are coming out from the state. Look, we’re known to be in the negative news, whether insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, and all of that, so we are doing a lot in terms of promoting our startup ecosystems. We are providing mentorship, for example, we recently hosted the Women Techmakers Community in Zamfara State, where various trainings and mentorship opportunities were provided for young girls in secondary and primary schools in AI and virtual learning. So we are very deliberate.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing ZITDA in its efforts to develop the ICT sector in Zamfara State?

First and foremost, ZITDA is a relatively new agency; it was established in 2021 and then it came into operation in 2022. So when I assumed office in 2024, it was barely a year and a few months old. When we came, we did not meet much on ground starting with the offices; we didn’t have adequate working tools and furniture, we did not have connectivity, and staff morale was low. We did not even have an existing law, even though the agency was established, but on paper. We did not have an enabling Act that was supporting its operations. So we had to draft a law. We also did not have a clear ICT policy for the state, we now have that. We did not have a digital strategy, we now do. We did not have a digital literacy framework, we have it now. As I mentioned to you, we had a lot of funding issues but the present administration of Governor Dauda Lawal is very keen on developing this sector. He was a private sector person before he joined the government and that is the reason why we are getting all the support from him to ensure that ICT is at the forefront of his agenda.

How is the agency addressing these challenges?

Well, whether you are in a storm or deep waters, you have to survive. You have to do what you have to do and like I mentioned earlier, we have made sure that we have taken necessary steps and actions to ensure the sustainability of all of the programs that we have developed over time. And the support that we are getting from the governor is quite a deliberate one because like I said, he recognizes the role of ICT in propelling development. He was in First Bank – one of the most ICT-compliant corporate entities in Nigeria. They have automated a lot of processes long before others followed. So it was really an easy transition for him to adapt to the same approach when he found himself in the public sector and that is why we are getting all the support that we need.

How does ZITDA plan to leverage partnerships with the private sector, academia and other stakeholders to drive ICT development in the state?

So as a government, you can’t do everything alone. It’s not even possible. You don’t have the resources to do that, so the ICT sector works like an ecosystem where you have to leverage the experiences, expertise and even resources of several other partners, whether public or private. I’ll give you an example. Our collaboration with the federal government has yielded a lot of positive results because of the decision to remove right-of-way charges for telecom companies, which was part of what the FG is lobbying the states to do. We have done that and that attracted us, like I mentioned, an intervention from NCC to deploy fibre across the institutions that I have mentioned to you. That is a benefit of collaboration. Secondly, we are also collaborating with fibre companies like Last Mile, Metropolitan and even backbone companies like Galaxy Backbone. We are collaborating with the NigComSat to get internet across our secondary schools in rural and remote areas. We are collaborating with NITDA in terms of digital literacy and skills development. So these are a few examples of collaborations that we are engaging with relevant stakeholders because you are not an island of your own. You have to leverage the experiences, the expertise, as well as the resources of other critical stakeholders.

What are ZITDA’s plans for the next two years and what key projects or initiatives can we expect to see from the agency?

Of course, absolutely. As I have stated, the Zamfara State Digital Framework is a critical document that will propel the state to the highest level in terms of digital skills and digital literacy. We are training primary school pupils and secondary school students in one form of digital literacy or skill or the other before they leave school. Civil servants across all levels of governance, whether the local government or state, will also have to learn one form of digital skill or the other to help improve their performance. Thirdly, we are looking at training 10,000 businesses, petty traders and entrepreneurs in one form of digital skill or the other to upscale and help develop their businesses further. Again, we are conveying a stakeholder engagement, including all relevant Federal Government Agencies, the ministry, NCC, NITDA, NIgComSat, and Galaxy Backbone, because they are critical stakeholders and partners in realizing the prospects of this vision.

Furthermore, in terms of projects, very soon we are breaking ground for the establishment of a state-of-the-art Institute of Information Technology in Gusau. The institute is in technical partnership with Oracle Systems as the technical and managing partner, where students will be admitted to take programs like pre-diploma, diploma, and advanced diploma programs in various areas of computing like artificial intelligence, cyber security, internet of things, blockchain, business analytics, data science, games technology, and all of those emerging new areas. Look, we want Zamfara State to be the next ICT hub for Northern Nigeria in the next five or ten years, and we are very deliberate about it.