The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has presented prizes to winners in the 4th round of its ‘Report a Project Competition’.

The Centre said the champions were honored to encourage them to continue contributing their best for the sustainable growth and development of society.

The program, according to the Center, is in support of the MacArthur Foundation and is targeted at encouraging students from tertiary institutions to report abandoned or poorly executed projects in their respective communities.

In his remarks, the Executive Director of the Centre Dr. Y.Z Ya’u said the essence of the project was in line with the pursuit of a collective action to demand accountability from the government at all levels.

The Executive Director, represented by the Centre’s Training Coordinator, Mal. Ahmad Abdullahi Yakasai explained that the idea is an accelerated step to holding governments accountable for their actions in the spirit of transparency as a critical element of good governance and improving citizens’ livelihood.

He further charged the trio winners to continue with the report on abandoned public projects not only because of what they’ll get but for the collective interest of the general populace.

The winner of the competition, Abubakar Aliyu who reported 4 years of abandoned Classes at Government Secondary School Dan-Maliki, Kumbotso L.G, Kano state was presented with a Computer, H.P model.

While the first runner-up Hussaini Musa was presented with a Huawei Android mobile phone, the Y-5 Prime model for reporting a 7 years abandoned project at the Federal College of Education, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The second runner-up got a Nokia Android mobile phone, C.1 model for reporting 6 years of abandoned Theatre projects at the Federal College of Education, Kano.

Girls are poorly placed to benefit from the knowledge economy in developing countries. As such they have less access to skills training and development that would enable them to gain employment in the ICT sector. When females are employed, they generally work at lower levels, with less pay and this discourages them from participating optimally in science and technology education. These disadvantages further prevent girls and women from benefitting equally from the opportunities offered by the new technologies that would enable them to participate in the knowledge economy.

 

Concerned about the decline in the number of school girls opting to study technology-related disciplines and who work in technology focused organizations in most countries worldwide, 28th of April 2022, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in collaboration with Dala Ina Mafita organised an awareness programme to mark the International Girls in ICT Day. The event was held at the Guidance Standard School, Goron Dutse, Kano. The participants were girls from different community-based associations as well as students of public secondary schools in the state.

 

Observed in more than 166 countries across the globe, the Day, an initiative of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the International Girls-in-ICT Day was backed by all ITU members.

 

The Day was aimed at creating global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communications technology (ICT).

 

Access and Safety was selected as the 2022 thematic priority as part of the initial step for girls to be able to access the digital environment in a safe way. 

 

Speaking at the event, CITAD Executive Director representative Malam Ahmad Abdullahi Yakasai, said the Centre partnered with the organisers to expose participants to the various career opportunities available in the ICT sector, apart from encouraging them to aspire to such jobs.

 

Yakasai, told the participants who were drawn from different communities in Kano that the world now revolved around ICT and that the future holds a lot of promises for them should they go into the ICT sector.

 

CITAD Gender Officer Zainab Aminu, said that while significant progress has been achieved with increasing the participation of girls in the gender gap in ICT remains unacceptably wide, with representation continuing to be disproportionately higher for males than for females, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

 

Zainab, expressed concern that the gap was even wider in Nigeria, relative to countries like Ghana and South Africa. She reaffirmed that investment in early ICT education, affirmative action on the hiring of women in STEM and a reorientation to change the sociocultural beliefs and practices that deter women’s participation in STEM, as approaches that should be explored to reduce this gap.

 

The Chairperson of International Federation of Women Lawyers – FIDA, Kano State Branch, Barr. Bilkisu Ibrahim Sulaiman, noted that the global event presented a platform for various stakeholders to not only highlight the gender digital divide but proffer solutions and build partnerships that will help accelerate the movement towards the increased involvement of girls in ICT. She expressed appreciation for CITAD in continuous support for the Girls in ICT initiative and commended the CITAD sensitization lecture which will provide an opportunity for girls to gain a first-hand experience of working in the ICT sector.

 

Next was an interactive session with Engr. Kamaluddeen Umar leading the session, said empowering girls to choose a career in ICTs is not just good for girls and their families, it can be a major accelerator of socio-economic development at the national level.

 

According to him, the Day serves to inspire both government and the private sector to find ways to equip girls and young women with the skills they need to become ICT professionals.

 

At end of the sensitization participants asked some questions relating to the presentations made and they fed their curiosity. 

 

 

  

 

 

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) here by advertises for the following vacancies in its various offices as indicated by the positions and therefore invites application from interested qualified individuals.

 

SENIOR PROGRAMMES OFFICER (KANO)- External 

This person will lead programmes and will have the following responsibilities:

• Support the Programmes Coordinator in liaising with development partners and others with a view to leveraging opportunities for the organization;
• Coordinate some Programmes and activities including in designing programmes and activities in the projects she/he is coordinating;
• Generate ideas for the development of new projects, proposals, programmes or activities;
• Support the development of new proposals 
• Mentor other staff in proposal development and writing;
• Participating in regular intake and case review meetings, in partnership with community organizations, to assess community needs;
• Working with community groups and attending meetings around human rights and social justice efforts;
• Any other responsibility that may from time to time be assigned to him/her in consistent with the goals of the organization

 

Essential Skills

1. Versed in IT for development literature 
2. Excellent communication and documentation skills 
3. Proposal writing skills 
4. Team work 
5. Ability to work under little supervision 
6. Critical thinking and innovative skills 
7. Excellent administrative and organizational skills, including office software

 

Qualifications 

• Ph.D or M.Sc. in any social sciences or humanities; Minimum of one year (for Ph.D holder) and two years (for M.Sc) relevant experience, working with civil society organizations. Those with First degree must have four years of cognate experience 

Requirements 

1. Must have written at least three successful project proposals in the past
2. Evidence of at least two publication reports or journal articles (not newspaper article)
3. The ideal candidate for should be less than 40 years old 
4. Must be IT literate, versatile in the use of office productivity tools 
5. Ability to travel frequently and at short notice is desirable

 

PROGRAMMES OFFICER (Training Officer, KANO), position available only for female candidates 

Responsibilities of the Position

• Coordinate Gender Digital Inclusion works 
• Support works around gender violence against women 
• Tracking data on projects/programmes implementation 
• Leading on gender digital entrepreneurship programmes 
• Documenting programmes/projects you are working on 
• Developing proposals and project initiatives 
• Tracking and documenting impact on lives of past programmes beneficiaries 
• Taking part in other programmes of the organization and generating reports from such activities where required 

Essential Skills 

1. Website design skills (Content Management System and PHP)
2. App development skills 
3. Coding 
4. Gender analysis
5. Feminist internet Principles  

Qualifications 

The right candidate must have a good degree in Social sciences or Technology related subject. A post graduate diploma or degree in the relevant field is an advantage with at least four years of working in the development sector. Familiarity with technology and gender issues is essential 

Requirements 

1. Evidence of at least two-year’s experience in the civil society sector 
2. Evidence of one successful proposal written
3. Ability to teach ICT courses 
4. Training/ Facilitation skills
5. Understand the operations of tech start ups 
6. A minimum of two examples of report written either published or authenticated by former employers
7. The ideal candidate for should be less than 35-year-old 
8. Ability to travel frequently and at short notice is desirable 

 

PROGRAMMES COORDINATOR (KANO)- External 

This person will head the Programmes Department and will have the following responsibilities:

• Continuously keep an opened eye for new areas of engagement;
• Liaising with development partners and others with a view to leveraging opportunities for the organization;
• Ensure that all activities reports are properly documented and archived;
• Generate ideas for the development of new projects, proposals, programmes or activities;
• Lead in the development of new proposals 
• Support Project managers in designing programmes and activities in the project they are coordinating;
• Establish and maintain a knowledge resource for the organization;
• Mentor other staff in proposal development and writing;
• Help to distill issues of interest that may require follow up, new activities/programmes or new proposals;
• Participating in regular intake and case review meetings, in partnership with community organizations, to assess community needs;
• Working with community groups and attending meetings around human rights and social justice efforts;
• Understanding the services offered by other non-profits and government agencies and drawing upon these resources to most effectively serve.
• Any other responsibility that may from time to time be assigned to him/her in consistent with the goals of the organization

 

Essential Skills

1. Versed in IT for development literature 
2. Excellent communication and documentation skills 
3. Proposal writing skills 
4. Team work 
5. Ability to work under little supervision 
6. Critical thinking and innovative skills 
7. Excellent administrative and organizational skills, including office software

 

Qualifications 

• Ph.D or M.Sc. in any social sciences or humanities; Minimum of two years (for Ph.D holder) and four years (for M.Sc) relevant experience, working with civil society organizations. Those with First degree must have six years of cognate experience 

Requirements 

1. Must have written at least three successful project proposals in the past
2. Experience or knowledge of innovation system, incubator programmes and startups management
3. Evidence of at least two publication reports or journal articles (not newspaper article)
4. The ideal candidate for should be less than 45-year-old 
5. Ability to travel frequently and at short notice is desirable

 

Technology Innovation Officer (TIO), position available in Gombe 

Responsibilities 

1. Be the coordinator of the technology hub of the organization 
2. Coordinate the start-ups programmes of the organizations 
3. Lead in the apps development programmes of the organization 
4. Develop and deliver appropriate training programmes for technology developers 
5. Be part of the general training programmes of the organization
6. Any other relevant assignments that may from time to time be assigned to the staff 

Essential Skills 

1. Website design skills (Content Management System and PHP)
2. App development skills 
3. Coding 
4. Training/ Facilitation skills
5. Experience in running an incubator space 
6. Experience in raising a start up 

Qualifications 

The right candidate should have an IT related degree or professional certification. Registration with CPN is an advantage. Two years of cognate experience in an incubator space or similar setting is required.  

Requirements 

Candidate will provide evidence of websites sh/he designed and maintained, examples of app he/she has developed and any other innovative deployment of technology he or she has been involved in

Age Range: 25-40

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE  

Salary and other conditions of service are commensurate with skills, experience and innovative initiatives 

 

ACCOUNTS OFFICER. POSITION available in Abuja  

Requirements 

Qualification: a minimum of HND in Accounting or related field. Possession of a professional certification will be an added advantage. Understanding of non-profit sector operation is required.

Cognate experience: must have at least two years of post-graduation experience in an NGO setting.  

Others: candidates from FCT, Kogi or Niger States are strongly recommended to apply. 

Responsibilities 

1. Prepare monthly financial reports.
2. Prepare and maintain all financial documents.
3. Responsible for financial management.
4. Disbursement and accounting for funds during activities. 
5. Prepare annual financial budget and reports.
6. Handle all payments for statutory deductions to relevant agencies. 
7. Be part of the Procurement Committee of the Office.
8. Support the Project teams in the implementation of various project activities in Abuja Area office. 
9. Reconciliation of Bank Statement and Cash book 
10. Any other tasks that may be assigned to him/her consistent with the his or her skills and training as may be decided from time to time by the Management of the organization. 

Skills 

In addition to bookkeeping and other accounting skills, the desired candidate must be computer literate and know how to use Excel as well as any other accounting software. 

Reporting line: the person will report to and work with the head Office, under the supervision of the organization’s Human Resource Manager.

 

HUMAN RESOURCE OFFICER (KANO)- EXTERNAL 

The person will head the Personnel Department of the organization and will have the following responsibilities: 

• Keep up to data employees’ records 
• Be custodian of staff reporting on duty register 
• Keep records for all staff leave, including sick leave
• Receive and process leave request by staff 
• Serve as Secretary to any staff recruitment interview
• Provide relevant documents for staff appraisal process 
• Process tax certificates for staff members 
• Ensure that the organization is at all-time compliant of all relevant labour laws
• Responsible for drafting reference letters for current and former staff of the organization 
• Any other assignments that may from time to time be assigned to the office by either the management and or the Board members. 

Essential Skills

1. Have clear understanding of what Human Resource Management entails 
2. Good ICT skills 
3. Good communication skills 
4. Ability to use online tools for tracking staff performance 

Qualifications 

The right candidate must have a Degree in Administration Science or any social science. A Master degree will be an advantage. Two years’ experience in similar position.

Requirements 

At least two years of relevant experience 

One-year experience of working in the civil society or development sector

 

Business Development and Marketing Officer (BDMO), Kano or Gombe 

1. Lead in the marketing of the programmes, produces and services of the organization 
2. Promote apps and solutions developed in the organization 
3. Harvest and promote start-ups out of the organization
4. Develop and concretize business ideas for the organization 
5. Coordinate the social entrepreneurship programmes of the organization 
6. Any other relevant assignments that may from time to time be assigned to the staff

Essential Skills 

1. Business development skills 
2. Marketing skills 
3. Digital marketing knowledge 
4. Partnership building skills 
5. Proposal development 

Qualifications 

The right candidate should have a degree in Marketing or Business Administration or any related field. MBA is an advantage. Two years of cognate experience in a Marketing position is needed.  

 

METHOD OF APPLICATION

Interested qualified person should apply providing the following:

1. Cover letter should capture why the applicant thinks he/she is suitable for the job
2. Current CV
3. Names and full contacts of three referees, one of who must be previous employer (if she or he has worked)
4. Scanned photocopies of credentials 
5. Details of publications or scanned copies (as relevant to the position you are applying)
6. Copies of previous reports or proposal written (as relevant to the position)

 

DATELINE:

Interested persons should submit their application with all relevant attachments to info@citad.org, not later than May 31, 2022.

Buhari Abba is the Administrative and Research Assistant at the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD)

Within the past two weeks, the organization has recorded two very disturbing contents on the internet, both of which degrade and dehumanise women and the individuals involved.

The first was a posting of sexual escape of students of Chrisland, Lagos in faraway Dubai which went viral, leading to the suspension of academic activities in the school. While the second concerned a lady in Ado-Ekiti who was invited to a hotel room by her friend who had arranged with his three accomplices, gang-raped her and also posted the act on the internet.

A third case was a lady who was kidnapped for money, it occurred earlier last month in Abuja when a man on social media invited her to his hotel, kidnapped her and demanded 50 Million ransom from her parents.

In a speech delivered by Engr. Yunusa Zakari Ya’u, Executive Director of Centre for Information Technology and Development noted that, there have been many other such cases in which social media friends lured their female friends only to rape them and in some instances, kill them to cover up the crime.

“Cases of young girls falling victims of this technology assisted crime have been on the rise and are contributing negatively to the efforts to address and overcome the gender dimension of the digital divide in the country, which casts women on the negative side of the divide and making it difficult for them to access and make use of the opportunities and benefits digital technology offers for educational advancement, economic empowerment and social inclusion.

“CITAD has for the past five years been engaged in monitoring and countering gender violence online and take this very serious, because we have in an earlier research found that gender-based violence online has been a major factor inhibiting factor for the effective use of digital spaces by girls and women in the country as they have internalised the fear that harmful content online has induced in them”. He said.

Eng. Yunusa further explained that harmful content online is targeted at female politicians and women in careers such as female journalists and academics, with the aim of discouraging them from those spaces, thus furthering their marginalization in those spheres.

Women are cyberphobia as result of gender violence – CITAD

In addition, parents and husbands are also using the same excuse to prevent their daughters and wives from using the internet. Unfortunately, in the world we live today, we must all make use of the internet.

Eng. Yunusa revealed that the country and society that suffer from this criminal misappropriation of the powers of the internet. As learning, commerce, social interactions and government services move online.

Women constitute slightly more than half of the population of the country, as the majority of these women are remaining offline as a result of gender violence online and other harmful contents, which means that a large population of Nigerians are left behind.

“In this situation, Nigeria cannot achieve the sustainable development goals as most of them require effective deployment and use of the internet.

“Girls are at a disadvantage in getting admission to higher education because they have been prevented from learning to use digital skills which are necessary for passing the entrance examinations to the higher institutions in the country.

“Yet here in the North we complain of a lack of sufficient number of female doctors and other health related professionals, even when we deny girls the opportunity to learn digital skills to gain admission to study for the medical profession”. He added.

Women are the majority of citizens who are identity excluded in Nigeria and consequently also financial services excluded, making it difficult for them to access financial services and progress in business.

Lack of identity also is inhibiting their ability to exercise their freedom of movement as some important modes of travel cannot convey people without authenticated identity.

Technology as National threat to gender – CITAD

The Centre for Information Technology and Development confirmed that technology assisted gender violence online making it a serious national problem that the government has to consider and take necessary means to address it.

The Executive Director expressed their empanelling of a Committee by the Federal Government to study and propose solutions to ensuring the protection of children online.

CITAD recommend solutions to technology-assisted gender violence

In this respect CITAD will like to call on the federal government as well as state governments to as a matter of national urgency:

Set up a panel to study and propose solutions to technology-assisted gender violence, including proposing legislations on how to deal with it. In making this call, we would like to caution against throwing the baby with the bathwater. Government should not use this as an opportunity to inhibit access to the internet for citizens but rather improve on how citizens are able to access and safely use the internet.

The Federal Government should incorporate safety and privacy online in the computer studies curriculum of secondary schools. In this way, computer studies can then not just be done to get a credit for admission to higher institutions but also to get life skills that will prepare the students for successful immersion into the digital world.

While we have made computer studies compulsory at secondary schools, we have not incorporated safety issues in the curriculum. These gaps should be addressed quickly because learning computer studies is not just for passing examinations but to gain skills that are needed to fit into the digital world of today.

Lot of the criminal uses of the internet is related to poor understanding of digital rights. In particular, the government itself has not shown proper appreciation of the importance of digital rights. Without a bill of digital rights, the use of the digital space can be counterproductive as we see it now. In this respect, the National Assembly should quickly pass the Digital Rights Bill and the President should sign it.

The federal government should also come up with a national digital inclusion agenda that will address the many challenges that inhibit the effective access to and use of the internet. This will contribute greatly in addressing the various dimensions of the internal digital divide in the country.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development had on 21st of April, 2022 under its project on Mobilizing and Catalyzing Citizens Action for Accountable Election and Governance in Nigeria supported by MacArthur Foundation held its Fourth Dialogue on Anti-Corruption Fight in Nigeria with another three set of its sub-grantees; Jack Fidelis Vincent, Independ Journalist based in Maiduguri, Olumide Olaniyan of Lucidity of Absurdity (Poetry) and Fred Sam-Itepu, Head of Operation, Rise Networks while Dr. Kabiru Sufi Sa’id, Principal Lecturer, Kano State College of Education and Preliminary Studies chaired the Dialogue. As it has become tradition in the Centre that every month it’s conducting the dialogue, in the month of March, the Centre hosted Danlami Nmodu, mni, Publisher NewsDiary Online, Bikiya Graham-Douglas, Executive Director, Beeta Network and Dr. Tunde Akanni, Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Lagos State University with Clement Adebayo as the moderator

The dialogue started with an opening remarks by the Executive Director of CITAD, Engineer Yunusa Zakari Ya’u. Engineer Ya’u begin his remarks with aim of organizing the monthly dialogue where his stated that; the aim of the dialogue is to give the sub-grantees under this project an opportunity to regularly share their work with a wider audience in promoting accountability and fighting corruption in Nigeria. He also mentioned that the dialogue is aimed at giving both the sub-grantees and young people who have interest in the area an opportunity to discuss and share ideas. Engineer Ya’u went further to state that CITAD has for many years been working in the area of accountability and fighting corruption in Nigeria and empowering young people to demand for good governance. Buttressing further on the essence of organizing the monthly dialogue, the Executive Director said is to create a platform for the sub-grantees and those who have an interest in the area to discuss ideas and learn from each other as corruption and lack of accountability are the major obstacles towards the country’s growth and development”. 

Moreover, Malam Ya’u lamented on the set back fighting corruption is recording in the country where he gave an example with presidential pardon granted to two convicted former governors of Plateau and Benue States after being tried and found guilty of stealing public funds while serving as governors in their states. At the end he urge the participants not relent on their efforts in the fight against corruption as it takes time to rid corruption out of the society.  

Speaking on the different tools and mediums he utilizes in demanding for accountability and fighting corruption, Mr. Jack Vincent said in Maiduguri he used to organized small round table meetings to hear the opinions of people on how they perceive corruption and the best way to tackle it, from the opinions gather, he organizes radio programs including phone in where people call to give their own contributions and air their grievances. Also, Mr. Vincent used to do Vox Fox where he sample the opinions of the public on how corruption and bad governance is affecting their lives. Other activities conducted by this sub-grantee include documentaries. In the documentaries, Mr. Fidelis focuses more on capital projects that are poorly executed such as hospitals, roads, schools etc. in the state. This, he said they aired on their live radio program and also share on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

On his part, Mr. Olumide said their work is targeting at people at grassroots where they are enlightening them about the effect of corruption through the use of poetry. He said what they normally do is to ask people questions on the post elections issues like what their representatives are doing to better their lives. Also, Mr. Olaniyan said they organize mobile dramas where they went to local markets in Abuja in collaboration with markets officials and perform dramas on corruption. In the drama, Mr. Olaniyan said they are using four languages such as Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin English. Another tactic they explore is reading poems to community people on anti-corruption and accountability. In this case, he said they allow the community people to read the poems themselves in order to internalize and make the fight against corruption a habit. At the end he stated that they are sharing the messages to larger audiences using social media platforms like Facebook to popularize the messages.

Moreover, the final speaker at the dialogue, Mr. Fred discussed mainly on the application they created in order to track corruption and fake news in the area of fighting corruption in the country called “Run Am”. He said, the application is created to mobilize citizens against corruption and discuss issues of accountability in Nigeria. Speaking further, Mr. Fred said, the application is trained to source information on corruption and election from credible sources by tracing the authenticity of images used like where they have been taken, who took them and what time they were taken. At the end, this speaker said using technology to fight corruption is the best and most efficient way to rid the corruption out of our society and instill good governance in the minds of Nigerians. 

At the end, some participants made comments about the topic in discussion. One of the commentators at the dialogue stated that “the anti-corruption institutions in the country are just making fool of themselves considering the action of the president and his cabinets most especially with the recent pardon of the convicted governors”.   

 

 

Text of press conference addressed by Y. Z. Yaú, Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 at CITAD, Kano

 

Members of the press, I welcome you to this press conference on an issue of national importance. This is the issues of technology-assisted gender violence. By technology-assisted gender violence we mean the way in which technology is deployed specifically to harm women and girls, including harassment online, rape, kidnapping and killing facilitated via interaction and use of digital technology. 

Within the past two weeks, we have two very disturbing contents on the internet, both of which degrade and dehumanise women and the individuals involved. The first was a posting of sexual escape of students of Chrisland, Lagos in faraway Dubai which went viral, leading to the suspension of academic activities in the school. The second concerned a lady in Ado-Ekiti who was invited her to a hotel room by her friend who had arranged with his three other friends and not only gang-raped her but also posted the act on the internet. A third case in which a lady was kidnapped for money occurred earlier last month in Abuja when a man the lady befriended on social media invited her to his hotel, only for him and his friends to kidnap her, demanding N50million from her parents as ransom.  There have been many other such cases in which social media friends lured their female friends only to rape them and in some instances, kill them to cover up the crime. 

Cases of young girls falling victims of this technology assisted crime have been on the rise and are contributing negatively to the efforts to address and overcome the gender dimension of the digital divide in the country, which casts women on the negative side of the divide and making it difficult for them to access and make use of the opportunities and benefits digital technology offers for educational advancement, economic empowerment and social inclusion. 

CITAD has for the past five years been engaged in monitoring and countering gender violence online and take this very serious, because we have in an earlier research found that gender-based violence online has been a major factor inhibiting factor for the effective use of digital spaces by girls and women in the country as they have internalised the fear that harmful content online has induced in them. In another research, we found that harmful content online is targeted at female politicians and women in career such as female journalists and academics, with the aim of discouraging them from those spaces, thus furthering their marginalization in those spheres. For example, female politicians are subjected to social media abuse and intimidation and that in many of cases, they were forced to drop out of contesting of elections because of this. In addition, parents and husbands are also using the same excuse to prevent their daughters and wives from using the internet. Unfortunately, in the world we live today, we must all make use of the internet. 

In all these cases, it is the country and society that suffer from this criminal misappropriation of the powers of the internet. As learning, commerce, social interactions and government services move online, it means that those left behind digitally or are unable to access and use the internet, will equally be left behind in those other spheres. Women constitute slightly more than half of the population of the country. As majority of these women are remaining offline as a result of gender violence online and other harmful contents, it means that a large population of Nigerians is left behind. In this situation, Nigeria cannot achieve the sustainable development goals as most of them require effective deployment and use of the internet. Girls are at disadvantage in getting admission to higher education because they have been prevented from learning to use digital skills which are necessary for passing the entrance examinations to the higher institutions in the country. Yet here in the North we complain of lack of sufficient number of female doctors and other health related professionals, even when we deny girls the opportunity to learn digital skills to gain admission to study for medical profession. Women are the majority of citizens who are identity excluded in Nigeria and consequently also financial services excluded, making it difficult for them to access financial services and progress in business. Lack of identity also is inhibiting their ability to exercise their freedom of movement as some important modes of travel cannot convey people without authenticated identity. 

It is for these reason that we at CITAD takes the issue of technology-assisted gender violence online as a serious national problem, that the government has to consider and take necessary means to address it.  We note the recent empanelling of a Committee by the Federal Government to study and propose solutions to ensuring the protection of children online. While we welcome this action, we would like government to also consider and act in the same manner with respect to gender violence online. It is important to reflect that technology-assisted gender violence is pernicious as it is not easily visible, making the victims to suffer doubly as victims of violence and as victims of stigmatization when they report and make their suffering public. This is why victims do not report, allowing themselves to suffer in silence. 

In this respect CITAD will like to call on the federal government as well as state governments to as a matter of national urgency:

1. Set up a panel to study and propose solutions to technology-assisted gender violence, including proposing legislations on how to deal with it. In making this call, we would like to caution against throwing the baby with the bathwater. Government should not use this as an opportunity to inhibiting access to the internet for citizens but rather improve on how citizens are able to access and safely use the internet. 
2. The Federal Government should incorporate safety and privacy online in the computer studies curriculum of secondary schools. In this way, computer studies can then not be just done to get a credit for admission to higher institutions but also to get life skills that will prepare the students for successful emersion into the digital world. While we have made computer studies compulsory at secondary schools, we have not incorporated safety issues in the curriculum. This gaps should be addressed quickly because learning computer studies is not just for passing examinations but to gain skills that are needed to fit into the digital world of today.
3. Lot of the criminal uses of the internet is relating to poor understanding of digital rights. In particular, government itself has not shown proper appreciation of the importance of digital rights. Without a bill of digital rights, the use of the digital space can be counterproductive as we see it now. In this respect, the National Assembly should quickly pass the Digital Rights Bill and the President should sign it.
4. The federal government should also come up with a national digital inclusion agenda that will address the many challenges that inhibit the effective access to and use of the internet. This will contribute greatly in addressing the various dimensions of the internal digital divide in the country.