The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, has described the agency’s workforce as its “operating system,” stressing the need to create an environment that enables staff to unlock their potentials and contribute effectively to the agency’s mandate.
Abdullahi stated this at the closing ceremony of the 2026 NITDA Human Resources (HR) Sensitisation Week, where outstanding staff were recognised and rewarded with smartphones for their contributions to the agency.
Represented at the event by senior management officials, the Director-General commended the Human Resources Department for what he described as significant improvements in the management of staff and the implementation of transparent systems and policies in recent years.
He noted that managing people was more complex than managing technology, drawing from his early career experience working with routers and switches.
According to him, while machines would continue to execute programmed commands until they were changed, human beings have the capacity to think, interpret situations and develop alternative approaches.
“People are the most difficult things you can manage,” he said, stressing that effective people management therefore requires strong systems that promote fairness, transparency and consistency.
The NITDA boss said systems were necessary to prevent arbitrary decision-making and ensure that staff were treated based on established policies rather than personal preferences.
He said the objective of human resources management should not merely be to manage staff but to create the conditions for them to innovate and contribute meaningfully to organisational goals.
“People, you are the operating system of the agency. We want to unlock your potentials. We want to make you innovative so that the agency will achieve its mandate,” Abdullahi said.
He commended the HR Department for introducing policies that, according to him, had helped sanitise processes and make the agency’s operations more transparent.
The DG particularly cited the process for staff travel, noting that employees were now required to demonstrate the relevance of official trips, while recommendations from their directors and departments were also considered.
He said the improved process had reduced the practice whereby staff would lobby management for opportunities to travel without clearly demonstrating the official value of such trips.
Abdullahi also commended HR for its training programmes, including international capacity-building opportunities, saying the department had developed a structured approach to staff development.
He disclosed that, unlike in previous years when management would be extensively involved in discussions over training programmes, the HR Department was now able to present a comprehensive annual training plan for approval.
The DG also praised the Internal Audit Department for its contribution to ensuring that processes were conducted openly and transparently.
He urged staff to continue to provide constructive feedback to management and the HR Department, stressing that understanding employees’ expectations was essential to improving workplace experience and service delivery.
According to him, management could not always assume that it knew what staff wanted and needed to hear directly from employees about areas requiring further improvement.
He encouraged workers to freely communicate their expectations and suggest areas where HR and management could do more to improve staff welfare, professional development and organisational effectiveness.
The ceremony also featured the recognition of outstanding staff, who received smartphones as awards for their performance and contributions to the agency.
The DG congratulated the award recipients and urged other staff to remain committed to excellence, innovation and the effective delivery of NITDA’s mandate.
The 2026 HR Sensitisation Week provided an opportunity for the agency to reflect on its human capital development, workplace systems, staff engagement and the role of employees in advancing Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
