The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has warned that Nigeria’s digital policies must not deepen existing social inequalities or overlook environmental concerns.
CITAD made the call at the close of a two-day capacity-building workshop on strengthening gender and environmental perspectives in the country’s digital policy landscape.
The workshop, organised with support from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), was held from Dec. 8 to Dec. 9 in Kano and brought together civil society organisations, digital rights advocates and campaigners for gender and environmental justice.
Declaring the workshop open, Hamza Ibrahim, who represented CITAD’s Executive Director, Malam Y. Z. Ya’u, said the initiative was timely in view of Nigeria’s ongoing digital transformation efforts.
He said the training was aimed at ensuring that the country’s digital policies were not designed in ways that reinforce inequalities or undermine environmental sustainability.
“Our digital future must be inclusive and environmentally responsible. This training is part of our commitment to ensuring that gender justice and climate concerns are not treated as afterthoughts in policy-making,” he said.
Also speaking, the Project Officer, Fatima Babakura, said the workshop was structured to build participants’ understanding in two major areas — greening digital policies and engendering advocacy.
She said the greening component focused on promoting environmentally sustainable approaches to technology development and governance, while the engendering aspect sought to embed feminist and climate justice lenses in advocacy and policy processes.
“This workshop is equipping participants with practical tools to analyse, influence and reshape digital policies so they can become more inclusive and sustainable,” she said.
According to her, participants engaged in expert-led sessions, interactive discussions and collaborative exercises that provided hands-on experience in applying gender and climate justice frameworks to existing digital policies.
She said key issues addressed at the workshop included Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda, the gender digital divide, the environmental footprint of digital infrastructure and effective advocacy strategies for policy change.
One of the facilitators, Saleh Umar Anka, Director of Climate Change at the Kano State Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, emphasised the need to align digital growth with climate considerations.
“Technology has a significant environmental footprint, and policy actors must begin to factor climate impacts into digital planning and implementation. A climate-sensitive digital agenda is essential for sustainable development,” he said.
He commended CITAD and APC for providing a platform that connects digital rights, gender inclusion and climate action.
The workshop is part of CITAD’s ongoing initiative, “Greening and Feminist Centering of the National Digital Transformation Agenda,” aimed at promoting an equitable and environmentally responsible approach to Nigeria’s digital development.