- Nigeria adopts a broader view of cryptocurrency.
- NITDA to issue verifiable and easily authenticated certificates for NYSC candidates.
- The NITDA held a meeting with other stakeholders.
Nigeria is on its way to a new era of blockchain adoption as it discusses housing certificates from its NYSC scheme on the blockchain. The primary focus is to provide the participants with an easy way to verify and authenticate themselves.
The current director of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, disclosed that there have been discussions around making use of blockchain technology for the generation and validation of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates within the country.
The National Youth Service Corps scheme in Nigeria requires compulsory participation of university graduates from 30 and under to serve the country for one year, with community development projects and cross-cultural integration.
The announcement of the scheme’s plans to go into blockchain technology took place at a recent stakeholder’s policy meeting, which was centered around the execution of the National Blockchain policy. The NITDA assembled the gathering in collaboration with other stakeholders in the Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SiBAN).
Kashifu highlighted the potential of the NYSC certificates being susceptible to counterfeits within the country. In addition, the director appealed for the assistance of the NITDA, and they reached a mutual understanding to help create a blockchain-based certificate authentication system. The innovation will house all certificates of NYSC participants on the blockchain and will provide the participants with the necessary means needed to verify and authenticate their certificates easily.
The director-general also explained the plan to furnish individuals who have completed their training programs with the NITDA with their certificates backed by blockchain technology while highlighting that they had secured the backing of the Central Bank of Nigeria to collaborate with the broader ecosystem.
The head of the NITDA believes that blockchain technology presents a significant potential for the ecosystem and a significant opportunity to go into the extensive prospects of blockchain technology and the application it offers in the issuance of certificates.
Abdullahi added in his speech that blockchain, which added $1.7 trillion to the global GDP, is the perfect technology for the country to leverage. Also adding that if Nigeria is able to position itself adequately based on the BWC report, the country could potentially add $40 billion to its GDP by 2030.
Another prominent voice at the stakeholders meeting was Obinna Iwuno, who currently serves as the president of SiBAN, who conveyed a positive spin on the forthcoming prospect the blockchain space promises—highlighting that the government has now been able to embrace the grand vision offered by blockchain technology to the industry and the future potential.
Conclusion
Another added factor is that the NITDA has begun adopting a more comprehensive and expansive viewpoint towards crypto, showing their willingness to grow even stronger collaborations with SiBAN to ensure massive growth in the industry.
