The complaint level from recent graduates, about their inability to obtain jobs, or progress to at least an interview stage has been overwhelming. People are not able to fathom reasons for being stuck in this plight and their failure in attaining gainful employment.

There are reasons such as the demand and supply not matching up and with our rapidly growing population, there just isn’t enough available jobs. A key reason equally attributed is the Low levels of Digital Literacy amongst students and graduates within the nation.

Information technology has been growing at an insurmountable rate, and recent studies has shown in sub-Saharan African countries 80% of jobs would require at least a basic level of Digital Literacy within the next 5 years.

At the exponential rate at which information technology is advancing, there is the fear of being left behind, and employers cannot be blamed for wanting to keep up with the advancing trend hence they require you to have attained a certain level of digital literacy. As a job seeker, not being fully equipped by at least an accredited certificate confirming your degree of computer literacy could be a hindrance in the current competitive job market.

The Nigerian government plans to have all its services digitised by the year 2023, at the moment only 25 % of its services are. The question being raised is will the nation be adequately prepared by the year 2023 and would it be fully adapted within the time frame. Reasons being the current digital illiteracy predicament within the country is overwhelming, with a large proportion of the population trapped in the digital illiteracy syndrome.

The previous administration set up initiatives with the aim of tackling the problem and looking into solutions to help prepare the populace and future workforce. The current government and institutions are continuing this work whilst currently looking at alternative means at which they might address this problem.

Currently research is being carried out to help gain further detailed insight into digital illiteracy levels within the nation. Results are being sought to find out whether Nigerians have the skills required to cope and be eminent in our rapidly digitising world. A copy of the survey is provided bellow

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1wpMposZTCdHjBbz7CR5lZtnoyoy97_QTopxiWSkkLag/viewform?usp=send_form

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