Strategic Planning: Building a Nigerian Roadmap for Digital Success

When the Federal Government of Nigeria launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030), it signalled a commitment to digital transformation at the highest levels. Yet as many experienced public servants know, the journey from policy to implementation is often long and complex. Building an effective strategic roadmap for digital transformation in Nigeria’s Federal Executive Bodies requires more than importing global best practises—it demands a nuanced understanding of our unique context, challenges, and opportunities.

Crafting a Vision That Resonates

Any successful transformation begins with a compelling vision. For Nigeria’s digital transformation, this vision must speak to our national aspirations while acknowledging our realities.

During a recent stakeholder workshop in Abuja, participants from various ministries collaborated to articulate this vision: ‘To create a digitally-enabled, efficient, transparent, and citizen-centric federal government that leverages technology to drive sustainable development and improved quality of life for all Nigerians.’

This vision statement captures several critical elements:

Citizen-centricity: Placing Nigerians’ needs at the heart of transformation effortsEfficiency and transparency: Addressing longstanding governance challengesSustainable development: Connecting digital efforts to broader national development goalsInclusivity: Ensuring benefits reach all Nigerians

Dr. Ibrahim Pantami, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, emphasised this point: ‘Our digital transformation must speak to the aspirations of the market woman in Kano, the farmer in Ebonyi, and the civil servant in Lagos. It cannot be technology for technology’s sake.’

For this vision to translate into action, it must be broken down into clear strategic objectives with measurable outcomes:

Service Excellence: Transform citizen experience through integrated digital services
- Reduce service delivery time by 70% across all government services by 2027
- Achieve 80% citizen satisfaction with government digital services by 2028
- Fully digitise end-to-end processes for at least 200 government services by 2026
Operational Efficiency: Optimise government operations through digital technologies
- Reduce operational costs by 30% through process automation by 2027
- Decrease paper consumption in government operations by 80% by 2025
- Implement integrated enterprize resource planning systems across all FEBs by 2026
Digital Workforce: Develop a digitally skilled public service
- Train 80% of public servants in basic digital skills by 2025
- Develop at least 5,000 specialised ICT professionals within the public service by 2026
- Establish digital leadership programmes for all senior government officials by 2024
Infrastructure Development: Build robust digital infrastructure
- Achieve 99.9% uptime for critical government systems by 2025
- Connect all federal government offices to high-speed internet by 2024
- Migrate 80% of government applications to secure cloud platforms by 2026

These objectives provide the framework for more detailed implementation planning, with each objective cascading into specific initiatives, projects, and actions.

Stakeholder Engagement in Nigeria’s Multi-Ethnic Context

Nigeria’s diversity is both our strength and a strategic consideration in digital transformation. With over 250 ethnic groups, 36 states, and a complex federal structure, stakeholder engagement requires careful planning.

‘In Nigeria, transformation is 20% technical and 80% stakeholder management,’ noted a Permanent Secretary during a recent civil service forum. ‘Ignore this reality at your peril.’

Effective stakeholder engagement must recognise several distinct groups:

Political Leadership: The Presidency, Federal Executive Council, and National Assembly provide authority, resources, and legislative support. Their engagement requires high-level briefings focussed on national impact, economic benefits, and alinement with political priorities.

Senior officials from NITDA shared that successful digital initiatives consistently have strong political champions. The effectiveness of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) implementation stemmed partly from President Buhari’s direct indorsement and regular progress monitoring.

Civil Servants: As both implementers and users of digital systems, civil servants at all levels require early and consistent engagement. This means addressing legitimate concerns about job security, providing clear skills development pathways, and recognising that resistance often stems from rational concerns rather than simple obstinacy.

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation recently emphasised: ‘We must transform without traumatising our workforce. This means bringing them along rather than imposing change from above.’

Citizens and Businesses: As the ultimate beneficiaries, citizens and businesses provide the demand-side pressure for better digital services. Their engagement should include:

Public consultations on service priorities
User testing of digital interfaces with diverse user groups
Feedback mechanisms built into all digital services
Public awareness campaigns highlighting benefits and access points

The Lagos State Government demonstrated this effectively by conducting citizen consultations before developing its digital service priorities, resulting in higher adoption rates for resulting services.

Traditional and Religious Leaders: In Nigeria’s context, these influential stakeholders can either accelerate or impede adoption of digital services. Their engagement should emphasise community benefits, address privacy and cultural concerns, and potentially involve them as champions in local awareness efforts.

Development Partners: International organisations like the World Bank, UNDP, and bilateral partners provide funding, technical assistance, and knowledge transfer. Their engagement requires alinement of digital initiatives with broader development programmes and clear coordination mechanisms to prevent fragmented implementations.

A comprehensive communication strategy must underpin these engagement efforts, with tailored messaging and channels for each stakeholder group. This is not merely about selling the vision but creating genuine two-way dialog that shapes implementation.

Resource Allocation: Navigating Nigeria’s Economic Realities

Digital transformation requires significant investment at a time when Nigeria faces resource constraints. Strategic resource allocation demands both creativity and pragmatism.

Financial Resources

Nigeria’s fiscal reality necessitates innovative approaches to funding digital transformation:

Phased Implementation: Rather than attempting comprehensive transformation simultaneously, a phased approach allows for spreading costs over multiple budget cycles while demonstrating value incrementally.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Several successful digital initiatives in Nigeria have leveraged PPP models. The Corporate Affairs Commission’s online registration system was developed through a PPP arrangement that shared both costs and benefits.

A senior official from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission noted: ‘Digital infrastructure lends itself well to PPP models because there are clear revenue opportunities and efficiency gains that can be shared between government and private partners.’

Development Partner Funding: International organisations have dedicated significant resources to digital government initiatives. The World Bank’s Digital Economy for Africa initiative includes specific funding for government digital transformation.

Service Fees: For certain services, modest user fees can help recover costs while ensuring accessibility. The Nigeria Immigration Service’s e-passport system demonstrates this approach, with fees supporting ongoing system maintenance and enhancement.

Budget Restructuring: Digital transformation often allows for significant operational savings that can partially offset implementation costs. These potential savings should be factored into business cases for digital initiatives.

Human Resources

The human dimension represents both a critical constraint and an opportunity:

Skills Development: Rather than relying solely on new recruitment, comprehensive reskilling programmes for existing staff can build needed capabilities while addressing change resistance. The Federal Ministry of Communications could coordinate cross-government training programmes to achieve economies of scale.

Digital Teams: Establishing dedicated digital transformation units within each FEB provides focal points for implementation while building institutional capacity. These units require a mix of technical, process, and change management skills.

Expertise Retention: To address the challenge of talent loss to the private sector, innovative approaches such as special salary scales for technical roles, non-monetary benefits, and clear career progression paths are essential. The Central Bank of Nigeria has demonstrated the effectiveness of specialised salary structures in retaining technical talent.

Knowledge Networks: Communities of practise across agencies can multiply the impact of limited expertise through knowledge sharing and collaborative problem-solving. NITDA could coordinate these networks to foster cross-agency learning.

Setting Realistic Objectives in the Nigerian Context

Balancing ambition with realism is crucial for successful digital transformation in Nigeria. Several approaches can help:

Baseline Assessment: Thorough assessment of current digital maturity across FEBs provides a realistic starting point for planning. The Digital Transformation Readiness Assessment Tool developed by NITDA offers a structured approach to this baseline evaluation.

Quick Wins Identification: Early successes build momentum and credibility. Prioritising initiatives with high impact, low complexity, and visible benefits creates positive reinforcement cycles. The Federal Ministry of Interior’s simplified passport application process demonstrated how focussing on citizen pain points can deliver rapid improvements.

Constraint Mapping: Explicitly identifying constraints—infrastructure limitations, budget restrictions, skills gaps—allows for realistic planning that addresses or works around these constraints.

Benchmark Calibration: While international examples provide inspiration, timelines and targets should be calibrated to Nigeria’s specific circumstances. Rwanda’s digital transformation journey offers relevant benchmarks from an African context.

Governance Frameworks That Work in Nigeria

Effective governance is the backbone of successful digital transformation. In Nigeria’s administrative environment, several governance considerations are particularly important:

Central Coordination with Distributed Implementation: A central Digital Transformation Office within the Presidency or Federal Ministry of Communications can provide strategic direction, standards, and coordination, while implementation occurs through agency-level digital units. This balances the need for consistency with the reality of Nigeria’s complex governance structure.

During the implementation of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), this approach allowed for adaptation to agency-specific needs while maintaining system integrity.

Cross-Functional Leadership: Digital governance bodies should include representation from technical, operational, and administrative leadership to ensure holistic decision-making. The GIFMIS Steering Committee’s cross-functional composition contributed significantly to its successful implementation.

Clear Accountability Mechanisms: Specific responsibilities, timelines, and performance indicators must be assigned to named individuals rather than departments or committees. When the National Identity Management Commission accelerated NIN registration, clear individual accountability for targets drove progress.

Transparency and Reporting: Regular public reporting on progress, challenges, and expenditures builds credibility and maintains momentum. The Nigerian Open Government Partnership commitments provide a framework for this transparency.

Planning for Nigeria’s Infrastructure Realities

Any digital transformation strategy must account for Nigeria’s infrastructure challenges. Several approaches can address these realities:

Resilient Design: Systems should be designed to function in low-bandwidth environments and handle intermittent connectivity. The National Cash Transfer Office’s digital payment system incorporated offline capabilities for rural areas with limited connectivity.

Energy Independence: Critical digital infrastructure requires reliable power sources independent of the national grid. Solar solutions, already deployed at some federal secretariats, can be expanded to ensure operational continuity.

Cloud Strategy: A ‘cloud-first’ approach, where appropriate, reduces dependency on local infrastructure while improving scalability and resilience. Galaxy Backbone’s government cloud offers a secure environment for critical systems.

Mobile-First Design: Given Nigeria’s high mobile penetration (over 80%) compared to desktop access (under 30%), digital services should prioritise mobile interfaces. The Federal Inland Revenue Service’s tax filing application demonstrated the effectiveness of mobile-first design in increasing citizen adoption.

Conclusion: A Nigerian Path Forward

Digital transformation in Nigeria’s Federal Executive Bodies cannot follow a generic global template. It must be rooted in our unique context while learning from global experiences. The strategic planning approach outlined here—with its emphasis on contextually relevant vision, stakeholder engagement, realistic resource allocation, and governance—provides a framework for success.

As we move forward, we must remember the words of a respected Director in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology: ‘Nigeria doesn’t lack strategies—we’ve had many excellent plans. What we need is implementation that recognises our realities while refusing to accept our current limitations as permanent.’

The strategic roadmap for Nigeria’s digital transformation must be both ambitious and pragmatic, pushing boundaries while acknowledging constraints. Most importantly, it must remain focussed on the ultimate goal: improving governance and service delivery for all Nigerians.

In our next blog post, we’ll explore implementation pathways for digital transformation in Nigeria’s Federal Executive Bodies, examining project management methodologies, technology deployment strategies, and change management approaches tailored to our unique context.

This is the third in our five-part series examining digital transformation in Nigeria’s Federal Executive Bodies. Our next post will focus on practical implementation approaches that work in the Nigerian context.

Written by: Austen Jones