By BONIFACE AKARAH

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is set to deploy technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to capture, analyse and organise ideas generated by young Nigerians at the maiden National Youth Conference, with the aim of helping government translate their concerns and aspirations into policy proposals.

The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, disclosed this while delivering a goodwill message at the opening ceremony of the youth conference in Abuja, where he described Nigerian youths as a strategic asset to the nation.

Inuwa said the gathering was designed to create a more direct channel for young people to communicate their expectations, frustrations and ideas to government.

He noted that while platforms such as X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok provide powerful avenues for young people to express themselves, the huge volume of content makes it difficult for government to distinguish genuine aspirations and policy ideas from misinformation and other forms of online noise.

According to Inuwa, the conference would help government “filter the noise” and identify genuine signals within conversations among young Nigerians.

“It is a deliberate step to make sure your voices, your aspirations, your ideas are brought closer to the heart of national decision-making,” Inuwa said.

He added: “This conference is also for the administration to listen to what you want government to do in terms of the economy, job creation, technology, and creating a greater Nigeria.”

Inuwa announced that NITDA, in partnership with the relevant ministry, would use technology to capture contributions from participants, while AI would be deployed to analyse and organise the submissions into thematic areas.

He said the resulting information would then be presented to a committee to help it understand the issues raised and support the development of policy proposals.

The NITDA DG said technology would also create opportunities for remote participation, while AI would help capture and interpret the views of a wider pool of young Nigerians.

He explained that the approach was intended to ensure that young people were not excluded simply because they were unable to attend the conference physically.

Inuwa assured participants that their contributions would be captured, analysed and recorded, creating a trail through which their ideas could move from the conference floor into the policy process.

“I want to assure you that all your discussions will be captured, and the technology will keep it, and we will present it to the committee,” he said.

According to him, government would then use the information to move the ideas through different stages of policymaking.

“Government will use that to turn your aspirations into ideas, ideas into proposals, proposals into policies for government to build the policies you want,” Inuwa said.

He said NITDA would remain involved throughout the process and support the initiative “end to end.”

Inuwa also said the technology-driven engagement would be conducted openly and transparently, stressing that the objective was to create a structured pathway through which young Nigerians could feed their views into government’s policy considerations.

The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, led dignitaries at the opening ceremony. Others included the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier-General Olakunle Nafiu; National President of NANS, Akinteye Hafeez; representatives of the academic community; and representatives of Commissioners of Youth Development from the 36 states of the federation.

The National Youth Conference 2026 is a multi-stage national engagement covering six broad areas: governance and political participation; entrepreneurship and job creation; climate action and energy transition; education and future-ready skills; technology and digital innovation; and security and social cohesion.

The conference is designed to draw participation from young Nigerians across the country's 360 federal constituencies, the six geopolitical zones and the diaspora.

The six geopolitical zones are scheduled to hold dedicated virtual sessions for 12 days from October 5 to 17, 2026, with technical support from NITDA.

•PHOTO: The Director General, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE gave a goodwill message at the Opening Ceremony of the National Youth Conference, 2026 held at the office of the National Security Adviser, Abuja