Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (born in Pantami, Gombe State, Nigeria), PhD, CON, FCIIS, FBCS, FNCS, was the Minister of Communications and the first-ever Minister of Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 2019 to 2023. He was also appointed by the United Nations through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as Chairman of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Forum for the year 2022, where he chaired 193+ ministers of ICT globally. He served twice as a Council Member of the ITU from 2019–2023.
Professor Ibrahim obtained a 5-year Bachelor of Technology Degree in Computer Science (B.Tech) from the Federal University of Technology, known as the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Nigeria, and proceeded to acquire two Master’s Degrees from the same institution in quick succession, one in Computer Science (MSc) and the other an MBA in Technology Management.
His scholarly pursuits then led him to the Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom, where he obtained a Doctorate (PhD) in Computer Information Systems. Prior to that, he obtained a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods from the same University. Professor Ibrahim also taught cybersecurity and information security and supervised postgraduate research students and partook in community service as the first professor of Cybersecurity at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State. He took the appointment in March 2021 and was also the first professor of cybersecurity from northern Nigeria.
He had the distinction of being the first and only African to be certified as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) amongst 89 other Fellows. CIISec was the only professional cybersecurity organization granted the royal charter in the United Kingdom.
Prior to his appointment as Minister in 2019, he was the Chief Information Technology Officer of Nigeria and Director General (DG)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which had a strong mandate on research, regulation, and development of information technology. Professor Ibrahim was the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) of the Federation, based on the National Policy for Virtual Engagements in Federal Public Institutions.
Professor Ibrahim was also Chairman and member of several Presidential and Inter-Ministerial Committees, including Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Government Integrated Financial and Management Information Systems (GIFMIS), and Treasury Single Account (TSA) Systems review; Chairman of the Presidential Committee on proposed Excise Duty for the Digital Economy Sector; Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Citizen Data Management and Harmonisation Sub-Committee; National Committee on Export Promotion; Digital Identity Ecosystem Steering Committee; National Action Committee on African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA); and member of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), among many others.
He was also appointed as AfCFTA Champion for Communications and Digital Economy, as well as Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee for National Identity and Chairman of the National Council on Digital Economy and e-Government. Professor Ibrahim was also a member of the Governing Board of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), chaired by the President of Nigeria. He was also a board member of the National Defence Agency.
Under the leadership of Professor Ibrahim, the first-ever Minister of Digital Economy in Nigeria, the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020–2030) and the National Broadband Plan (2020–2025) were developed, among others, and many unprecedented successes were recorded. Within 3 years in office, more than 19 National Policies were developed and were being implemented, including the National Policy that led to the establishment and management of the First National Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (NCAIR) in 2021.
Also, in less than one year as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the lingering issue of excessive Right of Way charges and vandalisation of telecommunication infrastructure was significantly addressed. Under his stewardship, broadband penetration increased by more than 10% in a year, rather than the average annual increase of about 1.7%, and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector contributed an unprecedented 14.07% to the GDP based on the First Quarter 2020 GDP Report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The ICT sector was also the fastest-growing sector of the Nigerian economy with a 17.92% contribution to GDP based on the Second Quarter 2021 GDP Report. He further broke that record as the ICT sector contributed an unprecedented 18.44% to GDP in Q2 2022 yet again. He developed the National Policy that led to the deployment of 5G in Nigeria.
Professor Ibrahim initiated the first virtual Federal Executive Council and the first virtual National Security Council meeting on 13 May 2020 and coordinated and supervised the technical aspects of the meetings thereafter. This saved the Nigerian government billions of Naira monthly.
His achievements led to him being recognised with an honorary doctoral degree and the chancellorship of a public university in Sudan. He was also honoured with the Presidential Nigeria Excellence Award in Public Service (NEAPS) distinguished award for digital innovation in 2022, the Digital Personality of the Year Award at the 10th Africa Digital Awards 2022, a fellowship in Diplomacy and International Relations by the African School of Diplomacy and International Relations in 2022, and he was the only person honoured with the GITEX 2022 Leadership Award in recognition of his commitment towards advancing the Digital Economy.
Furthermore, he was previously conferred the 2020 Minister of the Year Award by Blueprint Newspaper; Most Outstanding Minister of the Year 2021 by Elite Exclusive Magazine; and the Digital Economy Driver Award by the National Body of Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), among others. He further received the 2020 Person of the Year Award from Thinkers’ Magazine in September 2021. In total, he received over 196 international and local awards from 2017 to date.
Professor Ibrahim also held certificates in Digital Transformation from Harvard University; Digital Strategy from both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Institute of Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland; Strategic Leadership from Oxford University; a Bespoke Session on Lawmaking at the Sussex Law School, University of Sussex; and a University of Cambridge Certification in Management. The dynamic, inspirational agent of transformation was also a conflict-resolution expert with national and international experience.
Prior to joining FUTO, Professor Ibrahim lectured and conducted research at various universities and institutions for almost two decades. During his early days, he was a lecturer at the Federal University of Technology, Bauchi, for over a decade, where he taught various undergraduate and postgraduate courses including Management Information Systems, Multimedia Concepts, Fundamentals of Software Engineering, Systems Analysis and Design, Computer Systems and Networks, and Analysis & Design of Information Systems. He also supervised postgraduate students’ projects to graduation and was involved in research and administrative activities at the University. During his early career, he acted as Head of the Information Technology Department.
Similarly, Professor Ibrahim taught various courses including Operational Research, Information Systems Application, Analysis and Design, and he was Head of Technical Writing and Laboratory Practical at the International Islamic University of Madinah (Al-Jami’ah Al-Islamiyya) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was involved with supervising students’ research and reports, administrative activities, and served as moderator of the Committee for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in the University, among others.
In addition, Professor Ibrahim was a recipient of several global awards and was a well-sought-after speaker, delivering convocation/graduation lectures in several public and private universities including the Federal University of Technology Minna, the Nile University, the Federal University Kashere, and the National Defence College, among others. He served as Speaker at leading global events including the Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference (GISEC) at the Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE; Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona; the GSMA Africa Policy Leaders Forum; Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) Dubai; World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos, Switzerland; ID4Africa Conference, Marrakesh, Morocco; Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Las Vegas; African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Algiers, Algeria; and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Bucharest, Romania. In Nigeria, he served as Chair and Special Guest Speaker at the Nigeria Computer Society’s (NCS) International Conference 2021 and 2022, as well as the 2022 IT Assembly of the Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria) [CPN], among others.
Furthermore, as an expert in key fields of the digital economy and cybersecurity, he also served as a resource person to several institutions including the National Defence College, Nigerian Army Resource Centre, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), among others. He led a team of researchers from NITDA to develop a curriculum for Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Management Information Systems, introduced as new postgraduate courses at the Africa Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) of the NOUN.
His major achievements in promoting cybersecurity dated to when he was DG/CEO of NITDA with the establishment of the first-ever Cybersecurity Department and the development of its mandates. Also to his credit was leading the efforts for the revamping of the Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT) at NITDA in 2019 and the deployment of a Computer Security Incidence Response Team (CSIRT) at the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) in 2021.
In addition, Professor Ibrahim developed several policies that were implemented to promote cybersecurity. Among these policies, the Revised National NIN-SIM Registration Policy, the National Policy for Unmasking SIMs and Enforcement, blocking of 2.4 million unregistered SIM cards in 2019, enforcement of internet exchange points, and the enrolment of over 100 million citizens and residents as of May 2023 on the national identity database and issuance of national identity numbers (NIN) were key achievements. Indeed, it was under his leadership that an unprecedented number of policies and regulatory instruments were developed for Nigeria’s communications and digital economy sector.
Furthermore, Professor Ibrahim was the Champion of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP), Abuja from 2019 to 2021. The MIT-REAP was a global initiative that helped regions accelerate economic growth and promote social progress through Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship (IDE). He published several academic articles in professional journals, presented papers in more than 190 conferences, and published several books including Datafication of Society to Foster an Internet Economy, Building a Digital Economy for a Digital Africa, Selected Speeches on Developing the Nigerian ICT Sector (Volumes I–III), Cybersecurity Initiatives for Securing a Country, Cybersecurity Guide: Simple Awareness, Mitigation and Regulation, Counter-Terrorism Through Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies, Skills Rather Than Just Degrees, and Digital Agriculture: The Panacea for Global Food Crises, among others.
Professor Ibrahim visited over 40 countries for academic activities and to foster collaboration towards the development of the digital economy and cybersecurity. He visited the United States of America (over 5 times), England & Scotland (over 20 times), Wales, France (over 5 times), Germany (over 3 times), Switzerland (over 5 times), Spain, Denmark, Italy, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Kuwait, Turkey, South Africa, South Korea, Malaysia, Tunisia, India, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Mauritania, Cameroon, Portugal, Thailand, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Poland, and Romania, among others. In 2022, he served as keynote speaker during the Gulf Information Security Expo and Exhibition Conference (GISEC) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim, popularly known as the Digital Minister, was a global IT citizen, a chartered computer scientist, and a chartered cybersecurity expert. He was also a revered and highly respected Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Information Security (FCIIS), Nigeria Computer Society (FNCS), the British Computer Society (FBCS), and a Fellow of the Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Forensics Specialist Group of the British Computer Society. He was also a registered Computer Scientist with the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (MCPN), among others. Professor Ibrahim was happily married with children.