Community-Centered Digital Skills: Empowering Adults for Life Long-Learning in Yola North Local Government Area

Abstract

The rapid shift toward global digital economies has turned technological exclusion into a severe socio-educational crisis, leaving non-digitally literate adults isolated from contemporary socioeconomic advancements. This study evaluated the design, implementation, and socioeconomic impact of community-centered digital skills training frameworks on fostering adult lifelong learning in Yola North Local Government Area, Adamawa State. Adopting a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design, the descriptive findings revealed a moderate baseline of basic digital literacy, heavily restricted by severe structural bottlenecks such as constant power outages and high internet data costs. Crucially, the inferential results demonstrated a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship between community-centered digital skills acquisition, adult lifelong learning (r = 0.68, p = 0. The study targeted a population of 2,130 stakeholders, from which a sample of 337 respondents including adult education instructors, enrolled mature learners, and registered market traders was selected using random samplings. Data collection was executed using a validated structured four-point Likert scale questionnaire, and the retrieved data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation at a 0.05 level of significance. 000), and the attainment of sustainable economic self reliance (r = 0.72, p = 0.000). The study concluded that rigid, top-down ICT frameworks fail mature learners, whereas localized, trade-integrated models drive sustainable empowerment. Consequently, it is recommended that the state government implement solar-powered educational centers, integrate local languages into technical instruction, and form public-private partnerships to subsidize connectivity costs for adult learners.