INTRODUCTION The twenty-first century knowledge economy is characterised by pervasive digitalisation, rendering digital literacy an indispensable competence for graduates across all professional fields. In the context of business education, digital literacy transcends mere familiarity with computers and the internet; it encompasses the capacity to locate, evaluate, utilise, and create information through digital means in ways that are meaningful, purposeful, and ethical (Porat et al., 2022). As digital technologies continue to reshape the nature of work and commerce, institutions charged with preparing future business professionals must ensure that their graduates are equipped with robust digital competencies that align with contemporary industry expectations. Nigeria's higher education landscape, encompassing its federal, state, and specialised Colleges of Education, has recognised the imperative of integrating digital literacy into its curriculum frameworks. The National Policy on Education (Federal Government of Nigeria, 2023) explicitly mandates the infusion of information and communication technology (ICT) competencies across all levels of the educational system. Yet, despite this policy directive, empirical evidence suggests that the actual digital competency levels of students in many Nigerian Colleges of Education remain uneven, particularly in the geographically and infrastructurally challenged North-East geopolitical zone (Abubakar Musa et al., 2023). Protracted insecurity, poverty, and infrastructural deficits in this region have compounded the challenge of building the digital capacity of both students and lecturers.
Odunola et al. (Fri,) studied this question.