Roadmap
By Chiazo Ogbolu and Funmilola Gboteku
Lagos, July 23, 2018 (NAN) The Minister of Communications, Dr Adebayo Shittu, on Monday said that private sector’s role was vital to implementing the Nigeria Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Roadmap.
Shittu made this assertion in Lagos at the Official Unveiling of the Nigeria ICT Roadmap 2017 – 2020.
The occasion also featured a sensitisation workshop on the roadmap.
The workshop had the theme: ”The Role of the Private Sector in the Implementation of the Nigeria ICT Roadmap”.
“This event is important as it provides opportunity for us to share our collective vision regarding the developmental trajectory of the ICT sector in the medium term.
“As the engine for the economy, the private sector is pivotal to the consultation that culminated in the development of the Nigeria ICT Roadmap.
“It is even critical now that we are at the stage of implementation; so, the event is a milestone in our desire to reposition and harness the inherent potential and benefits of the ICT sector for national growth and development,” he said.
Shittu said that ICT revolution that began more than a decade ago, impacted positively on the national economy as shown in its contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product from 0.6 per cent in 2001 to 9.8 per cent in 2014.
He, however, said that, in spite of its growth, the ICT sector had challenges such as inadequate local content, poor infrastructure leading to the lack of access by many Nigerians and poor skills to leverage on opportunities.
The minister said that there was need to integrate implementation framework by leveraging on opportunities in the ICT sector to deliver on the promises of global ICT standards and develop sufficient, efficient, affordable and critical ICT infrastructure.
He said that leveraging on the opportunities would create two million jobs, establish a technological park and ICT exhibition centres, create ICT innovation hubs, and reposition the Nigeria Postal Service.
Shittu said that the ICT Roadmap was conceived as an implementation framework focusing on ICT industry and infrastructure development, governance, policy, legal and regulatory environment and capacity building.
The official said that the roadmap was intended to create broad but flexible pathways to reaches all nooks and crannies of Nigeria with ICT.
He said that the roadmap would promote public/private partnership to attract investments in high quality infrastructure and services.
“Essentially, the ICT Roadmap articulates the strategic direction for the ICT sector, provides, both to the public and private sectors, a fresh impetus for not only implementing existing policies but articulating 51 interlinked initiatives.
“The 51 initiatives comprised 20, geared toward job/wealth creation, 18 for capacity building for sustainability in the sector and 13 focused on improving government revenue generation.
“This sensitisation programme is not only imperative but desirable, as it will provide stakeholders the opportunity to obtain firsthand knowledge on the contents of the ICT Roadmap, and creates a platform for understanding respective roles.
Earlier the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications, Mrs Nkechi Ejele, said that the workshop was aimed at promoting ICT stakeholders’ inclusion and acceptability.
“This workshop will serve as a vehicle for reaching out to stakeholders in the industry.
“The roadmap’s distribution and implementation have commenced; so, the need to create awareness of the private sector so that it will participate effectively,” she said. (NAN)
FOG/CAN/IGO
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Edited by Ijeoma Popoola