By Dwelleth Morountodun
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Technology on Monday felicitated with the Secretary General of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) on the ATU Day.
As Nigeria joins the rest of the continent therefore to mark the 2020 ATU day amidst COVID-19 Pandemic, the Minister overseeing the Ministry Dr. Ibrahim Pantami, has said federal government through the ministry is committed to promoting the use of digital technologies to drive the economic development of the country.
This according to him is evident in the development and implementation of some strategic policies of the ministry, which include the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), Nigerian National Broadband Plan, National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Telecom Sector, National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy, Policy on Virtual Engagements in the Public Service, amongst others.
He added that the facilitation of virtual Federal Executive Council, Council of State and National Economic Council Meetings also reflect the progress the ministry has made.
He said the Ministry’s policies are consistent with ATU’s statutory objective of promoting programmes for the development of the African Information Society and the Pillar on promotion of Quality Broadband Infrastructure and Affordable ICT services under the current 2019-2022 ATU Strategic Plan.
The theme of this year’s celebration, which is being observed today, Monday, 7th December, 2020, is titled: “Post COVID 19: Role of Telecoms/ICT in the Resumption of Socio-Economic Activities.”
Pantami, said this has reinforced the effort of the ministry to collaborate with relevant public and private sector stakeholders on the acquisition of requisite skills and competences to leverage Telecommunications/ICT to solve a myriad of problems in our societies.
“The COVID -19 pandemic has further shown how connected and interlinked the world is and the need to ensure the coherence of policies and programmes across the Telecommunications/ICT sectors and to focus on promoting the accessibility of all people including the disadvantaged and vulnerable in the society.
“One of the initiatives of the ministry is aimed at bridging the gap of digital skills in Nigeria, is the recent Commissioning of an eGovernment Training Centre for capacity building.”
According to him, the e-government centre will go a long way in bridging the gap of different skills required to promote good governance through the training and retraining of Civil Servants in Nigeria.
COVID-19 has made the world a more challenging place than ever for many people, adding however, that the ministry has remained focused on the implementation of laudable programmes and projects that will enable the economy to thrive in spite of the pandemic, he said.