The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson today launched a government
services portal www.services.gov.ng as part of the initiatives for ‘’getting government online’’
At the launch in Abuja, the Minister said that the launch of the portal is in line with the Ministry’s mandate to deploy ICT to drive transparency in governance and improve the quality of public service delivery. Mrs Johnson according to a statement made available by the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister, Mrs Efem Nkanga stressed that the benefits of the Government Service Portal will manifest in a faster, cheaper and more personalized and efficient service delivery that citizens and businesses can access 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The portal she emphasized will improve efficiency in the delivery of government services to citizens and other stakeholders. It can be assessed in English, French and Spanish.
Mrs. Johnson added that the portal is one of the flagship projects of the Ministry aimed at enabling Nigerians access government services efficiently at the click of a button. The Minister added that Government portal project resonates with the outcome of the survey which the United Nations UN carried out across 48 countries on Innovative E-Government Practices amongst nations. The result of the survey by the UN showed that citizen service delivery is topmost on the government innovative technology adoption all over the world. Thus, governments’ use of the Internet to deliver government services has revolutionized the speed and effectiveness of government service delivery and public administration across the world. She emphasized that Governments increasingly recognize that e-Government offers not just a new technology, but also a mechanism to transform the way government operates. She gave examples of nations that have taken this route of creating government service portal to include USA (www.usa.gov), Britain (www.gov.uk), Canada (servicecanada.gc.ca), India (www.deity.gov.in), Singapore (www.ecitizen.gov.sg), South Africa (www.services.gov.za), Kenya (www.e-government.go.ke) etc. The Ministry she added in recognition of the important role ICT plays in enabling efficiency in governance developed a single point of entry via the portal for Nigerians and other stakeholders to access government services online by creating a location directory of existing government services that are online and working with Ministries of Agriculture, Education, Health, Industry, Trade & Investment and the ministry to automate 10 processes. Some of the processes are Trademark and Patent registration, Registration and Accreditation of Seed companies, Seed Import and Export Permit, Evaluation and Accreditation of Certificates, School Inspection Reports, Acquisition of License for Class type license, individual type license and Spectrum License and Farmer’s Registration. She added that the Ministry also developed standard and secure web templates and toolkit for Federal Government MDAs to utilize to re-design their websites in order to maintain a consistent and standardized look and feel for the online presence.
The Minister further emphasized that the objectives of the Government services portal includes creating a single point of entry to government information and services, enhancing accountability and improve the delivery and quality of public services through technology-enabled civic engagement and transforming public administration efficiency through use of the portal.
In his opening remark, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Henry Akpan, said the launch was a unique occasion in the sense that it was the first time a portal of this kind was being launched in the annals of this country. He stated that the Government Service Portal is a Technology platform developed to provide a one-stop shop for all who wished to interact and engaged with the Federal Government on any service provided through the MDAs.
Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe in a short presentation highlighted the benefits and roles of the Portal to Nigerians. He said that the key objective of the portal is to cut out red tape in government services.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on ICT, Hon Ibrahim Shehu Gusau commended he Minister for the ‘’Getting Government on line’’ initiative. He said that with the launch of the portal citizens of Nigeria and foreigners alike can access government services online at the click of a button.
The launch was well attended by stakeholders among them were the House Committee Chairman on ICT, Hon Ibrahim Shehu Gusua, DGs of the Agencies under the Ministry’s Supervision, representative of the pilot Ministries of Industry Trade and Investment, Health, Education and Agriculture, Heads of MDAs, Nigeria Customs Service and top management staff of the Ministry.
Recall that the Ministry was established in 2011 by President Ebele Goodluck Jonathan to deploy ICT to drive transparency in governance, improve the quality of public service delivery and facilitate the transformation of Nigeria into a digital economy amongst others.