By Dele Ogbodo
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday said Nigeria saved about N16.8 billion through directing Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
to clear all Information Communication and Technology (ICT) projects by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Buhari, made the disclosure while declaring open the 2019 e-governance digital conference organized by NITDA in Abuja.
He said: “You will all recall that at e-Nigeria 2018 conference, we directed that all government funded ICT projects must be reviewed and cleared by NITDA.
“Our goal was to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of government procurement processes.
“Today, I am informed that through this directive, government has saved over N16.8 billion. I want to encourage the Ministry and NITDA to sustain this tempo.”
Globally, he added that the digital Economy is expanding at a very fast pace. In just a few years, this platform has transitioned from being a luxury to an absolute necessity.
He stressed that It is in recognition of this that federal government decided to re-designate the Federal Ministry of Communications as the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy with a mandate to develop and implement a harmonized and well-coordinated digital economy policy and strategy for Nigeria.
According to him, the second quarter report by the National Bureau of Statistics for 2019 showed that the Information and Communications Technology sector contributed an impressive 13.85 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This clearly shows the importance and potential of the ICT sector to our job creation and economic diversification agenda, the President said.
Already, he said Nigerian ICT startups are leaving their mark on the global stage.
In public service, the digitalizationation of key activities such as the use of the BVN, TSA and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has enabled us to save cost and fight corruption.
“Of course, as we celebrate the successes and explore the opportunities in this sector, we must remain mindful of its threats. We all know how the use of unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards by terrorists is a key national security threat.” Buhari said.
He said 9.2 million SIM cards have either been normalized, blocked or deactivated in less than 40 days due to improper registration. We encourage all Nigerians to ensure that their phones are properly registered. As a government, our priority is to protect the lives and properties of all Nigerians, he added.
Our recent introduction of the Nigerian e-government master-plan will further consolidate our successes to date and increase inter-operability among the different MDAs.
A key requirement of the e-government Master-plan, according to him, is for all government institutions to create a digital transformation technical Working group that will work with the ministry to ensure seamless and coordinated implementation of projects, programs and policies.