Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology has once again bemoaned the foot-dragging gestures of State Governments to sign a memorandum of understanding that will reduce taxes and levies hardship experienced by telecom providers across the country.

The minister while addressing the 3rd regular meeting of the National Council on Communication Technology held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, recently, said that only Lagos and Bayelsa States have signed a substantive MoUs to implement these decisions while Anambra State should be signed in the coming weeks.

She said the Council meeting came at a very auspicious time for the ICT industry.

According to her, “The recent rebasing of our economy has made it the largest economy in Africa. The ICT sector now contributes 10.44% to GDP as at 2013 and quite importantly is 19% of the Services Sector which with the rebasing now contributes 54% to GDP. In other words the ICT sector is even more strategic to national development than we had originally thought. It is therefore imperative that this Council, which is the highest policy advisory forum of the ICT Sector forges the integrated and coordinated development of the sector to not only sustain but to surpass these impressive statistics.

Chief among factors in sustaining the successes, she said, include, “That state governments be encouraged to commence immediate implementation of NEC’s decisions to reduce multiple taxation and levies on ICT infrastructure in States. As we speak only Lagos State and Bayelsa State have signed a substantive MoUs to implement these decisions while Anambra State should be signed in the coming weeks. 

“While we fully appreciate the internally generated revenue pressures that literally all state governments are faced with, it is expected that discussions at the Council meeting should focus on inputs from Commissioners on how we can ensure that the tenets of these decision are abided by to pave the way for the deployment of cost effective infrastructure in the state in a win-win manner for State governments and the telcos. Honourable Commissioners, you must get actively involved in this process if you are to deliver on your States ICT objectives.

“That state governments be encouraged to ensure that all access to telecom infrastructure by states and local government operatives would require the consent of the Executive Governor as part of measures to protect them from unlawful interference which not only affects commerce but threatens security in the State.

“The Office of the NSA and has  now accorded higher levels of security to ICT infrastructure than in the past but we still need the support of State governments to reduce the vulnerability of our ICT infrastructure.

“That state governments be encouraged to take necessary policy action on the implementation of relevant aspects of the Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan; That a collaborative framework to stem irregular/illegal use of radio frequency resource in Nigeria should be developed”.

Johnson while giving account on progresses recorded by the Ministry and the industry at large, said that top priority/focus areas of the Ministry of Communication Technology remain: Connect Nigeria.

Connect Nigeria focuses on building ICT infrastructure, Connect Nigerians that  deals with providing cost effective access to the infrastructure by all Nigerians regardless of socio economic status, ICT in Government to leverage ICTs to improve public sector productivity, efficiency and governance and Local Content Development to increase the domestic value added of the ICT sector.

She said, “Nigeria has made appreciable progress on these priority areas. With over 121 million active subscribers our tele-density has increased to 86.62%  up 114.76million in 2011 and  95.9million in 2010. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as at June 2012, Nigeria was home to 48.4 million internet users up from 45 million at the end of 2011. This 2012 figure represents 28% internet penetration and 29% of total internet users in Africa,  making Nigeria the largest internet market in Africa by volume.

“Our software development industry is gaining recognition both continentally and globally. Next week Nigeria will host Demo Africa, the largest meeting of software developers and investors in the software industry. Apart from the fact that this is the first time that DEMO Africa is being hosted outside Nairobi, Kenya, fourteen of the  40 African start ups that will be pitching their software apps at this event have come from incubation hubs in Nigeria.

“In the area of ICT in government, in the most recent ranking of countries in the UN egovernment index, Nigeria moved up 21 places to number 141 and improved her eparticipation scores by 22 points.

“This is a testimony to the hardwork that we are all doing but despite this impressive progress, there is still much work that needs to be done. ICTs have tremendous potential to help this  nation address many of its current challenges which today include physical security, health, food security, good governance and human capacity building  and take advantage of the job and wealth creation opportunities that ICTs present.

“Through our three major policy documents – the National ICT Policy, the National Broadband Strategy and Roadmap, the Guidelines for Nigerian Content in the ICT sector and several other guidelines that we have issued for the sector, the Ministry of Communication Technology will provide the necessary leadership and rallying point for ensuring that the potential of the Nigerian  ICT sector is fully harvested in support of Nigeria’s attainment of a more inclusive and sustainable development”.

She further highlighted the need for each State to develop an ICT policy that is aligned to the National ICT Policy and articulates how the State will leverage ICTs for socio-economic development.

Although, four States have signed MoUs with NITDA to receive support and expertise in the development of their ICT plans, the Minister said that every States in the country can take the bold step and boost their economic indices too.

To her, “Our demographic dividend implies that the future of Nigeria lies in a productive and engaged youth population; finding innovative, creative and sustainable ways to providing them jobs and enterprise opportunities to channel their burgeoning energies.

“ICTs provide a proven way to do that. However, our desired better future cannot be fully realised unless there is cooperation and collaboration among the various tiers of government and other stakeholders. This requires an integrated approach to conceptualisation and implementation of the ICT policy. Areas of existing and potential cooperation have already been articulated and I know that together we can deliver the benefits of ICT to citizens, the States and the nation”.