Nigerians seem to not avail themselves of the opportunities that abound in the Information and Communica-tions Techno-logy in their different endeavours. This has led to none exploitation of cheaper and most effective way of enhancing productivity. The above scenario informed the focus of this year’s ComBit Africa organized by Association Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (Atcon), theme, “Leveraging on Information and Communica-tions Technology to survive and thrive through a recession.” The theme of the conference can never come at a better time than now when the country is passing through what many economic analysts describe as an elongated economic meltdown orchestrated by the current banking reform that has plunk the country into economic recession.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, in an address to ComBit Africa 2009 exhibition and conference, said that Information and Communications Technology apart from enhancing and promoting the exchange of ideas and information, has continued to serve as a veritable tool for speedy economic growth and development. President Yar’Adua who was represented at the event by Alhaji Ikra Aliyu Balbis minister of state for Information and Communications noted that most developing nations are trailing behind as a result of the late technological transformation of their economies hence creating a digital divide among them. He said that, it has become imperative for most developing countries especially in Africa, to work together and harness the full potentials that ICT presents for development. “This will ensure that the divide is not a permanent chasm that marginalizes or excludes the less developed nations from the interconnected digital economy,” he added.
According to him, some of the nations have acquired some degree of competence in the application of ICT and are leading others in the field of software and hardware development. He advocates for a sharing of experience and best practices among nations to bridge the gap existing between the developing nations and the developed economies.
President Yar’Adua expressed the commitment of his administration to the use of ICT to providing cost-effective educational and medical facilities to very remote areas of the country, as well as to empower the less privileged and the physically challenged through ICT to live honourable and dignified lives.
He acknowledged that information revolution has effectively captured the imagination of not only the private sector and civil society, but also solicited strong interest from international leaders and policy makers, leading to an ever-growing number of policies, strategies and initiatives undertaken to ensure that nations are not left behind in the new information order.
Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said that economic development of a nation can be accelerated by improvements in the country’s ICT infrastructure. He stated that no modern economy can exist without an integral information and communications technology infrastructure. This is because ICT provides a veritable platform for development across the social, economic and other sectors if well harnessed. “ICT not only contribute to the development of education, health and governance, but are also key enablers of sustainable human development in a more general sense,” he added.
Ndukwe noted that, it is in realization of the importance of ICT to human and economic development in the modern society that propelled the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 56/183 that endorsed the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The main objective he said was to develop and foster a clear statement of political will and take concrete steps to establish the foundation of an information society for all, reflecting all the different interests at stake.
“In the new world order that is driven by knowledge and exchange of information and ideas, surviving in today’s information age therefore depends on access to national and global information technology networks, with all the stakeholders playing their roles. Clearly, ICT is driving the new global economy. People, businesses and communities with ready access to information technologies are better equipped to participate actively in the global economy,” he explained.
He said that telecommunications networks in the country are making it possible for the nation to participate in the world economy in ways that simply were not possible in the past-by enabling the people to take fuller advantage of their intellectual, human, material and cultural resources. The deployment and usage of ICT resources in Nigeria he noted, has been boosted by the quantum leap that has been witnessed in the telecom sector in the past eight years. Within this period, subscriptions to telephone services have risen to the current level of about 69 million active connected lines. These achievements can be attributed largely to the foresight by government in implementing a successful sector reform and providing the enabling and conducive environment with respect to policies and regulatory regime.
Catalysts for ICT Development
In order for any country to reap the benefits of information and communications technology to develop economically, there are fundamentals that need to be put in place to drive ICT develop-ment.
Among these catalysts for ICT development according to Ernest Ndukwe, is broadband connectivity. He said better broadband connectivity would unleash Nigeria’s economic potential through improved quality of service.
Efficient spectrum use according to him is also another driver of ICT development. Spectrum is a non renewable scarce resource allocated internationally by International Telecommunication Union, how it is used within a country is of critical importance. It has been identified that the initial allocations of spectrum were not technology efficient and with the onset of WiMax, 3G and other technologies, we have to critically examine how spectrum is used today as well as how its use could be optimized to ensure efficiency deployment of new improved technologies.
Another important catalyst for ICT development he added is regional ICT initiatives, as we live in a globalized world where trade and all business transactions cut across nation states, decisions of federal communications commission of America have impact on the ICT industry of Nigeria.
Similarly, there are regional and sub-regional initiatives taking place in Africa which the country stands to benefit. For instance, Nigeria has benefited from its participation in the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (Watra) where sub-regional regulations that foster growth in the ICT industry are taken.
Professor, Cleopas Angaye, director general, National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda), said that access to computer and the cyberspace result in the use of modern tools and information for various facets of human life and facilities access to global best practices which will eventually assist the ways activities are carried out at both individual and corporate level. He said this accounts for the collaboration of Nitda and United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in the development of “Nigerian ICT4D Plan”.
The ICT4D Plan he explained is a set of strategic plan of action and programme that covers various sectors of the Nigerian economy as identified in the Nigerian National IT policy. The document identifies programmes for short, medium, and long term implementation by identified stakeholders. The idea Angaye said is to set out a time-sensitive action plan with realistic targets and benchmarks for sectorial application of ICT for national development.
He said that no meaningful development agenda could be achieved without using ICT to drive it in the present global digital economy. “It is in recognition of this that federal government of Nigeria has laid the foundation for ICT development through various policy guideline and establishment of requisite institutional frameworks to implement the policies. The result of the effort is the creation of the enabling environment for investment and growth of the sector in Nigeria,” he said.
With the completion of the Nigerian ICT4D document and collaboration of organizations such as Atcon, Nigeria’s march towards effectively positioning ICT for sustainable national development and making the country one of the 20 top economies by the year 2020 has begun in earnest. This is very appropriate particularly now that all nations of the world are putting adequate measures in developing requisite ICT infrastructure in order to be fully integrated into the global digital economy.
Earlier, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, president, Association of Telecommunications Compa-nies of Nigeria (Atcon), said that in global development terms, the immediate interest is the contributions of ICT to meeting of Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. He added that studies have shown the linkages between the level of utilization of ICT to automate processes in national economic, social and political lives and economic growth and development. “The speed and ease of access to the reservoir of knowledge and the ease and speed with which the acquired knowledge is translated into productive venture locally are what give any person a competitive advantage in any field of human endeavour. A nation’s wealth, economic power and political influence in the global arena is a logical outcome of the totality of the productivity of her citizens,” he said.
It is only when the information and communications technology devices are put to use by digitally literate and competent individuals and organizations to boost productivity in the work place that ICT would have achieved its purpose. ICT must not mean different things to different people; it must mean what it is, a tool.