Telecom
Information Technology Pivotal for Achieving Digital Nigeria– DG NITDA
Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has said that Information technology is connecting billions of people by providing them with access to knowledge and services, helping people to live more sustainably by making preservation or even regeneration of our natural resources possible.
The DG made this known on Wednesday during his remarks at the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) Innovative Forum Webinar with the theme: “Multi-Stakeholder Approach to National Recovery Post-COVID-19 Pandemic”.
He said, “The outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic has completely changed the way we live our lives.
“The onset of the pandemic has proven to be an extremely disruptive occurrence that has exacerbated the effects of several social issues previously unknown.
“This has also led to increase in entrepreneurial activities were Enterprises and individuals have shown increased creativity in tackling the challenges posed by the crisis.
“Virtual meetings are adopted by public and private institutions to address the issues of social distancing using video conferencing applications”.
Mallam Abdullahi asserted that in order to prepare Nigeria for the disruption caused by the Pandemic, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy under the leadership of the Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has put in place many initiatives and programs towards a robust post COVID-19 experience, in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria.
The Policy, anchored on 8 Pillars – Developmental Regulation, Digital Literacy and Skills, Solid Infrastructure, Digital Services Development and Promotion, Soft Infrastructure, Digital Society and Emerging Technologies, and Indigenous Content Development and Adoption – outlines strategies for transforming Nigeria into a leading digital economy providing quality life and digital economies for all.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), one of the implementing arms of the Ministry, was mandated by the National Information Technology Development Act (2007) to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria.
The Agency’s role therefore is to develop Information technology in the country through regulatory standards, guidelines and policies.
It is the prime Agency for e-Government implementation, Internet governance and General IT development in Nigeria. Our activities in NITDA are aimed at fast-tracking the realisation of the objectives of NDEPS.
“We at NITDA, based on the directives of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, swiftly initiated several policies and programs for the technology ecosystem and startups to be able to withstand the potential impact of the Pandemic.
“We rolled out these initiatives in order to ensure that technology continues to enable innovation and entrepreneurship while addressing challenges of the society”, he said.
Tech4COVID-19 Committee was constituted with the aim of identifying the challenges the Technology ecosystem is facing during the COVID-19 Pandemic and to propose measures to cushion the effects of the pandemic.
“Members of the Committee were drawn from both the public and private sector and are key players in the Technology ecosystem who have made significant contributions to the Technology and Innovation ecosystem.
“The Committee’s recommendations include strategies to ensure we retain about 100,000 ICT Jobs as well as create additional 30,000 in Post COVID-19 Era through this initiative, he added.
The Agency organised Nigeria COVID-19 Innovation Challenge where Nigerians were challenged to come up with innovation to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic and beyond.
Over 1,500 startups participated and three emerged winners Algorizmi, a patient management solution particularly for victims of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Smart Disinfection Chamber, smart tunnel which can be used for disinfection of persons entering any location and Myclinic.ng, an online platform that enables users to hold video consultations with qualified medical doctors from anywhere and at any time, he asserted.
Mallam Abdullahi stated that “Nigeria has over 130 hubs and several hundreds of technology startups.
“These have the capacity of driving innovation and entrepreneurship, and stimulating the economy.
“The Academia, which has always been at the forefront of research and development, needs to expand its horizon to include innovation.
“We need more hubs in the academia to nurture the creativity of our youths. Collaboratively, we in NITDA are can make Nigeria a nucleus of innovation.
“To improve agricultural practices and create jobs, we initiated the National Adopted Village for SMART Agriculture (NAVSA), an ecosystem-driven digital platform where we engage farmers and focus on using precision/smart farming techniques to ensure significant improvement in efficiency and productivity thereby increasing crop yield; increased profit margin and create more jobs.
“We are partnering with relevant stakeholders to ensure the success of the scheme.
“As an example, MTN has developed a special package for smart farmers that come with 4G SIM cards with a one year internet data subscription, he added.
The Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), aimed at safeguarding the rights of persons to privacy, fostering safe conduct for the transactions involving the exchange of personal data, preventing manipulation of personal data, and ensuring that Nigerian businesses remain competitive in international trade through the safeguards afforded by a just and equitable legal regulatory framework, facilitated the creation of 2,686 jobs, added over 2 billion naira into the economy, and generated over 12 million naira to the Federal Government by filing Audit Reports.
The Agency has also deployed ICT infrastructure across the country. In addition to the numerous capacity building programmes in line with the Digital Literacy and Skills pillar of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, the Virtual Learning Platform of the NITDA Academy for Research and Training that provides access to wide variety of programmes from industry stakeholders has so far attracted over 33,000 active learners.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr Ike Nnamani, president Medallion Communications, stated that skills acquisition is key to the growth and development of any country.
“There is need to improve in the services rendered to the public and at the same time the price should be reasonable for affordability.
“Telecommunications is moving to data which is the new trend simple because of its easy access and usage which makes work faster and easier.
“Data centers are imperative towards the delivering services to the public which will boost the economy’s output, he added.
Nnamani asserted that there is need to build more data center across the country to provide easy access to services, simply because subscribers need good service to effect their operations which will aid the swift growth and development of the country Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Mr Aderemi Adejumo, managing director CloudFlex, said that the programme is coming at the right time the country needs it the most and applauded NITRA for this initiative towards the drive of Information Technology development across the country.
He added that 90% of the businesses in the country are been moved abroad which is affecting the country’s GDP and output bringing about the fall in some sectors of the economy.
“The low implementation and push towards the growth of the IT sector has affected the activities of the sector and there is need to boost the sector simply because of its contributions to the Nations GDP.
Adejumo said that Nigeria is the most important economy to the world due to the vast population and the potentials embedded in the citizens towards achieving goals and objectives.
We need to boost the skills of our citizens which will bring out the potentials embedded in them towards the growth of the country.
NITRA Innovative Forum is annual Information and Communication Technology roundtable organised by the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA).
The flagship event, which started in 2018, takes different sub themes each year to address the needs of the industry and set a pace for development.
This year, NITRA sees an enormous opportunity to ICT development and growth despite the COVID-19 scourge.
The event will seek to discuss the level of preparedness of ICT stakeholders to embrace the challenge of being pivotal to the stability and growth of all other sectors, during and after the pandemic.
Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), has decried persistent challenges such as vandalism, high operating costs, and regulatory bottlenecks threatening service delivery despite recent improvements in investment inflows.
Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON, warned that the continuous attack are putting strains on Nigeria’s telecom sector which serve as the backbone of the country’s economic and digital systems,
Adebayo, speaking in an interview on ARISE News, described telecommunications as the critical foundation supporting all sectors of the economy.
“Telecom operators are the infrastructure of infrastructures that supports all other sectors,” he said, stressing that the industry remains central to power, transport, security, and financial services.
Adebayo noted that the recent 50% tariff adjustment has helped restore investor confidence in the sector after years of underinvestment.
“It has restored confidence in the sector… we are seeing investment, we are seeing now the impact of that investment,” he said, adding that the sector is now beginning to recover gradually.
But, he warned that improvements in service quality remain constrained by multiple external challenges, including vandalism, insecurity, and regulatory bottlenecks.
“Things can be better… but there are also other external factors… vandalism, behavior of public actors, behavior of non-state actors,” he explained.
Adebayo highlighted the scale of infrastructure damage, particularly on fibre networks, noting a major disparity between international and domestic connectivity routes.
“The fiber optic in the Atlantic… has witnessed probably one outage in two years… the one running from Lagos to Kano, we record an average of about 40 cuts a day,” he said.
He explained that such disruptions significantly increase operating costs and affect service quality across the country.
Beyond vandalism, he pointed to theft of telecom equipment such as batteries and generators, as well as security challenges that prevent timely restoration of services in some regions.
“Issue of security… people are stealing batteries, they’re stealing generators,” he said, noting that some areas remain inaccessible during outages until security conditions improve.
Adebayo also called for urgent reforms in right-of-way charges and taxation policies, arguing that telecom infrastructure should be treated as essential national infrastructure.
“Right of way should become free of charge across the country… issue of multiple taxation… it has to be a thing of the past,” he stated.
On rising energy costs, he said operators are gradually adopting hybrid and renewable energy solutions, although the transition is slow and still exposed to vandalism risks.
“We are doing a lot on renewable energy and providing hybrid solution… but that takes time,” he said.
Adebayo concluded that while policy support and investment inflows are improving the outlook of the sector, sustainable progress will depend on stronger protection of telecom infrastructure and coordinated action among government, regulators, and communities to address vandalism, insecurity, and regulatory inefficiencies.
Ride-hailing company Uber has introduced a new feature that allows users to book hotel rooms directly through its app, as part of its strategy to evolve into a broader lifestyle and services platform.
Uber announced that the hotel booking service is being launched in partnership with Expedia Group, giving users access to more than 700,000 hotel properties worldwide.
The company said the collaboration is also expected to expand in future to include short-term rental listings from Vrbo.
According to Uber, the hotel booking tool offers features similar to traditional online travel platforms, including destination search, maps, and filters based on pricing, amenities and guest ratings.
Users can also complete bookings using payment information already saved on the app.
Speaking during a presentation in New York City, Uber Chief Executive Officer, Dara Khosrowshahi, said the company was broadening its offerings beyond transportation and food delivery.
“We’re no longer just an app for rides, or even a family of apps for rides and eats. Uber is now an app for everything,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of Expedia, Ariane Gorin, said the partnership was aimed at simplifying travel planning for users.
“Together, we can reduce the number of steps, save people time and money,” she said.
Uber’s latest move builds on its expansion strategy which began with the launch of Uber Eats in 2014.
Initially focused on food delivery, Uber Eats has since expanded into retail services, allowing customers to order products such as cosmetics, groceries and electronics.
Industry analysts say the development reflects the growing global trend toward “super apps” — digital platforms that combine multiple everyday services within one ecosystem.
This model is already widely adopted in markets such as China, where platforms like WeChat and Alipay integrate messaging, payments, travel bookings and e-commerce services.
Competitors are also broadening their offerings.
For instance, Airbnb has expanded beyond accommodation to include bookable local experiences, wellness services and mobility options.
Uber also disclosed plans to integrate more artificial intelligence-powered tools into its platform.
The company said upcoming features would enable users to plan meals, generate shopping lists and arrange deliveries through conversational prompts, while a voice assistant is also in development to support hands-free navigation within the app.
National Economic Council (NEC) of Nigeria has officially approved 112 as the unified, toll-free national emergency number to streamline responses to security, medical, fire, and natural disasters.
It is part of measures to strengthen Nigeria’s emergency lifeline and build a unified and coordinated national response to emergencies.
NEC also approved the establishment of a multi-agency implementation committee and programme coordination led by the Office of the Vice President and the National Communications Commission (NCC).
The approval was part of decisions taken at the 157th meeting of the NEC held virtually and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Shettima said the 112 emergency lifeline had become necessary to prevent delay caused by bureaucratic bottlenecks, noting that what the citizens seek urgently when confronted by a natural disaster or insecurity is an urgent response and not bureaucracy.
“This is not only a technical reform. It is a test of the state’s humanity. In moments of fire, accident, robbery, medical emergency, flood, violence, or panic, citizens do not need bureaucracy.
“They need a response. They need to know one number to call, one system to trust, and one coordinated chain of action that moves quickly enough to save lives,” he stated.
He explained that while Nigeria is not beginning from zero, as the emergency number had been in existence, what is required at the moment “is coordination, adoption, standard operating procedures, public awareness, institutional ownership, and trust”.
The vice president described NEC as the nation’s economic engine room, where the federal government and the states must convert the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu into practical outcomes.
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