IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

At the launch this week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru said the project was designed to bring real-time secure communication with embassies and missions abroad.

He disclosed that the ICT training center would enhance the technological skills of his staff and place Nigeria’s diplomatic service in the forefront of international visibility.

IT is increasingly becoming a necessary tool for the creation of majority of jobs throughout the world. The positive implication of this new trend is that job opportunities abound for citizens of countries like Nigeria where unemployment is high.

Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, yesterday said deployment of online solutions by FIRS is to make tax payment and administration convenient, transparent and efficient. To this end, Fowler urged taxpayers to make use of the solutions in paying their taxes.

He spoke yesterday in Abuja when he received in audience Arewa Youth Forum (AYF), on courtesy visit. Members of AYF on the visit commended Fowler for what they called “unprecedented record in the history of tax administration in FIRS and in Nigeria.

Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the nation and the economic pride of Nigeria remains the pillar for economic sustainability of the country. A melting pot for all tribes and faith and land of opportunities for all sundry.

This smallest geographic space in Nigeria ironically accounts for over 70 percent of its economic activities. It’s unarguably the powerhouse of Nigeria’s economy. When Lagos sneezes every state including Abuja, the federal capital, catches cold.

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has developed a Master Plan for Nigeria's e-Government in fulfillment of the South Korea government's core policy aimed at propelling e-Government in the country.

The plan was developed in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology (FMCT).

The Master Plan was delivered last Tuesday in Abuja during a Hand-over Ceremony at the FMCT secretariat in the presence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Kyu Duk Noh, the Minister of FMCT, Mrs Omobola Johnson, and the KOICA Chief Resident Representative, Mr. Jung Sang Hoon.

The FSS 2020 Programme Management Office in collaboration with Electronic Payment System Providers Association of Nigeria (EPPAN) would from today hold the 2015 annual e-Government summit in Abuja.

The event will end on Wednesday. The two-day summit, with the theme “e-Government: Key to Sustainable Development,” is aimed at influencing the development of standards for the common benefit of electronic payment industry, end-users consumers and regulatory authorities.

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has harped on the necessity of cultivating a cadre of Information and Communication Technology, ICT, experts capable of navigating the complexities of the digital era.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Aminu Maida spoke at the 2nd West Africa Communications Infrastructure Conference and Exhibition in Lagos, where he emphasized the imperative of nurturing local talent to effectively address the evolving demands of the technology landscape.

To achieve this feat, the company’s information communication technology (ICT) platform has been upgraded and redeployed to drive the processes.

The assurance was given by the management of the frontline pension managers through the Head, Business Development, South West, Kayode Oyebisi-Oba, at the just concluded customers’ forum organised by the company in Oshogbo, Ilesha and other locations around Osun State, South West of Nigeria. The yearly forum is slated to hold in other states of the federation within the period under consideration.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure and services company, Galaxy Backbone, has released its e-Government agenda at the recently concluded e-Government summit, organised in Abuja, by the Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN).

Managing Director/CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Yusuf Kazaure, in a goodwill message at the event, commended E-PPAN, the Financial Services Strategy (FSS 2020) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other sponsors for providing a veritable platform designed to engender robust national discourse and engagement on a very important issue such as e-Government.

The training forms part of Nigeria’s commitment to workforce empowerment in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) public sector.

Frank Ugbodaga, Group Head for the Federal Public Sector at Galaxy Backbone is concerned about the massive capacity building gaps within the ICT public service.

So too does her country, which still has its world of information and communication technology short on women.

Male dominance of ICT "means a larger workforce is not even affecting the world, it is not tapped," says Ademola Komolafe, programme manager at Digital Peers International, which convened hundreds of girls to mark Girls in ICT Day. [Yes, there is such an annual day!]

Smart or Business Cities are a common feature in most developed climes. Its goal is to improve quality of life by using urban informatics and technology to boost efficiency of services and meet residents’ needs. ChannelDrill, an indigenous firm, is set to deliver such a city through reclamation and dredging of the Lagos lagoon. MUYIWA LUCAS reports that when completed in 2021, the multiplier effect will not only grow the economy astronomically, but also ensure that the city conforms to the clamour for environmental development.

Cities, according to Town Planners and other players in the built environment, are engines of growth. This is why experts and other stakeholders in the industry are clamouring for more investment in real estate.

The primary objective of government is the security and welfare of the citizens and the executive arm of government are most suited for this role. Therefore the implementation of government policies are some of the functions of the executive arm, at the state level is the state governor.

Since the governor cannot play God, he has to enlist the support and understanding of his commissioners in carrying out the implementation of such policies. The failure or successes of such commissioners are seen as the failure and success of the governor. Here in Delta State, the various commissioners are the active drivers of the smart agenda of the Okowa administration.

Another agency of government- the National Population Commission has the mandate of determining the numerical strength of the Nigerian population. In doing so, the commission would need to have an accurate record of each person who claims to be a Nigerian. As a result, the commission considers it expedient to subject us all to a biometrics exercise. Thus, the Identity Commission and the Population Commission are two government bodies that have in their records, names, face recognition, fingerprints and other details of all Nigerians.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Senator Omotayo Alasoadura has said that government must take proactive measure to ensure that it was not left behind in the use of technology in governance purposes as e-governance has become essential for public sector productivity and efficiency.

Speaking while declaring open the “Nigeria Public Sector Productivity and Innovation Summit”, in Abuja, the Minister said Government has made progress in providing essential and social services to the people, using electronic and digital tools and processes.

Mr. Olukolade Kasim is the chairman, Lagos State Branch, Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS). In this interview with BERTRAM NWANNEKANMA, he spoke on the importance of drones in surveying practice and need for government to authorise its use to curb building collapse and others issues

Q: Surveying is said to be an essential element in the development of the human environment in any country, how do you link it with the practice in Nigeria. Are surveyors doing enough to drive development in the country?

Yes, even if we should be able to do more, I will say yes. I will give us a pass mark. Surveyors have been at the bedrock of infrastructure, which this regime is taking around the country. I know in the railway lines, surveyors have been involved right from the inception.

NITDA is the clearing house for IT projects in the public sector with the mandate to bring government and its services closer to the people through IT. It was also created to implement of the National IT policy, which seeks to make Nigeria an IT capable country in no distant future.

Governor AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, last Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of his administration in grand style as he unveiled the Ilorin Master Plan and the 20,000-hectare Ilorin Smart City project. The governor also commissioned the 4.7km Yebumot-Adeta Roundabout and Adeta-Oloje roads, which he named after two elder statesmen from the capital city — retired Major General Mohammed Abdullahi Adangba and prominent scholar Sheikh Yahya Murtadha Agodi.

As Governor AbdulRasaq was commissioning projects in Ilorin, his deputy, Kayode Alabi was in the northern senatorial district of the state to commission the Jebba waterworks, ending the community’s longstanding thirst for state-owned clean water source.

Governor Udom Emmanuel said his government is exploiting the option of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Science and Technology for employment generation and wealth creation in Akwa Ibom state.

TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Governor Udom stated this, as part of policy objectives, while presenting a N670.718 billion 2019 budget he proposed for Akwa Ibom before the State House of Assembly on Wednesday.

The Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, who made this known in a recent event in Lagos said the decision was part of the current measures by the government to bring all IT-based activities of the MDAs to a single platform thereby engendering a connected government that allows for sharing of facilities and information among government’s parastatals.