IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to use Information and Communications Technology to drive the change agenda of his administration and diversify the nation’s economy, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Eng. Babachir Lawal, has said.

According to him, the journey had started with the use of ICT and the digital platform to fight corruption and insecurity in the country.

By taking gradual, modular steps — building capacity, securing data, designing for inclusivity, and ensuring systems work together — Nigeria can begin to transform its public service into one that is faster, more transparent, and truly responsive to citizens’ needs.

Nigeria must embrace a GovTech approach — one that uses modern, interoperable digital systems and data-driven practices to redesign how government delivers services, manages information, and interacts with citizens. GovTech is not about automating paperwork; it is about transforming service delivery through integrated platforms that connect identity, payments, and data securely across institutions.

The initiative, which would be driven by banks, according to the CBN’s Head of Shared Services, Mr Chidi Umeano, would enable customers access e-payment services in areas where the over 60,000 activated Point of Sale (PoS) terminals are clustered.

Computer Professionals in the country are worried about the slow pace of development around digital inclusion. This, they claimed has relegated Nigeria among the comity of nations.Under the aegis Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), these professionals, though claimed that the country has leaped a bit, “but we are still far from where we should be as country.”

The President, NCS, Prof. Adesola Aderounmu, addressing newsmen in Lagos, on Tuesday, said much work still needed to be done to get Nigeria to its rightful place. Aderounmu, who used the occasion to announce NCS 27th National Conference scheduled for the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State from July 17 to 19, with the theme: ‘Digital Inclusion: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies,’ said the strategic and transformation role of IT in the economy and society is well recognised.

The director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency(NITDA) Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi, has said that cloud computing is important in fostering Nigeria’s digital economy, stressing that it plays a significant role in migrating processes online quickly and efficiently.

He described cloud computing as the essential way of delivering services especially in database, networking, artificial intelligence and analytics over the internet, to offer faster innovations, flexible resources, reduced IT costs and better security.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, spoke on Nigeria’s participation at the International Telecommunication Union Telecom World conference in Durban, South Africa and how Nigeria intends to drive her digital transformation, using modern technologies. Emma Okonji who attended the world conference, presents the excerpts:

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says the proposed Data Protection Bill 2020, would provide protection for all internet users in Nigeria when passed into law.

NITDA Director-General, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, said this on Thursday at an online workshop organised by the agency for Data Protection Officers (DPOs) and Focal Persons in Abuja.

As cities worldwide grapple with the challenges of urbanization, data-driven approaches are emerging as transformative tools for sustainable municipal development. In Nigeria, where rapid population growth and urban migration continue to strain infrastructure and services, adopting these strategies could be a game-changer. By learning from developed countries like the United States and leveraging expert insights, Nigeria has an opportunity to modernize its cities while fostering transparency, efficiency, and inclusivity.

In the United States, municipalities have embraced data analytics to optimize urban planning, transportation, and resource management. For example, cities like New York and San Francisco utilize predictive analytics to forecast traffic patterns and reduce congestion, saving millions in productivity losses annually. Affordable housing initiatives in Boston rely on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify areas for redevelopment, ensuring a balance between economic growth and community needs. According to McKinsey, data-driven urban planning can reduce infrastructure costs by up to 20% while enhancing service delivery.

Today this type of deliberation and election of leaders be at the village or national level cannot be practiced.

This is because the use of ICT has ushered in complete innovation in all sectors of the economy, while supporting new ways of thinking and working in public administration processes in the 21st Century civilisation.

ICT experts note that the technologies, which enhance the provision of information and interactive services accessible over different channels, are the foundation of electronic government (e-government).

With digitization driving the global economy, no country can afford to be left behind either in its application or investment in the sector. Thus, at its inception in 2006 as a public enterprise wholly owned by the federal government, the mandate of Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) was well defined and straightforward – setting up and operating a unified Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure platform that addresses the connectivity, transversal and other technology imperatives for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government. The company was also charged with operating a nationwide network backbone to help facilitate the digital inclusion of underserved areas and rural communities towards the realization of the federal government goals as enumerated above.

The Minister of Communications Technology, Adebayo Shittu, says if electronic government (e-government) is finally embraced in the country, it will strengthen the anti-graft war of President Muhammadu Buhari and reduce the wanton waste that goes with governance in the country.

Mr. Shittu, who spoke in Abuja while declaring open a Stakeholders Engagement Workshop on the e-Government Master Plan 2020, said e-government will also lead to improvement in administration and economic development.

The new technology in payment system is designed to ease the rampant movement of huge money from one place to another and help customers to access their account balances in not only their banks, but in any participating bank in the country.

Edmark City Development Company Limited has marked a significant milestone in its unrelenting efforts to create and build a space for a happy community in Nigeria with the Grand Breaking Ceremony of Edmark City; Nigeria’s first ever block-chain fuelled smarty city development.

At the formal announcement of the event held at Edmark Podium, Ikeja several key stakeholders spoke extensively about this new milestone which yearns to be one of a kind amidst outstanding structures in Lagos.

Their position is that if it is possible for the developed nations of the world to get it right through technology and e-governance, Nigeria can as well leapfrog from its present status of underdevelopment to a fully developed global giant, as it cannot afford to stand alone.

There is no doubt that banks play significant roles in the economy of a nation. Banks are considered indispensable elements in the economies of all market-oriented nations, which depend on the efficient operation of complex and delicately balanced systems of money and credit. Therefore, the economic well-being of any nation is tied to the advancement, as well as the development of its banking industry.