Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, and the immediate past Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, have called on the Federal Government to invest in advanced technology acquisition.
The duo who spoke at the eight edition of the Nigerian Telecoms Award organised by Logical Media Group at the weekend, said the investment was necessary, if Nigeria must realise her economic agenda on vision 20:2020, which seeks to position Nigeria within the first twenty economies of the world by the year 2020.
Specifically, Aregbesola said Nigeria must be fast about bridging the digital gap between developed and developing economies, adding that Nigeria must put structures on ground to realise her economic agenda.
The Governor pointed out that ICT literacy was fast becoming a fundamental right than politics and should define the direction of the country.
Aregbesola, who commended the creation of the Ministry of Communications Technology by President Goodluck Jonathan, said the ICT industry was one of the highly promising and rapidly growing sectors of the Nigerian economy. According to him, the sector has contributed significantly in the areas of jobs creation, economic growth and transparency of governance.
“While a lot of progress has been made in the deployment and use of ICT infrastructure and services nationwide, there is already a major broadband divide between Nigeria and the more advanced nations of the world,” he said.
Aregbesola explained that Osun State invested in computer for secondary school pupils, out of the conviction that the future belongs to the digital age.
“The computer has become the centre of the universe whether it is mainframe, desktop, laptop, handheld or palmtop. It is interesting now that even artisans and motor mechanics need the computer to diagnose problems of cars and provide solutions to them. Architects and draughtsmen now use the computer to design houses,” the Governor added.
On his part, Ndukwe recalled that Nigeria transited from the telecommunications dark ages before 2000 to a telecommunications revolution age that has opened up new possibilities and frontiers across the political social and economic landscape.
He stressed the need for Nigeria to invest in new technologies in order to sustain the achievement of the sector, adding, “We live in a world where ICTs have a direct impact on a nation’s ability to improve the economic wellbeing of her people”.
The Climax of the event was the award given to some Nigerians in recognition of their contributions to national development. Aregbesola was awarded the best ICT Governor of the year by the organisers of the event.
SOURCE: THISDAYLIVE
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