Shittu Seeks Stakeholders’Involvement to Achieve e-Government Master Plan 2020
Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu has called on industry stakeholders in the sector to intensify their commitments towards achieving the country’s e-Government Master Plan 2020.
The Minister made the call during stakeholders’ engagement workshop on eGovernment Master Plan 2020 in Abuja recently. He said: “We as stakeholders in this crucial area must see ourselves as essential co-workers with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in the task of empowering the administration and its workforce with one of the most potent tools for it to deliver the promised positive ‘Change’ to our great country.”
According to him, positive national ‘Change’ in today’s ICT-driven world is virtually impossible without competence and efficiency in e-Governance. The benefits of speed, propriety, best-option, transparency, accountability and mass-participation in government available only via the e-Government framework and platform, make it a sine qua non for meaningful and sustainable political and socio-economic growth and development.
Shittu said the Workshop is expected to reinforce the e-Government Master Plan 2020 with improved awareness and expert finishing touches that will lead to the best plan possible for marrying governance in Nigeria with ICT.
According to him, with technology evolving at an exponential pace, and with its relentless self-integration into various facets of our daily and national life, it is vital that governance, the most important aspect of national life, must not be left behind. Giving an insight into the future expectations of technology development in the country, Shittu said by 2020 and beyond, Nigerian public office holders must, at the click of computer buttons, be able to deliver the concrete dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
“Let us imagine this further. By 2020 and beyond, government, at the click of computer buttons, should be able to collate the ideas of millions of Nigerians as prompt and invaluable input in policy evolution and development. By 2020 and beyond, government, at the click of computer buttons, should be able to accurately monitor in real-time the amount of crude oil and gas that is being taken-out of Nigeria every day. By 2020 and beyond, government should be able to pay pensions electronically to pensioners without their having to stand endlessly in queues,” Shittu said.
Commending Nigeria for the 2014, UN e-Government Development Index (UNEGDI) ranking, Shittu said in 2014 there was a marginal improvement on the rating,
which could be adduced to Nigeria’s further recognition of ICT as a positive catalyst to development through the creation of a stand-alone Ministry of Communications.
He stressed the need for a more focused attention on the purposeful implementation of e-Government in Nigeria that will deliver such dividends as: Cost savings, resulting in efficiency in service delivery; Enhanced transparency and accountability; Improved public administration and economic development; and the growth of the ICT sector, leading to more employment opportunities for the Nigerian youth.