James Sowole
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami has lauded Governor Dapo Abiodun’s policies to develop ICT in Ogun, predicting that the state could become Nigeria’s Silicon Valley.
Pantami stated this when he led members of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) on a courtesy visit to the Ogun governor.
“I am happy because you are passionate about IT development in Nigeria. We are happy with what you have done with ICT, particularly the giant strides in the digital economy. We have been following the activities of Ogun state TechHuB, and it is commendable,” noted the minister.
He added, “Ogun state has so many IT professionals. Your initiatives are attracting more investors, and I hope the state will emerge as the Silicon Valley of this country in the near future.”
He acknowledged the contributions of IT in raising the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of many economically viable countries, observing that Silicon Valley alone has higher GDP than Qatar and Luxembourg.
In his remarks, the NCS President, Prof. Simeon Sodiya, said the visit was to intimate Abiodun of the society’s international conference, with the theme ‘Smart, Secure and Sustainable Nation,’ slated for Abeokuta.
Sodiya stated that with what members of the society have seen in Ogun in terms of IT usage by the government to implement its programmes, the conference would allow the state to come up with ideas capable of engendering further development of Ogun.
In his response, the governor said Ogun was doing well in IT, with learners’ certificate numbers, digital curriculum and infrastructure in the education sector now done digitally.
The governor, who noted the place of IT in the changing world, said his administration had put a mechanism and infrastructure in place to enhance the conducive environment for businesses using information technology.
He disclosed that the idea for ‘The Governor’s Challenge’ introduced at the Ogun TechHub was to identify the best brains in ICT and a platform to harness youths’ IT knowledge.
“We are using IT in every sector of our economy. We used IT called OGunTeach to reach out to our children during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have used IT to put adire on the global market; you can buy Adire anywhere in the world now,” said the governor.
“In the judiciary, there is Virtual Court sitting and e-registration. We are also working towards having internet facilities in all government offices in the state.”
Abiodun commended the NCS for choosing Ogun for its conference, charging the group to develop programmes that will make computer knowledge accessible to all Nigerians.
