Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria was joined by Austin Okere, founder and chief executive officer, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), Rita Amuchienwa (Mrs), senior territory manager, (English) West Africa for Motorola Solutions and Ayo Adegboye, vice president, ITB (Schneider Electric, West Africa), last weekend, at an inducted into Fellows cadre of the Institute of Information Management (IIM-Africa).

Others ICT experts recognized on the category are, Engineer (Mrs) Florence Seriki, managing director and chief executive officer, Omatek Computers Limited, Olayinka Oni, national technology officer, Microsoft Nigeria, Kenneth Nwabueze, chief executive officer, Gist Me Communications, among others.

Other inductees are State Governors of Lagos, Ogun, osun, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Edo, NIMC DG, and Minister of Information and others drawn from the educational, records and document (information) management, finance, administration, engineering, construction, project management, IT and communications.

Speaking at the induction ceremony, Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, president and chairman Governing Council of IIM-Africa, said that information is the force powering 21st democracy and economy.

 He said that IIM-Africa was established in recognition that both private and public sectors will increasingly rely on information and knowledge and can create value through their ability to manage these value assets.

Oyedokun who bemoaned the traumatic state of the nation’s national memories like the National Archives, reminded the government that successful societies and economies in future will depend on how well they enable information be appropriately shared while maintaining essential protection for those on whose behalf the information is held.

He said: “They will depend on how well they learn from the information they hold, and how they use it to create new value, and on how well they deal with the new challenges that digital information presents, whether around security, sustainability or privacy.

“Effective management and sharing of information has the power to improve individuals’ lives and society as a whole, and even to drive economic growth which comes with significant responsibilities, not least to protect individuals’ data and privacy. The pace of change, and the challenges of the digital era, means we are not only seeing new opportunities but are also facing new risks.

“Strong leadership, governance and professionalism in records, information and knowledge management will be key, both to seizing opportunities, and to meeting the challenges ahead”.

He said that IIM is strategically positioned to help both public and private organizations in Africa develop the required frameworks, tools, and culture needed to build capacity.

According to him, by improving professionalism in the essential field, as required in the finance, administration, engineering, construction, project management, IT and communications, organizations will be ready to seize emerging opportunities, and meet the evolving challenges of managing information, especially in the emerging information age. 

Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek on her induction into IIM-Africa’s fellowship, Rita Amuchienwa (Mrs), senior territory manager, (English) West Africa for Motorola Solutions, said, “I feel real good and excited. It is indeed a great achievement for me in my career path.

“As someone who has been active in the technology ecosystem, there are synergies between what IIM-Africa is expected to do and the potentials of technology usage. For instance, the Institute will help reshape Technology ecosystem in Nigeria and make it more professional. That is, the aspect of information management would have become a full disciple. Just like the President and Chairman of the Council rightly pointed out; there are over 200,000 distinct jobs in this field alone. That is an untapped area that IIM-Africa is moving into,” she said.

On the Institute’s rolled out vision, Amuchienwa said, “I would rate their vision as a very sound and renowned vision. This is a vision that we Nigerians expect for our Nation – a vision that will be beneficial and supportive to All!”

The Institute of Information Management (IIM-Africa) is a professional membership driven Institute, developed to serve the growing community of Data, Information, Records, Document and Archives Management professionals who are tasked with managing the dynamic information life cycle within the enterprise.

Apart from the Fellows others were inducted into Senior Professionals, Professionals and Associate membership.