E-Business
Companies Mistake IM for IT- Oyedokun
Dr. Oyedokun Ayodeji Oyewole, president, Records and Information Management Awareness (RIMA) Foundation, has bemoaned the level of negligence among individuals and corporate organizations of the need to distinguish information management from information technology (IT).
He made the remark during the foundation’s quarterly training for document and information managers in Nigeria held in Lagos recently.
According to him, companies have recorded losses due to the misconception that information management is all embraced in IT.
“Each time you ask companies about information management the first thing that comes to their minds is the IT department, they are settled with that. But it is a terrible misconception. That a company has IT department, network, hardware, or other peripheries is not enough. There is a need to have a structure in place that will harness information coming from different sources.
“Such sources could be from clients, government, suppliers, the community; the truth is that knowingly or unknowingly, you are generating information or data that could either make or mar your company if not properly handled,” Oyedokun said.
He said that such information could also come in the form of email, proposals, letters, etc., but they come in different forms, hardcopy or softcopy.
“They require proper handling. Those organizations have that consciousness of the imperatives of proper information management, in Nigeria for instance, my answer is that a lot of them are yet to understand.
“What is the essence of having information, if not to make informed decisions? Assuming we have Company XYZ that produces five different goods. The amount of information harnessed on the goods behaviours at the market will help the management make decision on whether to continue with a particular product line, change the packaging, rebrand or redesign the concept.
“I have never met anybody that says information is not important. Even as individuals, there are certain information you generate that are very important or are for use in the life time, like the birth certificate, results, receipts,” he added.
The RIMA President maintained that for a sheer reason the society is not careful with the handling of information and documents, “we have in one way or the other promoted extortion. When you do not have a receipt to a particular commodity what do you expect from the police; he would extort from the person. Is either you let go of the product or get delayed.
“How about holding government accountable? Corruption cannot be totally eliminated in the society, but when the public are equipped with information they could hold government to accountability.
“The information management field has the potential of creating 200,000 jobs. I am not talking about positions, but there are different designations that could open up the system to employ people. Just like we have accountants working at different cadres in offices, so we can have information managers.
He said that RIMA foundation has been on the forefront of promoting this course in Nigeria and hopefully before the end of June, the Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa would have kicked off. The essential goal is to set industrial standards, he said.
The United States Supreme Court has upheld a law seeking to ban TikTok in the United States.
The court ruled that the law does not infringe upon free speech rights, citing the US government’s legitimate national security concerns about the Chinese ownership of the app.
Last week, the Supreme Court listened to the arguments from ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, claiming the law violated free speech.
“There is no doubt that TikTok provides a unique platform for expression, engagement, and community to over 170 million Americans,” the justices stated.
With this decision, the ban set for Sunday remains in place, despite calls from lawmakers and officials across the political spectrum for a delay.
Last year, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or shut it down in the US by January 19, reflecting widespread concerns in Washington that the app could be exploited by China for espionage or propaganda.
On Friday, White House officials informed the media that the ban would not be enforced, leaving the final decision to President-elect Donald Trump, who assumes office the next day.
In December 2024, TikTok asked the US Supreme Court to temporarily block a law that would force its Chinese owner to sell the popular video-sharing platform or shut it down by January 19.
The appeal came the same day TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, CEO, met with US President-elect Donald Trump.
Federal government has plans to expand the national social register to 18.1 million names and to reach at least 70 million poor households across the country by the end of this year, according to Prof Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, minister, Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD).
Federal government has been distributing cash assistance to poor citizens through a program that requires verification using the National Identification Number (NIN).
The rate of poverty in the country is alarming, the minister said in an interview with Arise News, reason why the federal government plans to extend the humanitarian outreach program to target more homes. Each household receives the sum of N75,000 ($45).
Giving update on the payments, the minister said the first tranche of the conditional cash transfers were paid to five million households between October and December 2024, while the second and third tranches were paid to 2.8 million households.
“The president has directed, based on CBN’s new regulations, that before any payment is made to an individual or household, they must have a digital identity we can trace. That is the NIN number,” the Yilwatda told Arise News.
The cash transfer enabled by digital ID was launched in 2023, and last year, the federal government said around 25 million Nigerians had already benefitted from the scheme.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has granted licence for the Nigerian Correctional Service, (NCoS) to register inmates in the over 252 custodial centres across the country for National Identity Numbers, (NIN).
The approval followed the request made by Sylvester Nwakuche, acting controller general of the NCoS, who paid a visit to Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director general/chief executive Officer of NIMC, in her office.
The acting controller-general, said the licence to carry out registration of inmates for NIN would eliminate exclusion of inmates from the country’s National Development plans, ensure their safety and security and facilitate their smooth recapture in times of jailbreaks.
The NCoS boss said the visit to the headquarters of NIMC was in search of collaboration that would enable the Service carry out its mandate seamlessly following on going reforms of the Correctional Service system.
According to Nwakuche, there are lots of socio-economic developments within the Correctional Service systems which had led to a number of inmates obtaining University degrees, Masters Degrees and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in various fields.
He said such inmates should not be excluded from the national development plans of the country as they should be integrated into the society to become useful for their families and the country.
Nwakuche said inside the Correctional centres are those awaiting trials whose innocence and otherwise has to be decided by the Courts, but argued that in times of National planning, census and other critical national development issues, they should not be disallowed from participating.
Coker-Odusote who granted the licence said NIN has become critical and essential to the country’s national development plans, stressing that NIMC has gone far with the private sector, especially the banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as all banks accounts are now linked with the NIN.
Coker-Odusote said the Eight points Agenda of President Bola Tinubu are also anchored on the Country’s digital identity or National identity Number, stressing that for instance NIN was tied to students loans to eradicate duplicity and prevent ghost beneficiaries.
Coker-Odusote expressed delight in the partnership with the NCoS, saying that the Commission had already entered into partnership with the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS and other agencies in order to facilitate the smooth delivery of their constitutional mandates.
She commended Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of Interior, for his dynamic leadership and role in ensuring the delivery of dividends of democracy to Nigeria through various reforms.
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