Nigeria’s Abandoned IT Projects Staggering-Experts

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) experts have raised alarm over the growing rate of abandoned information technology related projects in the country and called the government to include professionals in the planning and execution of IT projects.

The experts, who gathered at Osun State for the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) 11th International Conference, also said that security and good governance are some of the developmental issues that are crucial to the survival and progress of Nigeria.

Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, Rogba Adeoye, chairman, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Lagos State Chapter, said that Nigeria has gained notoriety as a country with most failed IT projects.

He said that IT projects are treated with levity by governments while experts are relegated to the background in the conceptualization and execution of such projects.

Adeoye said that “Nigeria is a place where most IT projects fail globally, not for the lack of professionals rather the right people are not involved during contracts appropriation. And the business people who get these projects are driven by the spirit of get rich quick.

“We have seen instances where biometric project is contracted out to a bricklayer because he is well connected to the authorities (people in government) to the detriment of our national security.

“When the bricklayer gets the project, he starts looking for a third party who is an expert.  Because the bricklayer is a quack and out just for gain and no more, he would not even want to spend more on the project. The next thing is either the project is delayed, done shoddily or completely abandoned,” he said.

Adeoye pointed at the moribund national identity card project as an instance where government wastes tax payers money without remorse.

“Because somebody could not get the data capturing right, the project was laid to rest. We have started another one. In what ways have the government contacted the stakeholders to ensure it will not go the ways of similar projects”, he lamented.

Corroborating Adeoye’s views, Dr. Adedayo Adetoye, a research fellow, Cyber Security Centre, University Oxford, United Kingdom, discouraged the federal government of Nigeria from playing politics with information communication technology related matters.

According to him, Nigeria is notable for outsourcing her national security projects to foreign companies.

Adetoye warned that, “National security cannot be outsourced.  We have a culture of awarding national projects to companies”

The theme of NCS’ 11th International Conference was: “eGovernment and National Security” which provided opportunity for soul searching for close to 3000 participants drawn from companies, government establishments, tertiary institutions, among others.

Engineer Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of Osun State, in a keynote address at NCS’ presidential retreat urged the ministry of Communication Technology to expedite the establishment of national emergency/distress calls centres across the 774 local governments’ areas in the country.

Aregbesola, said that the project long neglected would have served as critical public infrastructure in curbing the spate of insurgencies in the country.

“I want to call on the minister of Communication Technology to look into the national emergency call centres that will enable the people interface with the government while giving information the law enforcement agents.

“Imagine where the Police are privileged to have information on crime as they are being committed; it will not just the Police but the nation at large.  Already there is a big ICT gap in this part of the world. All we need to do is to develop different platforms we know will aid our people to survive.

“We are disturbed by the level of  security challenges in the country, but had the previous and present administrations at the federal level embraced a system of deploying close circuit televisions (CCTV) in some rural areas, maybe Yobe, Damaturu and Maiduguri would have been safer today”.

The governor maintained that ICT application in governance is the ultimate measure to engender transparency, accountability and improved life to the citizens.