Nitda Steers Quiet ICT Revolution, Commends Nigeria CommunicationsWeek

National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda) is constructing a robust information society with the aim of developing the country’s technical brain power and transforming it into valuable knowledge, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has learnt.
The agency is responsible for the promotion of technological innovation to help the country meet its goals such as job creation and reducing health care costs.
Professor Cleopas Angaye, director general of the agency spoke of efforts to ensure that Nigerians are empowered with information technologies through the development of a critical mass of IT proficient and globally competitive manpower.
Angaye spoke while receiving a team from Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, the independent weekly newspaper covering the know-how of technology in his office last week, added that Nitda has also entered into strategic alliances with the private sector as well as international organizations for the actualization of the IT vision.
He told the team led by Ken Nwogbo, editor of the newspaper that the agency is also ensuring that information technology resources are readily available to promote efficient national development.
The Nitda boss also commended Nigeria CommunicationsWeek for its creativity and objective reportage of the ICT sector while pledging to partner with the newspaper.
Nwogbo had earlier told Angaye that the readers of the newspaper had unanimously voted him as “Personality of the Year” for the quiet revolution in the ICT sector that is moving the country closer to becoming one of the largest economies in the world.
The editor said that the critical infrastructure, human capital development and wealth creation which are on the agenda of the government can be seen to be achievable in the operations and activities of Nitda.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek recalled that Nitda had recently declared that hazardous e-devices imported into the country would soon be banned and that guidelines on the provision of IT services in the country are underway.
Angaye warned that Nigeria is not a dumping ground for all sorts of hazardous e-devices coming into the country, especially from China and other parts of European countries.
He said that “We will ban certain hazardous e-devices coming into the country that can pose serious environmental and public health risks. Guideline for the provision of IT services in the country will soon come. “The regulatory guideline will come out about second quarter of the current financial year. We are serious about it. We need proper regulatory guideline in the IT industry. Before you open a cybercafé for instance, there will be regulation on that, adding that there are so many fake IT firms in the country.”