Premature Call to Make Nitda a Commission

The recent prescription that National Information Development Agency (Nitda) be  upgraded to a National Information Technology Development Commission (NITDC) to ensure adequate regulation of the IT sector and be more empowered to drive the ongoing growth process is ill-timed and self-serving.

The timing of the prescription and its wrongness is a clear manifestation of lack of focus and understanding of the role of the agency in this ‘knowledge era’.

The idea behind the call to make Nitda a commission is both perplexing and benumbing. It is placing the cart before the horse.

Nitda with the clear mandate of fostering the development and growth of IT in Nigeria is a waltzing story of failures and inadequacies.

The agency certainly did not need to attain a Commission status to ensure that the citizenry is empowered with Information Technologies, and to ensure the development of a critical mass of IT proficient and globally competitive manpower.

The National Information Technology Development Agency ACT 2007, gave Nitda all the powers its needs to plan, develop and promote the use of Information technology in Nigeria.

Chances are that Nitda is not aware of these powers or is simply diverting attention.

It may also be a case of the barber simply quarrelling with his tools, at that rate the barber, which is the agency in this case, cannot give a clean cut.

Nitda needs to show it does not harbour fears and uncertainties over how emerging technologies are impacting on the daily lives of Nigerians.

Nitda should lead and others should follow but the reverse is the case here.
 
The agency abdicated its responsibilities long time ago in a country where IT is growing at an increasing rate, and is the fourth largest contributor to the nation’s gross domestic product.

As presently constituted, a dynamic Nitda is well placed to effect the necessary reforms needed to take Nigeria to the level where countries like India, China and others are.

With the huge provisions for Nitda in this year’s budget, no local solutions manufacturer had outside exposure to experience best practices.

The knowledge cluster or so called ICT Incubation Centres is far from being a reality.

As a clearing house of ICT projects in Nigeria, Nitda could not protect its website from being hacked and debased recently.

Agencies like Nitda in other climes move ahead of technologies but here the agency remains inclined to play catch up.
 
Nitda is in dire need of a shake-up and injection of fresh blood to place Nigeria on the ICT league of countries.

And having tried everything with little to show for it, the present management should make way for another that is patriotic, ambitious and goal driven.

The solution to Nigeria’s ICT doldrums is a leadership at Nitda who see advances in technology as the single most important driver of change in the business environment.