Dr. Alhassan Bako Zaku, minister of Science and Technology has acknowledged the importance of communication and urged the professionals in the sector to form themselves into a vanguard of making sure the right thing is done.
According to him, “through communication, even your farmers can benefit; through communication, you could tell the people what the weather is going to be like, you could tell your farmers when they should plant, when they shouldn’t plant, you could tell your farmers whether there will be flood or not.”
The minister spoke at the African Information Society Merit Award (AISMA) and cyber Nigeria forum 2009 ceremony put together by AIT InfoTech Network recently.
“I would therefore, like to congratulate AIT Infotech, Bayero Agabi and Daar Communications for this very, very resourceful award ceremony and pioneering ICT broadcast on television and keeping for this long. More than that, I am sure you will make sure that Nigeria gets the fruit of communication more than they are now getting. A lot of people don’t know how important communication is. I expect you to now continue to enlighten them and try to make sure that communication is used for good,” for me am very happy to be here, this is the first time am attending an award of this nature with such quality presence and all the awardees present” the minister concluded.
One of the most famous faces in print media, Chief Dele Momodu, publisher of soar-away Ovation magazine, in his remarks said: “I am here to felicitate with you on this special occasion and if you talk about technology, I would say I have been a great beneficiary of it. Just like the comedians would say that in those days when you put on your television, you will hear a few coughs, uh, uh, uh, publishing was like that in the past, but these days from my mobile handset I can read all the newspapers in the world. In fact, I wonder how newspapers still sell with this technology.
“Africa is one place where we are able to catch up easily with any modern invention and that is why we must salute the courage, the enterprise, the doggedness of members of this society... All I just want to say is that I am gladdened that we can have an event of this nature on a Sunday evening and we have so many people sitting down, important personalities sitting down here to identify with the great work that Bayero Agabi AIT InfoTech through Daar Communication has been doing in the past ten years. I think it is a great thing and God will continue to bless all of you.”
The representative of High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Mr. John Iwarue, and the executive director of marketing Daar communication said in his remark that “it is just like yesterday that InfoTech (network) started. It is unbelievable that it is 10 years already. I want to commend the indomitable spirit of Bayero Agabi and his never-say-die attitude... I know that whatever he has achieved today, it was not on a platter of gold, he really worked hard for it.”
Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman of National Communication Commission (NCC) in his good will message, said: “I congratulate AIT InfoTech network for 10 years of IT reporting on television. This is no doubt, a salute to hard work, to courage, professionalism and of course we need to recognise the dogged spirit of Bayero Agabi and his team at AIT InfoTech. So, I say again, congratulation!
“I am proud of Nigeria as a country. I am also proud of the contribution IT industry has made to the development of the economy. It’s been a very long journey over the past ten years and I would like to say that AIT InfoTech has every right to claim to be a part.”
One of the two speakers, Mr Anayo Agu, in his presentation, decried the attitude of people saying nothing works in Nigeria, saying, “I feel depreciated when somebody says nothing works here... we are Nigerians and if we are the Nigerians, then, if things are not working here, it means we are not working”
The second speaker, Dr. Tunde Adegbola, executive director of African Languages Technology Initiative, noted in his paper that digital divide will not end with everybody having computer and having access to the internet, for as long as foreign language is used as channel of communication, adding that no nation had been known to develop technologically using another country’s language.
“I think that if today, computer becomes available to everybody, the internet becomes available to everybody, there will still be a digital divide, because there will still be a restriction on the use of these facilities by the fact that they will have to be used in English. And that is why there is a need in bridging the digital divide to ensure that these ICT facilities can be used in our languages....
“There is no record of any nation in the world that became great by using another nation’s language.”
Among other dignitaries that graced the ceremony included Mrs Tosin Dokpesi, Managing Director Africa independent television AIT, who said the Daar family was proud of Bayero Agabi and that she was proud of his courage and resilience over the years. The ace comedian, Ali Baba. Tunde kelani a veteran film maker, dele momodu ovation publisher and the general manager NTA channel 10 Lagos. The event was anchored by Kofi a popular comedian and biyi fashoyin a seasoned broadcaster.
