On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari gave the Presidential Council on Digital Economy and e-Government the task of creating a framework for the coordination of activities for digitisation and e-government at both the federal and state levels.
The command was given by Buhari, the council's chairman, at the group's inaugural meeting in Abuja.
Prof. Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and the Digital Economy, spoke on behalf of Buhari.
Buhari acknowledged that there have been isolated instances of digital initiatives at the state level that have not benefited from efforts made by the federal government.
He remembered the November 2019 announcement of the National Digital Economy and Policy Strategy (NDEPS), which included eight pillars and called for participation from all levels of actors.
The President said that digital economy cannot be implemented in silos, with FG bearing the responsibility, adding that states, sub-nationals have a significant role to play in ensuring achievement of NDEPS.
“Many important things have been discussed and we have agreed on all of them and it is because of this we plan to have another meeting as soon as possible.
“The secretariat has been directed to come up with frameworks for the digital economy, that can be implemented in our states.
“Many states have good initiatives on digital economy, however there is lack of harmonisation to their activities.
“A framework is going to be developed so that our sub-nationals will play their own role and FG will continue to provide intervention where necessary,’’ he said.
Buhari further said that since the establishment of the NDEPS, a lot had been achieved, while 70 per cent achievements had been recorded on some of the pillars.
The president, however, said there were pending issues that requires engaging the sub-nationals to look at decision making, implementation, coming up with frameworks, getting their input on regulations and more.
Part of the issues also discussed at the meeting included the establishment of the Ministry of Digital Economy in states to cascade and implement activities from the national level.
According to him, ”hopefully, before the end of the year many positive things will come up from the council.”
Buhari said that after the launching of the policy, the ICT sector contributions to the Gross Domestic Product of the country had increased significantly.
“The sector alone, without involving digital services, contributed 17.9 per cent which is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.
“With the accommodation of our Governors and sub-nationals, I believe many positive things should come out of the sector,’’ he said.
Mr Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), requested that the Chairman set up a sub-committee to look at thematic areas for the implementation of the NDEPS.
Inuwa also requested for the ratification of the terms of reference for the council.
Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, emphasised that the Nigeria e-Government Master Plan implementation will be based on the use of ICTs in public administrations.
Adeluyi said, ”it will be combined with organisational change, new skills in order to improve public services, democratic processes and strengthen support in public policies.”
Pillars of NDEPS are developmental regulation, digital literacy and skills, solid infrastructure, service infrastructure, digital services and development promotion.
Others are soft infrastructure, digital society and emerging technologies and indigenous content promotion and adoption.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports members of the council include Governors, one each from the six geo-political zones of the country.
They are Godwin Obaseki of Edo State for South South and Hope Uzodinma of Imo State for South East.
Other Governors are Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State for South West, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa for North Central, Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna for North West and Muhammad Yahaya of Gombe for North East.
Other council members are Vice Chancellors of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State and Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Telecom operators, and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, among others.
The presidential council was launched to strengthen the capacity of government, to develop, adopt and deploy digital technologies to make government more efficient and transparent.
The council is also to ensure the improvement of Nigeria’s global standing in the ease of doing business index.