Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has predicted that Ogun State would, in the nearest future, emerge as Nigeria’s Silicon Valley.
Pantamib averred that this potential emanates from the adoption of Information and Communication Technology, ICT, initiatives and its application in all sectors of Ogun State’s economy.
Disclosing this when Pantami and members of the Nigeria Computer Society, NCS, paid the Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, a courtesy visit call in his office during the week, the minister acknowledged the giant strides recorded by the incumbent administration, particularly, in its various initiatives in digital economy.
The minister said, “I am happy because you are passionate about IT development in Nigeria. We are happy with what you have done with ICT, particularly the giant strides in the digital economy. We have been following the activities of Ogun State TechHuB and it is commendable.
“Ogun State has so many IT professionals. Your initiatives are attracting more investors and I hope the state will emerge the Silicone Valley of this country in the near future.”
Pantami also acknowledged the contributions of IT in raising the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, of many economically viable countries, observing that Silicone Valley alone has higher GDP than Qatar and Luxembourg.
He further urged the state government to continue to leverage and take advantage of Information Technology so as to continue to remain as a reference for other states, pledging the support of his ministry and that of the NCS to the state.
In his remarks, the NCS President, Prof. Simeon Sodiya, said tha the visit was to intimate the governor of the society’s international conference, with the theme: “Smart, Secure and Sustainable Nation,” scheduled to hold in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Lauding the Abiodun administraion for using IT to drive governance, which he noted could be seen in the areas of land administration, finance, ICT hub, job portal, among others, Sodiya stated that with what members of the society have seen in Ogun State in terms of IT usage by the government to implement its programmes, the conference would afford the society the opportunity to come up with ideas capable of engendering further development of the state.
Responding, Governor Abiodun said the the state was doing well in the area of IT as learners certificate number, digital curriculum and infrastructure in the education sector are now done digitally.
Governor Abiodun, who noted the place of IT in the changing world, said that his administration has put a mechanism and infrastructure in place to enhance the conducive environment for business, submitting that “this could not have been created without the use of Information Technology.”
Abiodun disclosed that the idea for ‘The Governor’s Challenge,’ which was introduced at the Ogun TechHub, was to identify the best brains in ICT and also a platform to divert youths with IT knowledge from using it in a negative form.
He said, “We are using IT in every sector of our economy. We used IT called OGunTeach to reach out to our children during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have used IT to put Adire in the global market; you can buy Adire anywhere in the world now. In the judiciary, there is Virtual Court sitting and e-registration. We are also working towards having internet facilities in all government offices in the state.”
Abiodun, however, commended the NCS for choosing Ogun State for its conference, charging them to come up with programmes that would make knowledge of the computer accessible to all Nigerians.
