The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has been conferred with the Professional Fellowship of Nigeria Computer Society (FNCS) during the National Information Technology Merit Awards 2018 held in Lagos, Nigeria.
Dr Pantami, an ICT professional who doubles as the Chief Information Technology Officer of Nigeria, has a First Degree, Master’s Degree and PhD in Computer Science. To the industry pundits, the conferment was long overdue as the DG has similarly been inducted into the British Computer Society back in the year 2017.
Pantami is widely known as an advocate for Local Content Development, upon the assumption of office as the DG NITDA, the charismatic leader came out with a strategic roadmap that intends to make Nigeria an investment haven, leveraging on the youthful population of the country that are digital natives and also make Nigeria a leading exporter of ICT products and services, leaning on the fact that the country is a gateway to sub-saharan Africa, and strategically located between West and Central Africa.
The DG, a serial honoured awardee is famously known with the words, “we need to produce what we need, we need to patronise what we produce”.
NITDA’s Governing Board Member, Mrs Monilola Udoh, Director Information Technology, Ministry of Communications.
In a bid to actualize this vision, the IT Head held a meeting with all registered Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in Nigeria, where he challenged them to improve on the quality of products and also urged them to establish after-sales service centres across the country to attend to customers’ demands.
It is no surprise, NITDA under the supervision of Dr Pantami is driving the administration’s presidential orders 003 and 005 that mandates all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) of Government to give preference to local manufacturers, the Agency, using it’s regulatory authority has ensured that foreign products and services are only patronized if it’s proven beyond reasonable doubt that such cannot be done locally, which has resulted in ICT contributing 11.81% to the GDP of Nigeria.
The Award night was also celebrated as the 40th anniversary of the advocacy group. Also on the list of conferment were Dr Muhammad Sirajo Aliyu of Usmanu Danfodio University and NITDA’s Governing Board Member, Mrs Monilola Udoh, Director Information Technology, Ministry of Communications, among others.
Dr Muhammad Sirajo Aliyu of Usmanu Danfodio University with the Director General of NITDA, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami