Stakeholders who congregated at the 2018 Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) Lagos Chapter IT Conference are of the opinion that the robust adoption of Information Technology Communication (ICT) in Nigeria will serve as a facilitator to a more transparent government in Nigeria.
Developed countries like the US, United and developing countries such as Kenya and South Africa have adopted an open data initiative model which provides datasets that mirrors everything happening at the government level.
Such an initiative makes it very easy for people within these countries have access to information thereby making it easy for political leaders maintain some level of transparency and accountability.
The Chairman, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS)), Lagos State Chapter, Mr. Gani Adegboyega
Riding on the theme: “Information Technology: A catalyst for transparency in governance,” Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, former deputy chief of staff, Ogun State said the adoption of ICT in many fonts and has proven to be a panacea to ensuring transparent governance in many countries.
According to Salisu, although there could many challenges in adopting technology in Nigeria, however, if IT is properly utilized, it will spur many things in the society and inspire new transparent governance mechanism.
“Adoption of IT will make the government be transparent and open, making them work better and thus will solicit the trust of its citizens.
“IT will enable citizens to participate in governance by being active in Town Hall meetings or Community Development Areas,” he said.
Salisu mentioned that the high cost of Internet, low infrastructure and ICT literacy level are some of the limitations affecting the adoption of IT, while lack of political will to implement policies of government, lack of information laws, lack of capacity within the civil society and political leaders, are also inflating the lack of transparency in the Nigerian government.
Guest Speaker, Mr. Shuaib Afolabi Salisu
According to Salisu, with the openness of data and information being made available, Nigerians would be able to question and track every single project under the auspice of any political leader.
“In a country like Kenya here, all public servants get their assets, salaries, and other streams of income declared on a portal which is made available to everybody. Even developers can use the APIs of these datasets to develop an App,” he said.
Conclusively, he urged the NCS to engage government constructively by having some applications that would have proof of concept from the tertiary institutions in the country.
Speaking at the NCS conference, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, described IT as a major tool for transparency, urging other stakeholders to speedily adopt a technology.
The Lagos State Governor who was represented by the Commissioner of Science and Technology, Hakeem Fahm, said the state is already intensifying effort to achieving the smart city project through the adoption of technology.
The Commissioner of Science and Technology, Lagos State, Mr. Hakeem Fahm, presenting the Governor’s goodwill message.
He added that one of the milestones of global innovations of the last century was the development of ICT tools, platforms, and applications which had brought about significant change in the way we do things.
“There is no gainsaying that ICT has impacted significantly on governance in terms of the enhancement of ease of processes and a procedure which translates into improved service delivery to the people.
“In recent time, they had to introduce e-payment platform to the public to reduce the stress and traffic being faced when making payment in banks.
“Other several e-platforms and portals introduced by the government are consistent with the smart city project which enhances transparency and accountability in governance.
“A major positive effect of all these is the increase in the actual revenue being generated by the government which translates to improved quality of life through the massive investment being made in the physical and social infrastructure development,” he said.
The President of NCS, Professor Adesola Aderounmu, represented by the his Vice, Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, urged stakeholders to be abreast of the changes in the industry and move with the changes.
According to him, there is no room for complacency as one needs to move at the speed the industry is moving, urging members to commit themselves to the affairs of the society.
Chapter Executives