President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday reaffirmed his commitment to invest in technology, adding that information technology is the driving force for social and economic change.
President Buhari gave the assurance when he received the leadership of Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPCN) and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), led by its president, Prof. Charles Uwadia, at the State House in Abuja.
The President, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, said the future belongs to Information Technology (IT).
According to him, ‘‘technology in public service delivery is no longer a luxury, but a pressing necessity.’’ Noting that Information Technology is the driving force for social and economic change, the President told the IT professionals that his administration through its actions has demonstrated its commitment to convert these potentials to reality.
He said, ‘‘The future belongs to IT. What was unimaginable 20 years ago is a reality today. Accordingly, we have introduced numerous policies and have made substantial investments to ensure the benefits of this technology-driven age is felt by 200 million Nigerians.
‘‘Indeed, our strategy for inclusive economic growth can only be achieved by leveraging the technology tools available to us.”
President Buhari used the occasion of the courtesy visit by representatives of the computing and IT professionals in Nigeria to enumerate some benefits of using technological tools to implement government policies.
‘‘Already, we have seen the benefits of using technological tools for lending to farmers as well as monitoring crop performance, especially in some of the more remote locations.
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‘‘We also leveraged technology to fight corruption and reduce leakages and inefficiencies in public service delivery. You are all aware of the significant investments we made to upgrade our policy and military platforms as we battle pockets of insecurity in parts of the country.
‘‘Furthermore, our social investment programs are built on technological platforms that allow us to positively impact the lives of some of the poorest members of our society,’’ he said.
He, therefore, requested the computer body to continue to partner with the Government at all levels to ensure the benefits of this tool are realised and at the same time its threats are eliminated.
In his remarks, Prof. Uwadia commended the President for demonstrating the political will to accelerate national IT development with his physical presence at the e-Nigeria conference and awards, on four consecutive occasions, over the years.
On behalf of IT professionals in the country, Uwadia expressed gratitude to President Buhari for appointing two seasoned professionals, Dr Isa Ibrahim Pantami and Kashifu Abdullahi as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), respectively.
‘‘Your Excellency, we the IT professionals, commend you for the immense and giant strides that your administration has made and is still making in nation-building.
Within the space of the past four years, you have achieved a lot, using the instrumentality of ICT,’’ he said.
