We Will Transform FCT To Nigeria’s ICT Hub – Minister

Nigerian States need to reposition towards Information and Communication Technology as a way to adapt to the new changes induced by the coroavirus pandemic, the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Muhammed Musa Bello, has said.

Bello said to this effect, the FCT Administration has entered into collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency, to deploy ICT in the management of the FCT.

The minister said this in a statement while he received a delegation from NITDA, led by its Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi on a courtesy visit to the FCTA.

The statement was endorsed by Anthony Ogunleye, Chief Press Secretary to the minister.

Bello said, “It is very obvious also, if there is anything about COVID-19, is the fact that it has brought to the fore, the need for technology and the need for e-governance.”

He said at the FCT level, most of the agencies are already using ICT, adding that the plan is to improve on the current level.

He added, “From what we have seen and what we read, the youth population is already fully ready for it.

“For many young Nigerians e- banking is the only form of banking that they know”.

He pledged to support NITDA in its quest to proffer solutions to schools that have deployed electronic learning platforms

The Director General of NITDA, said the agency was working towards the establishment of an Information Technology Hub in the Territory, like the popular Silicon Valley in California, U.S.

He said, “NITDA is one of the drivers of that initiative and the initiative has identified five key stakeholders – universities as the producer of the human capital, government as the enabler because the government’s role in business is to provide the enabling environment.”

He further noted that ICT was the third major contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.

According to him, ICT would dominate all spheres of life with the rate at which the world is evolving.