Nigeria’s future lies in software technology – Systemspecs’ CEO

Nigeria has the capacity to influence the global software technology landscape  and reap the huge attendant benefits if the government makes a conscious effort to actualise the prosperous future that beckons the country in  software technology.

This was the view shared by John  Obaro, Chief Executive Officer of SystemSpecs, during the visit of the  Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, to the head office of the  company in Lagos.

The Minister said the visit was to  encourage the software company and appreciate its flagship indigenous  software, Remita. He said had Remita been introduced to the federal
government earlier, government’s revenues would have improved  significantly.

“We owe Systemspecs a debt of gratitude for introducing Remita. The electronic payment platform has saved  Nigeria about N2 trillion. In the area of e-government, SystemSpecs has
done well for Nigeria,” he said.

According to Obaro,  the country should quit focusing on agrarian initiatives at the basic  levels, and concentrate on the potentials of software technology wherein the future lies.

To attain this, he rolled out steps that the  federal government should take. He asked that government delegations  should no longer embark on foreign trade missions without the inclusion
of Nigerian software entrepreneurs or products.

He requested  that the federal government should not receive foreign software as aids  donated to the country in areas where the country has demonstrated local competence that can be polished.

“No longer should our young  and virile tech talents be allowed to succumb to foreign exploitation  that retains them on foreign soil rather than become a blessing to their fatherland,” he said.

This is the time, according to him, for  the country to seize advantage of the opportunities inherent in software technology, when oil prices are at their lowest.

He  believes that the present situation in the country may be a time of  divinely orchestrated providence, expected to jolt the country from oil  dependency to harnessing the huge potentials presented by software  technology.

“While our currency is struggling and the  naira’s exchange rate against major currencies have almost doubled in  less than a year, we still have to source enormous foreign exchange to
service the huge foreign-owned software assets in use by government at  all levels and across the private sector. The beneficiaries are those  countries that have nurtured their software industry and caused us to be dependent on them even in critical areas of our national life.”

He said he was wondering what the country would have benefitted had the  software installed at the Office of the Accountant General of the  Federation [OAGF], Federal Inland Revenue Service [FIRS], Nigeria  Inter-Bank Settlement Systems [NIBSS], the Central Bank of Nigeria  [CBN], and the banks are all powered by indigenous software companies.

“Let us imagine what would have happened if Government  Integrated Financial Management Information System [GIFMIS] and  Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System [IPPIS] at OAGF are  powered by indigenous software and not one from Estonia and USA  respectively. If Integrated Tax Administration System [ITAS] at FIRS is  an indigenous software and not from Canada; if the Bank Verification  Number [BVN] platform deployed by NIBSS is powered by an indigenous  software and not from Germany; if Real Time Gross Settlement [RTGS]  platform at CBN is powered by indigenous software, and not one from
Sweden.

“Let us imagine that at least one Nigerian bank uses  indigenous software rather than the prevailing situation where all the banks use foreign software procured from India, Jordan, Switzerland,
etc.”

He listed the benefits of patronising indigenous software  by the government to include assisting the federal government realise  its objective of providing employment to teeming talented Nigerian  youths. Others are the conservation of the huge foreign exchange  currently lost when paid as annual software maintenance fee to foreign  software providers and the retention of 100% annual maintenance fees  within the Nigerian economy.

Specifically, he further stressed  that, had the government patronised the indigenous software industry,  this would have helped the country to preserve its foreign reserves and  thereby become a net exporter of software and an earner of huge foreign  exchange.

His experience has shown that many indigenous software entrepreneurs have become discouraged while others have closed shop and thrown employees on the streets.

He offered that  aside the low patronage by the government, lack of “specific funding to  develop the software sector of the economy is another challenge faced by the practitioners.”
 

Jumoke Akiyode