NITDA boss advocates ICT for economic diversification

 Following the unannounced visit by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder to Nigeria, and the global attention it garnered for individuals who play in the information technology communication (ICT) sector in Nigeria, the government may also be beaming its searchlight on the area with the recent visit of Vincent Olatunji acting director general of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Speaking during his visit to Co-creation Hub at Yaba, Vincent Olatunji said in view of the present economic predicament the country has found itself, the President Buhari administration is eager to find alternatives to oil in order to drive the economy out of the woods, and ICT will play an important role.

The purpose of the visit according to the NITDA boss in an interview was to reconnect with the sector and the iDea Hub setup by the agency in a bid to address the issue of growth capacity within the start-up ecosystem.

“Our visit to Yaba is important in the sense that a completely new ICT ecosystem is developing here. It is growing to become our own Silicon Valley. On Mark Zuckerberg’s recent visit to Nigeria, his first point of call was Yaba because of what he already heard about this location. During his speech at the Aso Villa Demo Day, he said the available talent in the country blew him away. We have a lot of potential but if we do not tap into them, other people will just come and sweep them away, and Nigeria will lose,” Olatunji said.

Earlier in an interview with BusinessDay, the NITDA boss disclosed that the government and the agency were working seriously on providing access to modern equipment for graduates. He noted that the major problem has been student graduating from the universities without practical knowledge of ICT tools. The agency, he said, has been working to provide these necessary tools.

He also told BusinessDay that the government was also looking into reviewing the ICT curriculum in tertiary institutions.

“What the students are learning has to be relevant for the times that we are in because things have changed,” Olatunji said.

ICT development, the NITDA boss affirmed there should be collaboration between the government and the private sector. In that regard, the agency as an arm of government is seeking partnership with players in various industries including civil society organisations and the media, to connect with them, learn from what they do and listen to their challenges.

“That will give us enough knowledge and statistics that will assist us in appropriately planning the sector.”