Orders MDAs to wear armed forces emblem
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari, has said the Federal Government’s decision to leverage Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the enforcement of Biometric Verification Number (BVN) has saved the nation about N24.7 billion.
He said at the opening of the 2017 eNigeria Conference put together by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), that the consolidation of 20,000 accounts has saved the nation N4.7 billion monthly.
The President also said the enforcement of the BVN initiative has eliminated ghost workers syndrome in the federal civil service and reduced waste thereby saving the nation over N20 billion monthly.
The three-day conference has as its theme: “Fostering Digital Economy Through Local Content Development and Effective Regulations.”
Meanwhile the President has expressed displeasure that only one percent of those present at the conference wore the 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day emblem, launched recently.
He urged all ministries, departments and agencies of government to wear the emblem with pride to encourage the legionnaires as well as families of those who paid the supreme price for the unity of the nation.
Buhari said the emblem launch was a worthy tradition of recognising and appreciating the sacrifices of the veterans in the WW1 and WW11, Nigerian Civil War, Peace Support Operations around the world, and internal security operations particularly the ongoing war on insurgency in the Northeastern part of the country.
Speaking on what his administration has done to transform the country especially in the areas of strategy, policies and digital infrastructure investments, Buhari said, “You may recall that on assumption of office, we enforced the policy on Treasury Single Account (TSA). Today, we are all witnesses to the impact it has made on our financial management.
“We have so far consolidated over 20,000 accounts, resulting into about N4.7 billion monthly savings. In addition the policy facilitated transparency, accountability and ease of transactions and payments between government and businesses as well as government and citizens.
“Another initiative leveraging on ICT and making huge impact on the economy is the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and Bank Verification Number (BVN). There implementation has helped to eliminate the menace of ghost workers thereby reducing waste in the system by saving government over N20 billion monthly.”
While stressing the need to patronise made in Nigeria products, Buhari recalled that his administration recently issued an Executive Order mandating all ministries, departments and agencies to give preference to locally manufactured goods and services in their procurement of information technology services.
Such measures, he said are part of the deliberate efforts at encouraging local manufacture of ICT infrastructure, creating job opportunities, providing investment opportunities as well as strengthening our currency.
“We commend NITDA’s efforts on fostering the patronage of indigenous IT products and services through continuous engagement with indigenous OEMs, relevant stakeholders and other laudable initiatives…”
“ICT plays a pivotal role with agencies of government such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) which have leaned on ICT in improving public service delivery in an efficient and transparent manner. So far, 31 reforms have been completed by the Council and these reforms are already making noticeable impact on our economic diversification efforts.
“The Agency’s efforts at enforcing Federal Government’s directive on ensuring that all ICT projects in the country are cleared by it before implementation are highly commendable. These efforts will ensure that government’s ICT procurements are transparent, they are aligned with government’s IT shared vision and policy, save costs through promotion of shared services, avoid duplication, ensure compatibility of IT systems thereby improving efficiency across government and enforce the patronage of indigenous companies.”
In his welcome address, the Director General of NITDA, Dr. Isa Pantami, said the theme was deliberately choose to address the challenges in the country which include the alarming unemployment.
He said Nigeria wants to tow the path of countries like Singapore whose effective deployment of ICT increased their GDP.
He said youths of the country are addicted to ICT which can be used positively to revamp the economy.
Pantami who noted that the online community generated over N3 trillion, adding that it was another indication that the sector should not be toy with.
“We don’t have a problem of talent but to get our priority right and to give preference to what is produced at home.”
The DG NITDA said with effective regulation to fight corruption, the agency has been able to save the country N2.5 billion this year alone, adding that “No more syphoning funds by MDAs with the deployment ICT”.
The minister of communication Adebayo Shittu, said the ICT sector has contributed 12.8 percent to the GDP from less than five percent.
He said despite a circular of 2012 to patronize made in Nigeria products, the patronage is still very low.
He said the government has resolved to enforce the new guidelines to buy made in Nigeria among all MDAs.
He assured inventors that government will do everything to protect local goods and services instead of allowing the country to be used as a dumping ground.