THE Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, with other stakeholders in the technology industry will at the weekend converged in Ibadan, Oyo State to chart growth path for the industry.

According to a statement by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Victor Oluwadamilare, the theme of meeting, which is going to be for two-day, is “Repositioning the Nigeria Communications Sector as the Key Driver of the Nigerian Economy.”

The event will is scheduled to hold at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan and will be held between February Friday 22 and 23.

The statement disclosed that Shittu, on assumption of office, embarked on various inquisitions and fact-finding exercises, the result of which culminated in the forthcoming retreat.“It was discovered that considerable efforts made in the past to mainstream ICT into vital aspects of life in the country, have unfortunately been undermined by the lack of an integrated framework for utilization of ICT for socio-economic development.

“In the ensuing scenario, the Minister of Communications had to re-examine the status quo ante in order to formulate new strategies for doing things differently so as to fast track the realization of the vision of a new Nigeria, hence the all-inclusive retreat”, Oluwadamilare stated.

Towards this end, the SA Media to the minister said the 2016 Communications Sector Retreat was designed to achieve among others: define a strategic roadmap for government on ICT; provide a common platform for sector stakeholders to share common vision for ICT development in Nigeria and to form a precursor for the minister to unveil his vision for the ICT sector that will be beneficial to all.

Other stakeholders expected at the retreat include national assembly members, key ministry officials; chief Executive Officers of NCC, NIGCOMSAT, NITDA, NIPOST, Galaxy Backbone Ltd and Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), among others.