Atiku tasks FG on digital economy

Former Vice President and presidential flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has tasked the Federal Government with ensuring the economy is digitalised.

Abubakar said the journey to digital prosperity lies in the efforts of governmental entities to initiate, ideate, implement, monitor and allocate the right resources in the execution of digital initiatives for Nigeria.

Speaking in Lagos, yesterday, at the launch of a book, ‘Nigeria: Drivers of Digital Prosperity’, authored by Aaron Ukodie (former staff of The Guardian), Abubakar, who was represented by Partner at Africa Law Practice, Uyi Giwa-Osagie, said Nigeria currently accounts for 82 per cent of Africa’s ICT market, which is described as one of the fastest-growing ICT hubs globally, with the sector being a major contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He said these significant milestones are a testament to his commitment and the visionary leadership of the government he served in as Vice President, “wherein I was in charge of the country’s economic management team.”

According to him, the evolution of the country’s ICT and telecoms industry started with the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), which was launched in August 2001 under “our administration, and has since revolutionised the face of ICT in Nigeria.

“In February 2002, I inaugurated a 22-member Telecommunications Sector Reform implementation committee, aimed at increasing access to phone services for Nigerians, primarily through the GSM, and further facilitated all necessary licensing for the GSM to come into effect in Nigeria. This is an achievement I am entirely proud of and further reinforces my credentials as a digitally-inclined leader, aware of revolutions that need to take place for our country to move forward and reach her full potential.”

Earlier, the chairman of the event, MTN Chairman, Dr. Ernest Nduwke, stressed the importance of a digital economy, which he described as highly essential if the country hopes to be competitive.

Ndukwe traced the current telecoms revolution in the country to the painstaking efforts of the Federal Government (led by President Olusegun Obasanjo at the time) to ensure that Nigerians can communicate effectively.

In his address, Lagos State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Hakeem Fahm, commended the author.

He disclosed that Lagos State Government is keen on ensuring a smart city, stressing that the state is fast becoming digitalised, going by several projects, including the state-wide fibre duct project, which ensures the deployment of 6,000 km fibre optic cables.

In his welcome speech, Ukodie said the 472-page text is an experiential chronicle of Nigeria’s sojourn through the backwaters of Information Technology (IT) and telecoms, to the revolution, which inspired the current global reference of its institutions, corporate entities/brands and individual skill sets.