By Emeka Aginam

The Nigerian IT community will in June converge in Benin, Edo state for the fourth edition of the National Information Technology Public-Private Forum (NITPPF), organized by the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN) with the theme: Effective e-Strategies: Path to a Digital Nigeria.

A signature event of ITAN, it is being organized in collaboration with the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), the Government of Edo State, National Office for Technology Assessment and Promotion (NOTAP), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Computer Professionals’’ (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN), Galaxy Backbone Plc, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), First Bank Plc, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Digital Bridge University (DBU), and the World Bank among others.

Speaking on the need for NITPPF, the NITPPF Chairman, Dr Jimson Olufuye said, “More than 70% of the 36 states in Nigeria are grappling with decreasing revenue from Federal allocation and at the same time increasing cost of overheads, wages and emoluments with little or no fund for capital projects that could benefit the people”. States, he said are losing important revenue due to loopholes and inefficient collection of internal revenue, adding that using ICT to make government work better and smarter is the necessary pathway to prosperity and to a digital Nigeria.