By Emeka Aginam

By  the time the IT professionals assembly 2012  under the aegis of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria, (CPN) wound up in Abuja last week, it was obvious that the dust on the name to be given to the Communication Ministry is yet to settle.

Major concern among leading voices in the Nigerian IT industry was that the Ministry of Communication Technology should be renamed  Information and Technology Ministry to reflect convergence.

Although  the Ministry of Communication Technology  was created after years of clamour by IT professionals, experts in the IT industry who spoke to Vanguard  Hi-Tech during the event noted without mincing words that the name which excluded ‘Information’ was not appealing to members of the profession.

Many IT professionals who had canvassed for the creation of a CIT  Ministry  had earlier noted strongly that  the ministry must be created so that government can take IT issues more seriously so as to take IT sector to the next level.

Excluding IT from Ministry’s name is confusing
President/Chairman of Council, Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria, (CPN) Ibrahim Tizhe in his welcome address at the event  called on the Federal Government to change the name of the ministry to Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

*Communication Technology Minister, Omobola Johnson

“I wish to remind this Assembly that the agitation for creation of a ministry to take care of information technology and related matters which culminated in the creation of Ministry of Communication Technology was initiated and sustained by IT professionals over the past two decades.

Excluding IT could be confusing:
“Therefore, while respecting the wisdom of government and thanking it for creating the Ministry of Communication Technology, it is still our humble opinion that this Ministry be renamed Ministry of Communication and Information technology, as excluding  Information, yet claiming that it is a part could be confusing.

“Gratefully, government set up a Committee shortly after the Assembly look into the matter with a view to coming up with a road map for the implementation of IT for national development.

“I wish to further remind you that during the 2011 Assembly, I told this gathering that among the recommendations made by the committee was the creation of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology notwithstanding the fact that the professionals have been agitating for Ministry of Information Technology, and perhaps in it wisdom created the Ministry of  Communication Technology.

“To this effect, many representations were made by CPN and highly placed and respected members of the profession to government  at various levels for renaming of the Ministry to give it a sense of belonging to the members of this profession as the what is in the name syndrome is not application in this case” he added.

IT conveys convergence
For Prof. Charles Uwadia who was among the leading voices that clamored for the creation of the new Ministry noted strongly that the  position of IT professionals remain that the Ministry should be Information Technology.

On why the Ministry should be called Information Technology, Uwadia argued that because IT subsumes Computing and Communications. “IT conveys the message of convergence more appropriately” , he said.

The acronym ICT  is  misnomer:
Lending voice to the issue, CEO of Sigma-Beta Alpha Limited, Mr. Tunde Ejichi, told Vanguard Hi-Tech that the issue bordering on the name the Ministry should be called has not been settled ,adding that the acronomy ICT is a misnomer.
According to him, based on convergence and best practice, the Ministry should be called IT Ministry and not Communication Technology.

“Let us call it a proper name. IT is applied science and not ICT. When  we talk of information activity, it is storage, transfer, retrieval. IT is the thing and not ICT. People have been so used to Communication ministry. When we say IT Ministry , people said that  it is confusing. Ministry of Communication Technology  should not be the name because of convergence issue.

“What we have said and are still saying is that it should be called Ministry of Information Technology. Rename it IT Ministry,” he explained.

Similarly, the  earlier position of Dr. Jimson  Olufuye, the Chairman of African  ICT Alliance  and Vice President of WITSA was not different from others who have thrown their weight behind renaming it Ministry of IT.

“What we are saying is the issue of convergence. We have looked at other markets around the world. We have to look at best practices. Creation of Communication and Information Technology Ministry should be the proper thing the government should do. That is what we have said before. That is what we are still saying.”