By EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

Boko Haram and other related security issues are just because we are not applying relevant technology equipment to solve problems in the country.

That was the view of the Chairman of NITDA board, Dr. Tosin Ajayi, recently at a media parley in Abuja, organised to reposition the agency.

In his opinion, Nigeria is capable of overcoming its present security challenges if the necessary technology equipment are deployed.

He said Information Technology has become the biggest and the most fundamental   tool in the world today and that any nation that fails to leverage the power of IT or that is not vast in it in tackling its problems, especially in the area of security is not going to make progress.

As part of its mandate, he revealed that the agency had decided to reposition itself and restrategise  to enable it tackle insecurity in the country using the tool of information technology.

“IT has become the biggest and the most fundamental tool in the world today. Any nation that is not leveraging on it or that is not vast in its usage,is not going to make progress.

“It is not something we have a choice about; it is not something we can do without. It is a must for a country like Nigeria, especially considering the prevailing circumstances we are facing now.

He stressed the need for Nigeria to adopt the use of IT in all sectors of the economy, arguing that the 21st century man is set on improving his life through the information technology.

For him, knowledge remained the most important element of Information Technology, that must be used to equip the Nigerian populace.

“The 21st century man is set on improving what he is doing, his living, work and  security through the use of information technology. However, the most important thing in IT is not the equipment but the knowledge base. From the beginning, mankind has always relied on knowledge to solve his security and health problems. So, if we do not employ IT in tackling our security challenges, we are not going to improve in all sectors.

“The biggest asset human being has is his brain and when he uses his brain, he uses technology to store it.   And that is when he can be able to perform better, even in security.

“So, when we talk about security,it is when we begin to promote IT , data, programming and other processes that are easy to use, that we can say we are making use of the right knowledge.

This is not the time to rely on physical strength but a time to use more of our brain.

What this board has decided to do is to change the structure of NITDA to be able to change the entire system from brawn to brain,” he ad