By Emeka Aginam

INDIGENOUS software makers have frowned at federal government’s plan to use an estimated $2.8bn to import software into the country annually.

•Software

They said such humongous amount, which equals four percent of the country’s 2017 budget, is an outrageous expenditure for services that can easily be acquired locally.

They based their stand on the submission of the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim, who revealed that Nigeria spends about $2.8 billion annually on importation of information and communications technology, ICT, goods and services, at the 2017 Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, ISPON, Presidential Dinner held in Lagos.

NITDA, through its former acting director general, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, who represented the DG, said it is committed to the local content policy and would see to the reduction of such capital flight by reversing the trend to ensure that the local software sector is protected.

Despite this, local software makers insist that the country may remain a digital colony of developed nations unless the government pays attention to local capacity. Olatunji said, “government should declare a state of emergency on Nigeria’s software sector and establish a N100 billion litmus package as bailout for strategic national software development ecosystem.”

One time President of ISPON and now director general of Delta State Innovation hub, Mr. Chris Uwaje, cited the dangers digital colonization of the country would bring, stressing; “the only way to ensure that the economy and national security will not continue to dwindle, would be to enthrone critical legislations and huge funding for the IT and software sectors.”

Uwaje said, “Through a short sighted policy such as huge software importation, a nation may wake-up to realize that it has been digitally colonized. The resultant effect of this probability will seriously impact on future generations to come. In my candid opinion, this digital colony issue will one day become the critical heart of the matter in the emerging Information Society.

“It simply means that the entire life, culture and sovereignty of a nation and her citizenry have been unknowingly traded off and taken over by IT-smart minds, powerful and knowledge-centered information forces around the globe. It will not only be national election process take-over, but education, communication, financial, economic, government, culture, entertainment and social take-over. This will complete the fearful process of the anticipated life and knowledge lock-in syndrome.”

Uwaje warmed that Nigeria must wake up and urgently establish a National IT framework bill to enact laws on protection of Software-Nigeria and the establishment of a National Software Board, as well as the creation of the office of the IT General of the Federation.

In his address, ISPON President, Mr. James Emadoye, said digital colonization will continue unless government is committed to buy Nigerian products, apply Nigerian content, and consume Nigerian content. His words, “We must urgently embrace Software-Nigeria to change the tides and repackage our way of life. The oil which has turned us to the proverbial prodigal son status of the bible is fast depleting and countries that had patronized our oil in the past have turned their backs on us.”