…Saves N3bn on single IT cleared project

By Emmanuel Elebeke

Barely one week after President Buhari took a swipe at the level government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs spend money on foreign ICT procurements, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has swung into action, by blocking all duplicative procurements in all MDAs.

Buhari

The efforts according to NITDA have saved the Federal Government up to N3billion, even as it promises to block other leakages that have deprived the government of revenue and make procurement activities of MDAs a mockery.

This is coming amid growing concerns about the mismanagement of huge investment of public funds on IT Projects in ministries, departments and agencies of government.

President Muhammadu Buhari, had  while declaring open the opening ceremony of this year’s e-Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition called for strict compliance to the IT project’s clearance  directive of his government.

He charged that all government establishments must ensure that ICT procurements are transparent, align  with government’s IT  shared  vision and policy, save costs through promotion of shared services, avoid duplication, ensure interoperability and improve efficiency across government circles.

He however charged relevant regulatory agencies to enforce the patronage of indigenous companies where capacity exist thus fostering digital economy through effective regulation and local content development as well as uphold the highest standards for service delivery.

Although Buhari commended NITDA’s efforts at enforcing Federal Government’s directive on endorsing all ICT projects before they are implemented, he also charged them to do more.

Apparently spurred by that huge responsibility, NITDA last week threatened to wield the big stick on any government agencies that fail to adopt the .gov.ng domain in the transaction of all government businesses.

While warning against continued disregard to the use of .gov.ng domain, the agency said henceforth, it would ensure strict compliance with the directive by ensuring that all government business transactions are strictly carried out on the Country Code Top Level Domain of the Nigerian government (ccTLD.ng).

Director General of the agency Dr. Isa Ibrahim  Pantami said “the management had put in place measures to ensure that all government MDAs both in Federal, State, and Local Governments, operate within the .gov.ng.

These measures include: ensuring that all request for .gov.ng domain are verified and approved within 24hours provided all conditions are met; provision of a Special Purpose 24/7 mobile phone number for responses to enquiries and technical support; regular evaluation of government websites in collaboration with relevant agencies of the government; and blacklisting of all MDA sites running on Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD), other than the .gov.ng.

So far, the country loses approximately N1.52trillion ($3.8bn) every year through importation of ICT products, services and software.

Earlier this year, Pantami had expressed worry that if the trend continued, Nigeria would be spending $143.8bn on ICT imports in 2019.

He promised: ‘’we want to solve the problems bordering on local content in the ICT sector in the country. We are not happy at all that Nigeria loses so much on importation of IT products and services as well as software. Approximately, $2.8billion are being lost annually from importation of ICT goods and services, including $1bn spent also annually on importation of software into the country. This is huge; if we don’t act quickly to reduce this, the survival of our local industry will be at risk.

“I realised this is the best way to fight corruption in Nigeria. Most of the MDAs insert IT projects in their budgets not because they need it, but because it is the easiest way to circumvent the questions of Senators or House of Representatives at the National Assembly’’, he added.