By Nnamdi Ojiego
Nigeria’s computer regulatory body, the Computer Professionals Nigeria (CPN) is rooting for the deployment of IT in Nigeria’s economy. The CPN is urging for a stronger policy thrust that will enable IT to be more integrated in government processes to achieve greater speed and efficiency in delivering the benefits of governance to the people.

President and Chairman of Council Ibrahim Tizhe at the opening ceremony of the recently held CPN Information Technology Professionals Assembly in Abuja, said government has taking the right steps by creating institutions and institutional framework for bringing IT closer to governance. But he advised that there was a need to take more practical steps at actualizing the frameworks. The three days event attracted over three thousand participants from the government, academic, private and public sectors.

Also at the opening ceremony, the Registrar/Secretary of CPN, Mr. Sikiru A. Shehu, advocated for the need of a more viable and recognize IT sector that must be present in all sphere of the Nigeria economy. In nations that have recorded faster economic growth in the last few years, IT has played a major role, said Shehu while stressing the need for Nigeria to join this progressive league if it must turn around its economy.

Both Tizhe and Shehu found support in Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, Permanent Secretary Ecological Fund Office, The Presidency, Abuja. Odusote  in her presentation ‘Government-to-Government (G2G) Process Automation: Imperatives for Civil Service e-Readiness – Electronic  Governance: Matters Arising ,‘ said IT cannot be left out of any sector.

She  describes  e-Government concept  an automated information enabling system for speeding up the decision process to deliver transparent and accountable “government to government-to-business-to citizens services at all times.” Government needs to ne automated to deliver the goods more efficiently and faster to the citizens.

Odusote pointed out that studies show that only 10% of available content in bulky files are humanly accessible at a given timeframe for making decisions in government and that  Nigeria cannot be left out as we are entering into a new world where faster information processes was critical to managing people and resources.

She recommended that government should develop a special and continuous Train-the–Trainer IT programme for all government officers, automate governance and promote indigenous software at all government levels; locate a transponder out of the Nigeria communication satellite for e-Government and e-Education Infrastructure – as a bridge for knowledge and information sharing and also as repository of inter-generational knowledge warehouse.

Also she said a National Education Database Portal with e-learning/library capabilities should be made a priority infrastructure for all Nigerian schools and government should, as a matter of critical urgency set-up a National e-Government Secured Content Development and Security Machinery.

On his part, The president of Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Engr. Titi Omo-Ettu in his presentation  titled ‘The Business Opportunities  of Mobile Services’ first thanked the  CPN for its show of solidarity with ATCON. He stated that “those who do not want to or are not capable of using ICT to govern should not lead us, and that  ATCON will invite all presidential candidates to address us on how they will use ICT to govern us.”