By Nnamdi Ojiego
If submissions by different stakeholders in the ICT sector can be depended upon, there could be a possible ICT panacea for the recurrent and rising wave of kidnaping and other related crimes after deliberations at the proposed stakeholders’ summit on Information and Communications Technology in National Security Emergency to hold September this year.

The summit, according to the organisers, has received the endorsement of well_meaning Nigerians at home and abroad who seem to agree that the proposed summit would stem the tide..

Flaunting a letter of endorsement by stakeholders to the summit, spokesperson of the organisers, Mr Godwin Morgan of Garmnet Communications, said there was no further proof that the summit would be a success when industry stakeholders like JACITAD, ATCON, ALTON, DSA NIG and a host of others were throwing their weight behind it.

According to him, the apex telecom industry association in Nigeria, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said the initiative deserves commendation, endorsement and support as it has great potentials to facilitate the efforts of national security forces in combating crimes and making Nigeria a safe, attractive and preferred investment destination for the international community.
He noted also that the director, Digital Sense Africa (DSA) , Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, also endorsed the initiative and announced the agreement of DSA to partner with other collaborating organizations in actualizing the laudable goals of the summit. Citing national and public interests as the driving force for supporting the initiative, Nweke said it has become embarrassing that Nigerians now live with kidnapping scare when we have advanced digital options to turn the tide against criminals in our society as it is the case in advanced countries of the world.

She called on ICT industry players to team up and evolve appropriate digital networking that will assist the federal and state governments fight crimes effectively in our society.

Morgan also noted that in commenting on the initiative, President, Joint Action Committee on ICT Awareness & Development (JACITAD), Prince Osuagwu, had admitted that the summit was a welcome development and confirmed that his committee was working with the ICT sector to ensure the success of the summit leading to the implementation of an integrated ICT_based security network across the country.

He was quoted as saying that in recent times, Nigerian journalists have become targets of hired killers and kidnappers, recollecting the incident involving four journalists kidnaped in Abia state, who later regained their freedom last June, Osuagwu was said to have asserted that it would not have taken the mobilization of almost the whole of Nigeria’s security forces to Abia state to search for the kidnaped journalists and their kidnapers, if Nigeria had developed modern surveillance and monitoring technologies that would have captured and replayed footages of the criminals’ movements.

Osuagwu further observed that even the ICT sector operators have been victims of criminal activities in the society. He said that “Operators often complain of vandalized equipment, youths’ hostilities in some communities, theft of machines and equipment, etc. and these incidences affect business operations adversely.

So if we now come together and plan how to develop a national ICT_enabled security system, it will be easier to monitor, detect and arrest these criminals and make Nigeria a secured and safe place to do business. Everybody will be happy at the end of the day”.

Meanwhile other concerned Nigerians in the diaspora firmly believe the planned technology intervention will reduce the level of insecurity in the country. Dr. Clifford Maxwell, a London_based telecom expert said the move by the ICT sector in Nigeria is commendable as it will help stem the increasing rate of criminal activities that almost returned Nigeria to the dark age. He said that in advanced countries, technology has made homeland policing much easier because footprints of criminals can be traced to their doorsteps leading to arrests. He insisted that Nigeria cannot be recording advancements in the ICT sector yet the government at federal and state levels display helplessness in fighting crime and corruption in Nigeria..

Also, speaking in support of the planned summit, Patrick Edemson, international coordinator of Nigeria Advancement Alliance (NAA), a US_based interest group, described the initiative as a positive step in the right direction. He pledged the support of his group to ensuring the success of the initiative in anyway possible. Recounting the experience of a member of the group who narrowly escaped the bullets of armed gangsters when he visited Nigeria last December year, Edemson said the Nigerian government needs to develop a strong political will and a deep sense of vision to fight crimes in the country so that foreign investors can come to Nigeria and help in developing the economy. He lamented that most Nigerians in the diaspora who would have loved to come home and invest, are worried about the hostile environment informed by the unabated kidnappings and unresolved assassination cases.

Nigeria is currently embarking on SIM card registration as a security measure to check criminal use of telephones in Nigeria. This summit hopes to further extend the scope of ICT interventions in the current national security emergency.