The Nigerian government is still not close to full exploitation of the potentials of e-governance to deliver its activities and programmes.
Recently, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) organised a workshop for Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of government Ministries, Department, and Agencies.
According to TechEconomy, the workshop is meant to boost the capacity of the chief executives towards adopting e-government strategies to deliver their individual mandates, while also looking into reducing the rate of failure for ICT projects.
“Nigeria needs to adopt the use of ICT for the country to be transformed, citizens to be engaged, right to be protected and institutions to be strengthened,” NITDA Director General, Isa Ali Pantami said.
He further stated that the success of the present administration depends on its ability to deliver.
But it’s not just about the current administration, it’s more about embracing a strategy that’s sustainable into the future — the application of information and communication technology.
There have been attempts by various federal authorities to drive home the adoption of e-governance to help with service delivery among others. And one of such attempts was an initiative by NITDA to have every government website registered on the gov.ng domain.
But agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission among others are not even on Nigeria’s country code top-level domain — ng. And activities at some government agencies are still basically a pen-and-paper affair.
With the rapid change in the world, Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in riding on the power of ICT to service its citizenry. There’s the need for strong willpower and commitment for a successful implementation of e-governance strategies on the part of the government.
We can’t overlook the potential of digital strategies on public service delivery.
Implementation is key and that’s where the focus should be. The government, like businesses, needs to adopt and implement digital strategies to be more people-focused.
