Danbatta addresses 9th LaPRSC, says Nigeria and Nigerians must explore opportunities in the Digital Economy to eradicate poverty.
The Executive Vice Chairman/ CEO, Nigerian Communications
Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta on Thursday addressed the 9th Lagos
Public Relations Stakeholders’ Conference on Leadership and Poverty
Eradication.
The EVC was ably, represented at the event by Mrs Nnena
Ukoha, Head, Corporate Communications, called on Nigerians to explore
opportunities in the Digital Economy to eradicate poverty in the country.
Speaking on the topic, Poverty Eradication in Nigeria: Leveraging
Opportunities in a Digital Economy, he noted that ”For most developing
countries, particularly those with large populations, inadequate infrastructure
has made it difficult to participate as equal partners in the worldwide
enterprise of knowledge production and dissemination.
This portends an unequal distribution of access, resources
and opportunities in this new economy, the Digital Economy. To avert the birth
of a new type of poverty (Information Poverty), the ICT gap (digital divide)
between the developed and developing nations must be bridged.”
That Nigeria like most developing nations is not enjoying
the full benefits of the ICT revolution due to inadequate telecommunication
infrastructure, capacity to maintain existing infrastructure, and policies for
equitable public participation as producers and consumers of information and
knowledge.
“A nation’s development is measured in economic terms such
as per capita income, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and Gross National Product
(GNP), among other indices. Indices such as level of literacy, social
development, human capital development, cultural innovation and technological
preparedness are not regarded as a measure of development. If we must tap into
the ICT revolution, then it is time for a paradigm shift! The traditional
economic terms are not a reflection of the new age of the Digital Economy “he
said.
On efforts made by the Nigerian government, “There are
several past and ongoing efforts by the Nigerian Government to alleviate
poverty through ICT using organizations and programmes like the National
Information Technology Agency (NITDA), using the offices of the Nigerian Postal
Service (NIPOST) across the country as ICT hubs, the Universal Service
Provision Fund (USPF) to ensure that telecommunications services are accessible
to the widest number of people (and communities) at affordable prices. USPF has
poverty-reducing activities like the Community Resource Centers, USPF
Hackathon, RUBI – Rural Broadband Initiative, UnICC – University InterCampus
Connectivity, BTS – Base Transceiver Stations, IRC – Information Resource
Centres, SKC – School Knowledge Centres, and the E-Health Project. “
The EVC said that “NCC will continue to support the vision
of the present government to put Nigeria amongst the top twenty in the comity
of Nations and to align our developmental goals in keeping with the seventeen
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but particularly the goal
to eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere which is currently
measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day, by year 2030.
He listed initiatives at the NCC directly or indirectly
target poverty eradication to include;
“Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme: Transforming the
Academics: Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme for Tertiary Institutions,
ADAPTI is aimed at bridging the digital divide existing in academia with the
provision of computers and other ICT facilities to equip the lecturers and
other experts in order to improve ICT skills and also to enrich the students.
The overriding objective of this intervention has been to elicit the pervasive
application of ICT skills in academia for enhanced staff output, institutional
efficiency, and student enculturation to e-based learning for sustainable national
growth.”
“Digital Awareness Programme (DAP): this is a special
intervention programme to address the digital information knowledge gap in the
country, especially among the teeming youthful population. On the last count,
the DAP Project supports 229 Secondary Schools across the Six (6) Geopolitical
Zones of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory. The strategy in this
programme is to expose schools and colleges to Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) awareness, usage and application by facilitating access to ICT
tools by the provision of twenty one (21) Desktop Computers, Local Area
Network, Printers, Scanners, VSAT Dish and deployment of one Year Bandwidth
Subscription for Internet Access.”
“NCC- Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) Projects: Nigeria’s ICT
flagship institution, the Digital Bridge, DBI, came into existence in 2004 to
impact on the national ICT human capital building efforts by bridging the ICT
knowledge gap.”
“Frequency Auction: Contributing to National Purse: The
Nigerian telecom regulator has contributed to the Federation Account from
proceeds of frequency auctions and licensing. The frequencies auctioned, are in
turn used for the deployment of services for poverty reduction and the benefit
of the citizenry. The Commission has a clear understanding of this value chain
and is determined to uphold it. “
“Value Added Services (VAS): Telecommunication has given
birth to several value-added services that open up benefits to all cadre of
people irrespective of location and level of education. These VAS are great
channels for revenue generation. Some VAT are content development, Phone repair
network, IT device accessories sales market (phone pouches, screen covers etc),
Ringback tones, and even government agencies providing service on telecom
platform e.g NAFDAC – drug authentication code. “
On broadband and poverty , “The Nigerian National Broadband
Plan 2020–2025 (the “Broadband Plan”) devotes an entire section to targets,
strategies and roadmaps to promote pervasive broadband deployment, increased
broadband adoption, usage and availability to all at affordable prices. These
all point to government’s commitment to harmonizing and utilizing the benefits
derivable from ICT for the good of all. “
“In 2020, the latest National Broadband Plan was approved to
foster fuller economic exploitation of ICTs. This means that there will be more
pervasive deployment and usage of ICT to push the development and economic
attractiveness of the nation.”
He assured that The Federal Government of Nigeria is
committed to sustainable development of the ICT subsector for the growth of the
economy and the eradication of poverty. “This was made evident during the just
concluded Communications sector retreat where the Ministry of Communications
and the agencies under it converged to chart a five-year plan that would make
communications services, affordable, accessible, and available to all persons
in Nigeria.”
He concluded that “The credit for Nigeria’s ambitious
broadband pursuit is traced to the potentials and prospects of broadband
technology, the ease of deployment and the vast opportunities available through
it. The Commission will continue to put strategies in place to pursue last mile
deployment of broadband. This would ensure small businesses are positioned to
compete globally and communities and individuals are able to create wealth
through access to ICT.”
“By providing access to information, making markets more
efficient, fostering social inclusion, and equalizing opportunities in rural
areas, ICT offers an innovative and unprecedented tool to directly reduce
poverty.”
Other speakers at the event include; Founder and Chairman,
Heirs Holdings, Mr Tony Elumelu; Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director General,
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN); Sheila Ojei, Director Strategy,
Funding and Stakeholders Management, LSETF; The Commissioner for Women Affairs
and Poverty Alleviation, Lagos State, Mrs Cecilia Bolaji Dada and Dr Oluseye
Ajuwon, Economist and Consultant, University of Lagos.
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