President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his government has been able to embrace technology in the fight against corruption and other activities aimed at enhancing public service delivery.The President, who received in audience today, January 9 at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the leadership of Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPCN) and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), said: “technology in public service delivery is no longer a luxury, but a pressing necessity.
“Already, we have seen the benefits of using technological tools for lending to farmers as well as monitoring crop performance especially in some of the more remote locations.
‘‘We also leveraged technology to fight corruption and reduce leakages and inefficiencies in public service delivery. You are all aware of the significant investments we made to upgrade our policy and military platforms as we battle pockets of insecurity in parts of the country.”
The President, who admitted that Information Technology is the driving force for social and economic change, told the professionals, led by their president, Professor Charles Uwadia, that his Government, through its actions, has demonstrated its commitment to convert these potentials to reality.
‘‘The future belongs to IT. What was unimaginable 20 years ago is a reality today. Accordingly, we have introduced numerous policies and have made substantial investments to ensure the benefits of this technology-driven age is felt by 200 million Nigerians.
‘‘Indeed, our strategy for inclusive economic growth can only be achieved by leveraging the technology tools available to us.”
President Buhari said that his government’s social investment programs are being built on technological platforms that allow the government to positively impact the lives of some of poorest members of the society.
He requested the computer body to continue to partner with Government at all levels to ensure the benefits of this tool are realised and at the same time its threats are eliminated.
In his remarks, Prof. Uwadia commended the President for demonstrating the political will to accelerate national IT development with his physical presence at the e-Nigeria conference and awards, on four consecutive occasions, over the years.
Uwadia expressed gratitude to President Buhari for appointing two seasoned professionals, Dr Isa Ibrahim Pantami and Kashifu Abdullahi as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), respectively.
‘‘Your Excellency, we the IT professionals, commend you for the immense and giant strides that your administration has made and is still making in nation-building. Within the space of the past four years, you have achieved a lot, using the instrumentality of ICT.”
