In a determined move to harness opinions from stakeholders to help in fashioning the future for the Nigerian Communications industry, Communications Minister, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, is hosting a two-day retreat in the ancient city of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, where industry operators, leaders and regulators will brainstorm.
Leading the government delegation to the retreat, Shittu will be supported by chief executive officers of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Communication Satellite (NigComSat), Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and Galaxy Backbone, as well as the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), all agencies of the communications ministry.
In a statement announcing the retreat, Special Assistant on Media to the minister, Mr. Victor Oluwadamilare, stated that the two-day retreat has the theme: ‘Repositioning the Nigeria Communications Sector as the Key Driver of the Nigerian Economy.’
Holding at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan on Friday 22 and Saturday 23, January 2016 Oluwadamilare said the retreat is as a result of Shittu’s “avowed determination to reposition the Communications Sector in tandem with the Change Agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, since assumption of duties as Minister of Communications, had embarked on various inquisitions and fact-finding exercises.”
According to him, “it was discovered that considerable efforts made in the past to mainstream ICT into vital aspects of life in the country, have unfortunately been undermined by the lack of an integrated framework for utilisation of ICT for socio-economic development.”
The statement went on: “In the ensuing scenario, the Minister of Communications had to re-examine the status quo ante in order to formulate new strategies for doing things differently so as to fast track the realisation of the vision of a new Nigeria, hence the all-inclusive retreat.
“Towards this end, the 2016 Communications Sector Retreat was designed to achieve among others: Define a Strategic Roadmap for Government on ICT; Provide a Common Platform for Sector Stakeholders to Share Common Vision for ICT development in Nigeria and to form a precursor for the Minister to unveil his vision for the ICT sector that will be beneficial to all.”
Oluwadamilare underscored Shittu’s expectations and direction in the ensuing initiative as leading to “job creation, revenue generation, efficient service delivery and infrastructural development.”
While Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, will declare the retreat open on the first day, Shittu will deliver the keynote address, according to the statement with technical papers also scheduled to be delivered by various experts including ICT Local Content and Innovation for Employment Generation; Accelerating Wealth and Job Creation in Nigeria through ICT Skills and Capacity Development; Economic Diversification: Increasing Government Revenue from the ICT Sector and Repositioning NIPOST for Enhanced Revenue Generation and Efficient Service Delivery.
Others papers will dwell on Creating Enabling Environment for ICT Development; Enhancing Policy Framework for Accelerated ICT Infrastructure Development and Leveraging on the e-Government Master Plan for Efficient, Effective and Transparent Governance.
Oluwadamilare said the retreat “is expected to draw over 300 industry stakeholders and policy makers to the ancient City of Ibadan, the first of its kind in the history of the Ministry.”