'Investing in ICT 'll Reduce Poverty'

from All Africa

This Day (Lagos)

By Imam Imam
Lagos

In this interview, Special Adviser to Governor Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi of Zamfara State on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Engineer Garba Muhammd bares his mind on the workings of the new directorate of information and Communication Technology as well as the challenges they are facing in promoting the sector. He spoke with Imam Imam

What is the Directorate of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) all about?

Thank you. First and foremost, this directorate is one of the new directorates created by the administration of Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi to look at ways in which the government can enhance service delivery to the people. It also seeks to create ways for the implementation of the ICT policy in the state. It will also execute all ICT activities that have been acquired by the ministries and parastatals in the state.

This includes provision of internet services, capacity building for civil servants on ICT, total implementation of the e-governance project and in turn minimise paper work. The directorate will appraise and audit all ICT infrastructure on the ground in the state and integrate them into mainstream government activity to improve efficiency of running government businesses all over the state. In summary, I will say all ICT activities in the state are being regulated by the directorate.

What is the difference between information and communication?

Information Technology basically deals with the concept of global village run on the information super highway. By this, I am referring to the internet as well as satellite technology provided for the purpose of weather forecast, education and the like. Communication technology, as its definition implies, is the design and construction of communications technology that transmits information in digital form.

In other words, it is the activity of designing, constructing and maintaining communication systems. In this, we intend to network government's inter and intra communication system. For instance, we intend to import gadgets that will enable the government communicate with local government headquarters or ministries in an effective and secured manner without passing through service providers like NITEL, MTN and the like.

Should a government spend huge sums of money on ICT when majority of its citizens are living below the poverty line?

Well, that is a lay man's perspective to the issue. Government has many sectors to develop and all those sectors are geared towards improving the lots of the common man. Because there is no water in a state, does not mean the government cannot provide electricity for that given community. ICT, as it has been shown elsewhere, is a veritable tool in fighting poverty. Look at India for instance; big companies from the United States and other parts of the world go there to recruit manpower that will run the centres.

India is today the largest supplier of ICT professionals the world over. That means huge income for the government. As a matter of fact, because of the relative cheapness of their labour, big western companies have now decided to be opening shops in India so as to go closer to the raw materials, in this instance, Indian professionals. So on the long run, ICT has been used to fight poverty by creating job opportunities for millions of people. The same applies to us here. If the Gusau Digital Village becomes fully functional, it will provide job opportunities for thousands of people. Our civil servants will be more educated and the multiplier effect will be so high. In essence, investing in ICT will reduce poverty and open other avenues for people to be creative and self reliant.

One visible project associated with your directorate is the Gusau Digital Village currently under construction. What is it about?

The concept of Gusau Digital Village is an idea that emanated from the Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The FG, during the last administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, conceptualised the idea of electronic governance in running of government in the country. They then decided to set up digital villages in the six geo political zones of the country. While this was going on, he felt the need to establish the villages in three more state, bringing the number of states in the project to nine. Zamfara happens to be one of the additional three states to benefit from the gesture. The reason for this was that, the Federal Government was provided with equipment and machines to promote knowledge of ICT at the grassroots. We are the last state to benefit from the project.

The other eight states have already commenced operations. So when this directorate was created, we discovered that there was a proposal to set up the village but unfortunately it could not be implemented because of the absence of either a ministry or directorate to execute the policy. We cash in on this and immediately approached NITDA and they gave us the go ahead to provide the infrastructure and the federal government will provide the necessary equipment needed for the successful implementation of the idea. That was why we awarded the contract for the construction of the digital village here in Gusau. We had hoped that by December (2007), the entire project would be completed so that the equipment can be brought in from Abuja, but lack of budgetary provision in last year's budget delayed the project. Hopefully by March this year, we will complete everything for the consultants appointed by both NITDA and the Microsoft Corporation of USA to come and inspect and hopefully give us the go-ahead to proceed on the next stage.

How would you rate the level of ICT awareness in a state like Zamfara?

Honestly it is very low. And this is not surprising because the approach to education generally, let alone that of ICT, is such that we are not moving at the same pace as other parts of the country. Secondly, Zamfara is an agrarian state striving to meet the basic necessities of life. So we cannot run away from the fact that the world is moving ahead at a fast rate and we cannot afford to be left behind. So the government, on realising this fact, and despite numerous challenges, decided to establish this directorate and ensure that we get all the benefits available under the information and technology concept. For now, the efforts are not been seen clearly but very soon, after completing some of the projects we are having, the impact will be felt very well acrosss the length and breath of the state. At the moment, government businesses are run on manual basis and paper work, but as soon as the ICT policy fully comes on stream, no matter your location, we would be able to exchange information and pull resource for the common good.

What is happening to the Zamfara State website?

You see, these are some of the basic problems we are trying to overcome. You know the Zamfara State government has had a website for the past two or three years but we have not been able to update it to meet the requirements and objectives with which it was set up to achieve. No part of the problem has to do with cooperation from government agencies on the need to provide adequate and up to date information for general consumption. A website is not opened for fun, all government agencies and departments must ensure that the site is rich with enough information about the state either for investors or tourists or for general consumption. But unfortunately, the state website has been dormant for sometime and this is one of the first challenges we are facing. We have so far written to all government ministries and departments on the need to furnish us with their activities meant for general public. As a matter of fact we even sought the intervention of the Secretary to the State Government on the need to enforce this. We are still on this and we are expecting responses soon. If no responses come, we hope to take other measures to ensure that the site is brought back to life as soon as possible. We know getting information from government agencies is not an easy task, but I know with the determination of the government to fully utilise all avenues to market itself, it won't take time before we fully come on stream with the required data and information on the website.

The government said it plans to establish information centres in select secondary schools in the state. How far have you gone on that?

That decision is still on course. What delayed it was that there was no adequate funding provision for it in last year's budget. That has been addressed and the project will sooner than later be implemented. Similarly, you have to be acknowledge the fact that ICT as a policy is new in this state and we thought it was proper for us to start enlightening all stakeholders like members of the state executive council, the legislators and other stakeholders before venturing into schools for full project implementation. This was done because at the end of the day, whoever is going to approve anything for the sector will fully appreciate what ICT is and we hope to achieve by it. We also decided to have all structures on ground before sending equipment to those schools. We are starting with 20 schools but eventually all schools in the state will be fully mobilised for the project. In addition, all our tertiary institutions will benefit from the project so that all our graduates will be ICT compliant by the time they finish their studies. You know government is building some structures in schools across the state, once the building are completed, we will use them as our Information Centres.

Personally what do you hope to achieve in the directorate?

Well, like you know I am not an expert in ICT but I found myself doing the job. As a person, where ever you find yourself you have to leave your foot prints. Personally, I want to ensure that I lay a solid foundation for the successful take off of ICT policy in this state. The opportunities in the sector are unlimited so if we make adequate use of it, our state will be better for it. I want before the end of my time here, to ensure that all civil servants in Zamfara are not only computer literate, but if possible, they all have computers of their own. I also want to see the gradual and total implementation of the e-governance project so as to make government business less dependent on paper work. So that there will be efficiency, reliability and safety of government documents.