TECHDIGEST – The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, has said that the Federal Government will not relent in its efforts towards promoting digital innovation and entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths.

The minister gave the assurance on Tuesday while commissioning an Information Technology (IT) Innovation Centre named after President Muhammadu Buhari in Katsina State.

He insisted that doing so would make the youths become job providers and contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy.

Pantami said the world economy had moved from being dominated by those in the oil and gas sector to those in Information and Communication Technology.

According to him, the ambition of the Federal Government is to have individuals and institutions that would attain greatness and wealth through IT.

“Nigeria needs to create a conducive environment and mentorship that would encourage talented youths in the IT sector. This informed the federal government’s decision to build the IT centre in Katsina State.

“Digital Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship are the prerequisites for the digital economy.

“Leading nations today in Europe, Switzerland, Asia, South Korea and the United States that excel in digital innovation and digital entrepreneurship have a strong economy.

“Nigeria cannot and should not be left behind.

“That is why this kind of IT hub was built where our youths’ needs in IT would be monitored.

“We shall continue to mentor them so that they will end up being job providers and successful IT individuals such as Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates of this world.

“A centre like this will help the federal and the state governments to discover our talented youths and mentor them so that they will become job providers and contribute to the nation’s economy,’’ he said.

Speaking at the event, Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State also assured that the state would continue to encourage youths to embrace IT.

The governor said the newly commissioned IT hub would be put into good use under the state Institute of Science and Technology. (NAN)

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TECHDIGEST – The Katsina State Government says it will lift the ban on telecommunication services in the remaining seven affected local government areas (LGAs) before January 2021.

The governor, who disclosed this during a media parley with journalists on Tuesday in Katsina, urged residents to do their best to protect their areas from bandit attacks.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that recently the state government lifted the ban on telecommunication services in 10 out of the 17 LGAs in the state which hitherto suffered from banditry.

He commended the efforts of all security agencies, especially vigilance groups, for fighting bandits.

Masari noted that the vigilantes travel from one community to another with the aim of protecting the communities.

The governor also advised people to defend their communities and to also give the securities all the necessary support, especially by providing them with correct information on criminals.

The governor urged the people in the various communities to support the local vigilance groups with the necessary weapons so that they could defend them in the event of any attack.

NAN also recalls that recently the governor said that banditry must be defeated collectively across the affected northern states before 2023 when the tenure of the various administrations will come to an end.

The governor, who gave the assurance while signing the state’s 2022 approved appropriation bill, said no going back in the fight against bandits.

According to him, the bandits are well known in their communities and should be fished out.

“We must prepare to fight back as individuals, to fight the bandits because they are evil and they represent evil. We should not retreat in this fight.

“We took over under serious threat of security in 2015, and by God’s grace we will not handover this country to the next generation of leaders under this condition. We must restore normalcy.

“We inherited the government with the security challenges and we must end it and handover the state to our successors without the same problem.

“We must control and dominate our environment.

“There are two advantages that we have, numbers and technology. When you put the two together, we will restore normalcy. It is not beyond us to do that,” Masari said. (NAN)

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TECHDIGEST – The National Communications Commission (NCC) has refuted a social media story claiming that the commission had ordered telecom service providers to shut down their services in Katsina state.

Alhaji Abdu Labaran, the Director-General (DG) media to Gov. Aminu Masari disclosed this in a statement issued to newsmen on Monday, in Katsina.

The DG added that the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who spoke to the state government, dismissed the story as false.

“He added that the purported letter trending on social media was a cloned version of the one sent to Zamfara State.” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the NCC had in a recent letter ordered a total shutdown of telecom sites in Zamfara state, in reaction to the lingering security challenges.

According to Labaran, Danbatta had advised that the trending news suggesting a similar action would be effected in Katsina state should be disregarded, as it did not emanate from the commission. (NAN)

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