TECHDIGEST – The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Alli Isa Pantami, has urged state governments to create a ministry of digital economy in order to boost economic growth.

Pantami stated this in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, yesterday, during a courtesy visit on Governor Seyi Makinde in appreciation of his decision to host the ongoing 10th National Council on Communication and Digital Economy in Ibadan.

The Minister, who was hosted at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, appreciated Governor Makinde for his support to the session and to encourage the state to establish a ministry of digital economy.

He affirmed that digital economy had contributed significantly to economic growth, job creation as well as increase in the revenue generation of the federation than any other sector and cannot be left under another ministry.

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The minister who further said that Federal Government will implement key policies from the memorandum submitted after the 10th General meeting, revealed that Oyo Sate was selected in order to maintain the tradition of extending sense of belongings to every zones of the country.

“We have shown that the digital economy can greatly support the traditional economy. The contribution of the digital economy to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria and its role in making the economy resilient to adverse events like the COVID-19 pandemic are two good examples of the impact of the digital economy on the traditional economy.”

“It is quite important because our nation Nigeria is at a point where it is evolving into one of the nations that will in the next couple of years be regarded as one of the leading digital economies in the world.”

“This is the desire of the Ministry and President Muhammadu Buhari that all agencies under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, private sector and stakeholder companies are working towards Nigeria’s digital Economy.”

“Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are seen as the main enablers of realising some, if not all, of SDGs such as ending hunger through Agrictech, no poverty through ICT, good health among others,” he said.

Responding, Governor Seyi Makinde, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, disclosed that his administration understood that ICT was critical to the progress and impact it desired to make since its inception in 2019.

He revealed that his administration was aware that investing in digital economy was important to expanding the state’s economy, which is one of its strategic points, and had put policies and framework on ICT in place by digitising all processes in the state.

Makinde affirmed that his administration would take note of what could be done about creating a ministry of digital economy, as requested by the minister, because it is clear that ICT is the future.

Source: Vanguardngr.com

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TECHDIGEST – Nigeria’s revived automobile industry has a new innovative mini car designed to be affordable and resilient enough to withstand infrastructural challenges particularly rough roads.

The locally developed Bajaj Qute cars resulted from the collaboration between the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and Vasco Technology Solutions Limited (also known as Africar).

The Bajaj Qute cars were officially launched into the market recently in Ibadan. All modeled for ride hailing services, the new vehicles built in Lagos by the Stallion Group, are expected to improve transportation first in Oyo state and then across Nigeria as it increases in production and market-acceptance.

READ ALSO: Senate Passes Nigeria Start-up Bill

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, described the Stallion Group as a “home-grown conglomerate adding value to the nation’s economy for the past 52 years.”

He lauded Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde for creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurship to thrive and assured that the federal government will continue to support states to drive the national economy in the area of local manufacturing.

“The environment you have created is enabling the likes of Africar,” the minister added.

The Director General of the NADDC Mr. Jelani Aliyu, MFR, was represented by the Director, Industrial Infrastructure Department, Dr. Nua Omisanya, in delivering a welcome address at the launching of AFRICAR held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on 4th, April, 2022.

Africar is a modern ride hailing service with dedicated vehicles and the Bajaj Qute cars will further strengthen its growth.

According to the CEO of Africar, Mr. Sahil Vaswani, all of the cars being used for the project are assembled in Lagos at the Stallion Group’s manufacturing plant.

“This car is assembled in Nigeria by Nigerians and is environmentally friendly, with 50% lower carbon emissions than the average car” said Vaswani.

Also speaking during the unveiling of the vehicles, Director General of the NADDC, Jelani Aliyu, said the mini-buses are benchmarked on international standards and are part of government’s overall vision to make Nigeria a hub for automotive manufacturing technology in Africa.

“NADDC continues its unwavering dedication to the support of local automotive production, and also continues to promote some of the latest technologies being developed,” said Aliyu. He was at the Ibadan launch by represented by the Director, Industrial Infrastructure Department, Dr. Nua Omisanya.

According to Aliyu, the NADDC has worked tirelessly to ensure growth and sustainability of the Nigerian automotive industry so as to enhance the sector’s contribution to the national gross domestic product (GDP).

Source: ITedgenews 

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TECH DIGEST – Governor Seyi Makinde, in a statement Saturday, suggested that the federal government’s action against Twitter was not well thought out.

Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, has asked the federal government to reverse the suspension of Twitter’s operations in the country.

Mr Makinde, in a statement Saturday, said that the federal government’s action was an ’emotional reaction’ and not well thought out.

As leaders, the governor said, “We should go beyond emotional reactions to issues and think about how our actions will affect the people we lead and our international ratings socially and economically.”

“Twitter has become the platform for young people and indeed all Nigerians to exercise their fundamental right to express and publish an opinion.

“They use the platform to complain, argue and give feedback to the government and its agencies who in turn, use these to improve policies,” he added

This, he said, is a fundamental point that should be kept in mind as we debate the necessity of this suspension.

“We should also remember that Twitter has gone beyond a source of communication for many of our hardworking youths in Nigeria. It has become a source of livelihood for many, irrespective of their political affiliations or religious leanings. Nigerian youths and digital communications organisations earn a living from being able to use the platform to post communications on behalf of their clients,” the governor added.

“Others who may not have physical stores also rely on Twitter to give visibility to their products and services.

“Furthermore, I believe the Federal Government should be actively interested in how certain policies and actions will affect investor confidence. I, therefore, use this medium to appeal to the Federal Government to reverse this suspension for the greater good of Nigerians,” Mr Makinde said.

The ban

Thehe Nigeria government on Friday announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operations, saying its activities are “capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”

The decision came barely 48 hours after Twitter deleted a controversial post by President Muhammadu Buhari referencing the country’s civil war, and threatening those who attack government buildings “with the language they understand.”

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Mr Buhari warned in the tweet that was taken down.

After condemning the deletion of the post by Twitter, the government on Friday then announced the suspension of the social media platform in Nigeria.

By Saturday morning, the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), an industry group, confirmed it had received a directive from the government to suspend access to Twitter across the country. ALTON said its members have implemented the directive.

Many Nigerians and since condemned the government’s action.

Twitter said in a statement on Friday that it was investigating the “deeply concerning” suspension of operations, and would “provide updates when we know more.”

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TECH DIGEST – The Oyo State Government says it has begun its quest to build a digital economy through massive deployment of ICT infrastructure and digital skills training for civil servants in the state.

The Special Assistant to the State Governor on ICT and E-governance, Mr Adebayo Akande, was quoted in a statement as saying that the massive deployment of ICT infrastructure had led to the digitisation of many government services in the last two years of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration.

“In the last two years, we have also rolled out data warehousing and data infrastructure in Oyo state where all Government data and documentation will be domiciled and accessed in real-time,” he said.

He added that the state government had also commenced the process of digitising all paper files for complete business process automation while implementing an Open Contracting Data Standard and e-procurement platform for efficient contracting transparency and online procurement.

Akande disclosed that the state had also carried out biometric registration and verification of all government workers, pensioners, and ad-hoc staff.

The Chief Executive Officer of Presto Integrated Solutions, Mr Chris Okafor, was quoted as saying, “The future-oriented and visionary government of Seyi Makinde deemed it fit to set up a fibre optic network all over the Oyo state secretariat to enhance staff productivity and efficiency.”

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