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Minister harps on ICT for productivity in public service

Minister harps on ICT for productivity in public service

ICT
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, Aug. 27, 2019 (NAN) The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Senator Omotayo Alasoadura, has called for leveraging of Information Communications and Technology (ICT) as a tool to enhance productivity and improve public service delivery.

Alasoadura made this call at the opening of the Nigeria Public Sector Productivity and Innovation Summit, organised by the National Productivity Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.

He noted that with ICT, there would be an efficient and effective public service delivery, which would be proactive in developing, exploring, adopting and deploying emerging technologies that meet today’s needs.

He noted that the productivity and the efficiency needs of the public sector cannot be over-emphasised, saying it was a thing of pride that the Federal Government was at the front burner for facilitating innovation for change.

“Powerful software, applications, digital tools and smart connections are now complementing what we used to have to bring greater output to the lap of users.

“While most of these developments are focused on the private sector, the public sectors should not be left behind.

“You can imagine how it will look like to regulate banks and other businesses with technology-oriented business models, if the government is lacking in technology that can deliver monitoring, regulatory and oversight responsibilities.

“It is therefore imperative for the public sector to be proactive in developing, exploring, adopting and deploying emerging technologies that meet today’s needs and anticipates the future,’’ the minister said.

While commending efforts of the Federal Ministry of Communications, and some of its parastatal agencies, he noted that with the provisions of E-Government policy in Nigeria, digital literacy would be attained.

Alasoadura expressed hope that the summit would deepen the analysis of key issues around e-government and provide more concrete policy recommendations and roadmap for actionable strategies for good governance in the country.

Earlier, the Director General, National Productivity Centre, Dr Kashim Akor, said the centre was charged with the mandate to accelerate socio-economic growth and development through productivity improvement in all sectors of the economy.

According to him, this is done by stimulating productivity consciousness, monitoring productivity trends, and research into productivity problems.

This, he added was done through building the capacities and skills of personnel, processes and systems of organisations to enhance productivity.

Akor said through several initiatives, programmes and interventions, the centre seeks to help players in the private and public sectors to achieve more that will led to sustainable output and growth.

The D-G said the centre had keyed into the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration, with an overall goal of driving efficiency and transparency in all ministries, departments and agencies.

“It is therefore fitting and right at this time that this summit would leverage on e-government as a vehicle for increasing productivity and improving public service delivery,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the summit is premeditated on the need to leverage Science, Technology and Innovation to build a knowledge-based economy and to improve efficiency of service delivery in the Nigerian public service. (NAN)
TAK/KOLE/AFA
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Edited by Remi Koleoso/Felix Ajide

Metro

Centre says Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind in ICT innovation

Centre says Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind in ICT innovation

Innovation

By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, Aug. 27, 2019 (NAN) The Director-General, National Productivity Centre, Dr Kashim Akor, has said that Nigeria must key into the e-Government Master Plan of the Federal Government to enhance productivity in all sectors of the society.

Akor spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN), on the sidelines of the Nigeria Public Sector Productivity and Innovation Summit in Abuja on Tuesday.

He described e-government as the use of ICT by governments to enhance the quality of information and services provided to citizens, businesses, civil society organisations, and other government agencies in an efficient, cost-effective and convenient manner.

According to him, the world is currently being driven by technology and Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind if it must increase growth, development and innovation in public service delivery.

“The whole world now is technology-driven, Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind; productivity is key as far as growth is concerned. In every sector, both private and public, you need productivity, so we must look for various tools and techniques to improve productivity.”

He said that the e-Government Policy of the Federal Government, which was in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, would put Nigeria back on track for sustainable growth.

He added that the e-government policy implementation would improve quality of life of citizens as it would enhance national competitiveness, facilitate market economy, promote participatory democracy, and improve transparency in the public sector.

“One thing that the last economic recession taught the country is that the economy can be shattered when it is predictable and less-diversified, especially since no economic productivity can work without innovation,” he said.

Akor highlighted ICT innovations to include Treasury Single Account and Bank Verification Number, saying that the two innovations were part of the success stories targeted at changing the narratives of economic development and reducing financial leakages.

“The innovations have remarkably cut costs, time and logistics usually put to use when conducting such transactions in the past.

“They have also freed up a lot of resources hitherto employed wastefully, both on the part of government and private economic actors.”

The director-general said that driving government business on the internet and other ICT platforms had been made possible, faster, flexible and  cheaper.

NAN reports that the summit is premeditated on the need to leverage science, technology and innovation to build a knowledge-based economy and to improve efficiency of service delivery in the Nigerian public service. (NAN)
TAK/KOLE/ETS
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Edited by Remi Koleoso and Ephraims Sheyin

Health

Corruption: NYSC adopts ICT strategies

Corruption: NYSC adopts ICT strategies
By Yashim Katurak
Corruption
Abuja, March 25, 2019 (NAN) The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says ICT driven initiatives introduced by the scheme in the last few years in a bid to clamp down on corrupt practices has been yielding results.
Maj.-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, the NYSC Director-General, made this known in Abuja on Monday at the opening ceremony of a Leadership and Anti-corruption Sensitisation Workshop at the NYSC Headquarters.
The workshop is organised by the scheme in collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Abuja Civic Leadership Centre (ACLC).
Kazaure said that driven by the organisation’s zero tolerance for corruption, the bio-metric clearance system for corps members introduced by the scheme had eliminated any chance of compromise by officials.
He said that the system had also eliminated loopholes which allowed corps members to absent themselves or abscond from the service.
The director-general said that registration of prospective corps members by proxy at orientation camps had stopped due to the introduction of ICT driven initiative.
“Driven by our zero tolerance for corruption, the scheme has in recent years evolved internal mechanism for promoting transparency in the conduct of our operations.
“The scheme’s bio-metric clearance system now ensures only deserving corps members receive monthly and other statutory allowances.
“Management has also deployed ICT solutions to make our mobilisation process seamless and prevent mobilisation of unqualified persons.
“Recent innovations by the scheme also include an application that will enable registrars of corps producing institutions to verify the data uploaded by their students’ Affairs Officers thereby eliminating sharp practices.
“The self posting procedure introduced by the scheme which gives prospective corps member a choice from four states option has reduced the pressure from the general public seeking preferential deployment for their children and wards,’’ Kazaure said.
He said the sensitisation workshop was organised to educate NYSC officers who would not only imbibe good leadership qualities but help to enthrone a culture of transparency and accountability for the scheme at all levels.
He said that with the present administration’s stand against corruption, the scheme had made effort and continued to strive to sustain a tradition of transparency in governance.
The Acting EFCC Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, in his key note address decried the increasing rate of youth involvement in cyber and financial crimes just to earn money and live on the fast lane.
Magu, represented by the Mr Osita Nwaja, the EFCC Head of Public Affairs, said that presently, the demographic of advance fee and internet fraud suspects comprised mostly of young people from the ages of 18 to 30.
The chairman said that most of these suspects were undergraduates operating from campuses of tertiary institutions across the country.
“The question we must ask is why are young people attracted to financial crimes? Many consider recourse to Advance Fee Fraud and internet fraud as an escape from poverty.
“With the high rate of unemployment among the youth especially graduates of the nation’s tertiary institutions, financial crimes especially advance fee fraud and cyber crimes have become avenues to earn a living by young people.
“Once we were a people that valued hard work, once we were a country with strong moral pedigree where adherents of all the religions frowned against covetousness, stealing and other vices,” Magu said.
He said that the commission would continue to aggressively pursue the objective of public sensitisation and re-orientation in the fight against corruption.
Magu said that he however remained skeptical that these efforts were sufficient to completely address the challenge of misplaced values in Nigeria.
The workshop was organised to sensitise NYSC staff on leadership and anti-corruption issues as the organisation remained at the forefront of Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade. (NAN)
KRY/GOM/MST
Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Science & Technology

NCC set to eliminate substandard mobile devices in Nigeria

NCC set to eliminate substandard mobile devices in Nigeria

By Constance Imasuen
NCC
Abuja, March 10, 2019 (NAN) The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it will soon eliminate the use of substandard mobile devices in the country.
It frowned at the importation and marketing of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices, saying approved phone list are on its website.
NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr Nnamadi Nwokike, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Nwokije said that the NCC worried by the continuous proliferation of substandard mobile phones and devices in the country, had again advised telecom consumers to eschew patronage and usage of counterfeit handsets and other substandard mobile devices.
He said that the commission made its position known at a one-day event tagged: “Sensitisation Programme on Hazardous Effect of Non-type Approved Handsets and Impact on Quality of Service and E-waste”, held at Paiko, Niger State, recently.
According to him, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, while addressing participants at the event said the programme was part of the commission’s deliberate move to educate and create awareness on the hazardous health effects and negative economic implications of the patronage of fake handsets.
He said the programme was also to educate the participants on the negative effect of also using other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices in the country.
The programme also featured questions and answers between the consumers and the regulator.
According to Danbatta, who was represented by Director, Zonal Operations Department at NCC, Mrs Amina Shehu, said the programme was designed by the commission to educate and enlighten the masses on the need to use type-approved handsets.
“And the benefits of using such equipment which includes better quality of service (QoS), network integrity and safety of the end-users.”
Danbatta who frowned at the proliferation of counterfeit handsets in the country, said the menace of counterfeit and substandard handsets has assumed a global dimension.
He said the proliferation of counterfeit handsets require a lot of education on the part of the consumers and the collaboration with other government agencies to address it.
He also enjoined telecoms consumers to check the commission’s official website to find the list of type-approved phones from which they can make choices of handsets to purchase.
“Cases of influx and patronage of counterfeit handsets are more rampant in developing countries, such as Nigeria where importers bring in substandard phones.
“Without recourse to regulatory type-approval process aimed at certifying such devices as fit for the market,” she noted.
He said NCC was empowered by the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, Section 132, to establish and enforce standards for all telecommunications equipment in operation in the country to ensure that they operate seamlessly and safely within the Nigerian telecommunications environment.
As such, all equipment manufacturers, vendors and operators, including customer devices such as mobile phones and wireless adapters, must therefore ensure that their equipment conform to the applicable standards as mandated by the commission before bringing them into Nigeria.
The NCC boss said that the commission was also saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that consumer enjoys his or her stake in the telecommunications industry.
He further said that the commission, in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and other government agencies, recently inaugurated two committees to design modalities towards curbing the proliferation of substandard handsets in the country.
According to him, the commission has developed regulations on electronic waste (e-waste) as another regulatory instrument.
“Which among others, aim at providing regulatory framework for the management and control of e-waste in the telecommunications industry, all in line with Section 132 of the NCA, 2003’’.
Speaking on behalf of telecoms consumers and participants at the event, the Hakimi of Paiko, Alhaji Mansur Mustapha, commended the commission for bringing such programme to the community.
He, however, complained of poor network services and unsolicited text messages they receive from telecom operators.
He said they still get unsolicited messages and urged the commission to provide necessary responses, especially on the need to activate the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 Short Code to stop unsolicited text messages. (NAN)
COA/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

ICT experts warn on consequences of cell phone addiction

ICT experts warn on consequences of cell phone addiction
Cell-phones
Abuja, Sept. 9, 2018 (NAN) Some Information and Communication (ICT) experts have warned that addiction to the use of cell phones has socio-cultural and economic consequences.
The experts told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Abuja that cell phone addiction was affecting social relationships and perforating the pockets of users.
But they noted that clutching on cell phones to undertake some activities online is a trending occurrence since the advent of cellular phones.
Although, public analysts observe that this trend, which they describe as addiction, has some consequences on the users but some people say it is a normal occurrence to move on with global information development.
Mr Babayo Damisa, the Managing Director of Damisah Creative Agency, an ICT company, said “getting addicted to phones is a global challenge which is hard to combat”.
Damisa said most youths are addicted to their phones, either being on social media or playing games, which might not be educational.
He said viewing education programmes on phones was a positive one, but majority of youths were either wasting their time on social media discussing things that were not relevant to their development.
“This has negative effect on their academic programmes; in the recent time it is very difficult for youths to compose a comprehension without using jargons from the social media.
“So, it is a challenge that the stakeholders including government at all levels should look into in order to salvage this generation from phone addiction.
“Mobile applications come with a lot of advantages but the addiction is one of the disadvantages that bedevil the development of our society because we waste most of our precious time chatting on social media, discussing things that are not relevant.
“If you go to YouTube today to check what is trending, you could hardly find one education programme trending in Nigeria social space.
“When I train youths on development and we go to education site, they find it boring, what they are all looking for in social media is gossip, music and all of that.
“We have a burden, we have to educate the youth on what they can derive from social media as it is a blessing and not suppose to be a curse if we use it properly.’’
Mr Blaise Aboh, Lead trainer, Code for Nigeria, and Founder Orodata Science, noted Nigerian youths are mostly addicted to ICT.

According to Aboh, ordinarily, ICT in itself is good, but in Nigeria youths are mostly addicted to the social media to gather information, process information with updates.

“Nigerians are addicted to phones even during the time of recession. I experienced this when I walked into a computer village slot; shops were occupied by various categories of people transacting business and browsing.

“Everyone wants to connect and know what is happening around the world from time to time, this is an addiction,’’ Aboh said.

Similarly, Mr Collins Omoregie, a computer analyst, said telephone addiction had its negative effect on the human system as phones emit rays; this is because some phone screens have Light Emitting Diode (LED).

“Nowadays, we have Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), LED and High Dimension (HD) phones which emit radiation and by the time these phones are close to your eyes especially at night, it affects and shrinks the eyes.
Omoregie said the use of phones could lead to accident as some people would be driving and at the same time operating their phones because they were addicted to phone use.
“We should try as much as possible to minimise the use of our smart phones. You can structure out when to use the phone.
“The recent statistics in Facebook indicated that at least 70 per cent of Facebook users spend two hours on Facebook every day.
“This shows how addicted people are. Some people can even spend three hours at a stretch,’’ he said.
He said addiction cuts across both youths and elderly people but the teenagers were more addicted because they wanted to explore and know everything.
Mrs Blessing Okafor, a phone user, said: “Nigerians want to follow the trend of events all over the world; this is why they are addicted to phones.
“Some people don’t have time for television anymore; they browse with their phone to connect with the internet to get everything they want.
“It is even cheaper to chat online than to make international calls, even if you choose not to see a doctor, you can get one online.’’
Okafor said youths were more addicted to phones but “these days everybody wants to browse as they are trying to catch up with the trend of events.
“The implication of this is that media houses will be going down as people can now advertise their products online’’.
Similarly, Mrs Bola Akinsoju, a phone user, said addiction to phone could be hazardous to health.

According to her, it may cause migraine, eye defect and backache, among others. (NAN)
Reporters/MO/MST
Edited by Morayo Omolade/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

General news

(Video) NAN News Highlights for Thurs. June 28, 2018

NAN News Highlights for Thurs. June 28, 2018

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1. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for deeper business relations with the Peoples Republic of China on Information and Communication Technology to develop the Nigeria’s digital space.

Osinbajo said at a workshop on ‘‘Africa-China cooperation in Information Technology and Digital Economy: prospects and challenges’’ in Abuja, that Nigeria needed to harness the potential energy in ICT for its economic growth.

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  1. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has resolved to meet with security chiefs to evolve a holistic solution to the security challenges before the country.

Chairman of the forum, Gov. Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara in Northwest Nigeria stated this while briefing newsmen after a meeting in Abuja.

Yari expressed the governors’ displeasure over Sunday’s killings in Plateau Northcentral Nigeria, and called for the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.

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  1. Prof. Moji Adeyeye, the Director-General, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control has advocated a national prescription policy aimed at tackling drug abuse in the country.

Adeyeye made the call at a news conference organised  in Abuja to commemorate the 2018 World International Day Against Drug Abuse.

She also called for closer collaboration between the Nigerian Customs Service, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency, and NAFDAC to stop the importation, distribution, and use of illicit drugs.

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  1. The EU has agreed to work closely with Nigeria to find solutions to illegal migration.

Deputy Delegation to the EU, Mr Richard Young,  made this known in his address at the ‘‘Abuja Policy Debate’’ organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation, an NGO handling the ongoing collaboration on migration between the EU, Germanys and Nigeria.

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  1. The World Health Organisation says a new drug – Carbetocin – has the potential to save the lives of thousands of women during childbirth annually.

The UN agency said Carbetocin, with improved benefits could compete with Oxytocin, a stand-by drug used to prevent potentially-fatal bleeding after childbirth.

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  1. Similarly, Australian scientists have taken a crucial step toward developing a new malaria vaccine by using a novel “atomic-scale” blueprint to track how the parasite invades human cells.

The group said that with the unprecedented level of detail on the blueprint, new therapies would be designed to target and disrupt malaria parasite and prevent it from hijacking human red blood cells spreading through the blood to infect others.

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Defence/Security

NCC donates ICT equipment to Police in Borno

 

NAN-H-86
Donation
By Ali Inuwa

Maiduguri, March 2, 2017 (NAN) The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) on Thursday donated ICT equipment to the Borno Police Command, as part of its efforts to enhance the protection of telecommunications facilities in the country.

Prof. Umar Danbatta, the NCC Executive Vice Chairman, presented the items to the Commissioner of Police in Borno, Mr Damian Chukwu, at a ceremony in Maiduguri.

Danbatta was represented by Hajiya Hafsat Lawan, the NCC Assistant Director, Legal and Regulatory Services.

“Our visit today is a result of previous interaction with the Inspector- General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, where it was agreed that we should partner with one another towards safeguarding telecommunications facilities.

“Our visit is also in line with our mandate to encourage investors in telecommunications industry by supporting the police to be able to protect infrastructure in the industry,” he said.

Danbatta said that the telecommunications infrastructure were critical national assets that must be protected, hence the need to provide support to the police to protect them.

“We need the police to ensure that vital telecommunications equipment are protected from being vandalised.

“This is why we have continued to motivate them by providing vital work tools that will facilitate their job,” he said.

Danbatta said that the NCC was also working to provide more support to the police to enable it perform its constitutional role of protecting lives and property.

“The donation is just the beginning; we have other programmes in the pipeline like capacity training for the police to enhance operation,” he said.

Receiving the items, Chukwu thanked the NCC for the donation and promised judicious usage.

“I want to thank the NCC for the gesture; the items will come handy in our day to day fight against crime in the society.

“We are going to scale up our operations with the items donated,” he said. (NAN)

ABI/JPE/ETS

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Edited by Joseph Edeh and Ephraims Sheyin