Technology in service delivery no longer a luxury, says President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to use technology for enhanced public service delivery, noting that technology in public service delivery is no longer a luxury, but a pressing necessity.

President Buhari disclosed this while receiving the leadership of Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPCN) and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) led by its president, Prof. Charles Uwadia at Aso Villa in Abuja.

‘‘The future belongs to IT. What was unimaginable 20 years ago is a reality today. Accordingly, we have introduced numerous policies and have made substantial investments to ensure the benefits of this technology-driven age is felt by 200 million Nigerians,’’ he said.

President Buhari used the occasion of the courtesy visit by representatives of the computing and IT professionals in Nigeria to enumerate some benefits of using technological tools to implement government policies.

‘‘We also leveraged technology to fight corruption and reduce leakages and inefficiencies in public service delivery. You are all aware of the significant investments we made to upgrade our policy and military platforms as we battle pockets of insecurity in parts of the country.

‘‘Furthermore, our social investment programs are built on technological platforms that allow us to positively impact the lives of some of poorest members of our society,’’ he said.

The President, therefore, requested the computer body to continue to partner with Government at all levels to ensure the benefits of this tool are realised and at the same time its threats are eliminated.

On behalf of IT professionals in the country, , Prof. Uwadia expressed gratitude to President Buhari for appointing two seasoned professionals, Dr Isa Ibrahim Pantami and Kashifu Abdullahi as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), respectively.

The president of CPCN listed some outstanding achievements of the current administration in the sector to include: issuance of Executive Order (EO1) on the promotion of Transparency and Efficiency in the Business Environment, Executive Order (EO3) on Support for Local Content in Public Procurement by the Federal Government and Executive Order (EO5) on Planning and Execution of Projects, Promotion of Local Content in Contracts and Science, Engineering and Technology.

Others are unveiling of the National Digital Economy Policy at the 2019 e-Nigeria conference, exhibition and awards; implementation and enforcement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPIS) which saved the Federal Government of Nigeria billions of naira by eliminating thousands of ghost workers.