By Cynthia Ezekwe
President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded the auctioning of the 5G spectrum, which raked in 547 million dollars in 2022.
The president also commended the digital economy for facilitating growth, creating employment opportunities and generating revenue for the country.
This was disclosed at the recently conducted commissioning of the National Shared Services Centre, recently in Abuja.
According to a statement signed by Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, the president described the national shared service centre as a “one-stop-shop for Ministries, Departments and Agencies to interface with citizens”, as it would provide services that are sleek, secure and seamless.
Buhari also noted that the 4G base stations were increased from 13,823 to 36,751 from August 2019 to date, and also added 5G services to it so as to expand the country’s digital infrastructure.
The president disclosed that the digital economy ensured continuity in governance during the imposed restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We approved the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions 14 October, 2020, and this enabled us to formalise government online meetings. As such, statutory meetings like the Federal Executive Council meetings, Council of State meetings and other meetings can now take place online, effectively and legally; our administration’s commitment to promoting data promotion and privacy is receiving praise across the world and we have increased our digital identity enrollment from 39 million in October 2020 to about 92 million today,” he said.
The president further explained that he approved the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau on 4 February, 2022 to provide an institutional framework for data protection in Nigeria, in accordance with best global practices.
Buhari noted that partnerships with leading global ICT companies to train Nigerians in cutting edge technology and high demand digital skills such as Microsoft Corporation partnership to five million Nigerians and the training of one million Nigerians in blockchain technologies, cybersecurity and data analytics, have expanded the digital economy, paving the way for revenue generation.
On his part, Isa Pantami, the minister of communication and digital economy, commended the president for his support to the digital economy, with turnovers in broadband/Internet penetration, skills acquisition for global competitiveness and infrastructure development, like the fiber optic cable, which was about 15,000 kms in 2015, and increased to more than 60,000kms.
As an avenue to encourage youths to take hold of digital opportunities, Kalim Haruna, who developed a system called ‘Sharp-Sharp’ and Bashir Abubakar, founder of ‘Africa First’, were honoured by President Buhari for their creativity and ingenuity, and showcasing the nation’s talent in a global ICT conference.