Omobola Johnson, the minister of
communication technology, has said the information and communication
technology (ICT) sector will be the highest revenue earner for Nigeria
by year 2020.
Johnson, who said this on Thursday in
Abuja at the closing of eNigeria 2014, said the ICT sector would
displace the petroleum sector as the largest contributor to the national
income soon.
The minister, who was represented by
Peter Jack, the director-general, National Information Technology
Development Agency (NITDA), said the ministry was coordinating heads of
ICTs units in all government ministries and agencies to avoid
duplication of functions.
“We know that the few agencies under the
Ministry of Communication Technology working closely together can
certainly deliver on the ICT mandate of the country.
“We believe that ICT has the greatest
potential to eclipse oil and gas as the core source of national income
if not the most reliable, contributing the maximum possible percentage
of income to the country.
“So, by 2020, the year that we dream to
be among the top 20 economies, we believe that ICT will not only be
contributing the maximum share to the national income, we believe that
in terms of productivity, growth, and performance across all sectors,
ICT will be a catalyst.”
The minister regretted the “wastage,
duplication of efforts and lack of coordination in doing things in the
ICT sector” but said it would soon be a thing of the past.
Johnson said that there was the
possibility for NITDA to restart the deployment of community access
centres to about 200,000 localities across the country.
In a keynote address, Jelani Aliyu, a
U.S.-based Nigerian automobile and industrial designer, commended
Nigerians and the Nigerian government for their commitment to the ICT
sector.
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