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LOKOJA – As the conversations on the Digital Economy and e-Governance bill continue to elicit reactions, the Kogi stakeholders have identified inadequate infrastructures, digital illiteracy and lack of transparency in government policies as militating factors against the passage of the bill.
This is just as the people admitted that the bill has been overdue for the nation which seeks to be globally competitive and still continue to manually conduct her activities.
This was the summation of opinions at a One Day Stakeholders Engagement organised by the Federal Ministry of Communication, innovation and Digital Economy in conjunction with Kogi state ministry of information and communication, held yesterday in Lokoja.
The stakeholders noted that in as much as the bill possess provisions for digital advancement of the nation, said, corruption, insufficient network and internet derivatives would pose a challenge to the implementation if passed into law.
According to them, Nigeria is ripe to join its counterparts across the world in digital revolution, but, pointed out that resources that will migrate the country from analogue to digital platform are either epileptic or non existent, which could pose a threat to the policy.
“We don’t have reliable satellites. Nigeria still rely on others for services, which are often fraught with inefficiency. The cost of data that the operators would use to drive the system is often beyond the reach of the citizenry. And even at that, few people are digital literate to drive the system and the government budget sometimes does not take cognizance of imprest and other consumables required to run offices.”
They suggested that instead of a full blast migration, it should be done in phases and to commence with tertiary education institutions as a pilot scheme.
The stakeholders, however, warned against imposition of fines on would be culprit, as , experience has shown that punitive measures have never deter Nigerians from their deviance behaviours. While advocating for total overhaul of how Government does its businesses, advised for training and retraining of personnel and to embark on public enlightenment to allay the fears of the people to the bill.
In his explanation of the provisions of the bill, a Legal Consultant ,Chukwudi Chimezie described the proposed bill as a welcome development, which if passed, will go a long way in boosting Nigeria’s socioeconomic activities, good governance and quick service delivery in both public and private sectors.
The legal consultant, said that the essence of the workshop is to get citizens input on the bill as it will affect them.
He said that the stakeholders’ engagement will also afford citizens the opportunity of getting feedbacks on the way forward to make the bill implementable.
According to him, “The bill requires five years implementation stages and also targeted at providing a reliable digital framework for Nigeria’s database information.”
Continuing on the benefits of the bill, Chukwudi Chimezie said that it will set Nigeria on the part of economic growth and bring a lot of goodies for the nation’s digital revolution as well as boosting good governance, accountability and transparency in the system.
“The bill will enhance public record keeping and information management as it will afford citizens the opportunity to access any data digitally world over.
“Digital computer age will also provide room for protection of consumers as they will be highly armed with detailed information on what they are consuming or buying” the legal consultant noted. The Permanent Secretary, Kogi State Ministry of Information and Communications, Mr. Ebenezer Adurodija, called on the people of the state to embrace digital age as it will go a long way in uplifting their living standard.
He urged participants at the Stakeholders Workshop to make meaningful contributions to reflect the opinions of the state on Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill at the National Assembly.
