Inuwa, who was represented by Babajide Ajayi, the agency’s Director of Zonal Offices Directorate (ZOD), stated this at the recently concluded e-Government Hackathon organized by the Ilorin Innovation Hub in collaboration with the Kwara State Government to discover solutions to real-life problems that can transform governance and public sector operations, with a focus on leveraging new technologies to bridge the existing governance gaps.

According to Inuwa, the enactment of the Nigerian Startup Act (NSA), which was the outcome of the collaborative effort of the ecosystem and the Presidency, spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, under the leadership of the Honourable Minister, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) is a testament that Nigeria is on the right track to harnessing the potential of the digital economy.

Inuwa argued that the NSA is aimed at providing; a legal and institutional framework for the development of startups, an enabling environment for the establishment and operation of startups, the development and growth of tech-related talents, and positioning Nigeria’s startup ecosystem as the leading digital technology center in Africa.

He also called on the Kwara State Government and all state governments across the country to key into the implementation of the NSA to provide opportunities and resources that will empower more indigenous tech innovators to churn out solutions for local problems.

Adding this will provide a platform of support to young innovators to develop and commercialize their innovative ideas and be able to compete favorably in the global innovation space.

Inuwa also appreciated His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mallam Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq, for facilitating the partnership between the Ilorin Innovation Hub and the State Government by making the e-Government Hackathon a reality towards unveiling innovative solutions by Nigerian youths, and by serving as one of the sustainable pillars to position Nigeria as a leading entrepreneurial hub in Africa.

The DG further commended the organizers for the initiatives that focused on; power and renewable energy; hardware (the Internet of Things (IoT), drones, and mobile devices); connectivity; web and mobile applications; and security & privacy.

He said, “The Hackathon will serve as a veritable platform for our talented youths to showcase their innovative ideas and solutions, which the government is prepared to adopt for improved efficiency in public service delivery and increased productivity in government administration.”

“It is heartwarming to know that this hackathon is geared to support and promote indigenous talents to come up with relevant innovative solutions to our local problems, improve the way we do things, and engender prosperity in our environment.” So, this is a challenge for the participants to come up with clearly defined ideas and develop solutions with an emphasis on the five specific areas of the hackathon.”

He stated that “NITDA is proud to be associated with this laudable initiative. Your effort to drive the adoption of technology across the state is a demonstration of your administration’s commitment to transforming Kwara State into an economically viable and self-sustainable state where digital skills, youth empowerment, innovation, and technology thrive.”

Inuwa added that “Suffice it to say that your programs are in alignment with several initiatives and programs of the federal government that are being implemented by NITDA through its Special Purpose Vehicles, the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), to develop and grow Nigeria’s digital innovation ecosystem.”

He further assured that NITDA remains committed to the partnership with the Kwara State government for the continued support and promotion of talented and exceptional indigenous innovators towards helping them grow and continue developing innovative solutions that will boost the economic fortune of the state, and Nigeria’s digital economy sector in general.

He also charged the participants to impact their environment with innovative solutions that will change the narrative of national economic development for the better.

The initiative, aimed at Youth Corps members, was launched concurrently in seven NYSC sites across the country.

The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, declared the program open at the NYSC Camp in Kubwa, Abuja, and stated that the program’s main goal was to equip Nigerians with contemporary and pertinent digital literacy and skills that would expose, prepare, and connect them to in-demand career opportunities that are available in the global digital economy.

The program is anticipated to help Nigerians find employment possibilities in the field of the digital economy,

Kashifu said, “This projection implies that many Nigerians, both in the IT and non-IT spaces, must acquire digital literacy and skills to thrive in this current fourth industrial revolution.”

“Given our huge population of about 218 million, of which about 50 percent is constituted by youths, we have enough potential human capital to drive the data economy, and that is why we have decided to flag off this program in seven NYSC strategic camps.”

“We believe that the NYSC camps hold the brightest and most intelligent Nigerian youths.

We believe that corps members will not only benefit from this program but will create a multiplier effect by transferring the knowledge and skills acquired during this program to other Nigerians, and this will help the country realize its target of 95 percent digitally literate Nigerians by 2030. There is no better time to embrace digital transformation than now.

“The world is moving away from a natural resource-based economy to a digital and knowledge-based economy, more attention and efforts are being put into human capital and digital technologies and Nigeria should not be left out of this fast-moving train,” he added.

Inuwa stated this in Abuja while delivering a paper at a hybrid symposium of the Nigeria eGovernment Summit 2022 themed: “Promoting eGovernment in Election Year for Improved Governance”.

Represented by Mr. Bernard Ewah, the acting Director, e-Government Development and Regulation Department, the DG NITDA said, “e-voting constitutes a very important aspect of ICT-enabled democratic governance. It generally aims at increasing participation of citizens in the electoral process and improving the outcomes of elections by addressing challenges associated with traditional voting practices”.

The NITDA boss explained that the e-voting technologies support one or more of the major phases of the electoral processes from the registration stage in the pre-voting phase to voting, balloting and verification to counting or tallying after voting.

Inuwa asserted that e-governance has become an important mechanism in enhancing citizens’ participation, monitoring and evaluating government projects, ensuring government accountability and transparency as well as transferring information from one sector to another. “e-government has transformed Nigeria into a world-class economy and has restructured our electoral and other government processes” he added.

He said, “Participatory democracy is one of the major requirements for achieving e-governance, particularly, where majority of the citizenry is disenchanted with the electioneering or democratic processes or government. For successful adoption of e-voting and e-government, grassroots mobilization through e-democracy should be encouraged.”

He disclosed that NITDA has an e-Government Master Plan that promotes the use of e-government at sub-national and grassroots, adding that, so far, Plateau, Benue, Jigawa, Ogun and Nasarawa states have benefited from this initiative.

Inuwa, while asserting that a unique feature of e-Governance in an election year is the increasing use of private or non-state infrastructure, noted that a lot of Nigerians are utilising personal devices and private networks to disseminate information relating to the forthcoming general election.

“As such, the role of government is to ensure that non-state actors including individuals and private businesses act responsibly and uphold the common interest of the Nigerian sovereignty.”

NITDA boss further stated that the adoption of electronic voting and transmission of results has the potential to drastically reduce the prospect of electoral violence because as long as the polling centers are well secured, political thugs will have little or no influence over proceedings as the results could be transmitted within minutes to the collation center.

He concluded that as the 2023 general elections draws nearer, electronic voting would play a paramount role.

He said, “E-voting is becoming a standard in electoral processes around the world, and Nigeria is poised to improve its ranking on the global e-governance index as well as toe the line of countries like Estonia, Brazil, India, Philippines and Australia who have all introduced e-voting at various levels in their political systems.”