According to the Director General, “digital economy presents wealth of opportunities for the growth and development of the country. But this could only be achieved if the government, institutions and people work together in a manner that ensure inclusiveness and sustainability.”

Inuwa stated this at the Kwara State University, (KWASU) Malete, as a keynote speaker during the 2023 Digital Economy Sensitisation Lecture Series with the theme; “Digital Economy: The Triple Helix Model of Government, People and Institutions.” The lecture series also coincided with the launch of the university’s centre for Digital Economy.

The NITDA boss maintained that the three elements involved in the advancement of digital economy needs to put resources together in order to foster economic prosperity for other sectors of the economy.

He said, “The triple helix model is an interaction among these three for the purpose of fostering the economic transformation of various sector of the economy.”

The DG described the role of the government as critical in developing the digital economy because it must enable a conducive environment for innovation, investment and growth.

He observed that institutions must impact knowledge on the people and promote research and intellectual discussion, adding that the people and the industries must be a vehicle for commercialisation.

He recalled that the rigorous implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, (NDEPS) by relevant stakeholders under the leadership of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) has increased significantly the contribution of the Digital Economy to the nation’s Gross Domestic Products to the “unprecedented 18.44 per cent.”

He maintained that NITDA has been playing critical roles in the implementation of NDEPS and at the forefront of promoting technology, innovation and building the Nigeria’s Digital Economy.

He said, “In building a digital economy, NITDA has developed and is implementing several projects with the resolve to develop digital skills in educational institutions and rural communities across the country. In addition, the Information Technology (IT) knowledge gap is being bridged in under-served areas to develop human capital and provide universal access to knowledge in order to create a knowledge-based economy.”

While acknowledging the role of government to provide basic and relevant regulations that will serve as guidance for the institutions, people and industries, Inuwa stated that NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2021-2024 was mapped out in line with the vision of NDEPS.

According to him, the document, with seven strategic pillars would not only ensure the development, usage and sustainability of digital technology but would also deepen Nigeria’s economy digitally, ensure diversification, promote innovation and digital literacy amongst Nigeria.

He added that, “the NITDA’s SRAP is focused on the facilitation of a rapid transformation of the digital economy through elaborate stakeholders’ collaborations for the implementation of the NDEPS. All the seven pillars of the roadmap and their objectives require extensive collaboration with the stakeholder to achieve their aims.”

Inuwa noted that the theme of the lecture resonated with the Digital Literacy and Skills, and the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship pillars of the SRAP which are designed to facilitate the digital transformation of the country.

The Participants, including ICT experts, Government Representatives, Academia, Startup ecosystems, ICT Associations, Technology Solution Providers, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and relevant stakeholders in the Digital Economy Sector shared ideas on how Kwara IT ecosystem should take advantage of the various opportunity and platforms being provided by NITDA to upskill, connect and build a robust network that will facilitate gainful collaboration among all stakeholders

Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General of NITDA, who was represented by Mr Babajide Ajayi, Director, Zonal Offices Directorate, said that the Stakeholders’ Engagement is a veritable platform to pool knowledge, experience, and expertise, and to co-create solutions, articulate strategies, and extend our services to all stakeholders, especially at the grassroots.

He said, “Throughout the twenty-one-year journey of the Agency, we have had to look continuously at our mandate, reset our vision, and invigorate our mission. We have moved from being a highly centralised organisation to a functionally decentralised Institution. Our aspiration is to be an Organisation closer to the stakeholders.”

We are also increasingly becoming a process-driven, data-dependent, and results-oriented Organisation. Our strategies and choices are pursued while always ensuring financial prudence – even in the most turbulent times and ensuring that we meet the objectives of a national IT Governance, foremost of which is delivering value to our stakeholders.

“These are in tandem with our core values of People First, Innovativeness, and Professionalism. Indeed, that is why we are here today. Our stakeholders come first, and we must strive to deliver value to you. That would not be possible without listening to you and speaking with you to get clarity on your perspectives, aspirations, and needs, he added.

Speaking on the Agency’s people-oriented programmes, Inuwa said, “under the supervision of Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and stakeholders, we have implemented programmes such as National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), National Adopted School for Smart Education (NASSE), Digital Literacy Capacity Training for Persons Living with Disabilities, support for ICT Innovation Hubs, building of Community IT Centres, development State IT policies, and a host of other activities.”

He said as the needs of the Digital Economy Ecosystem grow; the Agency has striven to respond appropriately. This has been demonstrated in the strategic actions the Agency has taken in the implementation of critical areas of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).

“We are aware that we still have a lot to do. Therefore, we are committed to making further progress over the coming year, and we look forward to the continued support of all our stakeholders,” he concluded.

On his part, Ibrahim Ajake, the Commissioner for Business Innovation and Technology, stated that the role of Digital Platform in entrepreneurship evolution cannot be overemphasised

He added that digitalisation changes the economics of doing business across border, bringing down the cost of international interaction and transaction. According to him, updated digital entrepreneurship knowledge and dynamics is one of the major ways Nigerian entrepreneurs can upscale their potentials in the global market.

“Digital evolution creates markets and user communities with global scale, providing business with huge base of potential customers and effective ways to reach them.”

“I am confident that the stakeholder’s engagement meeting will be of immense value to the ICT inclined public and keep abreast with necessary opportunity to enhance market access in order to tap into the foreign exchange earnings,” he noted.

He therefore urged participants to interact with experienced resource personnel and contemporaries to be equipped with various knowledge needed for optimal output.

“My sincere gratitude goes to NITDA and all the stakeholders for organising this event, and I assure you that all deliberations and contributions at this programme will serve as strength to us in the Ministry.

According to the Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), organisers of the event, the award was in recognition of NITDA’s strategic approach to information dissemination especially on digital media communication platforms.

The Award, the organisers added, was coming as a result of NITDA’s unrelenting effort and commitment to enlightening the general public on various projects carried out by the Agency on social media platforms.

“NITDA has over the years proved to be a force to reckon with, with regards to social media activities, particularly providing quality contents to its followers, which draw engagement from all corners, as well as interacting with Nigerians that seek information about the mandate of the Agency,” the CEO of IMPR, Alhaji Yushau Shuaib, said.

Speaking on behalf of the Director General of NITDA, Mrs Hadiza Umar, Head, Corporate Affairs and External Relations of the Agency, appreciated the organisers “for recognising our modest efforts with the Award of Excellence.”

She said, “Social media has become an integral part of the marketing NITDA’s activities, because we have seen the significant and measurable impact it makes on our organisation. We use it to reach a local and international audience to tell Nigerians about our mandates, activities, and technology trend globally.”

“We put strategies in place to increase our brand awareness, new technologies, cybersecurity awareness, and updates on how users can protect their personal information online. These continuous updates have significantly helped to protect many people from being scammed.

“Technology is youth-centric, and social media is mainly for young people. In Nigeria’s concerted efforts to promote ICT and digital economy, it has become imperative to use social media in promoting all our activities and create more awareness for innovative Nigerians to expose their ideas and become employers of labour and contributors of value.”

“We engage our followers Digital Economy trends and development, and acquainted them on the achievements being recorded in the Agency since the development of National Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), being championed by Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy,” she added.

https://techeconomy.ng/2022/06/fg-set-to-democratize-software-testing-50000-software-testers-to-be-certified-by-ngstqb-in-3-years/

Since assumption of office in August of 2019, Professor Pantami’s aggressive initiatives and reforms towards digital transformation have received recognitions within and outside the country.

The Minister had expressed the Federal Government’s readiness to collaborate with the NGSTQB in democratizing software testing.

Prof. Pantami will expatiate on the government’s agenda for the software industry at the TestNigeria Conference 1.0 to be held on Tuesday November 22 and Wednesday November 23, 2022 at Lagos Oriential Hotel, Lekki road, Lagos under the theme: ‘Impact of Software Quality Assurance in the Nigerian Digital Economy’.

Guests & speakers lined up for the conference are; Mr. Hakeem Fahm, Hon Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. O​​livier Denoo, President of the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB), Mr. Bob Van de Burgt, the Test Maturity Model integration Foundation (TMMi) Local Chapter Manager, Dr. Babatunde Oghenobruche Obrimah, Chief Operating Officer, FINTECH Association of Nigeria, and Dr. Chika O. Yinka-Banjo, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Lagos.

Other expected guests and speakers include; Dr. Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner / CEO, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), Dr. Dan- Azumi Ibrahim, Director General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Mrs Rukiya Mohammed, Director of IT, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ms. Ola Williams, Country Manager Nigeria & Ghana, Microsoft Nigeria; Speaker from Inlaks, and Global Accelerex.

Speaking ahead of the Conference, Mr. Boye Dare, the President of NGSTQB, said that TestNigeria Conference 1.0, said that the role of software professionals in actualizing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria, cannot be overemphasized.

He said that TestNigeria Conference 1.0 will feature networking cocktail, keynote presentations, panel sessions and fireside chat including special sessions on Software Test Improvement in Organisations; Growing Software Testing Ecosystem in Nigeria’s Educational Sector, and Need for Certified Test Professionals in Organisations.

While reemphasizing the need for software testing, Mr. Dare said is it vital for Nigeria to be identified as a country with high-quality software.

In his words, “Testing is necessary because we all make mistakes. Some of those mistakes are unimportant, but some are expensive and dangerous.

“Software failures can be devastating to company value and reputation. For example, UK-based loan company Provident Financial lost 1.7 billion pounds (about 2.4 billion American dollars) of market value in 2017 after a bug in their newly developed scheduling software, such that barely half of their loan debts were collected when due. This bug cost the company 120 million pounds (170 million American dollars) in profit loss, and the fiasco is considered a record-breaking loss.

Designed as a platform for software professionals to discuss how Nigerian IT ecosystem can start developing quality software that meets international standards and help achieve Nigeria’s Digital Economy Strategy, the conference is targeted at software developers, banks, government institutions, telcos, fintech companies, industry regulators and major users of sensitive software among others.

Interested participants should visit the website here or click here to see details.

NGSTQB is a member of the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB); the world’s leading organization for Certification of Professionals in Software Testing.

Prof Isa Ali Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy who chaired the meeting on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari mentioned and explained the eight pillars of the umbrella policy.

He expressed the hope that if implemented to the latter, it would consolidate the gains recorded so far and boost the growth of the digital economy sector.

“On the 28th of November, 2019, the President personally launched and unveiled the Nigerian National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria 2020-2030. In addition, on the 19th of May, 2020, Mr President also launched and unveiled Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025”.

“In all these policies that President Muhammadu Buhari has launched and unveiled, he made it very clear one of the priority areas of this administration is economic development, particularly digital economy, in order to diversify the major sources of revenue for government”, Prof. Pantami noted.

Prof. Pantami alluded to the fact that the digital journey has been highly commendable across board, given the unprecedented contributions and impact the sector has had on the Nation’s gross domestic product GDP.

“Despite our modest achievements and gains, challenges are inevitable from time to time. So, this document is not only a Federal Policy but also a National one which implies that other tiers of government have a strong role to play, particularly the governors as well as institutions under their leadership towards addressing those challenges for good”, the Minister stressed.

The Minister acknowledged the thoughtfulness of President Muhammadu Buhari in the selection of one governor from the each geopolitical zones to represent the entirety of Nigerians.

While noting that the aim of the strategic composition and adoption of the triple helix model of innovation is to ensure that any policy or decision to be taken at the Federal level would be accepted and implemented by States.

“The Governors of Edo State, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Gombe were selected by President Buhari to represent the South-South, South-East, South-West, North-Central, North-West and North-East respectively”.

“Mr President has also appointed two Vice-Chancellors to represent the academia in the Council; including that of Ahmadu Bello University and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. The Industry is so fully represented”, he added.

He expressed confidence in the Council’s ability to achieve the expected outcomes in the implementation process.

“The policy is the global best practice because no country’s digital economy can be implemented without bringing key institutions of government, particularly subnationals and States as most of the decision cannot be implemented by the government alone”, Prof. Pantami said.

He maintained that: “Although the implementation of the policy kick-started immediately after it was launched; looking at the baseline we had established then, and what we have achieved so far, there Isa gainsaying the fact that it is indeed commendable because it is within this period that the ICT sector contributed 17.92% to the GDP.

“Within this period also we trained over five hundred thousand Nigerians and signed partnerships with tech giants where one of them supported our youths by training a minimum of Five Million as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. We have even signed another partnership with one of the tech giants where they will establish about three hundred ICT academies in Nigeria to up the digital skills of our citizens”, the Minister recounted.

On the e-Governance Master Plan, the Minister said the Federal Executive Council FEC had approved the National e-Governance Master Plan in which subnationals also have a role to play.

“Recently, we signed an MoU with the Korean Government where they intend to  support Nigerian Government towards the implementation of the Plan with a minimum of Thirteen Million Dollar and this has already been signed”, Pantami concluded.

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa, who is also the Secretary to the Council while briefing members on the Council’s Terms of Reference, enumerated seven areas and concern.

Inuwa also shared the proposed Implementation strategies and hoped that all decisions by the Council would align with the Policy and Master Plan in order to achieve the goals for its creation.

He submitted two prayers for consideration:

“For the Council to ratify the Terms of Reference (ToR)  and for the Chair to create a sub-committee to handle each of the thematic areas as well as come up with implementation plan”, Inuwa maintained.

The meeting also featured paper presentations on the subject matter.

The Council which was inaugurated on Friday 10th June, 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari, is the highest body to provide strategic directions for e-Governance and Digital Economy in Nigeria.

As projected by Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, the Minister of State Budget and National Planning, the digital economy would raise its contributions to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 15 percent by 2025.

While there are so many actors in the digital sphere contributing to make this a reality, the activities of B2B e-commerce companies like Alerzo cannot be overlooked.

This group has led in revolutionising the operations of the retail sector across the country, particularly the underserved areas.

By connecting manufacturers and distributors to micro businesses through digital technology, B2B e-commerce companies are making the FMCG supply chain operate more effectively, saving cost, extending reach and safety.

Worthy of note also is the fact that the retail sector worth $100b in itself contributes 50% of the country’s GDP.

With the positive impacts that Alerzo and other e-commerce platforms are making along with other players in the digital sphere, the government and other stakeholders have woken up to the possible contribution of the digital economy to the development of the country.

To propel the country towards attaining a vibrant digital economy, the Federal Government unveiled a roadmap in the form of a National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020 to 2030.

Led by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, government agencies such as National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) have keyed into this, formulating policy directions towards a vibrant digital economy for Nigeria.

However, there is a need for e-commerce platforms to be given more support so as to help this ecosystem of manufacturers, distributors, B2B e-commerce and micro businesses to run profitably and sustainably and consequently increase the contribution to GDP.

Inuwa said this as a panelist at the just concluded Nigeria-Spanish Business and Trade Forum, in Madrid, Spain. 

“Nigeria has talented youths and is blessed with one of the youngest populations in the world; By 2050 we will be the third most populous nations in the world; So, we are concerned about Digital Literacy because the world is moving towards digital and knowledge-based economy and there is a global talent gap in ICT”

The NITDA Boss who noted that ICT is the third largest sectors in Nigeria told the forum that so far, the Implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy NDEPS for a Digital Nigeria which was unveiled and lunched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 28, 2019, has been phenomenally successful with monumental impact on the Nation’s economy.

“The policy launch placed Nigeria on the Global Digital Economy Map and opened the doors for investors to come and invest in key sectors of the economy. Indeed, in the history of Nigeria, we have never had an administration which is ICT friendly like the Buhari administration”. 

The Director-General also went further to explain the strategic pillars under the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) which he said three among the pillars are the key focus of NITDA: 

“Building Infrastructure, Talents (digital skills and literacy), and Suitable Environment for investments to thrive remain parts of NITDA’s targets”. 

Meanwhile, the DG informed the gathering that efforts to bring the Nigeria Startup Bill to a logical conclusion are currently being intensified.

He expressed optimism that upon getting the legal backing, the Bill will incentivise Nigerians and create a new market in order to encourage more investments and boost the sector’s contribution to the Nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP). 

While commending the Federal Government for the change in the Ministry’s mandate and nomenclature from Communications to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy in Oct, 2019, Inuwa stressed that although Telecommunications is the biggest sectors in Africa, Nigeria is the leading market.

He encouraged investors to take advantage of the country’s huge population/demography, resourceful young minds as well as its soaring digital economy and invest without fears.

“Africa is a virgin land, we don’t have legacy infrastructure; so, you can easily invest and grow in many sectors”, the DG stressed.

Inuwa was hopeful that achieving the ambiguous target of a 95% digital literacy by 2030 would go a long way in creating new markets for not just Nigerians but investors, both at home and abroad.

This followed the presentation of a memo by Professor Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy,

Going by the approval, the government is working towards the implementation of strategies to encourage and support the development and growth of more Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs), which have the potential to create millions of additional jobs in the country.

This will also help to develop innovative solutions to societal problems, and rapidly grow, as well as diversify the Nigerian economy, in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria.

Confirming the development, Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to the Minister, said that a number of the proposed strategies resulted from recommendations that were made at an interactive forum held on 22nd February 2022, where the Pantami-led Federal Government Delegation on a working visit to the Lagos digital innovation ecosystem.

The delegation included the Director-General of NITDA, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Post Master General and the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Plc.

“The visit provided a useful platform for open and interactive discussions on the ecosystem’s pertinent challenges and interventions required from the government to enable the ecosystem achieve its full potential. The forum was attended by 143 ICT and Startup Companies.

“The delegation also paid a visit to 3 selected tech startups, namely: Flutterwave (currently valued at US$3 billion), Treepz (with a current funding of US$3.1 million) and Reliance Health (with US$48.3 million in funding).

“It is worthy to that under the able administration of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, Nigeria became home to 5 of about 8 Unicorns (startup companies valued at over US$1Billion) on the African Continent”.

Furthermore, Nigerian startups attracted about 35% (estimated at US$1.4Billion) of the over US$4Billion raised by African startups, which is the highest raised by any startup ecosystem on the continent. Most importantly, it has created a significant number of jobs.

For instance, Jumia, an e-Commerce company, provides over 3,000 direct jobs according to Jobberman’s 2020 Digital Sector Report.

The report also asserts that the Nigeria’s Digital Economy has the potential to create an average of 1.3million tech-enabled jobs across industries in 5 years (i.e. by 2025).

To further strengthen the ecosystem, the Federal Executive Council approved the following recommendations,  in line with the Executive Order 003 and Presidential Order 005:

1. that the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) should prioritise the granting of Tax Reliefs and other Incentives such as the Pioneer Status Incentive (PSI) Scheme to the technology and innovation ecosystem;
2. that the Nigerian Copyright Commission, the Trademarks Registry, and the Patents and Designs Registry should work with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in developing an Intellectual Property (IP) framework for the technology and innovation ecosystem within two (2) months; and
3. that the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) should work with NITDA to develop a framework that will ensure the involvement of technology innovation startups in government procurement processes to encourage ideation, innovation and design of solutions to solve development challenges within two (2) months.

“The Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB) was earlier approved by the Federal Executive Council and forwarded to the National Assembly and the process is about 90% complete.  The approval of the incentives at the Council will consolidate the gains recorded for far in the NSB process.

“The implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) emphasises the importance of the innovation and startup ecosystem to the development of an indigenous digital economy.

“The Ministry will continue to position Nigeria to develop this ecosystem in order to transform Nigeria into a country with a sustainable and thriving digital economy”.

This followed a request made by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami).

According to a statement made available to TechEconomy.ng, signed by Uwa Suleiman, Spokesperson to the Minister, the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau has been established in line with global best practice and will focus on data protection and privacy for the country, among others.

“The successful implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria has significantly increased the adoption of data platforms and accelerated the datafication of our society.

“This has increased the importance of having an institution that focuses on data protection and privacy.

Furthermore, the issuance of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) in January 2019, as a subsidiary legislation to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Act 2007, has increased awareness about the need for data protection and privacy.

The Bureau will be responsible for consolidating the gains of the NDPR and supporting the process for the development of a primary legislation for data protection and privacy.

Buhari appoints Dr Vincent Olatunji as Pioneer National Commissioner of NDPB.

President Buhari also approved the recommendation of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Pantami, for Dr. Vincent Olatunji to serve as the National Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB).

Dr. Olatunji hails from Ekiti State and, at the time of his appointment, was the Director of the eGovernment Development and Regulations Department at NITDA.

The appointment takes effect immediately.

This assurance was made by Kashifu Inuwa, the NITDA’s Director-General at the just concluded five days training and empowerment program on Digital Skills and Entrepreneurship program organized for People Living With Disabilities, (PLWD), the South-South edition which was held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The NITDA boss who was represented at the closing ceremony by Aristotle Onumo, the Acting Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy, maintained that empowering differently able people in our society would promote digital inclusion.

While describing digital transformation as one of the panaceas to the mirage of problems confronting the nation, Inuwa maintained that training and empowering the PLWD is part of the initiatives to lift Nigerians out of poverty, hence the approval of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, NDEPS, by president Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

He said the training and empowerment for the “differently able” in our society are to make them financially independent and close the digital divide created by their conditions.

He further states that; “the empowerment program is one of the many opportunities given to Nigerians towards the implementation of the NDEPS agenda.

This program also speaks to three pillars of NITDA’s Strategic RoadMap and Action Plan, SRAP 2021-2024, which are Digital Transformation, Digital Inclusion, and Digital Literacy and Skills, all of which were designed to make Nigeria a sustainable digital economy.”

“Through the training, NITDA has been able to provide opportunities for participants to acquire the ability to use digital technology to create an enterprise that would culminate into wealth creation”, he said.

Inuwa, while encouraging the beneficiaries of the empowerment program to continue to engage in personal development which would aid the increase of their productivity added that they should return to their various communities and transfer the knowledge to others.

The Director-General affirmed the NITDA’s continual inclusion of PLWD in all its initiatives adding that attaining a digitally inclusive society requires collaborative efforts from all stakeholders.

While encouraging the PLWDs to be more industrious, Inuwa quoted Dr. Ashi Mary Magdalene of the Department of the Special Education University of Calabar who posits that “no matter how disabled anyone is, they should not feel sorry for themselves. The disabled are not special, just a little different.”

The lead, Technical and Operations, Rivers State ICT Department, Mr. Austin Dimkpa who represented the State government at the closing ceremony remarked that the empowerment program provides an opportunity for the beneficiaries to join the league of the financially stable people in the world adding that the 10 richest people in the world are in the Information Technology sector.

While expressing his profound appreciation to NITDA for training and empowering the PLWDs in Rivers State with computers and IT working tools, he advised beneficiaries to make judicious use of the tools to better their lots and reduce their reliance on other people.