The Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) is the premier corporate governance Institute and a leading promoter of ethical professional standards in Nigeria.

The Bill, according to the Institute, was signed into law by the President on Friday 26th May, 2023.

The Institute would now be known and referred to as, Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria.

Dr. Ije Jidenma, President and Chairman of the Governing Council of The Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) said:

“This has confirmed the leading status of the Institute as the apex body upholding sound corporate governance practices and ethical standards in Nigeria. And by this singular act, the Institute has assumed a Chartered status, conferring on it the responsibility to organise and deliver director development training, capacity development programmes and corporate governance practices in Nigeria.”

According to Dr. Jidenma, we are indeed grateful to both the National Assembly and President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for painstakingly following through with the process that has brought this to fruition. This has been a long journey and we are excited that it has finally come as a befitting 40th-anniversary gift to the Institute.

Dr. Jidenma further added that the Institute is immensely grateful to its past and present leaders, for their contributions to the realisation of this great feat. “They have worked tirelessly to promote the principles of good corporate governance and have helped to establish the Institute as a respected and influential organisation in Nigeria and beyond. As an Institute, we shall remain committed to strengthening Director capacity, professionalisation and contributing our quota to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy”.

According to a statement signed by Uwa Suleiman (Mrs), Senior Special Assistant/Spokesperson Media to the Minister of Communications & Digital Economy, Funtua takes over from the erstwhile Managing Director, Dr Abimbola Alale who has retired from service. 

Engineer Tukur Mohammed Lawal Funtua, born on 24th November 1966 is an indigene of Funtua Local Government Area of Katsina State, Northwest Nigeria.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering, PGDM, MBA, a Professional Diploma in Education and a PhD in Environmental and Sustainable Development Management in view, at the University of Port Harcourt. 

He was before his appointment, Director, health community affairs, safety and environment with BUA Cement Plc, served in various capacities including Health and Safety Manager, Country HSE Manager and Regional Manager for Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development at Lafarge Africa Plc and Group Head, Environment and Community Affairs at  Dangote Cement Plc among others. 

Engineer Tukur, who has thirty years professional experience in manufacturing, process engineering, health, production, safety and environmental management, communications and various other fields, is a Chartered Environmentalist at the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Mitigation, a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers, and the Professional Leadership Practitioners Institute. He is a Registered Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), a member of numerous professional bodies and institutes. Engineer Tukur is an author and is married with children. 

Recall that the Nigeria Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) falls under the purview of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

The President directed Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, to chair the Council on his behalf and give regular updates.

According to Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), President Buhari tasked members of the Council to work towards further strengthening the capacity of government to develop, adopt and deploy digital technologies to make government more efficient and transparent, thereby improving Nigeria’s global standing in the ease of doing business index.

Nigeria was recently ranked 131 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to the World Bank annual ratings.

The President noted that the Council, whose members have been arrived at after a painstaking and thorough process, would provide the oversight needed to bring about a veritable structure for accelerating achievements in digital economy and in the implementation of e-government in the country.

He enjoined every member of the Council to consider the task as a national assignment and justify the trust reposed in their ability to support and significantly enhance the digital transformation of Nigeria.

‘‘I launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) on the 28th of November, 2019 and expanded the mandate of the then Ministry of Communications to include Digital Economy.

‘‘The implementation of that policy and mandate has enabled us to achieve significant progress and record a number of unprecedented achievements.

‘‘The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy showed that the steps we took in developing and implementing NDEPS were indeed timely.

‘‘For example, the Information and Communications Technology sector was the fastest growing sector in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year 2020, based on the Report by the National Bureau of Statistics.

‘‘The sector’s 14.70% double-digit growth rate was instrumental in supporting our country to exit the recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, far earlier than predicted by experts.

‘‘The significant contribution of 17.92% by the ICT sector to our GDP in the second quarter of 2021 is another example of the important impact of the digital economy on the overall economy.

‘‘In the same vein, the growth of our digital economy sector enabled us to cope with the effect of the lock-down as both activities of the government and private sector, as well as educational activities, were able to move to online platforms,’’ he said.

Furthermore, President Buhari expressed delight that the approval of the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions has helped to formalise government online meetings.

He noted that statutory meetings like the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Council of State, and other meetings can now effectively and legally take place online.

He added that Nigeria’s progress in e-governance has been noted by the international community, eliciting recognition from international stakeholders including the appointment of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy as the Chairman of the 2022 Forum of the highly regarded World Summit of the Information Society.

While congratulating the Minister, the President acknowledged that the Ministry has partnered with the Korea International Cooperation Agency to develop a National e-government Master Plan, approved by FEC in August 2019.

The President listed benefits from the partnership including; “the training of over 1,400 Nigerian public servants in both Nigeria and South Korea on e-governance; the launching of an E-Government Training Centre handed over to the Federal Government in November 2019 and the signing off of Phase II of the e-government Project – “Project for Building Foundations Towards Digital Governance in Nigeria (2020-2026).’’

In his remarks, Prof. Pantami noted that NDEPS launched in 2019, made provision for the establishment of the Presidential Council to coordinate the development of an indigenous digital economy.

Describing the implementation of NDEPS for a digital Nigeria as very successful, the Minister said in the last two years, the sector has provided ICT intervention to no fewer than 1,667 institutions at the Federal and sub-national levels.

He added that the recent auctioning of spectrums by the Ministry generated over 400 per cent revenue to the Federal Government coffers while two virtual institutions established by government have trained some 500,000 Nigerian on digital and emerging technologies.

The 27-man committee chaired by Pantami on behalf of the President has the following members: Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, Governor of Gombe State; Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State; Abdullahi Sule, Governor of Nasarawa State; Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State and Senator Hope Uzodinma, Governor of Imo State.

Others are Dr Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of Civil Service of the Federation; Prof. Umar G. Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO Nigerian Communications Commission; Prof. M.B Abubakar, Managing Director/CEO, Galaxy Backbone Limited; Dr. Abimbola Alale, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited and Engr Aliyu A. Aziz, Director General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission.

Also in the committee are Mr. Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, Senior Special Assistant, (Digital Transformation) to the President; Engr Olufemi Olufeko, Director, e-Government Dept, Federal Ministry Of Communications and Digital Economy; A.B. Okauru, Director General, Nigeria Governors Forum; Prof. Simon Adesina Sodiya, President Nigeria Computer Society and Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

Other members are Prof. Kabiru Bala, Representative of Academia and Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira; Prof. Nnenna Oti, Representative of the Academia and Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri and Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Secretary and the Director General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency.

Mr. Sungil Son, Country Director (KOICA), Dr Olufemi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to Hon. Minister of Communication & Digital Economy and Abubakar A. Dahiru, Special Assistant (Cyber Security & Digital Identity) to the Minister are also members of the Committee.

Adesina informed President Buhari that the African Development Bank has designed a $1.5 billion Africa Emergency Food Production Plan to support countries to rapidly-produce around 38 million tonnes of food to mitigate the effect of the war on food prices. This will include 11 million tonnes of wheat; 18 million tonnes of maize; 6 million tonnes of rice; and 2.5 million tonnes of soybeans.

“Nigeria is a top priority under the emergency food production plan,” Adesina said, adding that the strategy will help the country produce 9.5 million tonnes of food. The initiative will support the country’s 5 million smallholder farmers during the wet season of 2022 and 1 million across 10 northern states during the dry season of 2022/2023, the Bank Chief estimated.

Adesina emphasized: “Urgent actions are needed to prevent a food crisis in Africa.” He reaffirmed that the Bank “is fully prepared to meet this new challenge head-on.” President Buhari said his government was committed to encouraging farmers to increase yields and ensure there is an adequate food supply in Nigeria.

The Nigerian President commended the African Development Bank for the plan to “swiftly and boldly” mitigate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on food supplies.

Russia and Ukraine dominate exports of wheat and maize to Africa. With the disruption of supplies arising from the war, Africa now faces a shortage of at least 30 million metric tons of food, especially for wheat, maize, and soybeans imported from both countries.

Official figures estimate that the price of wheat has soared in Africa by over 45% since the war began. Fertilizer prices have gone up by 300%, and the continent faces a fertilizer shortage of 2 million metric tons. If this is not made up, food production in Africa will decline by 20% and the continent could lose over $11 billion in value of food production.

The African Development Bank’s emergency food plan is currently before the Bank’s Board of Directors for approval. It is set for implementation by the end of May 2022 and will cover all African member countries of the Bank.

The African Development Bank is also supporting Nigeria in establishing Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ), which the Nigerian president is due to launch soon.

Both parties agreed that putting the African Development Bank’s emergency food plan and SAPZ initiatives into action in Nigeria, which is Africa’s biggest economy and most populous nation, will increase food production, lower food price inflation and transform the agriculture sector. This will, in turn, ensure food security and create jobs.

The approval was given following a memo written to the President by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim. In the Memo, the Minister updated and requested the President’s approval for the lifting based on the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement’s recommendation.

You may recall that on June 5, 2021, the FGN suspended the operation of the social media platform through an announcement made by the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alh Lai Mohammed. 

Thereafter, the President constituted a seven-man Presidential Committee to engage Twitter Inc. Subsequently, in its wisdom, the Presidential Committee set a 20-member Technical Committee comprising all relevant government agencies. The Technical Committee engaged and worked directly with the social network’s team.

The immediate and remote cause of the suspension was the unceasing use of the platform by some unscrupulous elements for subversive purposes and criminal activities, propagating fake news, and polarising Nigerians along tribal and religious lines, among others. These issues bordering on National Security, Cohesion and the effects of the abuse of the Twitter platform forced the FGN to suspend the operation of social networking platform to address the direct and collateral issues around its operations in Nigeria.

The new global reality is that digital platforms and their operators wield enormous influence over the fabric of our society, social interaction and economic choices. These platforms can be used as either a tool or a weapon. Every nation is grappling with how to balance its usage efficiently. Without balancing, every citizen’s security, privacy, social well-being, and development are at stake. 

“Therefore, our action is a deliberate attempt to recalibrate our relationship with Twitter to achieve the maximum mutual benefits for our nation without jeopardising the justified interests of the Company. Our engagement has been very respectful, cordial, and successful,” the Chairman stated.

The process of resolving this impasse between the FGN and Twitter Inc. has helped lay a foundation for a mutually beneficial future with endless possibilities. 

Twitter is a platform of choice for many Nigerians ranging from young innovators to public sector officials who find it helpful to engage their audience. Therefore, our engagement will help Twitter improve and develop more business models to cover a broader area in Nigeria. 

Furthermore, the FGN looks forward to providing a conducive environment for Twitter and other global tech companies to achieve their potential and be sustainably profitable in Nigeria.

While appreciating all Nigerians, especially the vibrant Nigerian youths who have borne with the long wait to resolve this impasse, the FGN is happy to say that the gains made from this shared national sacrifice are immeasurable. Some of the gains include:

• Ongoing economic and training opportunities as the Company continues to consider expanding its presence in Nigeria;
• Getting a better understanding of how to use the Twitter platform effectively to improve businesses;
• Revenue generation from the operation of Twitter in Nigeria;
• Smooth and coordinated relationship between Nigerian Government and Twitter leading to mutual trust;
• Reduction of cybercriminal activities such as terrorism, cyberstalking, hate speech, etc.; and
• Working with Twitter and other global companies to build an acceptable code of conduct following the global best practice.

The FGN has asked the social networking platform to fulfil some conditions before restoring its services. These conditions addressed legal registration of operations, taxation, and managing prohibited publication in line with Nigerian laws. Twitter has agreed to meet all the conditions set by the FGN. 

Consequently, the FGN and Twitter have decided on an execution timeline, which has started this week. Our engagement with Twitter opens a new chapter in global digital diplomacy and sets a new operational template for Twitter to come back stronger for the benefit of Nigerians.

The following are the resolutions agreed with Twitter. Inc.:

1. Twitter has committed to establishing a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2022. The legal entity will register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The establishment of the entity is Twitter’s first step in demonstrating its long-term commitment to Nigeria
2. Twitter has agreed to appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities. The Global Public Policy team is also directly available through a dedicated communication channel
3. Twitter has agreed to comply with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law
4. Twitter has agreed to enroll Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals. The Partner Support Portal provides a direct channel for government officials and Twitter staff to manage prohibited content that violates Twitter community rules. At the same time, the Law Enforcement Portal provides a channel for the law enforcement agencies to submit a report with a legal justification where it suspects that content violates Nigerian Laws. Taken together, these represent a comprehensive compliance apparatus
5. Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built and work with the FGN and the broader industry to develop a Code of Conduct in line with global best practices, applicable in almost all developed countries

Therefore, the FGN lifts the suspension of the social platform operations in Nigeria from midnight of 13th January 2022. “We encourage all users of the Twitter platform to maintain ethical behaviour and refrain from promoting divisive, dangerous, and distasteful information on the platform. As patriotic citizens, we need to be mindful that anything illegal offline is also illegal online and that committing a crime using a Nigerian Internet Protocol (IP) is synonymous with committing a crime within our jurisdiction.”

Considering Twitter’s influence on our democracy, our economy, and the very fabric of our corporate existence as a Nation, our priority is to adapt, not ban, Twitter. The FGN is committed to working with Twitter to do anything possible to help Nigerians align and navigate Twitter algorithmic design to realise its potential while avoiding its perils.

In his approval, the President appreciated the Presidential Committee led by the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alh Lai Mohammed, for the supervisory role and guidance given to the Technical Committee during the engagement.

Similarly, the Presidential Committee commends the Technical Committee for a professional, robust and productive engagement with Twitter Inc. It also appreciates Government Regulatory Agencies and Internet Service Providers who implemented the FGN’s directives during the suspension.