President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and other prominent Nigerians who have contributed in upping the ante of the ICT industry as the greatest driver of the Nigerian economy, within the century, have been rewarded with garlands of honour, at the first ever ICT Centenary Conference and Awards, which held at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
At the event organised by the ICT Media Initiative, the President was honoured with a trophy as the “Grand Commander of ICT promoters”. The award was received on behalf of the President by the Minister of Communications Technology, Dr Omobola Johnson.
Other awardees included the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union, an agency of the United Nations (UN) responsible for ICT, Dr. Hammadoun Toure who was decorated with “Africa’s ICT Ambassador”, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications Technology, Dr. (Mrs) Omobola Johnson took away the trophy as the “Premier ICT Officer of the Federation” and the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission was honoured as “The Consolidator” of the growth in the Nigerian telecom ecosystem.
The chairman of ICT Media Initiative, the organisers of the event, Mr. Aaron Ukodie said that President Jonathan led by example in the usage of ICT for governance and citizens interactions to justify the prestigious award in his honour.
While also commending Dr Johnson of deserving the award as the Premier ICT Officer of the Federation, Mr. Ukodie commended her for carrying out several innovative strategies, action plans and policies that are unparalleled in Nigeria.
“She has identified the need for increase in rural telephone penetration in her digital inclusion policy; development of incubation centres; new Right of Way guidelines; launch of student PC ownership scheme; drive for local content among others as some of her major focus in the ICT industry. Under her watch Nigeria’s ICT growth indices are on a constant rise,” he noted
Mr Ukodie also stressed that individuals, corporates and institutions deserved the honours because they contributed in no small measures to the evolvement of the ICT sector as the biggest contributor to Nigeria’s global recognition are the focus of these awards in order to motivate them for greater contributions to the growth of the nation.
Further speaking on the essence of the conference and awards, Mr. Ukodie said that the ICT sector has made significant impact on the lives of the urban and rural dwellers as well as the industries and the farming population.
Specifically, he said that efficiency matrix in Nigeria had recorded positive strides because of the contributions of the ICT to the lives of the individuals, government machineries and the processes and procedures in the private sector.
He said that ICT Media Initiative is a synergy across three entrepreneurial media groups namely the ICT Publishers Alliance (ICTPA) – comprising leading ICT publications; Business and TechnologyNews Publishers Foundation (BTPF) – made up of business and technology publishers, editors and very senior news managers across Nigeria; and Nigeria ICT Broadcast Network (NIBN).
Source : Independent