The ICT implementing and regulatory agency in Nigeria, Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has decried the low level of the employment of government enterprise technology among government institution stating that only 4.7 percent of federal institutions use IT “in a somewhat effective manner.”
It was revealed that just over 66 percent of such institutions are at what the agency referred to as “emerging stage” of IT application, maintaining only websites “offering basic information online.”
The agency expressed disappointment at the low compliance with modern technology by government ministries and agencies.
The director general of the agency, Isa Pantami, however, said with the presentation of Nigerian Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) framework to stakeholders last week Thursday, the agency is setting the tune to changing the current reality.
Pantami also seized the opportunity to call for support from stakeholders stressing that “public institutions for a big critical enterprise must be managed efficiently to ensure its resources including IT are maximized to create value for stakeholders given the prevailing political, legal and administrative contexts.”
The Director-General, who was represented at the occasion by NITDA’s director of e-Government Development and Regulation, Vincent Olatunji, acknowledged developments in IT systems of some public institutions which, he said, however, come with other challenges.
He outlined some of the challenges to include inefficient IT environment, poor interoperability of IT systems, poor information sharing across agencies, maintenance of unnecessary multiple sites and unstandardized communication channels.
Other challenges stated are the high cost of IT investments and poor sustainability of IT projects by host institutions.
In his words, “In addition to the previous challenges mentioned, ICT adoption and implementation in Nigeria naturally faces a lot of challenges ranging from inadequate basic infrastructures such as electricity, broadband and other digital technologies to insufficient human capital and the required skills in the public sector effectively implement and utilize ICT solutions.
“We also have unfriendly and weak institutions; inadequacy of finance for ICT projects as a result of competing demands and inability to properly align government businesses and ICT deployment, among others.”
According to Pantami, the implication of those challenges on the sector resulted in the inability of public institutions to fully translate national or organizational visions, policies, and programmes into effective enterprise change and add value.
He said, “This has prevented IT, to some extent, from becoming an asset shaping strategic future opportunities of public institutions and the government as a whole.”
The agency also commended ICT utilization as exemplified by the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Government Information Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Bank Verification Number (BVN), e-Taxation, e-Passport, and e-Wallet system for farmers.
While presenting a draft of the NGEA document, Soji Adegunwa of Goldberry Systems Ltd said enterprise architecture is a recommended technology system that is being accepted by governments all over the world.
He also stated that the adoption and harmonization would help the government cut costs in IT investment, as it cuts multiplicity and allows for collaboration.
According to him, with common platforms, there will be a decrease in “administrative headache” among agencies.
Mr. Adegunwa also calmed the nerves of government institutions saying the technology is only making things more efficient without “taking powers away.”
