Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami says effective service delivery which puts citizens in the picture is the key idea underlying public sector reforms in the country.
Professor Pantami made this disclosure on Thursday while delivering his keynote address titled, EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS ON CITIZENS’ CENTRED TECHNOLOGY GOVERNANCE at the 11th African day International Conference on collaborations on citizens-centred technology conference, organised by the Republic of Slovenia.
Professor Pantami in his virtual address informed participants that, “Citizens-centred governance involves new ways of enabling citizens to prosper. It aims at providing an environment in which all citizens irrespective of class, caste and gender can develop to their full potential. It also aims at providing public service effectively, efficiently and equitably to the citizens as the core of good governance. Hence, good governance and citizens-centered administration are inextricably linked.”
Highlighting some of the strategies adopted by the Federal Government under the present administration to enhance citizens-centered technology governance including the issuance of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation and the subsequent establishment of a full fledged bureau, the approval of the Presidential Council for Digital Economy and eGovernment, the Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB) and the accessibility of government services online, the Minister also disclosed that efforts are ongoing to expand the scope on both service rendition and delivery.
The Honourable Minister while commending the giant strides made by Slovenia especially in the area of blockchain technology, noted that, “A partnership between Slovenia and African countries would be a win-win situation and the conference is well poised to facilitate such collaborations.”
The theme for this year’s conference is, AFRICA AND EUROPE: COOPERATION ON DIGITAL TRANSITIONS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES.