From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has said the Federal Government has been leveraging on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to save money and diversify the income base of the economy.
Speaking on a lecture entitled: ‘Maximising the Potentials of the Telecommunications Industry for Reversing Recession and the Economic Growth of Nigeria,’ organised by the University of Ibadan School of Business in Ibadan at the weekend, Shittu described the Treasury Single Account (TSA) as one of the ICT products that has been plugging financial leakages for the government, adding that his ministry collaborated with the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to use ICT to transform government service delivery.
The current administration, according to him, has been working at achieving increased ICT penetration in both mobile telephony and broadband services to all the nooks and crannies of the country in order to stimulate the Nigerian economy.
His words: “The overall goal of the efforts was to increase ICT interaction and usage in agriculture, health, trade, finance, insurance and transport. This would automatically affect the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), improve the quality of life, reduce dependency on foreign exchange and improve the value of the Naira.”