From Chidi Nnadi, Enugu
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has revealed that his administration is deploying Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and solutions to create wealth and improve service delivery to people of Enugu State.
Ugwuanyi made this known at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on ICT Utilisation and Sustainability for the South-East Zone organised by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) at Nondon Hotel, Enugu.
The governor who was represented on the occasion by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Gabriel Ajah, said the importance of the workshop could not be overemphasised as ICT has become an indispensable and most effective platform for rapid and sustainable development in the 21st Century.
“ICT provides multiple economic and employment opportunities to both urban and rural populations, increases productivity, offers easier and cheaper access to financial, educational and health services and generally makes society work more efficiently.
“The acquisition, adoption and application of ICT is even more imperative for developing countries and societies like ours where the battle against poverty, backwardness, unemployment and disease continue to rage with increasing intensity,” Ugwuanyi said, adding that the implementation of an ICT policy in the state has helped them to envisage a positive and prosperous future for the people.
He, therefore, commended the USPF for the initiative, believing that the programme would “help to advance the knowledge, understanding and capacity of the participants in relation to uses and application of ICT, as well as the CRC and SKC infrastructure to improve the economic and social conditions of their respective communities.”
In his welcome address, the Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the South East region workshop was “initiated to enrich the experience of their implementing partners, especially Community Resource Centre (CRC) managers, School Knowledge Centres (SKC) desk officers, as well as teachers and students that have benefitted from our SKC initiative.