Expert explains why Nigeria ranks 119 out of 130 countries on e-readiness

Indication has emerged in Information and communications technology sphere why Nigeria is ranked 119 out of 130 countries on e-readiness status.

The Director General, Delta State Innovation Hub, Dr Chris Uwaje, explained this position at the just ended 25th Internet Society anniversary in Lagos, adding that eReadiness refers to a country’s capacity and state of preparedness to participate in the electronic world.

The DG Delta State Innovation Hub underscored that the state of maturity is generally measured by the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and the capability of its government and citizens to utilize the positive impacts of ICT for sustainable development.

“In the e-readiness report just released early this week Nigeria is sitting at 119. eReadiness status is about the aggregate measure of how countries are faring using ICT or within the ICT landscape, it embodied economic, educational and social index, measured along the lines of sustainable development goals.

Each country has an index that they need to pass, it just like exam. But the aggregate sum of our domain platform today is really unacceptable.

It keeps us into that realm of super consumption country in ICT but less in innovative and creativity and that is wrong,” he said.

He lamented that “The more we consume, the more we are funding capital flight, the more we consume the more our educational sector will be malnourished in terms of knowledge,

and will not be attractive, that is why more Nigerians are now in Ghanaian universities and in Republic of Benin universities.

“For the country to move up it is about knowledge Olympiad. We need to refine our educational system, government need to invest more on knowledge parks, incubators, and fund incubators.

We have to ensure that lectures and those who can replicate knowledge are given added resources and reward system that enables them. Because we need to create a digital army for this country, so that when financial sector, aviation, transport or any other sector is attack can we defend it?

“We are not doing enough and it has to be defined in many realms. Professionals are not doing enough; government is not doing enough, and we must make bold to say that in comparison with what other countries are doing,

stakeholders in general are not doing enough; they might be doing for self but we are talking about doing for the nation.

Government doing for nation, students doing for nation, professional doing for nation. That is the engagement and until we do that the in-depth statute of our nation for e- readiness will not improve as it has always being.”

He argued that Nigeria have very intelligent people and these people must cluster together to aggregate our demand that Nigeria deserve a better rating, a better road map and a better strategy.

Uwaje added that, “we must fight for digital resolutions, digital enabling laws like other countries have.

Rwanda have been able to cluster people to partner with a company and come back and make sure that as we are here we donate blood and this blood is sent to 30 villages across the country for primary e-health using drones.

South Africa alone has an incubation centre of about over 1000 people; and you can just walk in and get breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“With NITDA we need a cluster position of 50,000 youths doing something somewhere, commission a stadium and only Internet and innovation will be done there. Lagos alone is harbouring about 19 million people without an IT park.

I know that we are trying to do something, but we are late comers. Our voices must be heard and so let us tell them of what we are and it is by Knowledge Olympia.”

He noted that government has a responsibility and this is where unemployment could be really curbed, when you teach people skill, how to code, thereby multiplying talent for the future and ensuring that capital flight to other countries will not be.

It is really advocating local content, he stressed because there is a law in this country that what Nigerians can do in the IT space should not be contracted out to foreigners.