Report unfair treatment, Pantami tells indigenous innovators

Consistent with Executive Orders 003 and 005, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, has harped on the need for indigenous innovators who feel unfairly sidelined in the procurement of IT services to seek redress by reporting to relevant authorities.

Speaking at the maiden edition of the Digital Nigeria Day with the theme: Digital Economy: A New Frontier for Economic Prosperity, Pantami said there was a need for preference to be given to indigenous IT products and services.

According to Pantami, Nigeria has recorded remarkable achievements in its digitalisation efforts making it important to celebrate the Digital Nigeria Day in line with the United Nations Development Information Day.

He further stressed that in today’s global society, digital skills come first before other considerations. Pantami, however, called on stakeholders to collaborate with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to digitalise the Nigerian economy.

Commenting on how the ministry has empowered Nigerians, he said: “Since the launch of the Digital Nigeria Portal, sixty-six thousand applicants have enrolled for various programs with sixty-three thousand already certified. Cumulatively, over a hundred thousand Applicants have been empowered under the various programs of the Agencies and Parastatals under the Ministry’s purview.”