The Nigerian government should create a platform where stakeholders in the nation’s software subsector can interact and become owners, according to Dr. Umar Bindir, the director general of National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), a government agency that endorses tech advances in the country.
Dr. Bindir said the platform is needed to effectively drive the implementation of the National Software Policy recently formulated by Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
While addressing the press, Dr. Bindir described the new policy as “the much-needed veritable tool that will transform Nigeria into Africa’s version of India in the area of software management and development.”
He explained that the aim of the new policy is to bring about growth in the nation’s software industry as it will also make way for the influx of more investments.
According to Dr. Bindir, the full implementation of the policy will promote software as a major vital national information infrastructure for the growth of the Nigerian economy.
Concerning the implementation of the policy, he stated that recognition must be given to inter-institutional synergy for credible database creation.
“If the databases are to be designed to be credible, it is very important to ensure that the National Bureau of Statistics is at the centre of it, registering young people, ensuring credibility in terms of data gathering tools, registering and accrediting databases and so on.
“And therefore, it is important to bring a number of institutions together that would be able to recognize the implementation of the policy to ensure that Nigeria is making progress,” Dr. Bindir said.
He also described roles for officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Bureau of Public Procurement.
“[Officials of these agencies must be] strengthened so that the uses of databases, gathering databases becomes part of their day to day work, and therefore in essence, the coming together of institutions in a synergized manner in the process of the implementation of the software policy becomes absolutely important,” he said.
