Review of Cleopas Angaye’s Technology Development Vision for NITDA

By

Femi Oyesanya

yeyerolling@yahoo.com

For those that view Information Technology as an alternative source of wealth creation for developing countries such as Nigeria, a recent vision presentation by the new Director General of NITDA, Cleopas Angaye, needs to be carefully studied.

In the presentation, Professor Cleopas Angaye, outlined NITDA’s strategic focus under his tenure as head of the agency.  In summary, the core of the NITDA’s IT development strategic directions are as follows:

1. The organizational restructure of NITDA, and   with a role emphasis of the Federal agency in developing IT regulation, standards, and implementation of protective policies for the local IT sector;

2. Software Development;

3. Provision of an enabling IT development environment;

4. Development of IT training Institutions;

5. Partnerships roles for stakeholders.

The presentation by the new Director General needs careful attention. One, because, in the entire 17 page presentation, the word “policy” was mentioned twice, and Professor Angaye made no reference to any policy continuity stance on the Nigerian National IT Policy. He did not offer to review, revise, or adopt the National IT Policy.   

Two, Cleopas Angaye in the presentation, can also be quoted as saying, “the domestic IT industry needs protective policies and enabling laws” leading one to assume that during his tenure as the head of Nigerian IT Development agency, one should not anticipate policies whose outcomes will lead to a deregulated IT environment as we have seen in countries with sustainable IT development programs,   but one shielded by anti-competition standards and regulations.

Three, there is an utmost lack of strategic policy coherence, as Cleopas Angaye promised, “we propose to develop a Nigerian software industry that will match the foreign exchange earning of oil by 2015”, and shockingly, one of the ways he hopes to accomplish this objective, is to require market demand guranteees from the Nigerian local market to buy made in Nigerian products.  Listen to him, “the public sector (and the organized private sector) should guarantee a large and ready market for our IT products to energize and develop local capacity”

Where on planet earth did the Professor hear that market economies ever offer guarantees?

Four, nowhere in the presentation did the professor mention a plan for Information Technology Research and Development.  Should one assume that his vision for NITDA does not include research driven Information Technology innovations? 

Nigeria needs accelerated IT growth polices, the IT sector needs convergence strategic alliance with the Telecommunications sector that will together enable a comprehensive ICT diffusion regime for the masses.  Cleopas should also note that the Nigerian Telecommunications sector, is by far, a highly deregulated operating environment, and the current growth that we see in that sector has not been shielded to a large extent, by protective regulations and standards.   The college Professor needs to go back to the Policy drawing board, and come up with sustainable IT strategic direction.