By Ibrahim Ramalan
Abuja
Federal Ministry of Science and Technology on Monday in Abuja took a quantum leap towards having a transparent and robust electoral process that will ensure a non-violent 2015 polls, when it organized a two-day ‘Capacity Development Conference for Nigerian Youth on Technology Tools to Report Elections’ where 200 youths of voting age drawn from the six geopolitical zones were trained on the use of appropriate technology to monitor the forthcoming elections and ensure a credible polls.
Speaking during the inauguration, Bulama who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, said the programme was organised with the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) so that social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Blackberry Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram can be deployed for the electoral processes especially as it concerns ensuring quick transmission of results.
The Minister maintained that “the use of election technology to ensure integrity and/or enhance transparency in the electoral process can be tremendously effective. It could also be used in spreading messages of non-violence. Text message-based Result Transmission System (RTS) could be harnessed to provide a quick and efficient way for citizens to receive provisional results.”
Dr. Abdu Bulama stated that, globally, “innovative technology with peculiar local content will be deployed to ensure hitch-free electoral processes.”
According to him, it was against this background of the pivotal relevance of the use of its technology in electioneering exercise that the Ministry secured the support of UNDP to execute a project with focus on sensitizing Nigerians, especially the youth so as to produce a new crop of youths that will serve as agents of change through the utilisation of innovative and technological tools in promotion of non-violence and spreading of messages of peace during election.
He said the ministry had the mandate to create technological infrastructure and knowledge-base that will facilitate its wide application for the country’s development. “This among others, involves strengthening of the political framework for free, fair and transparent elections as well as entrenchment of good governance and ensuring more dividends of democracy.
In his remark, the Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Boni Haruna, who was also represented by Mr. Waziri Laminu, a Director in the ministry, said the youths who form at least 45 percent of the electorate have in the past played both positive and negative roles, adding that role in the past elections violence was most pronounced.
“The two-day training session will afford the youth to have recourse on the right use of available technology in election processes. Beyond making youths’ voices heard, there is need to tally embrace peace and refuse to be used as political thugs,” he said.
