Nigeria is bracing up to join the trend of global digitisation in all her national infrastructure. ELEOJO IDACHABA in this report takes a look at the trend in the light of its associated benefits.
In what appears as a conscious effort towards globalisation in digital technology, the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) is set to roll out digital driver’s licences in the country in order to eliminate what the Corps referred to as incessant complaints about theft of cards. Besides theft, analysts say the plan has a lot of gains for a growing economy such as Nigeria’s.
FRSC Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi announced the development recently in Abuja during this year’s Strategy Session of Zonal Commanding Officers and Sector Commanders on Zero Tolerance to Road Crashes.
According to Oyeyemi, the plan is in consonance with the federal government’s deliberate efforts at digitising the economy.
Oyeyemi is of opinion that in arriving at the decision, the Corps was driven by the need for national commitment towards making the country safe for all to attain prosperity and good health.
In particular, he noted that the digital drivers licence which would be optional at inception would eliminate the inconvenience of going around with the physical card thereby reducing its theft, cut down the time of its production, would be easily accessible anywhere within the country and most importantly contribute to a robust national data bank.
The success of this novel idea, he said, would hinge on collaboration with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) like the National Identity Management Company (NIMC), federal and state boards of internal revenue to ensure a seamless exercise.
As a prelude, the Corps had said henceforth, the possession of a National Identity Number (NIN) would be a prerequisite for obtaining the driver’s licence anywhere in the country.
“As it has been announced earlier, without the NIN, no one can obtain the Nigerian Drivers Licence again. The Corps would no longer transact business with an individual or group without the new prescribed federal government identification regime,” he said.
It is not only the FRSC that has caught the bug of digitisation. Broadcasting houses have been in the throes of being digitised since 2014. As a matter of fact, the Nigeria broadcasting industry is currently undergoing a quiet revolution. According to Innocent Ihechu of the Department of Mass Communications, Abia State University, Uturu, “It is all about the ongoing transition from analogue to digital technology. Digitisation is a technological innovation that would change the scope of radio and television broadcasting in this country and beyond.”
In line with the transition process, he noted that the International Telecommunication Union, (ITU) during the Regional Radio communications Conference (RRC) held in 2006 set a deadline for a total switch-over of all broadcast channels from analogue to digital. The body set June 17, 2015 for all UHF channels to go digital. It also set the digitisation of all VHF channels for 2020.
“In response to that deadline, Nigeria thereafter set June 17, 2012, as its switchover year, unfortunately she could not meet up with the requirements until late 2014.”
Analysing the benefits
Writing on ‘Digital Economy to Spur Economic Growth,’ Isaac Esowe pointedly examined the benefits succinctly when he said, “Globally, the field of digital technology is an attraction for foreign capital investment. Almost one in five foreign direct investments in Europe or 19 percent targets the digital technology sector. Digital technology is rapidly transforming and reshaping global economic landscapes, infusing virtually every sector and aspect of daily life as well as changing the way and manner businesses function.”
Continuing, he said, “Digitisation can also strengthen people’s trust in firms or governments by enabling some decentralised forms of trust such as with a block chain where centralised authorities are not trusted. It may allow products and services to be customised and targeted thereby enabling better inclusion but also easier ways to exclude some too.
“Improved digital connectivity can only achieve the desired transformational impact on economic opportunity and inclusive growth if combined with improvements in digital skills and literacy, the coverage of digital identity schemes and access to digital payments and other financial services as well as digital support to start-ups and existing businesses. With such capabilities, the Nigerian economy can harness digital data and new technologies, generate new content, and link individuals with markets and government.”
On his part, a digital analyst, Adeyemi Adepetun, while writing on ‘Harnessing Digital Resources for National Economy,’ said digital revolution is transforming lives and societies with unprecedented speed and scale while at the same time delivering immense opportunities as well as daunting challenges.
“Notwithstanding the challenges, developing economies are fast making efforts to catch up with the developed world. Although these are still early days in the digital era; therefore, there are more questions than answers about how to deal with the digital challenge.
“Given the absence of relevant statistics and empirical evidence as well as the rapid pace of technological change, decision makers face a moving target, as they try to adopt sound policies relating to the digital economy,” he said.
Dissecting the concept
While explaining the meaning of digital economy recently, a retired federal director of information, Salish Na’inna Dambata, said: “Digital economy encompasses digital government or e-government, digital skills, artificial intelligence, internet of things, smart agriculture, digital culture, digital infrastructure, digital energy, digital citizens, digital entrepreneur and so many other digitals- all of them fruits of the digital economic tree.”
The industry, he noted, also encompasses the manufacturing of and trading in computing devices, software, mobile phone handsets, broadcast equipment, networking tools and countless accessories that facilitate inter and intra- institutional connectivity and ultimately world-wide linkages through the internet.
On his part, the minister of communication and digital economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, said Nigeria is poised to attain an up and running digital economy by the year 2023, which is about a year and a half from now. He said steps towards achieving that are being taken. To that extent, the recent announcement regarding the harmonisation of NIN numbers to subscribers’ mobile numbers is part of the processes towards attaining full digitisation of that sector. Although the move has attracted wider criticism in view of the timeline, according to Pantami, there is no policy of the government that does not attract criticism. He said: “At the end of the day, what matters is the overall benefits to the people.”
In the views of Mrs. Juliet Ehimaun-Chazor, the country director of Google West Africa, digital transformation is a reality and as such represents the new normal. “More than ever, it is evident that we live in a digital world and the Covid-19 Pandemic made this reality obvious because of the impact of virtual interaction in the last one year,” she said.
She described the digital economy as “a term that captures the impact of digital technology on the patterns of production and consumption including how goods and services are marketed, traded and paid for.”
“It is also the broad range of economic activities that use digitized information and knowledge as key factors of production.”
She said further that, “It is important to note that the digital economy is growing faster than the real sector. Records have it that the digital economy real value-added grew at an average annual rate of 9.9%/year from 1998 to 2017, compared to the 2.3% growth in the overall economy.”
The World Bank report
According to the World Bank report on ‘Nigerian’s Digital Economy Diagnostic,’ as one of the biggest economies in Africa with one of the largest populations of young people in the world, Nigeria is well-positioned to develop a strong digital economy, which would have a transformational impact on the country.
World Bank senior digital development specialist and co-author of the report, Isabel Neto, said further in that report that, “Through innovations and investments, the Nigerian economy can harness digital data and new technologies, generate new content, link individuals with markets and government services and roll out new, sustainable business models.”
The report also noted that in Nigeria, digital economy is a key priority as the country has made some strides to strengthen the country’s digital space.
“Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017–2020 (ERGP) recognises the need for a digital-led strategy to make the Nigerian economy more competitive in the 21st century global economy. In 2015, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) proposed the transition of the economy into a digital economy through investments in digital infrastructure and more specifically broadband, which is a key driver of digital economy growth.
“The Nigerian international connectivity is well developed and there are new digital platforms available such as the Central Portal for Government Services. Nigeria is also committed to universal education, including providing digital skills training and it is home to several high-growth digital companies.”
Pantami’s explanations
In the meantime, the communications minister Pantami has justified the necessity of the re-designation of the ministry as a digital economy in October 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
This is just as he recalled the modest strides of the ministry towards accomplishing the digital economy policy of the government.
He spoke recently at a media parley in Abuja with members of the Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA). The minister used the forum to enlighten the media about steps that had been taken by the ministry to enhance the transition to digital economy.
He said the re-designation was done to position Nigeria for the gains of the digital economy.
According to Pantami, this is particularly significant as it enables Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which is the most diverse and fastest growing sector, to mobilise other sectors and align with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the federal government.
“This is quite fitting as it also ensures that the name of the ministry captures its objective in keeping with best global practices.”
Following the re-designation, he said the government directed the ministry to develop and implement a national digital economy strategy which was done and unveiled by the president in November 2019.
Speaking further, the minister declared that all other MDAs are connected to the strategy in view of the centrality of ICT to development in other sectors of the economy.
“Government expects every Nigerian to have connected with and expressed the goal of digital Nigeria by being computer literate, owning a digital device which the agencies in the ministry have been assisting to facilitate through having access to the Internet, owning a bank account that can be accessed and operated digitally and online,” he said.
Beyond financial services, the minister said the federal government “hopes to see that the majority of the citizens undertake many activities electronically.”
