The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria in partnership with the Korean government has disclosed its tech plan targeted to train over 200,000 civil servants on the e-Government initiative within the next five years to fast-track the migration to paperless government by 2030.

Already, about 1400 civil servants had reportedly been trained under the first phase of the project.

Speaking at the flag-off of the Project for Building Foundations towards Digital Governance in Nigeria (2021-2026), the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami observed that the Ministry in August 2021, signed the agreement with the Korean government through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for the implementation of Phase 2 of the e-Government development for Nigeria.

He stated that Phase 2 of the e-Government development project was developed to enhance capacity for the execution of the e-Government Master Plan with consulting services to the Presidential Council on e-Government.

The project also seeks to expand the delivery of government digital services through the enhancement of the services portal to create increased access to National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment.

Pantami, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, William Alo, would among others, create increased access to NIN enrolment for ordinary people across the Nigerian State.

He explained that the first phase of the project for the e-Government development in Nigeria commenced in 2013 with the support of KOICA as part of bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and the government of the Republic of Korea, during which the e-Government master plan that would guide the adoption and implementation of the e-Governance programme in the country, was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in August 2019.

Pantami noted that the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, under the first phase, embarked on the process of developing policies, frameworks and strategies for robust implementation of e-Governance initiatives in federal government institutions and the country at large.

The minister further notified that in order to attain the goals of the project, the Ministry facilitated the President’s approval for the Presidential Council for Digital Economy and e-Government to serve as a high-level body towards the attainment of the Digital Economy Agenda and the implementation of the Government Digital Strategies.

According to him, the project, which would be funded by the KOICA’s grant, was expected to enhance capacity for the further execution of key initiatives of the National e-Government Master Plan, competencies for the e-Government service delivery, and the development of the Government Service Portal.

Speaking at the event, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Kim YoungChae noted that the project signified the friendly and thriving bilateral relations between the Nigerian Government and the Korean Government which had existed for over 40 years.

He observed that Korea’s success in e-Government development was portrayed as one of the world’s best success stories, adding there were many aspects of unique Korean experiences that could be adapted to suit other partner countries.

The envoy noted the continued partnership in this field between Nigeria and Korea had provided an active platform for both countries to collaborate and make the most of the experiences Korea had thus far gone through.

On his part, the Programme Director of the KOICA, Nigeria Division, Hung Kook-Park, said Korea was hoping that by 2026 Nigeria should have moved from the 140th position in the e-government ranking to be among the first 100.

“Currently Nigeria is ranked 140 in the world’s e-Government index ranking but we want Nigeria to be below 100 by the year 2026.” The professor disclosed.

This kind of initiative, which deserves sustenance, ought to be given the actual support it requires to excel. Taking into cognizance that the world is gradually leaving the manual pattern behind, any country that truly needs to grow shouldn’t be informed or reminded of the compelling need to fully key into the digital pattern.

In view of this, the government is expected to expedite actions towards ensuring the lofty initiative isn’t only taken to the peak level, but becomes a thorough indigenous affair without involving collaboration of any foreign expertise.

The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria, on Thursday 26th May 2022, claimed that the ‘conducive business environment’ provided by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had led to the formation, and flourishing of indigenous blue-chip companies in the country.

This was made known by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, while on a media tour of the 5-million tonnes per annum (mtpa) BUA Cement Factory in Sokoto State, in the company of over 30 newsmen.

Mohammed listed the blue-chip businesses to include the BUA Cement Factory being inspected, the $2.5 billion Dangote Fertilizer Plant expected to produce 3 million tonnes of Urea every year and the Dangote 650,000 barrels per day oil refinery in Lagos State due to open later in the year.

Others were reportedly the Lekki Deep Sea Port, one of the most modern seaports in West Africa and the 5,000 barrels per day Modular Refinery in Ibigwe, Imo.

Mohammed pointed out that the aforementioned indigenous giant businesses, which were established and had grown during the tenure of Buhari, were stable, profitable, long-lasting and safe for investments.

He said, “All these projects are beneficiaries of the conducive business environment created by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, under the auspices of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

“PEBEC has implemented more than 150 reforms since 2016, as well as the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA 2020) – Nigeria’s most significant business legislation in three decades.’’

Specifically, the minister noted that the conditions that made BUA cement to flourish since 2015 when the Buhari administration assumed office included the pioneer status granted to the company, adding the ban on importation of cement, the government’s divestment from the cement industry as well as the backward integration policy, helped the company to flourish.

The Minister further stated, “Thanks to these conditions, BUA Cement has recorded a 300 per cent increase in production between 2015 and now.

“That’s from 3.5 million Tonnes per annum in 2015, to 11 million tonnes per annum presently. For its part, the Sokoto plant is operating at over 90 per cent of installed capacity.

“Because of its location, which is just 100 kilometres to Niger Republic, the plant exports to Niger and Burkina Faso, earning Nigeria much-needed forex.’’

Mohammed, however, clarified that only excess of the cement production was exported, especially during the rainy season while?the majority of the product was for local consumption

He hinted, “The three million tonnes per annum line (IV) of the BUA Cement facility that we have just visited was commissioned by Buhari in January this year. This is one of the most modern cement plants anywhere.

“The plant is the first cement plant in Nigeria to use Liquefied Natural Gas to generate 50MW of power, thereby replacing coal in its kiln. This has made the plant environmentally friendly to also curb climate change.’’

It’s noteworthy the Buhari-led administration had moved to improve the business environment in the country with the creation of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

PEBEC was set up in July 2016, barely a year after his emergence as President, to remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria and make the country a progressively easier place to start and grow a business.

The action plan of the initiative is targeted at ensuring that perishable agricultural produce earmarked for export is allowed to move freely through Nigeria’s ports.

In 2020, Nigeria reportedly ranked 131 on the global Ease of Doing Business index, up from 145, which was her rank as at 2019.

However, Mohammed obviously failed to intimate the newsmen during the tour the reason the country was still lagging behind as regards electricity supply in spite of all the efforts apparently put in place by the FG.

Or perhaps, he forgot that an environment cannot be classified as conducive or business friendly if power supply, and other factors such as adequate road networks, apt policies and what have you, are nothing to write home about.

More so, the Information Minister equally forgot, or intentionally decided not, to notify the newsmen that only the same set of individuals in Nigeria still had the privilege or ‘license’ to excel their business ideas in the country. Doesn’t it entail pranks? 

Amidst the controversies surrounding the cryptocurrency market, which are largely based on its acceptability, volatility and governments’ attitude toward it, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is for the first time, speaking in the interest of the digital asset industry.

The crypto market is currently experiencing one of its most tumultuous moments, forcing a massive selloff of assets by investors. On May 13, the market saw more than $200 billion wiped off as bitcoin fell below $26,000 for the first time in 16 months.

But in a surprising development, the IMF head, Kristalina Georgieva, during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting on Tuesday, advised investors not to abandon the crypto market despite Terra’s crash.

In the meeting, she also said the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin UST should not make people ditch cryptocurrencies as not all digital currencies are the same.

Kristalina Georgieva believes the crypto market is important as it offers faster service at lower costs and is more inclusive. She went on to say, every investment comes with some level of associated risks and so do cryptocurrencies but with proper research.

Therefore, stablecoins backed by cash and other assets are different from algorithmic stablecoins. Stablecoins are supposed to maintain a 1:1 peg with reserve assets like the US dollar.

The collapse of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD or UST caused massive liquidation across the crypto market. This should serve as a reminder to investors to be aware of the potential risks with assets that are not well-backed. Hence, investors should continue to invest in cryptocurrencies.

“I would beg you not to pull out of the importance of this world. It offers us all faster service, much lower costs, and more inclusion, but only if we separate apples from oranges and bananas. The less there is backing it, the more you should be prepared to take the risk of this thing blowing up in your face,” she said.

She also urges regulators across the world to protect investors through crypto education and regulation. Moreover, she warned against volatile crypto products with currencies. Anything not backed by a sovereign guarantee can be an asset class, but not a currency.

Amid the ongoing discussion, the spokesperson for the IMF, Gerry Rice also came to the rescue of crypto that the IMF supported El Salvador in the compilation of statistics about the use of Bitcoin (BTC) to boost the country’s anti-money laundering efforts.

The IMF had notably warned many countries about developing romantic relationships with bitcoin, and was openly against the move by El Salvador and the Central African Republic to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender. This support for cryptocurrency marks a significant shift from the Fund’s previous position and may likely renew waning interest in the digital asset industry.

The United States’ Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has imposed a sanction of $150 million on Twitter.

The social media company was allegedly making use of the personal information of its users, which it promised to use to secure their accounts, for target ads.

This is not the first alleged violation of the FTC Act, under which, among other things, the agency is “empowered to prevent unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”

In 2011, Twitter settled with the FTC, having been accused of serious lapses in its data security that allowed hackers to obtain unauthorized administrative control of the platform.

The order prohibited misrepresentations around how Twitter maintains information like email addresses and phone numbers collected from users.

The just-announced $150 million civil penalty stems from a new complaint filed by the US’ Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of the FTC, alleging that Twitter had violated the order in the earlier case by collecting customers’ personal information for the stated purpose of security and then exploiting it commercially.

The FTC in a statement announcing the fine, said, “Specifically, while Twitter represented to users that it collected their telephone numbers and email addresses to secure their accounts, Twitter failed to disclose that it also used user contact information to aid advertisers in reaching their preferred audiences. The complaint was filed by the DOJ on behalf of the FTC.”

The complaint said users provided email addresses or telephone numbers based on Twitter’s “deceptive statements” that such information would be used for account security, such as two-step authorizations.

“This practice affected more than 140 million Twitter users, while boosting Twitter’s primary source of revenue.” the FTC added.

In addition to imposing a $150 million civil penalty for violating the 2011 order, the new order adds more provisions to protect consumers in the future. The orders are as follow:

• Twitter is prohibited from using the phone numbers and email addresses it illegally collected to serve ads.
• Twitter must notify users about its improper use of phone numbers and email addresses, tell them about the FTC law enforcement action, and explain how they can turn off personalized ads and review their multi-factor authentication settings.
• Twitter must provide multi-factor authentication options that do not require people to provide a phone number.
• Twitter must implement an enhanced privacy program and a beefed-up information security program that includes multiple new provisions spelled out in the order,
• Twitter must acquire privacy and security assessments by an independent third-party approved by the FTC, and report privacy or security incidents to the FTC within 30 days.

This is indeed a welcome and commendable measure as was taken by the US’ FTC. This implies that such illegal activity had been taking place across the global community without the knowledge of the apt authorities in various countries where they are operating.

Hence, if well checked or scrutinized, it would be ascertained that other social media networks have equally been carrying out such unauthorized or prohibited acts.

The relevant agencies in other nations are also enjoined to expedite actions in a bid to discover similar prohibited activities, and sanctioning the indicted firm accordingly.