NCS urges FG to use infotech to tackle insecurity in Nigeria

Sir. Demola Aladekomo, President, Nigerian Computer Society NCS  stated that Unless information technology, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn.

He disclosed this last week in Lagos during a press conference to announce the 2013 edition of NCS International Conference slated to hold in Osun State next July. Aladekomo noted that e-government and national security as the theme of this year’s conference was borne out of the need to highlight the relevance of IT to governance and national security to ensure real, all-inclusive development and transformation of governance through IT, while overcoming the menace of insecurity bedevilling the nation.

According to him, if terrorists who are basically the youths were gainfully engaged through IT, the situation can be better managed.

“Let us engage the jobless youth population. There is no better time than now. Let us build IT parks around the nation where youths can be engaged. Let us empower the youths with IT tools and knowledge which will go a long a long way in preparing them for the global market.

“You will agree with me that the recent declaration of State of Emergency in three states in the country by the President, due to insecurity challenges in those states made this theme all the more compelling.”

“One way to describe e-government is the application of ICT to strengthen governance — the use of ICTs in the operations and performance improvement of public sector organisations. It also means the use of ICT to achieve better stakeholders’ engagement.

“When carefully designed and diligently implemented, e-government tackles the problems of poverty, disease, unemployment and hunger. E-government strategies that work facilitate both public sector and private sector development.

“The protection of life and property is the major function and responsibility of any government. All over the world, no nation is excluded from the challenges of insecurity. Murder, armed robbery, terrorism, cultism and other crimes abound despite the best efforts of security and law enforcement agencies.

“A more proactive IT-led approach to combating this menace is needed in a country like ours. It is our considered view that no organisation is better suited than the NCS to chart the way forward in this regard.

“NCS has diligently over the past few months canvassed the use of ICT towards resolving the issues of security in our Country. We call on the Federal government to engage NCS towards contributing in resolving this massive issue. Once this is done youth empowerment and employment will follow” he explained.

It would be recalled that annually, the conference addresses critical national and global IT issues and concerns, attracting practitioners, decision makers, policy makers and professionals from Nigeria and all over the World.

The conference is the largest annual assembly of high-level IT stakeholders from business, industry, education, government and social communities in Nigeria. It is the key networking and professional event for advancing Information Technology for development and promoting the interests of IT stakeholders in the country.