Minister’s Week In Review

Last week’s (August 19 – 23, 2024) recap of the activities of Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister for Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

INTRO?

This has been a milestone week for us as we mark one year in office since my swearing in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last August. It has been a gratifying experience for my team and I – one that fills me with belief and hope, not just for the growth of our digital economy, but for the future of our nation in general.

We took the opportunity presented by this occasion to reflect on our work and achievements in the past one year, using our Strategic Blueprint document as a benchmark, and also reiterate our strong commitment towards transforming Nigeria’s digital economy for the benefit of all Nigerians.

KEY FOCUS

Policy: As a key component for delivering on our digital transformation objectives as outlined in our Strategic Blueprint document, we are partnering with organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to set up a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Centre which will serve as a reference point and central coordinating resource for the implementation of DPI in Nigeria.

The goal of our DPI approach is to improve public service delivery while reducing the cost of governance. Ultimately, it will help to drive economic growth, social empowerment, and sustainable development across Nigeria.

Infrastructure: To address Nigeria’s non-consumption challenge and expand our broadband internet infrastructure to unserved and underserved communities, I brainstormed with heads of agencies under my Ministry on ways to accelerate the implementation of Project 774 LG Connectivity, and also shared perspectives with Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on the protection of subsea cables globally.

TIMELINE

Monday

My first meeting this week was with heads of agencies under my Ministry to receive updates on Project 774 LG Connectivity initiative, and brainstorm on ways that its roll out can be expanded.

Project 774 LG Connectivity is our initiative geared at connecting the last mile of government in all Local Government Secretariats across Nigeria to every day citizens ensuring they can access government services more efficiently.

Agency heads at the meeting include Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, DG/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Jane Egerton-Idehen, MD/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite limited (NIGCOMSAT); Prof. Ibrahim Adeyanju, MD/CEO, Galaxy Backbone Limited; and Yomi Arowosafe, Secretary, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF).

After that, I met with representatives of NITDA led by its DG/CEO, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi. The team made a presentation on the draft guidelines for clearance of IT projects for federal public institutions with a view to reviewing it for effective implementation.

I later met with Elsie Attafuah, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to further discuss collaborative efforts towards setting up a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Centre which will serve as a reference point and central coordinating resource for the implementation of DPI in Nigeria.

My final official engagement for the day was a chat with Victoria Fabunmi, National Coordinator, Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), on the innovation programmes targeted at upskilling hubs across the country, and opportunities for capacity building in ONDI.

Tuesday

My first engagement on Tuesday was to deliver a keynote address at the IPv6 Driven Digital Summit themed, ‘Bringing Net 5.5G Into Reality: Inspiring New Growth’. The Protocol brings Nigeria in line with global standards for cybersecurity and digital infrastructure.

The Summit was organised by NITDA in collaboration with Huawei, IPv6 Forum, and IPv6 Council of Nigeria.

I then had a meeting with my policy advisers and partners on the status of the Digital Economy and e-Governance Bill. The focus of the meeting was to review the observations and inputs so far received with a view to incorporating them into the final draft of the Bill that will be presented at the nationwide stakeholder engagement.

Following this meeting, I received in my office, HRM Oba Kehinde Olugbenle (MFR), Olu and Paramount Ruler of Yewa Land, who paid me a courtesy visit.

Wednesday

On the anniversary of my one year in office, we released a document detailing the status of our work and achievements in the Ministry in the past one year, and our plans towards meeting the goals set in our Strategic Blueprint. Grateful for the support of the entire team across the Ministry and our agencies in delivering on our plans, even as we continue to work hard towards achieving more.

Following some internal meetings, I met with Funmi Olotu, National Coordinator, National Social Safety-Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) to identify areas of collaboration between her agency and my Ministry towards delivering the needed support for our vulnerable population.?

I later joined a virtual meeting with Wei Xiao, Director of Startup and Developer Relations, NVIDIA to explore areas of partnership and collaboration in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education.

My last engagement for the day was a visit by Hannatu Musawa, Honourable Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy to my office. Our conversation centred on identifying areas of cooperation between our Ministries towards achieving the goals outlined in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Thursday

As a follow up to my meeting with Elsie Attafuah, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and her team on Monday, I met with the UNDP team once more to do an onsite assessment of the proposed DPI Centre facility and share a work plan with a view to making it ready for use.

The UNDP team included Samuel Jacob-Oricha, Project Manager, UNDP, Nigeria; ‘Toyin Bamidele, National Specialist/Digital Innovation Officer, UNDP Nigeria; Yadak Oksakei, Programme Analyst, UNDP Nigeria; and Lantana Elhassan, Head of Exploration, Accelerator Lab, UNDP Nigeria.

My next engagement was at the Presidential Villa to attend a briefing session with Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President on Nigeria’s participation at the upcoming 2024 Summit of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) scheduled to take place in September.

On my return to the office, I hosted members of the National Blockchain Steering Committee who presented their action plan for Blockchain implementation in Nigeria, including the approach for policy implementation. We had a productive engagement where I gave inputs and recommendations based on their presentation.

The meeting had in attendance Chimezie Chuta, Chairman, National Blockchain Steering Committee; Dr. Olubunmi Ajala, National Director, National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR); and Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, DG/CEO, NITDA.

Following this was a virtual meeting with Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to discuss modalities around the upcoming Submarine Cable Resilience Summit scheduled for November. The Summit, which will be hosted in Nigeria, is based on my advocacy efforts to develop a more structured arrangement for the protection of subsea cables globally.

My final official engagement on Thursday was a meeting with David Daser, the newly appointed President/CEO, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). We discussed extensively on how to work together towards achieving the Institute’s mandate.

Friday?

I spent most of Friday in internal meetings and review with my team but also received Terrence Wu, MD/CEO, Huawei Nigeria, to discuss a number of ongoing collaborations and opportunities with our ministry.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

BLUEPRINT REVIEW

My activities focused on the Policy and Infrastructure pillars of our Strategic Blueprint as I engaged extensively with development partners such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to ideate and finalise plans towards setting up a best-in-class DPI Centre in Abuja.

I also had productive engagements with Tomas Lamanauskas, Dep. Sec.-Gen., ITU to discuss issues around protecting subsea cables globally, as well as with heads of agencies under my Ministry to brainstorm on an expanded rollout of our Project 774 LG Connectivity initiative.