Minister's Week In Review

This week’s (January 29 – February 2, 2024) recap of the activities of Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister for Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Monday

I started my week early by attending the Nigeria Privacy Week Press Conference on Sunday. As Special Guest of Honour at the event, I stated our plan to commit more investments in data protection while also stressing the need to digitise all administrative procedures to exploit the full potential of Nigeria’s digital economy.

Organised by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), the Nigeria Privacy Week was inspired by the Global Data Privacy Day, which is held annually on January 28.

On Monday, I hosted a delegation from MTN Nigeria at my office. Discussions at the meeting centred on defining modalities of support for our Ministry’s initiatives, such as the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) and Build-A-Thon.

The MTN Nigeria team had Karl Toriola, Chief Executive Officer; Tobechukwu Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services Officer; and Anas Galadima, Senior Manager; Public Affairs.

Following the meeting, I headed for the Economic Management Team (EMT) meeting at the Ministry of Finance.

Later, I had a virtual meeting with the team from Vivatech, the largest tech and digital event in Europe. The team, which was led by Fran?ois Bitouzet, briefed me about their upcoming event while offering to showcase Nigeria’s startup ecosystem at this year’s edition scheduled to take place in May.

Tuesday

I joined other members of the Special Presidential Panel on Social Investment Programmes (SIP) chaired by Wale Edun, the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.

The panel meeting, which had other members including Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare; Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Honourable Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Mohammed Idris Malagi, Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation; and Ayodele Olawande, Honourable Minister of State for Youth, was a follow up on the inaugural meeting which took place on January 22.

The Special Presidential Panel was inaugurated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to review and audit existing financial frameworks and policy guidelines of Nigeria’s social investment programme.

Back at my office, I received a delegation from Plateau State led by Professor Goselle Obed, the Commissioner of Science, Technology, and Innovation, who was accompanied by his Chief Technology Adviser, Manji Wilson, and other top government functionaries, including the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry and key technical advisers to the State Governor, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang. Conversations at the meeting centred on improving connectivity across the state and leveraging technological innovation in Agriculture.

My next engagement was a meeting with Professor Tanko Ishaya, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, my alma mater. During the visit, the VC, who was accompanied by other senior members of the school management, briefed me on their work in Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, and Artificial Intelligence. He then went on to invite me to deliver a lecture at the University at a date to be determined. I responded by expressing my commitment to collaborate with the institution in advancing academic research and other areas of mutual interest.

Following this meeting, I hosted representatives of the National Petroleum Telecommunications Limited (NAPET) led by Sanusi Yerima, the company’s Managing Director. The team intimated me on the milestones achieved by the company over the years and its plan to invest further in the telecommunications sector. NAPET is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

I then hosted Ida Mboob, Senior Digital Development Specialist at the World Bank Group. We both explored ways in which the World Bank Group can provide support for the Ministry as we work to deliver on our mandate as outlined in our Strategic Blueprint.

My last official activity for the day was a meeting with Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, the new Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, at my office.

Wednesday

I hosted representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) led by Abdourahamane Diallo, Head of the Abuja Office. We explored areas of collaboration, following which the UNESCO team briefed me ahead of the Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence scheduled for next week in Slovenia.

After the UNESCO meeting, I hosted a delegation from the Gombe State Government led by Dr. Abdullahi Bappah Garkuwa, the Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation. Discussions in the meeting touched on diverse issues, including plans to improve connectivity across the state, right-of-way costs, and support for the Ministry’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme. The delegation from Gombe also included a famous inventor, Engr. Hadi Usman, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, and other top government functionaries.

Thursday

I met with the Microsoft team in my office to discuss a wide range of issues, key of which is providing support for the Ministry across three main pillars of Knowledge, Policy, and Infrastructure, as outlined in our Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint. The team, which was led by Antony Cook, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President, expressed commitment to engage further with me towards deepening Nigeria’s digital economy.

I then received a delegation from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) led by its Country Director, Son Sungil. The delegation expressed KOICA’s interest in supporting Nigeria as it develops its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) framework for improved delivery of public service to the people.

Following this meeting, I hosted H.E. Adegboyega Oyetola, the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, who paid me a courtesy visit in my office. We agreed to collaborate extensively as we work towards actualising President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

My last official engagement for the day was to attend the inaugural edition of the DevsInGovernment programme, an initiative of my Ministry targeted at technologists and tech enthusiasts in the civil service. It is a platform that enables civil servants who run technology in government to collaborate, share constraints, access resources as well as build solutions.

The interactive event was attended by all agency heads under my Ministry, including over 400 civil servants working in technology.

Friday

My first meeting of the day was with Timothy Ashong, the Acting Managing Director of the Regional African Satellite Communication Organization (RASCOM), which provides telecommunication services, direct TV broadcast services, and Internet access in rural areas. He briefed me on their activities in 45 member states across Africa while soliciting collaboration and support as they work towards bridging the digital divide between the continent and the world.

My last meeting for the week was a virtual meeting with Adaora Ikenze, Director of Public Policy, Anglophone West Africa at Meta (formerly Facebook). We discussed areas of collaboration and outlined follow up engagements to achieve our set objectives.