Kwara State Government has applauded the Federal Government’s National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill, saying its passage will smoothen government activities and boost government-citizen engagement.
The State Commissioner for Communications, Bola Olukoju, gave this commendation on Wednesday in Ilorin, the state capital, at the National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill stakeholders’ engagement.
She said: “The Kwara State Government is proud to support technologically-driven initiatives, especially with the National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill. It will help in smoothening government activities and relations, administration and citizen engagement.
“Nigeria is moving into the real digital economy and the Kwara State Government is always proud to support anything that promotes digital economy bearing in mind that we have Ilorin Innovation Hub which should be ready before the end of the year. It will change the state’s tech ecosystem. It will have a lot of startups.”
Olukoju noted that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration is embracing the digital economy to save resources and support youth who are particularly technologically inclined, saying the state has a youth population ready to tap into the tech ecosystem.
For her part, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Banke Ajaguna, said the stakeholders’ engagement is organised to bring together senior government officials, members of the state assemblies, tech ecosystem players and civil society organisations in order to access the draft bill and secure the buy-in of players in the digital economy.
“What we are doing with this stakeholders’ engagement is to truly shape a policy that is of the people, by the people, and for the people within the digital economy. This engagement is to get the buy-in of the stakeholders, ask the right questions, and for the Bill to answer the right questions when it becomes a law and works for the people within the sector,” Ajaguna said.
Presenting an overview of the National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill, 2024, legal Consultant AbdulRasheed Badmus, said the bill aims to position Nigeria as a digital economy leader in Africa by fostering a secure and inclusive digital environment that streamlines and allows for transparent digital governance and citizen engagement.
Key goals of the Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill, according to him, include economic transformation; modernised citizen-centric public services, and digital access for all
