Stakeholders that gathered for the celebration of the 2021 World Wide Web Day organized by the Centre for Cyber Awareness and Development (CECAD) unanimously pointed to the lack of sufficient investment in infrastructure as the major challenge to the development of internet and its services in Nigeria.
The event, which was held in Lagos, attracted regulators, private and public players, the media and interested groups in the information and communications technology (ICT) looked at the topic: ‘The World Wide Web: Creating Opportunities For A New African Digital Economy’.
The experts argued that ubiquitous and affordable Internet will easily lead to more Nigerians latching onto the digital economy being pursued and championed by the federal ministry of communications and digital economy.
President of the African ICT Foundation (AfICTF), Mr. Tony Ojobo, speaking on the ‘The Imperative of Digital Inclusion in the New African Digital Economy,’ noted that information is power, but lamented that in this part of the world, citizens, especially those in the rural areas lacked access to life-saving information.
He attributed this to a lack of access to the internet, leading to a large number of both urban and rural populations being unable to afford Digital/ Smart devices to be able to key into the digital economy.
“There can be no digital economy without affordable and accessible Internet in the country. Government should invest massively in Broadband services to address the cost of services, which may hinder the digital economy drive,” he said.
According to Ojobo, 30% of African children lack primary school education while 89% does not have access to computers at home, impeding their knowledge flow.
He opined that with pervasive broadband infrastructure across the country, the issue of out-of-school children can be addressed by leveraging online learning, which is aided by the Internet.
The Internet he said, is a Fundamental Human Right (FHR) and must be guaranteed for all, stressing that any attempt to infringe on this right will stifle innovation and creativity, which will hurt the African economy.
He also advised that ethical and responsible use of the internet is, however, necessary to maintain sanity, adding that citizens have the responsibility of ensuring that contents are truthful, responsible and contribute to the development of society.
Ojobo further noted that ICT adoption in all sectors is very necessary as it will enable businesses take advantage of the provisions made available by ubiquitous infrastructure deployment.
President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani, insisted that Nigeria has made a commendable impact in the growth of internet-based innovations, but needs to invest more on infrastructure.
He acknowledged that while the federal government should create the enable environment, both in regulatory and financial access, the private sector operators are looking at equity investment as a means of funding infrastructure development.
He posited that a country like Nigeria, with over 154.3 million basic Internet users must do everything within its resources to key into the digital economy.
“The point is the Internet and its related technologies play a major role in the growth and performance of a digital economy, which is the trend all over the world with people doing online buying and selling, banking transactions, transportation, improving education and developing societies,” he said.
Engr. Nnamani, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Medallion Communications Limited, an Interconnect clearinghouse and Data Centre operator added that the growth of the Internet has led to the development of digital technologies helping to transform the economy of the country in several ways.
He argued that what the government needs is to continue to build on the existing infrastructure and provide security for them.
Also speaking on the need to have a robust internet infrastructure to drive the digital economy, Enterprise Sales Lead at Infobip Nigeria, Ms. Erene Omijeh said the digital economy must be powered by structured solutions and services that enable businesses to build connected customer experiences across multiple communication channels.
She noted that some of the key challenges for businesses in the pursuit of today’s digital economy are customer reach and customer engagement, authentication and security and support and retention.
Omijeh assured that as a company that enables life-changing interactions for every human on earth, Infobip is already addressing that by creating seamless interactions between businesses, people and things.
’Our role in the digital economy pursuit is to build connected customer experiences across multiple communication channels with our customer engagement platform, which powers a broad range of solutions, messaging channels, and tools for advanced customer engagement, authentication, security, support, and retention,” she disclosed.
World Health Organisation (WHO) consultant, Dr. Adebola Olajide noted that healthcare in Nigeria is the worst hit with infrastructure deficit.
An IT Expert in the UK, Wale Kalejaiye who also spoke at the event, said: “The private sector should begin to invest in technology, revamp old ones and build infrastructure. They should set up IT Parks, not cyber cafes. A place to incubate technology and innovation.”
The World Wide Web Day celebration was organized by the Centre for Cyber Awareness and Development (CECAD) to discuss the impact of the internet, the opportunities of emerging technologies for business, raising additional awareness and exploring the strategies of safety on the web for individuals and businesses, infrastructure companies and innovators.
“We have decided to join the rest of the world to celebrate the impact of the Internet on businesses and the government. Today’s conference provides a platform for sharing an organizational vision and strategic plan to drive the National ICT revolution and the digital space,” Dr. Bayero Agabi, National Coordinator of CECAD said in his welcome address.
He explained that World Wide Web Day is a global celebration dedicated to web browsing, online activity that brings a wealth of knowledge to the fingertips as well as a chance to celebrate the way the internet created an environment for collaboration and business growth, while also taking a deeper look into its evolution over the past three decades since its invention by Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
