Nigerian IT development agency established by law

Called the National Information and Technology Development Act 2007, the law empowers the agency to oversee the development of IT in Nigeria.

The Director General of NITDA, Profressor Cleopas Angaye, who confirmed this development in a conversation with Highway Africa News Agency correspondent on Monday said the development represented a major milestone in the country's quest towards developing the IT sector in the country.

According to him, the bill gives legal recognition to NITDA, which was created as a unit of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology since 2001, but had been operating without an enabling law, thereby limiting its effectiveness.

The lack of legal backing for NITDA has been identified as one of the major reasons for the inadequate funding of the agency and the subsequent limited effectiveness it had exerted on the IT industry in Nigeria.

Besides recognizing NITDA as a legal entity, the bill also establishes the National Information Technology Development Fund (NITDEF). This fund would be financed partly by contribution of 1% of the annual operational profit that IT firms contribute to a common pull for the development of the Nigerian IT sector.

According to sources within NITDA, some of the firms listed among those to contribute to the NITDEF include GSM service providers and Internet service, pension managers and insurance firms. A final list of companies to be classified to pay the special IT development tax is expected to be published soon by the government.

The signing of the bill is already considered as a welcome development by stakeholders in the IT sector considering that debate on the IT bill has been on for over five years. Commenting on the signing of the bill, former President of the Information Technology (industry) Association of Nigeria Chris Uwaje, commended the government for finally giving assent to the bill.

Uwaje said the bill would restructure the dynamics of the IT industry. "It is a welcome development. By empowering NITDA as a clearinghouse for IT industry in Nigeria, the country would now have a clear path on standards and the development of other areas of the sector."

He added that the development showed that government is getting aware of the need to take advantage of the possibilities of IT as a means of development, and also pointed out that with the situation Nigeria is set to become the focal point of IT development in the West African sub-region.

The signing of the bill also puts an end to the claims that the government would merge NITDA with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), considering the similarities of their functions.

The claims became prominent when in December 2006, the government set up a committee to streamline IT bodies in the country. This led to the merger of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission with the NCC as well as the merger of the Ministry of Communications with that of information.

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