ICT tools fish out economic saboteurs, says Fed Govt

• China’s investment in Nigeria hits $12b

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal yesterday said the deployment of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has helped to fish out economic saboteurs in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He added that it has also helped in tackling the issue of insecurity, insurgency.

He spoke in Abuja while signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of the government with Hauwei Technologies of China.

Noting that Nigerians were keen on developing their ICT skills, he said the country would welcome more assistance from the Chinese government.


He said: “The progress made so far in the war against corruption, insecurity and other negative vices would not have been possible without ICT.

“It has been a major tool in identifying saboteurs in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

He also disclosed that a group of young and talented Federal Government employees, who are professionals in ICT will undertake a two-week training programme in China, courtesy of Huawei.

He said: ”I want to commend the company for establishing this ICT training programme. Since 2008, it has been a flagship corporate social responsibility. This is because, today, we are all living witnesses to the role that ICT plays in our daily lives.

“It is also a major employment enabler and wealth creator for the teeming masses of unemployed Nigerian youths.

“I therefore wish to assure Huawei of the government’s unflinching support for the success of this programme and the government is indeed very grateful.”

Charge D’ Affairs of the Chinese Embassy, Qin Jian, said China’s stock investment portfolio in Nigeria has exceeded $12 billion with the trade volume between both countries at $14.9 million.

Jian said China remained committed to supporting Nigeria in breaking bottlenecks that have been identified to hamper Nigeria’s industrialisation, agricultural modernisation including lack of infrastructure, shortage of professionals and lack of finance.

Despite dwindling global oil price and it’s impact on Nigeria’s economy, he said that there have been visible resilience by Nigerians to evolve new strategies to fast track growth and development.