Dr. Don Pedro Aganbi, Chief Executive Officer of leading Independent Media Production company, TechTV Nigeria has endorsed Dr. Isa Pantami, the present Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to be appointed as Nigeria’s Minister of Communications in the next federal cabinet.
The endorsement comes days after Dr. Pantami was nominated as one of Nigerian Ministers by President Muhamaddu Buhari and subsequently screened by the Nigerian Senate.
Speaking to ITPulse in Lagos, Dr. Don Pedro Aganbi, noted that the endorsement is largely due to his performance as the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The performance he also displayed during the screening at the upper legislative chamber.
“At TechTV, we have monitored the activities of NITDA under the leadership of Dr. Pantami very closely in the last three years. We believe he is the most qualified to be appointed Minster of Communications, owing to his leadership style and expertise in the development of technology and ultimately, digital Nigeria,” he said.
He said Pantami has shown unwavering commitment to the promotion of local content for national development. This commitment, Aganbi disclosed has enhanced the purchase of an indigenous brand of ICT devices by over 60 percent within the last three years.
Aganbi added that apart from local content development, Pantami’s effort with regards to cyber security has enhanced national security and the vibrancy of the industry. He cited the regularly nationwide cybersecurity awareness workshops as a foundational knowledge that has equipped Nigerians to stay safe in the cyberspace.
There has been a tremendous increase in the number of incidences where Nigerians have lost money and data through vulnerabilities arising from lack of knowledge on how to manage their online presence and personal details. But, these incidences have reduced, going by the available knowledge shared by Pantami’s NITDA.
The leadership of Pantami, many stakeholders in the Nigeria’s IT ecosystem believe is restoring confidence in the indigenous technology development, which has led to more foreign direct investment in the IT sector than any other sectors since 2018.
Through Pantami’s advocacy for local content, Nigeria has witnessed local hosting of data doubled in value and local software consumption significantly increased as attested to by the diversity of IT experts and business people in today’s Nigeria. These efforts have made an ICT contribution to GDP reached an unprecedented mark of 13.63 percent in Q4 of 2018.
Dr. Pantami recently won the Outstanding promoter of Local Content for National Development Award at the 2019 Titans of Tech Awards organized by Technology Africa.
