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President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the first ever Employee-centric Condition and Scheme of Service for the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The approval was officially conveyed by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, to the Governing Board of NITDA in a brief ceremony this week in Abuja.
The document was received on behalf of the Board and Management by the Chairman, Governing Board, Dr. Abubakar Sa’id and the Director General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi.
The minister, who doubled as the chief host and convener of the event, was extremely delighted to attribute the success of the approval to the immense support of President Muhammadu Buhari on the 12th of February 2021 – just two days after its submission.
He attributed the achievement to improving performance of the ICT sector and cited the report of the Bureau of Statistics for the 4th quarter (Q4 2020), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which showed that the ICT sector recorded significant growth.
The national statistician indicated that the ICT sector recorded a 14.7% growth rate, making it the sector with the highest growth rate. The growth rate of the ICT sector when compared to the agricultural sector was over four times higher.
ICT sector is only sector with double-digit growth
“It is noteworthy that the ICT sector was the only sector with a double-digit growth rate. In fact, when one considers the 2nd to 7th fastest growing sectors (Agriculture- 3.42%, Health & Social Services- 3.05%, Real Estate- 2.81%, Water Supply et al- 1.92%, Public Admin- 1.80% and Construction- 1.21%), the 14.7% growth rate of the ICT sector was greater than the combined 14.21% growth of the 2nd to 6th fastest growing sectors”, the Minister added enthusiastically,” the minister said.
Pantami stated that the ICT sector recorded the highest growth rate overall in the year 2020, at a growth rate of 12.9%, or over 3 times the next fastest growing sector of 2020.
He assured that the ministry was working assiduously to ensure that initiatives under the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) support the effort of the federal government.
Scheme of Service will re-engineer operations, structure and functions
Part of the benefits of the Scheme of Service is that it serves as a veritable tool to re-engineer the operations, structure, and enhance the agency’s functionality, he stated while congratulating governing board, director general, entire management and staff of NITDA for the achievement.
“It provides the approved cadre for the agency and specifies the skills and certifications required for appointment and promotion in the agency”, the minister added while giving a brief history of the process for the approval of the Scheme and Conditions of Service. The approval is a culmination of a process that commenced while he was the Director General/CEO of NITDA in 2016 until his appointment as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.
The process was continued by his successor and the current Director General/CEO of NITDA.
According to minister, the documents took almost five years to complete and get approved. “But it has made history today. The agency has a critical role to play in the development of Nigeria’s Digital Economy and I urge you to use the approval of this Scheme and Conditions of Service as a springboard for greater impact.”
The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr. Festus Daudu, explained that NITDA welfare status and expectations have been raised by this approval stating, “to whom much is given, much is expected”.
The Chairman, Governing Board of NITDA, lauded the minister for his efforts. Describing the minister as a “game changer,” Dr Sa’id said: “the development of the ministry is evident with the positive outputs derived all over the country and the expansion of digital economy.”
NITDA’s boss Abdullahi applauded the commitment of the president and the minister to the promotion of ICT. He assured that NITDA will use the new development as a benchmark performance to drive and reward productivity.
