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The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has tasked the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on the need to build capacity in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in order to promote growth and resilience amongst its board and management staff.
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Pantami who was speaking this week in Abuja during a ministerial training on ‘Skills For Successful Leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution’, organized by the ministry said there was a need to continuously engage in critical thinking to solve complex problems that will benefit Nigerians and humanity at large; and also to more specifically, make Nigeria’s digital economy sustainable.
“There is no problem that exists in the world that has no solution, globally, there is none. The only challenge is being able to engage in critical thinking,” said Pantami as he highlighted the benefits of long-term thinking, passion for invention, being customer-centric, and also surrounding one’s self with mentors in order to stay relevant.
You must “create the future and be the driver of it. When hiring, look at taking people with discipline, expertise, capacity to deliver and do away with sentiments,” the minister added as he urged the participants not to compromise their core values.,
Prof. Pantami explained the modus operandi of managing success, failure, crisis, and leadership in the work space, adding that facts should always precede emotions.
According to him, leadership is about being brave and taking hardcore decisions, especially when it is for the good of those concerned, he however, stressed that they should be taken after critical evaluations of the subject matter.
His words: “As a leader if you want to be successful don’t be worried about today, rather be worried about the legacies you would leave behind.
“Always be consistent in your determination to do the right things and have a high level of decisiveness.”
The Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, described the theme of the training as apt to equipping the “board and management staff of the organization for growth and resilience in the fourth industrial revolution.”
“To seize the opportunities that abound, we need to fully equip ourselves with relevant knowledge, skills, expertise and tools in order to position Nigeria to create and capture value from the fourth Industrial Revolution,” the NITDA boss stressed.
He described the minister’s leadership over the years as instrumental to the successes recorded by the agency, noting that it is a golden opportunity for board members and management staff to grow faster in their service delivery, especially as they are part of the training session anchored by the minister himself.
“When the Honourable Minister formulated the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), he directed us to implement and with his guidance, all the force-set, that is, from the mindset, skill-set to the look and feel of the agency are all his initiatives we implemented,” said Abdullahi.
The event featured a presentation of Icon of Digital Economy Award to Prof Pantami by the Board Chairman of NITDA, Dr Sa’id Abubakar in recognition of his immense contributions to the sector.
