‘ICT ’ll Transform Our Lives’

This is the last part of the Roundtable encounter with the Special Adviser to Gov. Amaechi on ICT, Engr Goodliffe Nmekini, first published last Wednesday, 25/11/09
What is your widest projection, are you getting to the Local Government Areas?
His Excellency puts together something called inter governmental forum, which consists of all the commissioners, all the Permanent Secretaries, all the heads of Parastatals, all the Chairmen of local governments and all his Advisers and Assistants.
This body meets first Monday, of every month. The whole idea is the fact that, when you say you are a government, local or state, is still a government, what affects somebody in the local government also affects the state. Therefore we must ensure that whatever is being done in the state is done in the LGAs.
Having said that, the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) is doing a lot especially in the rural areas. And we are also working with every body, whether Rivers State sustainable Development or the Local Governments themselves, so we have been in touch with them. We will extend whatever we do to the Local Government level.
Who are those to benefit or have benefited and how long now? Do you issue certificates?
This has been ongoing, it is over twelve weeks now. So we have actually trained Directors, Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors, we trained over 1200, so all the 1200 cannot be Permanent Secretaries alone.
At the end of every training we issue certificate, we are very strict, you must be there from the beginning to the end to qualify for a certificate.
Is it possible to create out stations other than those in the Ministries?
We do this in phases when you start you have to start with a small number to make sure that it works first before you start replicating it, we have the training here at Point Block as we progress there will be provision for other areas.
Any preparation to extend to primary school teachers in the state?
With the primary school where His Excellency acquired payment of teachers’ salaries from local governments I think the work force is approximately fifty something thousand. Yes it would be extended to them
Would the ICT make civil servants lose jobs?
There have been a lot of studies in this area. His Excellency wants ICT to be introduced to the state; he wants the state to really take advantage of this tool. I think it will be a little bit for one to look at it from one angle you will lose job or the state government will end up firing people because these are new tools that have come in.
You should also look at it from the other end; I’m not saying this is true.
This will also spur lots of economic growth, where people can actually open up businesses and have more people to work I think there is a huge balance and there has been a study that has been conducted in different works even in the Western world, I mean we cannot say, because, yes, ICT will streamline job, sharp practices and make job opportunities higher therefore it is not something to embark on, I think if we follow that trend, we will be worst and we will never recover from it. So I think it is something that has more advantages, than disadvantages. Not just look as civil servants, they are not the only residents or citizens of our state.
And frankly speaking, I think there are so many things we can do as a state, even in civil service.
Can ICT be taken to primary schools?
Oh; if you recalled what His Excellency has said this is huge. I think you may want to take a look at Elekahia primary school. When I went there, I wanted to be a kid again because, it was just fantastic they have ICT room where kids can go to train, the library is equipped with computers where the kids can now log on to its internet and other resources.
And the whole idea is to start them very young. Like I said earlier, these are just executive toys to kids. This is where we hope, that by the time they get to secondary school level, ICT is already just like any other thing kids are used to.
Does the state have ICT Masterplan?
We have a masterplan, but it is not one that I can share all the way, the reason being that, it is still on the making.
I have a 2008, 2011 Frame work and we are still working with a lot of other agencies.
For example, I don’t know if you heard about our innovation point, the state is also embarking on what is called an ICT village and because we have also taken that into consideration we now work with a few others to ensure that a masterplan is produced.
It is not something the state is supposed to be doing alone.
You also need the private sector to be involved and that is exactly what we are trying to do. Get every body involved because this is something that will affect everyone because it is going to affect everyone, state should always partner with the private sector to ensure that a robust masterplan is created.
Can government run the ICT system with profit?
The aim is to foster understanding and good relationship. We know government had never been good at running anything, government is supposed to provide the enabling environment for private sector to run things. Anybody who had been following His Excellency, would understand that PPP has been a cornerstone of his administration, that he always believed in something of partnership with the private sector.
We understand that Zenith Bank has ICT project. Is there any collaboration between you and them?
Zenith Bank approached His Excellency, we are going to build ICT training centre for the state, we build it, we equip it then we might help you run it for a month or two or so and then, handover to the state.
Now, is that a PPP by definition? The answer will be no, so this is part of the responsibility. What we may call corporate responsibility, to me, is just like building a road or constructing some infrastructures. They saw the need to build an ICT centre that will hopefully transform the ICT literacy of the state and they decided to do that, is still under construction and once it is done and handed over to the state, we will be able to brief you more on what our plans are.
Should that be seen as a gift to government for handling our salary?
This is again another area where Zenith Bank has actually come to the state and said we want to help in consultancy to help you automate your payroll system. At the end of it, everything that is done will be handed over to the state. So Zenith Bank will never run our payroll system. This is again another contributions to the state, we the state will run the payroll system. They will handover at the end of the project, the ICT department in different ministries will be responsible for everything, so in another way, this will actually move itself into what they call an Enterprise Resource Planning where, today you go to the civil service for employment and go through the tough process of filling of application and you go for interviews and all this and all that, at the end you get employed and those being in charge will now distribute your information to several ministries informing them that there is a new person. All these will be automated. That automation begins with the payroll system that these people are doing, because at the end of it, we have a database of all the civil servants which transcend to what we call Human Resources Database and from there we would be able to do some planning.
Again it is something that is being done by Zenith bank that will be given to the state.
What is the relationship between Zenith Bank and your department?
Actually no relationship. The only thing is that it is an ICT based initiative, therefore we have to put together some kind of plan for them and ensure that whatever they do for us is done according to our policies.
Has Zenith Bank become so generous to the state government, building an ICT centre and helping it to automate our salaries?
Well, let us look at it, is beyond that scope, they have actually done more than any other banks. I don’t know, you are the watchdog of the state, so you will probably tell me better than I can tell you, in that regard I don’t know what other banks and other companies are doing for the state.
What stops us from saying thank you Zenith bank for giving us this great edifice, giving us this great ICT centre, nothing that stops the government from saying through Due Process, let’s look for a company that can help run it, Nothing stops us from doing that.
Are you exploring that?
You have to explore everything.
But have you advised governor on that?
Certainly that will be one of my options.
Sir, what are the other options?
Well, the department could also run it, provided it is something that has been issued by the executive council, but there are other options, but definitely, this is a very good option.
Are there any framework that has been put in place to ensure a transition and sustainability of this programme?
I don’t know if there are things like that in place or is probably already being worked out. One of the things, His Excellency hammered on, very consistently, is the concept of building institutions. Once an institution is built, the human beings can no longer be factors; you don’t have to be present for this system to work. So if you have institutions built, if this government leaves, another one takes over because, it is an institution, no longer can anybody just break it and say I no longer want to use this system because it wasn’t built by me. This is a system that is here to stay.
An example of that is actually the PPP that we’ve been talking about, so the state government owns forty percent of the company and private sector has sixty percent of it, if this is generating income, do you think it matters which government is in power, it shouldn’t, because the government is minority and as long as it is making money and doing what it is supposed to do, I don’t think it really matters who is in power.
Do you see Federal Government as partners?
There is something going on at the federal government level called, Computer For All Nigerians Initiative (CFNI). My department has been exploring that. This is premised on personal computer. To own computer for themselves and then get deducted with little and little and eventually owning it.
So it is another way to really encourage us to use computer. We are in the process of doing that, we are just putting it together and of course we will get the Union and also involve the Head of Service and Secretary to the Government.
Once we have the go ahead, we will embark on that. It is something that we need to explore. The whole idea is to change the way we do business today. Over the years, people have left their homes, driven to the secretariat, just to pick up a form and we all know that there are several internet cafés around. Some don’t even have internet connectivity at their homes why can’t we start working at the moment where, their services are actually taken to the living room of the citizens and this is what this portal will do.
Forms that you come to secretariat to pick, you will be downloading and filling them on-line. We are beginning to move in that direction.
Where you now can have some kind of interaction with any government official you don’t have to go there and wait for him or her. You should be able to send in your comment or ask for appointment. That way, it is given, you going there, you waiting for a minimal time and it is something that you don’t really have to be there in person. So you should be able to send that information directly, we are also building forms where citizens can also interact directly with their elected officials and be able to speak their minds, The whole idea is again coming up with a gate way company creating avenues for citizens of this state to come closer to the government. So I hope that it is something that the citizens of this state will actually take very seriously, because we are making sure that they become part and parcel of this government, and of course, the address is nothing but Rivers State governor ng. and from there, you can now see our different services and also you become a resource or one special thing for everybody.
Well let us come back to computer again, the way you are sounding is like the e-government is becoming more of a reality. What time span do you think this can be achieved. In the life of this administration?
Absolutely that, I can assure you. Yes, we have already begun what is really e-government, it started like everything else in phases, before that we can now communicate. We put in some collaborative tools in place today where/what happens with you and we also started integrating everything where/what happens in Ministry of Works is automatically known in Ministry of Finance and so on and so forth, and we are able to get away from hundred percent file system, I fill that form and send it to the Government House and I have to call somebody, you begin to realise the benefits of e-governance, I can assure you right now, that that is around the corner.
What is the fate of civil servants, Government officials who are not computer literate?
Well, this is what we have begun, I think we have within twelve weeks of training, everybody is entitled to that, remember that you are not paying for it. So every ministry is sending names of people, names of their staff to be trained. So we continue, as a matter of fact, just because you’ve gotten trained ones doesn’t mean that you can no longer go back there to be retrained. So because the key word is training and retraining, we continue to do that to ensure that the minimal thing that you need to do your work is achieved even when application is developed, you will still be trained on that application. What we do now is giving you the foundation and then as applications get developed people will also get trained in the use of those applications.
How many Ministries and Parastatals do you hope to cover?
This is a statewide effort, as we get the names of the people to be trained inspite of the rounding up.
SA, is there any person that is untrainable?
Everybody is trainable. For me, it is just a matter of wanting to be trained, is not rocket sciences, not brain surgery, this is just basic knowledge on ICT
Since you returned from the USA, how involved have you been in night life. Do you find time to go to night club?
I think as they say all works and no play make jack a dull boy. But Port Harcourt is a Garden City not just because there are so many gardens. As part of our lifestyle I do once in a while go out and relax, but of course having taken a department that never existed, I think you need to do your job first especially if you work for His Excellency. The night life, thank God it has come back and people are enjoying it, but whether I enjoy it or not, as long as citizens enjoy it, I think that is what we want.