Business
Expert Calls For Mass Enlightenment On Internet
Mrs Ibukun Odusote, Permanent Secretary, Ecology Fund Office in the Presidency, last Friday called for mass enlightenment of Nigerians on the potential of the internet.
Odutose, a former Director of Information Technology Department in the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications, made the call in Lagos at the Nigeria Digital Sense Forum 2010.
The Forum with the theme: “Five Years of Internet Governance Forum: the Way Forward for Nigeria”, was organised by Digital Sense Africa (DSA) in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
She said that more awareness about the potential of the internet and the proper use of the knowledge by Nigerians would enable the country to make headway on internet governance.
The Permanent Secretary said that the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) was encouraging countries to create more awareness on the potential of ICT in facilitating growth.
According to her, Nigeria should start the enlightenment from schools since the country is suffering from years of neglect of its educational system.
Odusote advised that Nigeria should also develop strategies to combat cyber crimes.
“Cybercrime is causing us a lot of embarrassment, especially when we go outside the country for international events. Many of the Internet Protocol (IP) carrying these fraudulent messages are from Nigeria,’’ she said.
Mrs Nkemdirim Nweke, Executive Director of DSA, said that the Nigeria Digital Sense Forum would be an annual event to act as a rallying point for stakeholders.
She said that the forum would raise and address salient issues concerning the ICT sector.
Nweke said that the internet was becoming a routine of the daily life and a veritable tool for businesses, communication and social networking.
“Therefore, DSA wants to use this opportunity to applaud the nation’s judiciary on the recent court ruling on the sale of 2.3GHz spectrum.
“For us, it is a welcome development, a victory for democracy and a way forward for growth of the telecoms sector and the economy in general as the future lies on the internet,’’ she said.