By Cynthia Ezekwe

President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded  the auctioning of the 5G spectrum, which raked in  547 million dollars in 2022.

The president also commended the  digital economy for facilitating  growth, creating  employment opportunities  and generating  revenue for the country.

This was disclosed at the recently conducted commissioning of  the National Shared Services Centre, recently  in Abuja.

According to a statement signed by Garba Shehu,  the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, the president described the national shared service centre  as  a “one-stop-shop for Ministries, Departments and Agencies to interface with citizens”, as it would provide services that are sleek, secure and seamless.

Buhari also noted that the  4G base stations were increased  from 13,823 to 36,751 from August 2019 to date, and also added 5G services to it so as to expand the country’s digital infrastructure.

The  president  disclosed that the digital economy ensured continuity in governance during the imposed restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We approved the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions 14 October, 2020, and this enabled us to formalise government online meetings. As such, statutory meetings like the Federal Executive Council meetings, Council of State meetings and other meetings can now take place online, effectively and legally; our administration’s commitment to promoting data promotion and privacy is receiving praise across the world and we have increased our digital identity enrollment from 39 million in October 2020 to about 92 million today,” he said.

The president further explained that he approved the  establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau on  4 February, 2022 to provide an institutional framework for data protection in Nigeria, in accordance  with best  global practices.

Buhari  noted that  partnerships with leading global ICT companies to train Nigerians in cutting edge technology  and high demand digital skills such as Microsoft Corporation partnership to five million Nigerians  and the training of one million Nigerians in blockchain technologies, cybersecurity and data analytics, have expanded the digital economy, paving the way for revenue generation.

On his part, Isa Pantami, the minister of communication and digital economy, commended  the president for his support to  the digital economy, with turnovers in broadband/Internet penetration, skills acquisition for global competitiveness and infrastructure development, like the fiber optic cable, which was about 15,000 kms in 2015, and increased to more than 60,000kms.

As an avenue to encourage youths to take hold of digital opportunities, Kalim Haruna, who developed a system called ‘Sharp-Sharp’ and Bashir Abubakar, founder of  ‘Africa First’, were honoured by President Buhari for their creativity and ingenuity, and showcasing the nation’s talent in a global ICT conference.