11 October 2008
interview
Dr. Bashir Galadanci is an expert on Information and Communications from Bayero University, Kano, recently presented a paper on ICT development at the summit. In this interview, he who highlighted the importance of ICT to the North. Excerpts:
Weekly Trust: What is the position of the North today on ICT development in Nigeria?
Dr.Bashir Galadanci: The North is in a very weak position and it is very unfortunate. We have seen a lot of statistics from this Northern Economic and Investment Summit and it paints a very bleak picture of the North when you look at the educational statistics. ICT being a knowledge based era is tied to the level of education.
Most of our schools are not teaching ICT. Another unfortunate thing is, how many of our children are going to school? So, the picture is definitely not good and we have to redouble efforts to bridge the digital divide between the North and the South. It has to be addressed.
WT: In your presentation, you talked about the Kano ICT Park. In what ways will it be different from the one Saminu Turaki did in Jigawa?
Galadanci: Let me say that the ICT Park is an effort by the Kano state government to use ICT in the best possible ways for the development of Kano state. We are in particular, looking at the use of ICT as an economic sector so that it can bring about the economic development of Kano state.
As far as the Jigawa experiment is concerned, I regard it as a laudable project which has gone a long way to train a lot of Jigawa citizens on ICT. It was a very bold initiative that we hope will also bring a lot of economic development to Jigawa State.
In the case of Kano, it will be a continuous project that will outlive Shekarau.We are trying to give it a good legal backing so that future administrations will be almost forced to allow it to continue.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
