The founder of Talentcroft and Senior Partner at Rane Interaktiv Medien Limited, Harold Olamilokun, has commended the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, for his groundbreaking backlog clearance of 200,000 Nigerian passports in a matter of weeks.
Olamilokun also lauded the efforts of the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, for steering Nigeria towards becoming a knowledge-based powerhouse.
He suggested that a pivot into the telecommunications sector by Dr Tijani could further expedite the digital revolution in the country by clearing out clogged pipes that hinder seamless progress.
Olamilokun said as Nigeria strides towards a future where telecom and e-government synergize, the vision is one of enhanced governance, reduced criminal activities, and an empowered citizenry.
He highlighted the integral role of telecom technologies, emphasising their capacity to act as catalysts for ushering in a new era of digital governance in Nigeria.
He said with extensive network reach and penetration, these technologies serve as the backbone for the country’s transition into a more digitized public service landscape.
Olamilokun said a significant stride in this digital transformation is the integration of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) with the Ministry of Interior.
According to him, this integration holds immense promise in streamlining public services and creating a cohesive digital identity framework.
He noted that Nigeria’s pursuit of a single digital identity ecosystem, integrating various identity components such as the Bank Verification Number (BVN), NIN, phone number registration, and passport details, underscored how this convergence enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of e-government services.
Discussing the upsides of integration, he emphasised that a unified digital identity would significantly curb fraud, corruption, kidnapping, and other criminal activities. The seamless verification of citizens in the digital space enhances the government’s ability to locate perpetrators swiftly, making it difficult to manoeuvre the system for illicit activities.
Despite the promising landscape, challenges were acknowledged and he said that cybersecurity emerged as a primary concern, given the increasing digitisation of government services.
Olamilokun stressed the need for robust measures to secure citizens’ data and maintain the integrity of e-government platforms.
He said the recent developments from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of enforcement of freezes on non-BVN, and NIN accounts is a step in the right direction to curb fraudulent activities.