Minister solicits more funding for ministry, agencies

The Minister of Communications, Dr. Adebayo Shittu has decried the minimal budgetary allocation to the ministry.
He stressed that ICT is a catalyst to development adding that there was a need for the country to move from resource-based economy to a robust ICT-driven one with requisite budgetary allocation.
“Nigeria has operated and relied on the resource-based economy in the last 60 years. The sole dependence on oil has never helped the country grow as expected.
“We have seen several countries across the world without oil and who have surpassed Nigeria in all indices of development.
He however stressed that inadequate capital allocation had hindered the ministry’s efforts at contributing competently to national development.
Shittu said, “For instance, the entire budget of the communications ministry in 2017 was just a little over six billion. This allocation to the ministry is inadequate to prosecute several initiatives that could turn around the ICT sector and country’s economic growth,
The minister who disclosed this in Ibadan at the end of a two-day retreat programme solicited more capital allocation to the communications ministry and its agencies for a greater contribution to nation’s economic growth.