Participants at a recent one-day sensitisation and sustainability training workshop on the use of Rural Information Technology Centres (RITC) have advocated the use of the Public Private-Partnership (PPP) option.
This, they said, is to sustain the RITCs and how to leverage Foundation for Public Private Partnerships Nigeria (FPPPN) expertise to create partnership for RITC sustainability between National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the private sector.
The participants drawn from the five states of the South-east states commended training and sensitisation workshop as a major instrument to fully operationalise the Rural IT Centres such that its purpose of empowering underserved communities and bridging the digital divide would be realised.
The training was organised by Foundation for Public Private Partnerships Nigeria (FPPPN) in collaboration with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
In his opening remarks, the chairman of the programme, Engr. Wilson Agu, who is also a member of the board of NITDA, representing the South-east, harped on personal testimonials and that of others on the importance of ICT in growing businesses in all sectors of the economy.
Deputy Director, ICT, NITDA, Engr. Salisu Kaka, who represented the DG, had disclosed in his remark that the training was apt considering the huge investment which he said amount to over N300 million in sitting up 400 centres across over 400 local government areas since 2009, regretting that most of the centres has remain under lock and key.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the training, the participants observed that to sustain the RITCs there be provision of adequate security for the RITCs infrastructure and a manpower development programme for efficient functionality, management of the RITCs be put in place.
The communiqué read: “There should be a deliberate courting of decision makers to ensure the needed political backing for government funding and patronage. Demographics that favour youth population should serve as criteria for selecting locations for sitting RITCs.
“That accessibility (network of roads and population centralisation) should also form part of the basis for sitting RITCs.”