National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has formed a strategic alliance with the Nigerian Army Resource Centre on research and development solutions to tackle Nigeria’s security challenges.
The agreement was reached when director-general Nigerian Army Resource Centre Major General Garba A. Wahab paid a courtesy visit to NITDA Headquarters in Abuja.
The Gen. Wahab commended NITDA for assisting the Nigerian Army Resource Centre in providing ICT infrastructure and capacity building for the armed forces.
“ICT equipment given to the centre has been of great impact and many officers and staff of the centre have benefitted immensely from the trainings conducted using those facilities.”
However, the current concern is how to provide research-based solutions to security problems, particularly those facing the Nigerian Army.
“This time around, we are here to say thank you to NITDA, and also to ask for more intervention and support in ICT infrastructure in order to cater for the large number of personnel that requires the knowledge and usage of ICT.”
NITDA director-general Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi thanked the management of the Army Resource Centre for the visit and the acknowledgement of NITDA’s modest contribution to the centre.
He, however, called for a strategic partnership and collaboration between the Nigeria Army Resource Centre and NITDA for mutual benefit rather than mere support from NITDA since research is a major aspect of the military. “History shows that the Military and Information Technology have been strategic partners for a long time,” adding that, the alliance will enhance the actualisation of their mandates.
He stated that NITDA focuses not only on research but also on development.
He expressed hopes that sooner, research from the resource centre and other research institutions in the country can be turned into physical beneficial products for national development.
“National security is a big challenge in the country today of which I believe the deployment of technology such as drones and robotics can address.”
Abdullahi noted that crowd sourcing of intelligence could be employed to develop a solution to the current challenges, adding that NITDA start-ups can be challenged to come up with an innovation and the best ideas would be adopted.
According to him, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics is equipped to design and print prototype of Drones, Robots and other things.
He therefore called for the creation of a committee to work on the modalities while still promising to support the Army Resource Centre with IT infrastructures.
A committee comprising of two directors from NITDA and two Brig. Generals from the Army Resource Center was commissioned and saddled with the assignment.
