How We Achieved IGR Boost in Rivers, Says Fubara
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Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, has said that the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, base of the state got a boost under his administration because of the application of ICT principles. He has also said that civil servants in the state would henceforth have to be ICT compliant to gain promotion in the course of their work.
Accordingly, workers in the state employ would henceforth have to officially obtain the certification of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN). The CPN is a legal entity established by Decree No. 49 of 1993, and charged with the responsibility of control and supervision of the Computing Profession in the country, in partnership with the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS).
Fubara gave the directive while speaking at a dinner organized for delegates of the 2024 International Conference of the Nigeria Computer Society in Government House, Port Harcourt on Thursday night.
He said that as part of efforts to eliminate quackery in the sector, and promote accelerated deployment and application of technology in the workplace, his administration was taking measures to fast-track ICT-literacy to boost effective and efficient service delivery in the State.
“What are we trying to do? It is to make sure that we push away quacks. We make sure that this society is noble. That is what you get when you are dealing with a civil servant.
“I am a civil servant before becoming a politician. I did not just jump into politics, so I have records, I am coming from somewhere, I understand procedures.
“We will give you all the support to ensure that this association or society will be recognised in this State. I can assure you that.”
He noted that with the emphasis paid to the application of ICT in the State public service, the Government’s internally generated revenue (IGR) has more than doubled, adding that the entire State Civil Service has already been automated.
The overnor emphasized that for that reason, every recruitment into the State Civil Service was now being done online, just as other work processes are also going on with the application of technology, stressing the Government’s efforts to ensure that the State economy is technology-driven.
“Our major interest is to better the State, nothing less and nothing more. To better the State, better it, we have met it in a particular state, what will people ask us when we leave. Did you leave it the way you met it or did you add value?
“Our work is to add value and I can tell you, we are doing that. You heard what one of the comedians said, we have improved our IGR, we don’t borrow to execute projects. And it is owing to one thing, application of this your technology in the affairs of our State.”
Fubara noted the world’s push for accelerated deployment and application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in virtually all facets of life in the advanced economies, saying that the State was gearing up to tap the potentials in AI to advance development in the Healthcare, Education, Agriculture, and other sectors for the overall benefit of Rivers people.
He charged the NCS to apply AI positively towards improving skills and knowledge of Nigerians for the economic development and advancement of the country rather than facilitating illegitimate ventures that give the country bad name in the comity of nations.
He said: “If we have to stand and believe that we should not be oppressed, we should all stand with something – we should have a means of livelihood. We should have a genuine means of earning clean money. We should also have a standard where what we earn can take care of our problems, which for me, I see as a bottle-neck or the core of all our problems.
“When you earn so much and it cannot solve your problems, it now gives room for people looking for other ways to cut corner, which leads to crime and that has brought us to where we are in our country.
“So, our appeal as a Government is that the best brains that you put together, the inventions that you are making, and the improvement that you want to make, please, let it all be for the betterment of our country. It is our country; we are not going to run away from this country. We must put our hands together to make it what we want. That is the charge to everyone of you”.
In his remarks, President, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Dr. Muhammad Sirajo Aliyu, lauded Governor Siminalayi Fubara, for the support given to the society and for his commitment to the development of Rivers State through the use of technology.
He noted the peaceful and hospitable nature of the State, saying that contrary to negative insinuations by a few detractors from the State, the Government and good people of the State were generally calm and conducting their legitimate businesses and personal affairs without any hinderances or security concerns.
Aliyu assured that delegates to the conference will carry of message of a peaceful Rivers State to their various States across the country as genuine ambassadors, having visited many parts of the State in the course of their 2024 International Conference, and expressed the willingness of members to return to the State again for another session.
