Edith CHUKU
The digital transformation efforts of the governor, Senator Bassey Otu, has earned Cross River State a national recognition as a model for sub-national digital transformation.
On Friday, the state clinched the prestigious Digital Excellence Award from the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria ATCON.
The award was presented during the closing ceremony of the Minister–Regulator–Telecom Executives Forum, themed “Driving Nigeria’s Digital Economy: Policy, Regulation, and Industry Synergy”, held at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja.
Receiving the award on behalf of the state, the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Associate Prof. Justin Beshel, expressed gratitude to ATCON for the recognition and reaffirmed the state’s commitment to advancing digital technology in Nigeria.
Beshel who noted that the award validates the deliberate digital transformation efforts initiated since the governor assumed office, recalled that the State had previously received two national awards; one from the Federal Government for digitalising revenue collection through an indigenous Central Authentication Payment System, and another from the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) for excellence in digital governance.
His words, “I’m here on behalf of the Governor of Cross River State, His Excellency, Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu, to first of all express our appreciation to ATCON for this recognition. This goes a long way to show that the little things we do, and sometimes think may not matter, truly do matter.
“When Governor Otu came on board, he understood that for an administration to be truly cutting-edge, it must be digital. One of the first things he did was to create a one-stop digital ecosystem for the administration by building official email systems for every Executive Council member and top government official. This singular move earned us a national award from NiRA.”
Beshel revealed that “in agriculture, we introduced technology for soil mapping so we can accurately predict which crop is best suited for a particular location. What earned us an award at the National Science and Technology Expo was our Central Authentication Payment System. Today, all revenue in Cross River State is collected digitally. We have also indigenously developed an app called ‘My Cross River App’, which is used for payment of bills, services, and many other transactions. So, our administration has fully embraced technology as the way forward, and we are seeing massive results.”
Explaining the rationale behind the award, the President of ATCON, Mr. Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, stated in an earlier letter that the award was recognition of what he described as Otu’s visionary leadership and transformative reforms that have positioned the state as a model for sub-national digital transformation and telecom infrastructure development in Nigeria through deliberate investment in systems, infrastructure, and innovation-driven policies that promote inclusivity, transparency, and efficiency across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).”
He commended Otu’s commitment to technological transformation, anchored by the pioneering efforts of the Ministry of Science and Technology under the leadership of Beshel, which has ushered in a new era of e-governance, citizen engagement, and digital service delivery.
Emoekpere explained that the association was particularly impressed by the automation of governance processes through the deployment of intelligent platforms across MDAs, transforming manual procedures into real-time, data-driven operations that have greatly enhanced public service efficiency. He also praised the revolutionary digital tax and land management systems that have made revenue collection and land administration more secure, transparent, and accessible to citizens.
The ATCON president further highlighted the state’s efforts in expanding citizen access by empowering residents to pay bills and access government services digitally, thereby increasing accountability and convenience, youths empowerment and capacity development through training, digital literacy programmes, and innovation-driven engagement, as well as the inclusive digital policy framework that extends technology to rural communities.
“Under governor Otu’s leadership, Cross River State has emerged as a hub for digital innovation and a benchmark for effective collaboration between government, regulators, and the private sector, contributing hugely to Nigeria’s digital GDP and the growth of youth-led digital enterprises”, he added.
