By Ismail Abdulaziz
President Bola Tinubu has said that the Federal Government would leverage digital technology to create Nigeria’s desired socio-economic progress that was necessary to transform the society.
He said this during a meeting with a delegation from Google, West Africa, led by its Director, Olumide Balogun, on Wednesday at the State House.
This is contained in a statement by Mr Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity on Thursday in Abuja.
The President said that the administration would use the various opportunities inherent in education and technology to improve and uplift the lives of its citizens.
“We are here to shape our tomorrow today, and I’m going to do it. Our youths represent over 65% of the yearnings of development age in Nigeria.
“We take education very seriously and that is the foremost tool we have against poverty. The digital economy and telecommunications represent the future, and we are determined to promote it.
“Your partnership with us to make it a serious development in our economic programme is what is desirable. Our youths have the skills, they are brilliant, and they are good people,” Tinubu said.
He called on Google to partner with the government on the use of data in the public sector to enhance service delivery.
“We have been evaluating different proposals on database development, and you have critical information that can equally help the poor leverage on the use of data.
“The authentication of transaction integrity across the country to service over 200 million people is not a joke,” the President added.
Tinubu declared his intention of bringing more young people into the administration to further drive his transformative efforts and called on Google to ‘come on board’ as a frontline partner.
The President stated that the prospective use cases emanating from the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing must be harnessed.
In his remarks, Balogun said that the delegation came to Nigeria to reassure the government of the company’s commitment to supporting its laudable efforts through the deployment of modern digital technology.
The Google Regional Director told the President that the deployment of data technology would enhance the efficiency and productivity of businesses that the economy urgently requires.
He reiterated Google’s commitment to made available a N1.2billion grant to Nigeria and to train 20,000 women and children with skills to establish new digital tech jobs.(NAN)
