ETIM EFFIONG
The Akwa Ibom State government has begun the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and other tools of technology to stimulate entrepreneurial drive.
The Governor of the state, Udom Emmanuel said this in his remarks during a three-day 4th National Treasury workshop, organised by the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation in Uyo on Tuesday.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mr Moses Ekpo, said that the action was aimed at making the people, especially the youths, to be less dependent on the government.
He said the ICT would also stimulate the youth to rather tap into their creative energies in line with the Dakkada Philosophy of government to create jobs that would add value to their lives.
Emmanuel said that the state government had set up a Post COVID-19 Economic Advisory Committee made up of professionals to advise the government on the way forward, adding that the committee is chaired by a World Bank Consultant and renowned economist, Prof. Akpan Ekpo.
“Today, even though we still have work to do, our youths have positive expressions in the use of their hands and creative abilities to create a sustainable living for themselves, using technology as a means of engagement.
“I am very hopeful that this workshop will also come up with ideas and approaches to stimulate and grow our economy in the new world thrust upon us by COVID-19 pandemic,” Emmanuel said.
He said the committee’s recommendations were in tandem with the government’s position of implementing a programme on the application of ICT and other technologies to stimulate the spirit of entrepreneurship among youths in the state.
“We have since started implementing some of their recommendations, such as the applications of ICT and other tools of technology to stimulate entrepreneurial drives amongst our people, especially the youthful population, and the need to rely less on what the government can do, but to tap into their creative energies,” he said.
He added that the youths in the state have found positive expressions in the use of their hands and creative abilities to create sustainable development using technology as the credible means of engagement.
Emmanuel said that the desire by the office of the Accountant-General of the federation to come up with the workshop as part of the global financial architecture in repositioning the nation’s economy in the Post COVID-19 era was highly imperative.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Accountant-General of the federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, said that in spite of the pains inflicted on the treasury by the COVID-19 pandemic, the workshop had finally come with a view to letting government proffer ways of overcoming the challenges and come out strong as a nation.
Idris said that the theme of the workshop, “COVID-19 and the Global Economy: Implications on the Nigerian National Treasury” came with the objective of brainstorming on how to effectively manage national economies in the face of pandemics and other global disasters.
He said that the workshop would among other issues help the government to provide adequate financial leverage for the government to enable it to manage any pandemic situation.
Idris added the workshop would further enlighten financial managers in government on how to control aggregate cash flows within fiscal, monetary, and legal limits that would result in the improvement in the management of critical government borrowings and deploying the same to infrastructure.
Our correspondent reports that participants at the workshop were drawn from the Ministry of Finance across the 36 states of the federation.
The accountant-general of the federation commended Akwa Ibom Government for support and hospitality to ensure the success of the workshop.