Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has received the National Information Technology Merit Award, NITMA, IT Gold Merit Award, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of Information Technology, IT, in Edo State.
NITMA Awards is organised by the Nigeria Computer Society, NCS, to recognise and celebrate outstanding excellence and exceptional contributions of individuals and organisations in the Information Technology field in Nigeria.
The governor received the award barely a week after he was honoured with the Zik Prize for Good Governance by the Public Policy Research and Analysis Center, PPRAC.
The governor while receiving the award at Muson Center, Lagos, said the recognition is a call to do more for Edo people.
Obaseki represented by the Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, said: “Just about two months ago, the Bureau of Public Service gave out about eight awards and Edo State went home with five of the awards on digital governance.
“We expect more awards to come and this award is a call for Governor Obaseki to do much more for Edo people.”
He added, “Edo State is the only State in Nigeria today that has transitioned from paper to paperless; in all the MDAs, it’s paperless.
“The state is one of the most connected states in Nigeria all the 18 LGAs have been connected with fiber optic cables. No State in this country has achieved this.
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“This is a call for more support, investment and efforts for the digital transformation programme in Edo State that has made the State more prominent.
“The governor had only last week received an award for good governance as it shows the efforts of the governor to develop and grow the State better than he met it. The governor is committed to the growth and development of the State.”
On his part, Edo State Commissioner for Digital Economy, Science and Technology, Ogbeide Ifaluyi-Isibor, while congratulating the governor, commended his developmental strides across all sectors of the State.
He said: “We celebrate the fact that Nigeria and indeed the whole world recognizes the fact that Edo State has moved forward.
“Edo State is number one in digital governance, connectivity, ICT, and the only State that operates the e-gov platform.
“We are proud of what the governor has done as all MDAs operate paperless. We are proud of his achievements in digital governance.
“We are happy as our efforts have been recognized and we are in the upward movement as we are making more progress, connecting more schools, hospitals and have laid 2,000km fiber optic cables for connectivity.
“No state has achieved such a feat and we are committed to doing more to make the lives of Edo people better.”
