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The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has appointed the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), as the Chairman of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2022. The event will take place at ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The appointment was conveyed to the Honourable Minister through a letter from the Secretary-General of the ITU, who noted that Professor Pantami was appointed "in light of his overall commitment to Information and Knowledge Societies and the active role he has played in the WSIS Process" and it followed consultations with various stakeholders. The Forum is to be attended by several high level stakeholders, including Cabinet Ministers from ITU countries.
The WSIS Forum 2022 serves as a key forum for discussing the role of ICTs as a means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, with due regard to the global mechanism for follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UNGA Resolution A/70/1). The WSIS Forum also provides a platform to track the achievements of WSIS Action Lines in collaboration with the UN Agencies involved and provides information and analysis of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines since 2005.
The WSIS Forum, is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD with the engagement of 24 other United Nations Agencies, including FAO, ILO, ITC, UNDESA, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNHCR, UNODC, UNEP, UPU, UN Tech Bank, WMO, WIPO, WHO, WFP, UN Women and UN Regional Commissions. In a follow up to the UN General Assembly outcomes in 2015 on the Overall Review of the implementation of the WSIS Outcomes that called for a close alignment between the WSIS Process and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the overall theme for this year is ”ICTs for Well-Being, Inclusion and Resilience: WSIS Cooperation for Accelerating Progress on the SDGs”. The Forum aims at enhancing cooperation, partnership, innovation, exchange of experiences and good practices in ICTs for sustainable development.
The appointment of Professor Pantami has given Nigeria, and indeed the African continent, the unique role of coordinating the activities of the WSIS in its 20th year, following the WSIS Phase I meeting that took place in 2003. It is apparent that the world has taken notice of the giant strides of Nigeria’s digital economy under the supervision of the Honourable Minister. Prof Pantami extends his immense gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for the constant support he has given the sector.
Dr Femi Adeluyi
Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to the
Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy
9th of May, 2022

The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), welcomed the team from Google West Africa at his office on Thursday, 7th of April, 2022. The team was led by the Director of Google West Africa, Mrs. Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor. The team visited the Honourable Minister to give him an update on the activities of Google in Nigeria and affirm their commitment to supporting the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria.
The Director commended the Honourable Minister for his efforts that have promoted Nigeria’s Digital Economy and increased its impact on all sectors of the economy. Mrs Ehimuan-Chiazor also informed the Honourable Minister that Google’s Office in Lagos serves all the countries in the West African sub-region. She updated the Minister on Google’s commitment to invest $1billion in Africa over the next 5 years, from October 2021. The investment includes funding for the Equiano subsea cable.
The Equiano cable is expected to enable a five-fold increase in average Internet speeds in Nigeria and create 1.6million jobs. Equiano, whose name was inspired by a Nigerian, is being launched as it lands at different points on the continent, much like a road construction that is launched as construction progresses. According to the Director, Nigeria is a major landing point for the cable and the launch of this major milestone is expected to take place in April 2022.
The Director also informed the Minister of the Google’s support for the tech ecosystem in Nigeria through skills development programs and grants. For example, the Google Startup Accelerator program has benefited 82 startups, including some of the startups that are now the leading unicorns in Africa. About 6 million Nigerians have also benefited from other digital skills initiatives and the target is to reach 10 million Nigerians. About 30,000 citizens have participated in the Africa Developer Program and provision has been made for cash and non-cash grants of over $100 million.
Professor Pantami commended Google for their activities in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). He reminded them of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, towards improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria. The Honourable Minister also assured Google that the Federal Government will continue to promote regulations that support, rather than stifle, development and innovation.
Dr Femi Adeluyi
Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to the
Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy
7th of April, 2022






The National Frequency Management Council has formally handed over the 3.5GHz spectrum allocation for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) Networks to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Performing the handover ceremony today Thursday, 17th February 2022 in Abuja, Chairman of the Council and Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) also made the public presentation of the National Policy on Fifth Generation Networks for Nigeria’s Digital Economy.
Addressing participants at the event, Professor Pantami recalled that the country’s journey to the actualization of 5G was fraught with challenges many of which were superstitious and unscientific. “Amidst health rumors linking 5G to the source and spread of Covid19, the Federal Government took deliberate, painstaking steps to ensure its safety through trials, expert reviews and advise from professional and relevant authorities and stakeholders because the safety of our citizens is our priority” Professor Pantami emphasized the need for Nigeria to take its pride of place in the fourth industrial revolution by exploring the tools of digital technology. He highlighted some of the benefits of 5G to include enhanced security, transparency, agricultural boost among others.
While handing over the allocated spectrum to the Chairman Governing Board of NCC, Professor Adeolu Akande and the Executive Vice Chairman Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, the Minister directed that the spectrum be distributed to the companies whose bids were successful during the auction in December of 2021. Similarly, he called on all stakeholders to ensure the implementation of the National Policy of 5G for Nigeria’s Digital Economy.
Recall that the initial trial to ascertain the risks involved in the deployment of 5G in Nigeria was conducted in November of 2019 while the policy was launched on the 25th of January 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR).
Uwa Suleiman
Spokesperson to the Honourable Minister of Communications & Digital Economy
17th February 2022

The Federal Executive Council approved the National Policy on the Nigerian Government Second-Level Domains during its meeting on the 16th of February, 2022. This followed the presentation of a memo by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.
The Policy was developed to strengthen public confidence in the use of digital technologies and participation in the digital economy. The Policy is also in line with the implementation of the Nigerian e-Government Master Plan, approved by the Federal Executive Council in August 2018. The Master Plan has a vision to create a world class open and digitalized government that connects with people to drive efficiency in public administration, responsiveness of civil services and transparency in governance leading to improvement of the quality of life of Nigerians.
The increasing rate of cyber-related incidences has inspired countries to develop Policy instruments to effectively regulate and manage their use of Information and Communication Technologies in Government Institutions, specifically electronic correspondences within the government. Several countries have put policies in place to ensure that official correspondences are only conducted using approved domains and platforms in Government Institutions.
The use of generic domains and private emails for Government businesses and correspondences impedes the identity, security and global recognition of the Nigerian Government on the Internet. Furthermore, the use of private emails for Government business is a major limitation to the capabilities to archive and back-up sensitive Government data thereby making it difficult to preserve historical correspondences and documents hosted on non-Government servers. Similarly, Government documents that should be deleted or destroyed after a period of retention are permanently hosted on unsecure servers.
The Policy will be implemented by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. It seeks to promote transparency in governance; protecting the Nigerian cyberspace; and promotion of the Digital Nigeria agenda. It also seeks to accelerate the adoption of the second level domain (.gov.ng, .edu.ng, .mil.ng) under the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD.ng) with the main objective to eliminate the use of top-level domains for Government business and the use of private emails for official correspondences by the end of year 2022
The Policy gives direction for the enforcement of the mandatory use of the Nigerian Government second-level domains by all Federal Public Institutions, and recommends its adoption by States and Local Governments. The scope covers the Nigerian Government second-level domain and email services on .gov.ng, .mil.ng, .edu.ng, .sch.ng, and any other Nigerian Government owned second-level domains that could be approved in the future.
As part of the implementation of this Policy, Federal Public Institutions are to obtain a Nigerian Government Second-level Domain from NITDA and migrate to that platform with immediate effect. As part of the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), the Ministry will continue to position Nigeria to leverage technology in order to transform Nigeria into a sustainable and secure digital economy.
Dr Femi Adeluyi
Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to the
Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy
16th February, 2022

Pursuant to its digital skills empowerment drive, the Federal Government of Nigeria, today Tuesday 15th February 2022 commissioned the Muhammadu Buhari IT Innovation Centre in katsina state, Northwest Nigeria.
Commissioning the fully completed project on behalf of the President, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) noted that the centre was established to empower the youths with the requisite digital skills, drive innovation and challenge creativity as part of the economic digitalisation agenda of the Federal Government. “There is a paradigm shift globally with emphasis on proven skills over certificates, there is also the need to diversify away from natural resources like oil and gas and Nigeria is no exception in the quest for digital capacities in the fourth industrial revolution. It is because of this we feel the necessity to establish innovation centres in at least every geopolitical zone in the country, identify existing talent, support and provide the enabling environment and mentorship so that in the next few decades, Nigeria can boast of its own Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
Speaking further, Professor Pantami noted that the leading economies in the world today are innovation - driven and with the commitment of the present administration to digitalise the Nigerian economy, the inherent potential Nigeria is abundantly blessed with, it is achievable.
Present at the commissioning were the Katsina State governor His Excellency, Rt Honourable Aminu Bello Masari, members of the State’s Executive Council, The Director General of NITDA, Mallam Kashif Inuwa Abdullahi, Chairman Nigeria Communications Commission Governing Board, Professor Adeolu Akande and a host of top public and private sector officials.
Earlier, the Honourable Minister was at the Katsina State Talent Hunt Award Ceremony where prizes were awarded to deserving young innovators in various fields ranging from ICT to creativity in arts and entertainment.
Uwa Suleiman (Mrs)
Spokesperson to the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy
15th February 2022