The Government of the Republic of Korea through its aid agency, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KICOA), has handed over a renovated and equipped training centre for the training of public servants on e-Government in Nigeria.
The handover ceremony was conducted at the e-Government Training Centre (ETC) which is located within the premises of the Public Servant Institute of Nigeria (PSIN).
Since 2013, the Korean government earmarked $8.56million to support the development of e-Government in Nigeria, through various capacity building programs, establishment of an e-Government Training Centre and formulating the first (1st) e-Government Master Plan for Nigeria in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Public Service Institute of Nigeria and other major stakeholders.
The Government Master Plan for Nigeria received approval by the Federal Executive Council in 2018 which portrays the Nigerian Government’s buy-in to e-Government. Also, my invitational training have been conducted in Korea for public servants of the various cadre.
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A total of 1,646 public servants have been trained on e-Government by Korean experts to build their capacity for the implementation of e-Government in Nigeria. The ETC was refurbished between 2017 and 2018 and equipped with the best quality of IT Equipment and it would serve as a centre of excellence for training civil servants.
During the ceremony, a quick tour of the centre showed the 100-seater auditorium, a vision room that highlights strides of Korea and Nigeria in e-Government till dare as well as two smart classrooms for training public servants.
The Centre was also provided with a 250 KVA standby generator for 24hours power supply and a 30-seater coaster bus.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea yo Nigeria, Major General Lee In-tae (Rtd.), during his remarks reiterated how e-Government had contributed to Korea’s national development in terms of economic dynamics and political accountability.
He expressed high hope that the centre would be used for its purpose and the impact of the investment of the Korean Government would be felt in Nigeria.
The KOICA Country Director, Mr Wolfgang Chang stated during the handover and final project completion ceremony organized that KOICA’s partnership does not end with this project.
He stated that “KOICA will continue to help Nigeria to transform itself into digital governance and digital economy in the near future”.
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami expressed his appreciation to the Government of Korea for the numerous efforts to improve the situation of governance in the country.
He stated that without a doubt the centre would be used to train more public servants to actualise the e-Government Master Plan for Nigeria.
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