The Chairman, Zinox Technologies, Chief Leo Stan Ekeh, has called on the Federal Government to spend at least N750bn on providing Information Communication Technology facilities in tertiary institutions, revamping infrastructure in the schools and retraining graduates.Ekeh said this in Lagos on Friday during an interactive session with journalists about his 2012 projections.According to him, this will boost the knowledge and digital economy in the country.He specifically urged the government to spend N250bn on improving educational infrastructure and another N250bn on the provision of content, especially ICT content in tertiary institutions.Ekeh said, In 2012, I expect the Federal Government to put N500bn into the school system. This will automate the schools. While N250bn should be spent on improving infrastructure, another N250bn should be channelled into the tertiary education system. Federal Government should use this to develop IT contents in tertiary institutions.He called on the government to also spend N250bn on retraining graduates who had been produced by the countrys deficient education system, adding that this would make them employable and boost the countrys low human resource capacity.Ekeh said, Government should also spend N250bn to re-educate the over five million unemployable graduates roaming the streets without jobs.They need to go through some form of re-education to measure up with their peers in the international market and become employable. This will address the problem of human capital as entrepreneurs will be able to employ more people to expand their businesses.Ekeh also urged the Federal Government to provide laptops to students through subsidy, adding that 50 per cent of the financially deficient Nigerians would have access to computers if this was done.The Zinox boss, who noted that the funding should be spread over three quarters of 2012, said the impact would be felt in improved lifestyles and standard of living for millions of Nigerians.He noted that majority of the collapsed businesses in the country hit the rocks because they spent less on ICT automation, among other sundry reasons.As such, Ekeh said more organisations should expand their businesses and automate their operations in 2012.Speaking on the 2012 budget as it relates to ICT, the Zinox boss said, The budget for ICT is not consolidated. What we want to see in the future is that budgets of all the MDAs under the Ministry of Communications Technology should be consolidated so that things are done properly.Commenting on the performance of the IT sector in 2011, Ekeh said the INEC electronic voter registration which preceded the 2011 elections raised IT awareness in the country by 17 per cent.He recalled that the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Atahiru Jega, had said that the voters registration and the general elections of 2011 succeeded because of the performance of Zinox Computers in the supply of 80,000 Direct Data Capture Machines.The INEC Chairman, who spoke during the 2011 National Information Technology Merit Award in Lagos, on Friday, noted that when foreign suppliers faltered, it was Zinox that did not only deliver credibly but also reached out to help the foreign companies. As such, the INEC chairman affirmed that there would be no reason to look outside the shores of Nigeria as INEC prepares for 2015 elections.Though Ekeh regretted that most of the IT industry speculations did not materialise in 2011, he said a number of digital activities were recorded in the year.According to him, establishment of e-libraries became popular in the year. He added that the judiciary also recorded some form of automation. On the whole, the Zinox boss said he expected the Federal Government to provide dividends of democracy for Nigerians through the creation of digital activities in major cities of the country.He said, in 2012, I think the FG should create digital activities so that dividend of democracy could reach more Nigerians. This is by creating wireless crowd across major cities of the country. We already have the infrastructure and for this the government just needs to work in concert with telcos.Meanwhile, Ekeh has been named the Information Technology Personality of the Year 2011 at the Nigerian Information Technology Merit Awards.The award was the high point of a night that featured the investiture of Sir Demola Aladekomo, the 11th President of the Nigeria Computer Society and the inauguration of the 17th National Executive Council of the NCS.
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