Nigeria has potentials for dev. @ 50 – NCS

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has said that the country has all the potentials for greatness, according to the National President of NCS, Prof. Charles Uwadia.

Speaking in Lagos, last weekend, Uwadia said that Nigerians are intelligent and resourceful, therefore have all it takes to make a great nation.

“Nigeria has all the potentials for greatness. Indeed, Nigerians are intelligent, resourceful and industrious. All the powers of creativity and ingenuity in the Nigerian people are bursting forth in every facet of human endeavour. This promises a great future for the nation if only we are able to put our acts together,” he asserted.

Uwadia also said that the golden jubilee celebration should be a period of stock-taking and sober reflection.

“We must identify missed opportunities and what we need to do to make Nigeria truly the giant of Africa,” he said.

He maintained that if the country must effectively harness these abundant natural resources in order to achieve the goals of economic and socio-political development, the underlining activities must be completely anchored on Information Technology (IT) as the driving force.

Noting that on Friday, October 1, this year, Nigeria marked her 50th anniversary commemoration of attaining political independence from the colonial masters.

“The architects of Nigeria’s freedom had the vision of a great nation; a nation that would command attention and respect in the comity of nations, expectedly too, Nigeria being the most populous black nation on earth,” he said.

As said by him, the expectations of all Nigerians were very high as many people had thought that since Nigerians now have their destiny as a nation in their hands, “we would be able to build a strong, united nation with a highly viable economy whose people will be well empowered.”

The nation, Uwadia insisted, has done very well on a number of fronts both as Nigerians individually and a nation, stressing that while the country may have not fully met the expectations of most Nigerians, “it may not be fair to brand the country a failed state as some people would want to suggest.”

This, he said, would amount to distorting the history of the nation if this notion is accepted that no progress has been made since independence.

He said, the issue the nation needs to reflect on now is, whether Nigeria has lived to the billings and fulfillment of her citizens as a sovereign state.

“The answer to this poser is most likely not in the affirmative,” he said, pointing out that this was one of the reasons NCS has decided to hold a one day discussion to chart a new course for the nation.

He said that NCS in view of this, has slated a discuss on Nigeria at 50 for Wednesday, to be led by three speakers including himself, the immediate past president of NCS, Dr. Chris Nwannenna, who doubles as the chief executive officer of Condata Systems Limited, and Mr. Tunde Ezechi.

Panel of discussants, he said, would comprise, Dr. Isaac Odeyemi of Debis Computers, former president of Computer Professionals (Registration) of Nigeria (CPN), Dr. Gabriel Obi, president of Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Mr. Chris Uwaje, his counterpart at Information Technology Industry Association of Nigeria (ITAN) Dr. Jimson Olufuye and a notable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) analyst, Mr. Sonny Aragba-Akpore, just as the event is free to all Nigerians.

He recalled that NCS was established in 1978 as the Computer Association of Nigeria and has remained the national platform for the advancement of computer science and IT.

NCS, he said, through its activities has contributed immensely to the development and growth of IT in the country. “It is therefore necessary for NCS to use this season of Nigerian Golden Jubilee celebration to take stock and reposition properly for challenges ahead of the society,” he said.

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