E-govt: Nigeria @ crossroads, saves billions, risks trust

*TSA saves state implicit N10trn from leakages

*GIFMIS cuts govt discarded by N126b

*IPPIS eliminates 70,000 shade workers from payroll

*Yet, Nigeria ranks 144th successful planetary integer governance

By Juliet Umeh

In a tiny assemblage schoolhouse connected the outskirts of Abuja, children inactive hold arsenic their teacher ticks names disconnected a insubstantial register, a process that swallows astir fractional of the acquisition time. Yet conscionable a fewer kilometers distant successful the metropolis center, national workers log into a integer payroll strategy that has already erased much than 70,000 shade names from authorities records.

This paradox captures Nigeria’s uneasy travel toward e-government: a strategy promising efficiency, accountability, and inclusion, but inactive haunted by mistrust, anemic infrastructure, and privateness fears.

According to the National Commissioner and CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, NDPC, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, digitizing authorities payments successful processing countries could output up to 4.5 percent of GDP annually.

Speaking astatine the Nigeria e-government acme 2025, organised by DigiServe, Olatunji said: “If radical tin spot what you bash with their data, invariably they are going to spot you with their government.

“That is however we tin execute the e-government of our dream.”

Billions saved, corruption plugged

In his speech, helium said: “Nigeria already has occurrence stories. The Treasury Single Account, TSA,  has saved implicit N10 trillion since inception. The Government Integrated Financial Management System, GIFMIS, chopped discarded by N126 billion, portion the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, eliminated 70,000 shade workers who were draining nationalist funds.”

He noted: “During the pandemic, integer recognition systems enabled the disbursement of N24 cardinal successful conditional currency transfers, portion partnerships with the World Food Programme allowed astir 200,000 households to person monthly integer wallets.

“Without e-platforms, overmuch of this would person been mislaid to middlemen and leakages.

‘These gains align with planetary findings. A World Bank survey shows that integer nationalist services are 74 percent faster than manual processes, cutting work transportation clip by up to 40 percent.”

Trust deficit

Despite these wins, Nigerians stay suspicious. Many citizens defy adjacent escaped registrations.

Olatunji adjacent confirmed: “When the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC,  tried to registry tiny and mean enterprises,SMEs astatine nary outgo successful 2022, officials were met with hostility.

“They asked, wherefore does the authorities privation to seizure us? What volition they usage our information for?

“Without privacy, we cannot execute e-government that is efficient. Nigerians indispensable cognize their information is safe,” Olatunji recounted.

This skepticism is not unfounded. From research, successful 2018, India’s Aadhaar strategy leaked the idiosyncratic details of 1.1 cardinal people. The US Office of Personnel Management hack successful 2015, exposed the records of 21.5 cardinal workers.

In Africa, a Kaspersky study successful 2022 recovered that 1 successful 3 organizations suffered cyberattacks, with authorities institutions being the apical target.

As Dr. Olatunji of NDPC insists: “Privacy is the currency of integer governance. When radical spot what you bash with their data, they volition spot their government. Without that, everything other fails.”

Nigeria’s ranking: Opportunity successful the gap

The United Nations E-Government Development Index, EGDI, 2022 ranks Nigeria 144th retired of 193 countries, with a Human Development Index, HDI, people of conscionable 0.48.

By contrast, Rwanda, done its IremboGov platform, delivers much than 100 nationalist services online and boasts 96 percent 4G LTE sum according to the authorities of Rwanda ICT profile, 2022. Estonia, the world’s astir precocious integer state, present delivers 99 percent of authorities services online according to e-Estonia Briefing Centre, 2023.

“Ranking debased means we person abstraction to leapfrog, but it requires superior concern successful broadband, skills, and trust,” says ICT expert Jide Ayeni.

The net divide

Africa’s net usage remains low. Only 40 percent  of Africans utilized the net successful 2023, according to the International Telecommunication Union, ITU,  Facts & Figures report, released November 2023. This lags the planetary mean of 67 perc...