Niger State Governor, Farmer Mohammed Umaru Bago has been awarded the Digital Governor of year at the Nigeria GOVTECH Conference and Award ceremony 2024 held in Abuja.
The award bagged by Farmer Governor Bago which is under the category of Digital Literacy was organized by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (Presidency) to recognize and encourage those who have spearheaded innovative reforms for advancement.
Farmer Governor Umaru Bago who was represented by his Deputy Comrade Yakubu Garba thanked the Organizers,Development Partners and Sponsors of the event for advocating public service reforms in Nigeria.
The Farmer Governor who was represented by his Deputy Comrade Yakubu Garba expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the digital award and promised to continue to encourage the use of technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of governance and service delivery not only in education but in all sectors of the economy in Niger State.
He highlighted some of the breakthroughs Niger State made in Digital literacy including the establishment of the Ministry of Communication Technology and Digital Economy as well an Agency for Green Initiatives , the first of its kind at sub-national level.
Others are, training of market traders and artisans on the use of technology using Hausa and Pidgin English, training of children aged between 10 and 18 in robotics and programming as well as Collaboration with Tech4dev to train Civil servants in Information Technology skills.
He also disclosed that the State Government has Collaborated with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council to train SMEs on eCommerce to boost exports, organised several training programmes for women under the “TechSis” initiative of the State to encourage women participation in technology including the training of Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, and Special advisers on better service delivery using Information Technology amongst other strides
The 2024 Nigeria GOVTECH Conference and awards ceremony had as its theme, “Digital Innovations as a Catalyst for the Renewed Hope Agenda. “
