Korean agency plans to train 22,719 Nigerian officials on e-government

The Korea International Cooperation Agency said on Tuesday it planned to train 22,719 Nigeria government officials in e-government to strengthen the Federal Government’s development efforts.
The agency’s Chief Representative in Nigeria, Jung Sang-Hoon, said this while addressing participants of the just-concluded 2014 capacity building programme for Nigerian government officials at the Korean Embassy in Abuja.
KOICA had in May trained 24 officials from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies on e-government and Economic Development Strategy in Seoul.
The training was aimed to build the capacity of the officials to assume advisory roles in their organisations as well as at the local and national levels.
It was also aimed at providing officials with the required skills to make plans for e-transformation of their organisations and to provide national e-policy and e-strategies, management skills in the digital era and other aspects essential to launch e-transformation in Nigeria.
Jung said that the first phase of the training programme would begin in September in Korea, while the second phase would hold in January 2015 in Nigeria.
He said that five officials would also be given one-year scholarships each to study masters in e-government in Korea.
He said that the training programme would last three years.
According to him, the effort will enable Korea to help the Nigerian government in the successful development and implementation of its e-government master plan.
The Minister of Communication Technology, Omobola Johnson, had contracted KOICA to develop an e-government master plan for Nigeria.
Jung underscored the importance of adopting e-government in Nigeria, saying that it would enable the country to make technological advancement and to eliminate corruption.
He said: “It is the most powerful means of bringing about change in Nigeria.
“Developing the IT industry and having a strong leadership can help the country get rid of corruption and other problems hindering sustainable development.”
The chief representative re-stated Korea’s willingness to assist Nigeria in attaining development through capacity building and investment.
He, however, added that Nigerians needed to play a vital role in moving the process forward through cooperation.
He said: “Our mission is to bring change in Nigeria.
“The Korean government is trying to share its development experience with the government so that it can carry the country along and not let it remain backward technologically.”
Jung said the training was part of plans to create awareness and sensitise officials on the importance of e-government and economic development strategy to enable them support federal government’s development strategies.