Only 25% of government websites in Nigeria are active – NITDA
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has disclosed that only a meager 25 percent of government websites in Nigeria have reachable phone numbers and email addresses respectively.
The government agency saddled with the responsibility of formulating IT policies for government and indeed Nigerians, disclosed this in a statement after conducting a business friendly assessment of the websites of Federal Ministries.
It says the assessment is in compliance with the Executive Order signed by the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbanjo SAN, on the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment, which is designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in Nigeria as it relates to the use of ICT for efficient service delivery.
According to NITDA, most of the websites are not in conformity with published standards and guidelines for government websites, stating that most of them do not have feedback and information necessary to facilitate ease of doing business.
“The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has conducted a business friendly assessment of the websites of Federal Ministries. The assessment revealed that most of the websites are not in conformity with published standards and guidelines for government websites. Most of the websites do not have feedback and information necessary to facilitate ease of doing business. For instance, only 25% and 37% of the websites have reachable phone numbers and email addresses respectively. In addition, some of the websites do not have a complete list of website links of the Agencies under their supervision and the content outdated,” NITDA disclosed in the statement signed by Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, its Director General/CEO.
The statement added that some Ministries either have no active websites or are not registered on .GOV.NG domain, arguing that businesses and citizens expect more transparent, accessible, and responsive services from government agencies and it is essential that Federal Ministries take the lead in ensuring that information provided on their websites meets such expectations.
NITDA therefore called on Federal Ministries, especially those affected, to ensure that on their websites contact information are accurate and reachable and means of interaction such as online feedback are integrated; the content and the list of website links of the Agencies under their supervision are complete and up-to-date; and detailed requirements or conditions for service provision and electronic mode of communicating acceptance and rejection of applications as stated in the executive order are conspicuously published.
It also stated that government agencies at all levels (Federal, State and Local Government) are required to use the .GOV.NG domain in line with Nigerian content in ICT promotion. The .GOV.NG domain is Nigerian Government identity on the Internet. Recently, NITDA’s management has put in place more efficient and effective measures to improve service delivery of the .GOV.NG domain management and administration and quick turnaround has been achieved. Requests for domain registration and other support services are attended to within 24hrs if all the requirements are provided. Further information on these requirements can be obtained by sending requests to [email protected].
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is an Agency under the Federal Ministry of Communications. The Agency was created in April 2001 to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co-ordinate general IT development and regulation in the country. Specifically, Section 6(m) of the Act mandates NITDA to advise Federal Government generally on matters and issues as well as ensure Internet governance and supervision of the management of the country code top-level domain (cctld.ng).
It also called on all MDAs and other stakeholders in the IT sector to support the Agency in ensuring compliance to the standards and guidelines for government websites as this will assist in facilitating ease of doing business and e-governance adoption and penetration for effective, transparent, accessible, and responsive service delivery.