Ogun tech leaders are urging the creation of a dedicated ICT ministry to boost digital growth and job creation.
They argue the state risks missing federal opportunities without a strong technology framework.
Technology experts and innovators in Ogun State are reiterating demands for a dedicated ICT ministry, describing it as vital to driving the state’s digital growth.
The coalition, which includes start-ups, tech professionals, innovation hubs, and digital experts, noted that such a ministry would drive critical policies, align with federal initiatives, and create jobs for the state’s growing youth population.
In 2023, Governor Dapo Abiodun announced plans to create new ministries, including those for Mineral Resources, Energy, ICT, and the Digital Economy, while also restructuring the Ministry of Youth and Sports. However, two years later, these promises remain unfulfilled.
In a statement released Monday, the President of the Ogun Tech Community, Durosimi Adekunle, urged the government to act by renaming the current Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to the Ministry of Education and establishing a standalone Ministry of ICT.
Adekunle highlighted the irony that Ogun, despite being home to prominent national ICT figures, Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and Shuaib Salisu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity, lacks the institutional framework to fully leverage technology opportunities.
He explained that at the national level, the creation of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy has already led to groundbreaking frameworks such as the Nigeria Startup Act. Yet, Ogun State has failed to replicate or implement many of these opportunities because it lacks a dedicated ministry to champion ICT policies.
A Ministry of ICT will enable Ogun State to align with federal strategies, implement initiatives such as the Startup Act, and fully develop projects like Silicon Hill, while unlocking opportunities from digital economy programs, Adekunle said.
The group emphasized that the establishment of the ministry would accelerate technology-driven growth and ensure Ogun State does not miss out on the broader opportunities of Nigeria’s fast-growing digital economy.
