Seoul- The first batch of 30 Nigerian civil servants have arrived South Korea on Monday to participate in a capacity-building training on e-government, says an official of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Mr Jung Sang-Hoon, the Country Representative of KOICA in Nigeria, said this in Seoul during orientation ceremony organised for the participants on stakeholders workshop and instructors training on e-government in Nigeria.
He said that the South Korean government would train 22,625 Nigerian civil servants in 357 batches within a five-year (2013 to 2018) period of the project.
He said 29 ministries, departments and agencies would be involved in the project as part of a five-year project aimed at promoting e-government and efficient public service delivery using ICT in Nigeria.
He said KOICA and the Federal Government signed an e-government agreement on Nov. 14, 2013 for the project which is expected to commence in 2014.
Sang-Hoon also said that the project was aimed at assisting the federal government in efforts to initiate e-government policies in the country and share South Korea’s technical expertise on the subject.
He said that the capacity development programme would facilitate Nigeria’s efforts to implement its e-government initiative, while raising its UN ranking in the e-government readiness index
“The National Planning Commission and Embassy of the Republic of Korea did an exchange of note on Feb. 25, 2014 on the project, which constitutes an agreement between the two countries,’’ he said
Sang-Hoon said that the project, which would be domiciled in the Public Services Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) in Abuja, would be implemented between 2013 and 2018.
He said that KOICA would, however, be responsible for the supervision, monitoring and evaluation of the project.
Besides, Sang-Hoon said that National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) would coordinate the project, in collaboration with the Office of Head Service, Centre for Management Development and PSIN
The country representative also said that Galaxy Backbone would be responsible for hosting and managing the training management system (web application).
He said that the primary objective of the training in Korea was to train instructors for the implementation of the e-government initiative in Nigeria.
He said that the project would support the federal government’s capacity building efforts in its e-government programme, while strengthening the bi-lateral relations existing between Nigeria and South Korea.
He said the programme would assist Nigeria to achieve its vision 20:2020 through building a knowledge-based society, enhanced productivity, good governance and efficient delivery of public service through ICT.
Sang-Hoon said that South Korea had been ranked by UN e-Government Development Index as first in 2010, 2012 and 2014 out of 190 countries on the e-readiness and e-government.
He said that Nigeria was ranked 150 in 2010, 162 in 2012 and 141 in 2014.
“Korea is known for its comprehensive and high performance in e-government programmes. Its strategies embrace all aspects of modern e-government programme such as work method, government service and information resource management reforms.’’
Sang-Hoon said that KOICA was founded 1991 as government-run aid agency and in 2008, Nigeria office was established to support the social-economicdevelopment of the country and had 44 offices globally
Malam Usman Kabo, the leader of the federal government’s delegation at the event, commended the South Korean government for the training, saying that it would aid efforts to bridge the digital gaps existing in the country.
Kabo, who is also the Director-General, Centre for Management Development, said that the government-society-technology unit had been generating new sectors of activity, contexts of use, and resource pools to survive.
He underscored the importance of e-governance, saying that it promoted efficiency, enhanced services, better accessibility of public services and transparency.
“E-government provides electronic interactions between a government and its citizens, government and businesses, government and employees and also between governments and governments or agencies,’’ he said.
Kabo urged the participants to be good ambassadors of Nigeria during their stay in South Korea.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training begins on Nov. 24 and will end on Dec. 6. (NAN)