Seoul- Ms Suk Jun, the Director, West Africa Team Leader at Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Seoul, South Korea, says successful implementation of e-government programme in Nigeria is key to achieving vision 20 :2020.
Sun stated this on Wednesday at the closing ceremony for Nigerian civil servants who underwent E-Government capacity development training in South Korea.
She said the South Korean government would continue to assist Nigeria in the area of e-government to ensure the achievement of the goals of vision 20 :2020.
The South Korean director advised the Federal Government to capture the e-government programme in its transformation agenda for successful implementation of the project in the country.
She said that the partnership between KOICA and Nigeria on capacity development of e-Government would be good for the future and economic transformation of the country.
The director said South Korea had experienced e-government technology and was ready to share its knowledge and experiences with Nigeria.
She added that KOICA had done a lot of projects on e-government capacity building in collaboration with many countries across the globe, noting, however, that its collaboration with Nigeria was more comprehensive.
She noted that “I am sure that this e-Government project will be done jointly by both countries. Successful implementation of this project is very essential for the future of Nigeria.
“It is my hope that the training will be a good opportunity for the progress of the project. We will assist Nigeria to get useful knowledge and experience in e-government.’’
The director thanked participants of the e-Government training for the successful completion of the programme, saying that learning of e-government would go a long way to better the future of Nigeria.
Mr Jung Sang-Hoon, the Country Representative of KOICA in Nigeria, commended the South Korean government for sharing the country’s knowledge and experiences with Nigeria.
Jung, who was represented by Mr David Nkwa, the Programme Specialist (e-Government) KOICA, Nigeria, also thanked the participants for their efforts toward making the programme a success, adding that “I believe you will replicate what you have seen and learnt in South Korea.
He said that KOICA would train 22,625 Nigerian civil servants in 357 batches within a five-year (2014 to 2018) period of the project.
He added that the Agency and the Federal Government signed Record of Discussions (an e-government project agreement ) on Nov. 14, 2013 for the project, expected to commence in 2014.
He said the project was aimed at assisting the Federal Government to initiate e-government policies in the country and share South Korea’s technical expertise on the subject.
“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
He noted 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 Federal Government’s capacity building efforts in its e-government programme, while strengthening bi-lateral relations existing between Nigeria and South Korea.
“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.’’
The leader of the Nigerian training team, Dr Usman Kabir, thanked the South Korean government and KOICA for supporting Nigeria on e-government capacity development agenda.
He said “I also wish to commend South Korea for the excellent work it has been doing toward putting Nigeria on e-government track.’’
Highlight of the ocassion was presentation of certificates to 30 Nigerian officials who participated in the two-week e-government capacity development programme. (NAN)