The Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, yesterday said the federal government was working towards digitizing the management and control of land borders for effective surveillance and intelligence gathering.
He said this in Ilesa, Osun State during the inauguration of some facilities at Ogedengbe School of Science.
The facilities including a toilet, water supply and laboratory were donated to the school by Huawei, a Chinese global information and communications technology company.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Zhang Lulu in his remarks said Huawei remained committed to achieving a fully digitized system in Nigeria.
He said Nigerian youths must be well equipped with ICT skills to contribute immensely to the nation’s growth and development. He maintained that Nigeria is blessed with many talented minds who possess requisite ideas and innovation to turn around the fortunes of the country if such talents are properly annexed.
Lulu explained that his company recognises corporate social responsibility as essential duty of every organisation as a way of supporting their immediate environments, saying the company had been doing that for over two decades in Nigeria.
“As a leading global ICT solutions provider, Huawei has been a great factor in developing Nigeria through ICT. Apart from increased connectivity, Huawei has also been committed to building skills at all levels of the society, by providing technology in schools”.
The National Coordinator of a Non-governmental organisation, Citizenship Civic Awareness Centre, (CCAC), the organization that facilitated the project, Adeola Shoetan, while speaking with newsmen stressed that a UNICEF report on Nigeria had revealed that 50 percent of Nigerians, including students do not have access to toilets.
He said his organization approached Huawei through the minister, and it was shocked to hear that a school of science could exist without toilet and electricity supply.
Earlier, the Principal of the school, Mrs. Felicia Orimoogunje, said it had witnessed terrible experiences for lack of basic amenities like toilet, electricity supply and a functional laboratory.
“The toilet facility will put an end to open defecation and the electricity will further enhance better performance of our students in their science practical exercises,” she said.
