Our New Digital Media Channels Will Make Us More Accountable, Says Fayemi

L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Special Adviser to the Governor on Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Mr. Kayode Jegede; and Project Director, Ekiti State Digital Transformation Programme, Dr. Anderson Uvie-Emegbo, shortly after the presentation of the State's new Digital Channels

Ekiti State Governor, Dr.Kayode Fayemi, has said the creation of new digital media channels by his administration was intended to entrench probity, accountability and transparency in governance.

He said the new digital channels would also engender participatory governance to allow the people of the State have inputs how government is run to ensure a better and more prosperous prosperous Ekiti State.

The governor who spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the State capital on Wednesday at the presentation and launch of the new website at the Executive Chambers of the Governor’s Office declared the readiness of his administration to turn the state into an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) haven.

The new channel, www.ekitistate.gov.ng, is linked to the Facebook, slideshare, google plus, Twitter, flickr and YouTube as well as mobile applications for android and Blackberry devices while Nokia and iPhone versions would be released within a month.

Since going live only two days earlier, the new Ekiti State website has become the second most visited state government website in Nigeria.

Ekiti is also the first state to have Quick Reference (QR) Codes integrated into its website.

According to the governor, the new channel was “a tiny portion of an array of activities in the state ICT sector” adding that the state has deployed ICT in the areas of biometrics payroll system and e-payment system which has boosted the state’s Internally Generated revenue (IGR) from N109 million to N617 million monthly.

Fayemi also disclosed that his administration is providing laptops for students in public secondary schools as the first batch will be distributed before the week runs out.

He added that Ekiti State University (EKSU) is expected to be fully connected to the Internet in two months time to allow students access to e-library.

“This is not the state’s first outing on the web. We have had a presence at least in the last twelve months of this administration. This is a fastidious government that seeks to improve itself at every point because we believe that our best is yet to come.

As a result of that, at every opportunity we learn new things. At the risk of sounding immodest, this is the best state website in this country”, Fayemi explained.

Speaking while presenting the new website, the project consultant, Dr Anderson Uvie-Emegbo of Dymore Vision Consulting Ltd, said Ekiti is making giant strides in ICT which he noted would rub off positively on the economy of the state.

“We have not created a website. We have created Ekiti 3.0-a set of robust integrated, multimedia digital media channels-online, social media and mobile media-backed by a strong governance strategy.

It is the first of its kind within the public sector in Nigeria”, Uvie-Emegbo stated

Last modified: February 29, 2012