Nigeria Content Online

The Ondo State
governor, Olusegun Mimiko yesterday directed the state Head of Service
to immediately start compiling a list of workers who are not computer
literate for retirement.

The governor gave
the directive while declaring open the maiden edition of Council of
Information summit, held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

Mr Mimiko said the
affected civil servants – from grade level 12 upwards – who have no
computer education, have a December deadline to learn how to use the
computer or face the sack. He said despite all appeals to civil
servants to enroll in computer schools, many of them have failed to do
so.

“Since the world
was now a global technological village, harbouring computer illiterate
as senior bureaucrats will be a disservice to the people of the state,”
he said. “The December deadline for all Grade Level 12 officers in the
state civil service to get computer education or leave the service for
new set of vibrant graduates who are well equipped, stands.

“The Head of
Service is here, and I am now giving him a directive to start compiling
the names of those without computer training. They should leave the
service so that we can inject news bloods into the system.”

The governor stated
that for a nation to be free from massive unemployment, efforts must be
geared towards revolutionising agriculture and technology so emphasis
must be placed on creation of jobs through agriculture, a field now
neglected by Nigerians.

“Specifically, when
youth who are jobless are directed towards development of technology,
the nation will reap from it,” he said, adding “That is why Ondo State
recently trained about one hundred graduates on technology advancement.
These youths after six weeks of training, the youths assembled a panel
of solar powered component which is still functioning today”.

The state
commissioner for Information, Ranti Akerele, said the programme was
organised to ensure that government information are properly managed.
He added that the programme would go a long way in ensuring that
government information managers are exposed to modern day training.

The Guest Speaker,
Yinka Lanihun, an associate professor at the University of Ibadan, said
the world has become a global village where information is disseminated
through the aid of Internet, and urged state governments to make use of
ample opportunities provided by the new technology.

“Government should make use of available opportunities on the
Internet, like facebook, twitters and other sites to inform the
populace about government activities,” Mr Lanihun said.