Zamfara State government and its representatives at the 18th edition of the just concluded Titans of Tech Awards 2022 won three prestigious awards.
The three awards are DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STATE OF THE YEAR to the state; DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR to the state governor, Bello Matawalle and the OUTSTANDING PROMOTER OF DIGITAL ECONOMY to the Director General ZITDA Muhammad Yahaya (Tambura).
Receiving the awards on behalf of the governor, Dr. Jalaludeen Ibrahim Maradun expresses Gov. Matawalle’s gratitude for the recognition of Zamfara as the leading state in the area of ICT transformation and ICT human capital development. He explained that this has been achieved through strategic activities ranging from recruitment of young talents in ICT for incubation and necessary support; training of hundreds of youth in digital skills; and capacity building for the state civil servants among others. Dr. Maradun added that “we see this recognition as a challenge to do more and more to meet the demands of a new age and we shall not relent. We shall continue to build a stronger network of ICT communities for humanity”.
Meanwhile, prior to the awards, the state government officials had participated in the 2022 Pan African Digital Initiative Summit & Expo with the theme, “Leveraging Right Policies and Technologies in Taming Insecurity & Cyber-Threats”, which held at Oriental Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria.
Gov. Bello Matawalle who was invited as one of the Keynote Speakers at the Summit was represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff Dr. Jalaludeen Ibrahim Maradun. Dr. Maradun was accompanied by the Principal Private Secretary to the Executive Governor, Malam Lawal Umar Maradun and the Director General of Zamfara Information Technology Development Agency (ZITDA), Muhammad Yahaya Tambura.
During the Digital Government Forum session, Dr. Maradun talked about Gov. Bello Matawalle’s efforts in ensuring that the right ICT policies are in place in line with the core 2030 sustainable development agenda, highlighting how human rights, peace, security and development are deeply interlinked and mutually reinforcing. In the three years of the Matawalle-administration, ZITDA has been upgraded to develop and regulate IT for Zamfara State ICT sustainable development; ZITDA has been considered as the prime catalyst of transforming Zamfara into an IT-driven economy; the state government is already developing the needed ICT applications for all the state Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs); ZITDA is also creating awareness ensuring universal access to aid its diffusion and adoption across all sectors of life in the state and beyond. Furthermore, Zamfara has sustained a robust Public-Private Partnership with different organisations such as NITDA, NCC, FMoCDE, and several other public and private ICT institutions.
