The Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), an umbrella body of all ICT Journalists in Nigeria has urged companies and establishments both in the private and public sectors to improve on their ICT architecture to enable their workers to work seamlessly from home during the COVID-19 crisis period.
The Group in a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi, believes that this is the time when most company’s technology platforms will be tested, following the directive for people to maintain a relatively good social distance as a measure of curbing the rate of infections from the virus.
The statement reads: “As a major stakeholder in the Nigerian ICT sector, we call on all ICT firms to ensure they put in place secure messaging platforms for company staff to interact while at home, and also maintain a strong and secure server that will handle the increased traffic on their company networks.
Companies should empower their staff so that they can be productive from home. They must ensure that productivity is not reduced to zero due to the scourge of COVID-19,”
The statement also called on telecom service providers, including mobile network operators (MNOs) to reduce their charges for voice and data services in a bid to make communication cheaper and easier for their consumers. This, according to the statement will make consumers rely more on telecommunications, and live streaming of messages/communications rather than physical meetings.
The Lagos state government has put measures in place to ensure that the spread of the virus is greatly minimized. Some of the measures put in place include a directive that gathering of people in a particular space is reduced to 50, this includes places of religious gathering, social gatherings and political gathering. Also, the state government has directed civil servants of Grade Level 12 and below in the state to work from home as from Monday, March 23.