The Nigeria Computer Society has said strict enforcement of local content law is very possible in the Information and Communications Technology sector.
The group argued that the law could be strictly implemented in certain areas where local competencies had been proven.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos to announce the society's forthcoming conference, the President, NCS, Sir Demola Aladekomo, said thousands of jobs could be created via strict adherence to the local content law.
According to him, government has not done very well in terms of monitoring as far as local content implementation is concerned.
Aladekomo, who observed that the country had done extremely well in terms of IT adoption, maintained that a lot still needed to be done in the areas of electronic governance and other areas of IT applications.
He said the relevance of ICTs to governance and national security – to ensure real, all-inclusive development and transformation of governance, cannot be overemphasized.
According to him, with ICTs, the country is sure of overcoming the menace of insecurity in the nation.
He said, "One way to describe electronic government is the application of ICT to strengthen governance. It also means the use of ICT to achieve better stakeholders' engagement.
"When carefully designed and diligently implemented, e-Government tackles the problems of poverty, disease, unemployment and hunger. e-Government strategies that work facilitate both public sector and private sector development."
He said the protection of life and property is the major function and responsibility of any government, stating that no nation is excluded from the challenges of insecurity.
"Murder, armed robbery, terrorism, cultism and other crimes abound despite the best efforts of security and law enforcement agencies. A more proactive ICT-led approach to combating this menace is needed in a country like ours. It is our considered view that no organisation is better suited than the NCS to chart the way forward in this regard," he added.
