HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT

As part of the Federal Government vision to make Nigeria an IT capable country in Africa and a key player in Information society by the year 2005, the National Information Technology (NIT) policy was approved by the Federal Executive Council in March, 2001. The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) was also set up in April, 2001 to handle the implementation of the IT policy as well as regulate and coordinate the development of IT in the country for Education, creation of wealth, poverty eradication, job creation and global competitiveness. Fortunately, Ekiti State was one of the states selected to benefit from the first batch of the e-government project, which NITDA was to coordinate. Ekiti State was subsequently advised to set up an IT Agency, State Information Technology Agency (SITA) for the effective integration of IT in the public service, preparation for electronic government (e‑government) as well as the seamless implementation and monitoring of the whole project.

EKITI STATE INFORMATION PROGRAM

The State Government, in collaboration with the Federal Government through NITDA arranged for the commencement of the project in earnest. A building within the Governor's Office premises was renovated to accommodate the equipment and the operation of the project. Consequently, the v‑sat equipment was installed using a private sector participant that was selected by NITDA.

THE NATURE OF THE CENTRE

The centre comprises two units viz:

(a)       Internet Access Unit

(b)       Database Management Unit

The Internet Access Unit is responsible for the maintenance and operation of Internet facilities; which include: ‑ Internet Access, E‑mail,  LAN, WAN, extension of services to Government establishments outside the capital city, Tele-conferencing, e‑commerce.

The Database Management Unit is responsible for the integration of Government Database for all operations of Government including:

i.     Personnel Records: For easy retrieval of personnel information by various interest groups such as the

       Government, Head of Service, Civil Service Commission and Department of Establishing and Training.

 ii.   Payroll Database: This is for the capturing payroll information for all Civil Servants and Teachers in the State.

 iii.  Income and Expenditure Database: This is for monitoring and control of income and expenditure including  budgeting control and sectional appraisal.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims of the Ekiti State IT initiative include:

a.   Unlimited access to global information database by all public officers.

b.   Unlimited E‑mail access at no cost and unimaginable speed.

c.  Executive teleconferencing ‑ making it possible for the chief executive to address executive meeting from remote locations.

d.  With e‑Commerce, government can access its bank accounts from the office and carry out bank  transactions at the touch of a button.

e.   With a centralized payroll, multi‑stage verification and monitoring of workers  wage bills is possible..                      [See Staff Profile]

f.    Personnel records in respect of any staff are easily obtained coupled with proper and regular update and maintenance. Very accurate staff list can be obtained on a regular basis.

g.   Expenditure and income monitoring is possible through a regularly updated database.

COMMISSIONING

The Department was commissioned on Tuesday 23rd December, 2003 by the Executive Governor of Ekiti State Mr. Ayodele Fayose. Below is the speech delivered by the Governor on the commissioning day.