LAGOS: The Nigerian economy must look to the ICT sector in order to build and develop in the near future, said Signal Alliance CEO Collins Onuegbu in comments published by Daily Trust on Monday. He argued that the telecom and software industry in Nigeria is vital to the push toward making Nigeria a top 20 global economy. “Nigeria is a developing country while other countries are struggling, but the Nigerian economy is growing faster by 7 percent and one of the drivers is technology,” he said in an interview. “We are a growing country and there are lots of opportunities in software, telecoms and all forms of infrastructure.” It is the most recent public statement by leading IT persons in Nigeria in recent months, with a number of top bosses clamoring about the need to focus on ICT for the country. “We want to employ and grow as the economy grows,” continued Onuegbu. “The country recognizes that we must sail on the back of ICT, especially with the coming on board of the new ministry of communications technology. It is quite good for all IT companies in the country.” Analysts and the government also tend to agree, saying Onuegbu's argument is solid and can deliver the economic needs to Nigeria. John Yussif, a ministry official, said that the Nigerian government “believes in the power of IT and we understand that in Nigeria there a lot of opportunities that we can develop to push the economy forward and reduce unemployment.” Onuegbu did say that he was concerned over the proposed ICT Park for the country, which the government has said will help boost infrastructure and investment in the ICT sector. “There have been lots of debates about it and my worry is that it has become a buzz word. It has been done all over the world, but I don't see it working in Nigeria because the idea is to create clusters to develop ICT,” he said, adding that for the country, “it is not just about building offices and shops somewhere and calling it an ICT Park, but to build and make available every infrastructure to be supporting the business environment.” BM