Internet Empowers Citizens to Demand Accountability, Transparency from Govt, Says Ezekwesili

By Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A former Minister of Education, Mrs Obi Ezekwesili, has stressed the need to leverage on the instrumentality of the internet to empower citizens to demand accountability and transparency from the government which are the cornerstone of good governance.

Speaking at the 2018 edition of Nigeria Internet Governance Forum (NIGF) Wednesday in Abuja with the theme: “Internet: An Enabler For Good Governance,” Ezekweslili described the state of governance to be monopolistic as a result of the inequalities that exist between the government and the governed.

According to her, “In governance, there is a demand side and there is a supply side, now the issue of governance in our society where the democratic process is being truncated, there was never a strong formation from the governed. So, the supply side of governance became very strong and dominated the entire space of the society. This is monopoly”

The former minister said that the Internet has come to disrupt the monopoly, as it will serve as a leveller and equaliser to solve the inequality that exists.

She said: “Internet will expose citizens to their rights, bring out their voices and let them know they have the power to demand accountability and transparency from the government. One problem is that Nigerians don’t think they’re entitled to transparency, they think it’s a favour. Government thinks that when they are transparent they’ve done the society a favour.”

The former minister however stated that equality of access to the internet remains a problem, stressing: “We have problem of digital inclusion, we have not achieved total inclusion. This remains a problem not on the basis of age, but on the basis of poverty

“Another problem is that Nigerians are so commercially oriented. All they are looking for is how to make money through ICT, but it doesn’t matter how much money you make if you are living in a poorly governed society, you are poor.”

Also speaking at the event, the Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Kumar Danbatta, who was represented by Hassan Haro, revealed that there are more Internet users than registered voters in Nigeria, noting that this calls for a need to harness the benefit of the internet for good governance.

“The Internet can be used to reach and interact with the government, one major advantage is the speed at which information can be disseminated. This can give the citizens the real idea of when, where, and what the government is doing at all times,” he said.