President Bola Tinubu on Sunday told Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, how he leveraged technology to dramatically boost revenues as Lagos State governor from N600m to over N8bn.
Tinubu stated this while outlining his plans to deploy technology to combat corruption in Nigeria.
He spoke during a meeting Gates at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he declared technology as the major weapon against corruption and revealed Nigeria’s plans to invest heavily in cutting-edge technology to root out graft and streamline government operations.
“Technology is the enemy of fraud, corruption, and irregularity. We have been working hard on improving technology.
“There is always the initial resistance. Corruption, self-interest, and fraudulent activity will always be an enemy, but when you bend that curve, you will receive the benefit. The nation will receive the benefit,” the president said.
In his comment, Gates apprised Tinubu of a unified digital identity platform integrating diverse data to enhance planning, security and tax efficiency.
“We are working with Mr. Wale Edun, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, on digitization. Before you came into office, there were a few things attempted in identity management. But they have been very scattered. There have been multiple identification systems.
“Now, there is a plan to take that technology called MOSIP and use it for this identification platform so that people can get digital benefits. We are providing support for that, and we can provide more support.
“With MOSIP ID, there is potential application in all government payment programmes. It helps with payment efficiency and bank accounts, and eventually, when everyone is using that, it makes tax collection easier. That benefit will take a few years. However, there will be more bank accounts, more financial inclusion, and effective government payment programmes,” said Microsoft co-founder.
The billionaire philanthropist expressed confidence in Nigeria’s vibrant youth population to drive the digital transformation, citing the talents at Microsoft’s Lagos office.
“The last time I went to the Microsoft office in Lagos, I saw the amazing work that they were doing and how they were growing their operations. So, you have a lot of Nigerian talents to manage these systems,” he said.
Gates further told Tinubu about some high-yield seeds and a variety of crops with the potential for improved productivity and nutrition in all regions of the country.
He said countries like the United States and Brazil have been using these seeds and that they have been tested and certified as safe.
“There is no safety issue with these seeds. Supporting the Minister of Agriculture’s effort in this regard is something that we feel is important and worth supporting,” Mr. Gates added.
Responding, Tinubu said: “We will look at this and work on it further. I am proud of Nigeria’s youths. They are very excited and creative with technology. They encourage us as we continue to press our reform efforts forward for their future prosperity. This is Nigeria’s time to become what it ought to be.”
