The Ecology of National Information Policy in Nigeria

Abstract

The ecology of information technology policy in Nigeria is about the operating environmental reality of National Information Technology Policy in Nigeria. This has remained a turbulent one, mainly due to initial inexistence of coordinated Information Technology Policy in Nigeria, and later, a worrisome transition to a regime of multiple uncordinated and piece-meal regime of various IT policies. More often than not, these various IT policies are distorted with political regime change. Information is vital to national development as its use has grown from being an intangible resources for social development to a strategic tool in most instances; the need for a well mapped out regime is vital. Following critical content review of secondary data, this paper investigated the ecology of information technology policy in Nigeria. It found that while there was an initial vacuum in information policy regime in Nigeria, the country has grown to having critical hiccups in information policy articulation. First there are pockets of unsynchronized information policies being floated by different political dispensations as well as ministries of government. These different information policies are not coalesced into a single policy document applying to different aspects of information needs and use. More so, information professionals are short of commitment in terms of floating a formidable and unified thinktank group in the area of information policy administration. The paper concluded that information technology policy is vital for proper harnessing of information resources in Nigeria, and therefore recommends the standardization of information policy beyond the political regime distortions in Nigeria, while at the same time calling on information professionals to step to the center stage in sharpening the administration of information (technology) policy in Nigeria.