Following the presentation of the report of the Committee on review and updating of the National Telecommunications Policy of 2000, last weekend, Nigeria would soon get National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy.

Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Olubusola Johnson, made this disclosure at the Nigerian Telecomms Awards, hosted by Logica Media Group in Lagos at the weekend in commoration fo the 10 years of telecommunications in the country.

She said the review report was presented to her last week Friday in Abuja and would soon be fianlised to give new meaning to a National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy for the country after harmonisation with existing National Information Technology policy.

"Yesterday, (Friday) I received the report of the committee that the former Minister of Information and Communication had established to review and update the National Telecommunications Policy of 2000," she said.

According to her, the review was expected to take into consideration the progress Nigeria as a nation has made and redefine the policy environment that is now needed to really take Nigeria to the desired technology age.

Her Ministry, Mrs. Johnson said, would collaborate with a few national and international experts to quickly finalise work on this draft policy by harmonising where relevant it with the existing National Information Technology (IT) Policy to deliver a National ICT Policy for Nigeria.

Key to this policy, she said, is in recognistion of the fact that the convergence of Information and Communication Technologies will become policy direction and strategies of the fedeeral government, mostly on how to rollout sustainable backbone and broadband infrastructure as well as last mile infrastructure while optimising the utilisation of scarce frequency resources.

Nigeria, she noted, already has a well developed and robust ICT for Developmetn Strategic Plan, stressing that articulations in the plan are clear strategies on how ICT could be deployed to address challenges and more importantly opportunities in the health, agriculture, education, human resource development, egovernment sectors amongst others.

"In all of these strategies, there are clear opportunities for job and wealth creation particularly for our youthful population who are very comfortable with these technologies," she said.

Equally, she foresee that software developers, network engineers and technicians, computer scientists, computer technicians, commercial call centre operators, business process outsourcing, digital content creators, manufacture and assembly of digital devices would form part of the list of real and sustainable jobs that could be created in the ICT industry.

"... The list is seemingly endless without including the collateral jobs that will be created in other sectors as a result of innovative solutions deployed over a robust ICT infrastructure," Mrs. Johnson noted.