Minister of Communications, Barrister Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu was a member of the Oyo State House of Assembly in the Second Republic (October 1979 to September 1983). He was the Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Home Affairs under the Dr. Omololu Olunloyo administration (October – December, 1983) and became the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Oyo State in the Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja government in 2003. He was a member of the National Political Reforms Conference put together by the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo-led Federal Government in 2005.
Shittu schooled at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where he read law and is celebrated as one of those who authored the policy direction of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN in the Second Republic.
Shittu, author of 13 books has also been a steadfast political loyalist of President Muhammadu Buhari. He spoke on how he will use telecommunications to move Nigeria forward in an interview. Excerpts:
By Bashir Adefaka
THE Ministry of Communications has a past. You are now in its present. How are you going to manage the present with a view to shaping a better future for the nation’s telecommunications sector?
The robust interactions between past operators in the sector and me were with a view to building on the invaluable contributions they had made to the industry. So, I can assure you that this is one industry where you necessarily cannot but have a foundation.
All those who contributed immensely in the past are being patronised to ensure that I learn from them and continue to seek their collaboration. It is not a matter of politics now. It is a matter of technology and technology has no respect for politics because knowledge is a universal thing and technology is also universal. So, I am not ignoring the past in shaping the present and the future.
Adebayo-Shittu
One of your predecessors, General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, deregulated the telecommunications sector. Are you in touch with him?
I have not been in contact with General Tajudeen Olanrewaju. If I have the opportunity of meeting him, I would appreciate it. But what I am saying is that, there is an immediate linkage between me and people like General Olanrewaju. For instance, you cannot underestimate the contributions that people like Ndukwe have made. When I met him at a recent forum I called him the grand father of Nigerian Telecommunications as it is today.
National development
These are the foundations that we are working on and, to that extent, I am one person who appreciates the contributions that people made to national development. By the grace of God I will be in good position to build on what they had laid down.
Where does the Communication Ministry under your stewardship stand in the continuing plans to diversify the economy?
In the past, oil was contributing about 90 per cent of our economy. Unfortunately, price of oil started plummeting at the international market. At the end of it we thought that agriculture would be able to fill the gap. The gestation period for investments in agriculture takes time but the telecommunications, for instance, generally will be the cash-cow if we can encourage a greater participation in it.
Therefore, my office as Minister of Communications provides me with the opportunity that one has to work on, capitalise on and develop so that we would get all the results that we need to further develop Nigeria.
In terms of affordable internet access, how far can we go?
It is still evolving and it is still developing. It is for us to convince ourselves to make things simple. A lot of people even in government in the past never appreciated the extent that telecommunications could grow a national economy and impact on general development. But, like many stakeholders have said, if Nigeria must develop, we must take technology and ICT growth more seriously than we had in the past. I am passionate about it and committed to it. I am access
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