The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the information and digital economy age which if properly enhanced and exploited can serve as a major revenue earner for the country in the post-oil era.
This was revealed by the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC)/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta at the 2020 Hybrid (Online/Onsite) Annual Directors Conference organised by the Institute Of Directors with the theme: “Ethical leadership as an instrument for national sustainability in the post-oil Nigerian economy. A public sector perspective”
Danbatta said this is because while natural resources such as oil, gas, etc are finite, data and information are infinite. Furthermore, the possibilities provided by the 4IR are limitless and can generate employment for Nigeria’s teeming youth population, therefore, in order to achieve economic growth using the 4IR there is the need for ethical leadership.
“The Federal Government (FG) has made several attempts at economic diversification by setting up manufacturing and other industries such as the Ajaokuta steel rolling mills, tyre, textiles, fertilizer manufacturing companies etc. but all these attempts had little impact as majority of them have folded up, whilst others are finding it difficult to survive. The situation has been compounded by the economic recession experienced recently and the global Covid-19 pandemic which broke out in Wuhan, China in December, 2019, adversely affected the global economy and Nigeria is not exempted, Danbatta said.
He further reiterated that over the years, countries and societies have evolved by finding new ways of doing things to ensure economic sustainability. This led to the first, second and third industrial revolutions.
The EVC further said, “Currently countries are exploiting the fourth industrial revolution in order to diversify their economies. The fourth industrial revolution, which has also been referred to as 4IR or Industry 4.0, describes the age of intelligence and encompasses technologies like high-speed mobile Internet, Artificial Intelligence, automation, the use of big data analytics and cloud computing.
He however said that the major constraint in Nigeria facing the 4IR is the inadequacy of digital skills, infrastructure deficit, enabling environment and inadequate infrastructure.
“Ethical leadership is essential for sustainable development of a Country. Nurturing an ethical leader is essential and this will determine the transformation and overall development of the Country. Nigeria stands at the threshold of history and would definitely need ethical leaders to ensure sustainability in the post-oil era as government takes positive steps to diversify the economy, he concluded.
