FG pledges support for tech in education, warns against quackery

The Federal Government has restated its commitment to the development and deployment of information technology to advance education in Nigeria.

Minister of Education Dr. Olatunji Alausa gave this assurance at the 2025 Information Technology Professional Assembly held at the NAF conference centre, Abuja, saying the government was aware of the importance of IT in the 21st century and its potential for widening access to education at all levels on Wednesday.

The annual IT Professionals’ Assembly, organised by the Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria), brought together industry players, government officials, policy makers, lawmakers, academia, civil society and all strategic stakeholders to deliberate on IT-based issues.

The minister noted that information technology is a critical sector and the flagship of other professions, adding that at the government circle, it is a profession that is taken seriously in the course of the nation’s aspiration for sustainable development.

Alausa, whose speech was read at the event by a Deputy Director of Science Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Olie Frank, however, expressed concerns about quackery in the IT profession while urging CPN to strictly enforce its regulations by ensuring that all individuals and corporate organisations that are into information technology practice register with the Council to allow for effective regulation of computer education and practice in Nigeria.

“The Federal Ministry of Education is conscious of your efforts at enforcing the Act that established CPN by making it mandatory for all individuals and corporate organisations that are practising information technology in Nigeria to be duly registered with CPN.

“The global practice is for professionals to regulate their profession properly in order to exterminate quacks and undesirable elements from making incursions into the profession,” he said.

Earlier, President and Chairman of the Council of CPN, Kole Jagun, noted that the yearly IT Professionals’ Assembly has created a niche for itself as a gathering of information technology professionals and practitioners in Nigeria and the diaspora to discuss and strategise on emergent issues in IT in order to come out with recommendations and decisions that would impart positively on the industry and the nation.

He added that this year’s event, which is the 19th in a series of Information Technology Professionals’ Assemblies, would focus on issues aimed at safeguarding Nigeria’s cyberspace from cyber threats, online fraud, fake news, and hate speech, while fostering international alliances and promoting local technology development.

“This gathering is more than just a meeting; it is an opportunity to connect, collaborate, and inspire one another. The rapid evolution of technology demands that we stay ahead through continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and professional networking,” he state.