ICT AND HUMAN RESOURCE PRODUCTIVITY

The last twenty years has seen a dramatic growth in information and communication technology in Nigeria. Sprouting ICT service private companies, growing import of computers, introduction to the Internet, recognition of government of the fundamental roles of information and communications technology there by proposing a national information and communication development plan and the national information policy, the ongoing phased liberalization of telecommunications and the energy sector, establishment of computer science unit and information science school are some of the promising activities. Despite these developments, the impact of information and communication technologies on the productivity of the human resources in Nigerians remains minimum. The technology has not yet diffused to the social fiber of the society [According to an excellent account by Manuel Castells, the impact of information and communication technology and development in information society cannot be achieved by rotheric statements. It is important to create enabling environment for the information and communication technologies to diffuse into the social fiber of the society. The "industrial society, by educating citizens and by gradually organizing the economy around knowledge and information, prepared the ground for the empowering of the human mind when new information technology become available." Woefully, developing nations continued to grapple with low productivity, poverty, population explosion, etc. The irony is that least developing nations such as Nigeria are those that acutely need the organization of their people around knowledge and information to break away from debt, destabilization, drought, desertification, demographic problems and dependency]. A number of obstacles are still on the road in making information technology useful to the society. I BELIEVE that the information and communication sector could be fostered to achieve economic gains especially in the area of human resource productivity. Emphasizing the growth of information and communication technology would not only lead to a new robust industry of its own but also is a basis for improving productivity and output of the average Nigerian..