Recently, the word “paperless” filled the air and social media in Edo State. The popularization of that word, or some say notoriety, was not due to the achievements of the Obaseki government in massive ICT deployment. The government had got accolades locally and internationally for its performance in the massive deployment of broadband across the state. More than 2,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables have been laid across the state, as at the last count. With most state government offices, MDAs and local government offices networked and having broadband access, followed by massive capability development for civil and public servants, Edo leads in computerization, in lay man’s language, in Nigeria.
Edo State ranks first among the 36 states of Nigeria in the computerization of governance processes. The State Governor also won the ICT Gold Medal Award at the National Information Technology Merit Awards for 2023. This is an achievement of which every Edo citizen should be very proud indeed. But this is political campaigns period and partisan contestation is afoot. It is therefore understandable if the main opposition party wants to downplay the ruling party’s achievement. But what we saw in a press conference, by the APC’s Acting Chairman, no less, attributing ill motive to this peerless revolution in government processes was not merely taking obfuscation to heights unknown, it was a frightening display of a lack of rudimentary understanding of computerization, the internet and what immense benefits these can bring to the state and organisations.
Therefore, I intend to help drive their understanding of what the paperless process entails by going from a very low level. I am not unaware that though you can drive the horse to the river, you may be unable to force it to drink. The opposition party, I must admit, has lots of brilliant people to whom the subject is a no brainer. To them I doff my hat. There appears, however, as displayed at that presser, that a crop of folks in leadership of the party at the present time may not know what paperless processes mean and the benefits derivable therefrom. That is the only conclusion you can draw after watching that press conference whose video has since gone viral.
I am sure the speaker at that press conference knows a calculator. It helps to add, subtract, multiply and divide figures and can also help with speedy computation of complicated processes. Then the typewriter helped to type letters in fonts that are much easier to read than the various handwritings from different people. It types faster than man can write. Now combine the calculator with the typewriter and a massive storage to keep what is written or calculated and you have a computer. It can also follow laid-down logic in following processes. This is simple enough, I hope.
Then get a way to let computers talk to one another and share documents and you get networks that used to be connected using cables. When radio communications was added on to allow a worldwide connection of computers across the world, we then got the internet or the worldwide web (WWW). This can enable a document prepared in a computer in Iyamho to be sent to a computer located in Osadebe Avenue in Benin City or another in Vladivostok in Russia and it gets there in seconds. Approval can be given to a transaction raised in Somorika by the Governor attending a meeting in Washington. Indeed, that is what enables Asue Ighodalo to be in Ewohimi and “attend” an interview with Eranomigho in Dallas, Texas at the same time. It is not witchcraft!
The government bureaucracy used to run in Edo State and everywhere else, and even now, in most states, by moving handwritten paper documents from office to office and desk to desk. These documents were kept in massive cabinets called bureaux and that’s where the term bureaucracy came from. The problem with this system was that it was paper-based and papers get piled up from year to year requiring massive archives. Documents were difficult to retrieve and required the employment of messengers who became determinants of the speed of the bureaucracy. Papers are subject to fire hazards and fraudulent officials who wanted to cover their tracks could hide the paper files, burn them, and sometimes, where they cannot gain access to retrieve the documents, burn down the entire building. The evidence goes up in flames and many an investigation had hit a cul de sac for this reason!
A governor, or commissioner who needs to treat so many files would have to carry them home with him physically or to wherever he is going. As this is not convenient, he simply leaves them till he returns, slowing the bureaucracy down. This use of papers for most transactions is one aspect of bureaucracy that any government or business organization must address if a high speed of transactions is to be achieved. Traceability of document trail and handling becomes easy and retrieval becomes faster with the click of a button. Cloud (not the cloud that causes rains) storage makes stored documents available even if you burn the computers down.
There is another aspect that has to do with preservation of our forests and future sustainability of our environment. Paper is made from wood and wood comes from trees. Simply, the more papers you use, the more trees you fell. By using less paper, you are preserving our forests and their biodiversity for future generations. You are also saving money which you would have spent on paper procurement. You also protect the environment by saving it from the ozone layer depletion which results from burning waste paper. You make your records inaccessible for arsonists to burn in order to cover their crimes. It makes it easier for you to do business with foreign partners who demand best practices as a pre-requisite for collaboration.
If the reason for accusing Governor Obaseki of ill motive, even criminal intent, in this revolutionary achievement is not due to lack of knowledge, then could it have been motivated by anger over blocked avenues for malfeasance? I hate to think so. I think that press conference rather publicised our governor’s massive achievement in automation of governance processes which was known to perhaps a few people. It is this revolution that has since been taken to the school system via EdoBEST. Those who think the red roof they can see is a huge performance are not wrong. But they need to be helped to understand that those roofs would be useless if the process of education remains wholly analogue the way it was in Mungo Park’s time.
Let me add that that infamous missing wristwatch would have been easy to track and found had it been linked to a computer-based paperless system. Even if you erase data and information from computers these days, the erased work can still be ‘seen’ by the EFCC using advanced forensics. So, a Governor that wants his tracks covered would never support these paperless processes. He would rather kill it. Like someone attempted to do with that embarrassing press conference. I am sure Governor Obaseki simply laughed, as most people, including yours sincerely, after watching that embarrassing press conference video.
*Isikhuemen can be reached via [email protected]
