Enugu State’s website (www.enugustate.gov.ng) was at the weekend, awarded with the Best State Government Website in Nigeria Award by Records and Information Management Awareness (RIMA) Foundation.
The State received the award at the Institute of Information Management’s (IIM-Africa) annual lecture and induction ceremony held at the University of Lagos recently, after garnering a total of 85 points to beat closest- Kaduna and Nassarawa States.
Pioneered in 2005 by the Records and Information Management Awareness (RIMA) Foundation, the RIMA Awards has been recognised for excellence in the records and information management industry in Africa.
While presenting the certificate to the state, President and Chairman Board of Directors/Governing Council at IIM – Africa, Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, said that upon assessment, Enugu has leveraged the website to create a friendly, government-citizens interactive forum and has impacted the way government address societal challenges. He said that out of the thirty-six states in the country, two states lacked online presence in terms of functional website; whereas many others lacked contents and unresponsive in their approach.
He said Enugu State has distinguished itself through a responsive, flexible and easy to navigate website with ‘live chat’ platform for citizens to engage the Government/Governor directly. According to Oyewole, “Content was primarily the yardstick the Award Committee used to assess the State. Unfortunately, two States don’t even have website, whereas some either for non-renewal of the domain name registration or hosting subscription or they have ran out ideas on content generation, such websites are dormant or shutdown. But in the top State three Enugu, Kaduna and Nassarawa you could feel a sense of responsibility on the way those States interact with the citizens.”
The Award recognises organisations and individuals for demonstrating vision and business skills through implementation of highly successful projects that utilize leading-edge business technologies, and exemplary professional practice in the field.
Receiving the award on behalf of the State Government, Hon. Emeka Ani, of the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information Communication Technology (ICT), said “It is an amazing development and we are glad about it. We have one of the best responsive websites among Government cadre in the country.
He said that the responses from interaction with the Citizens of the state, have assisted in policy decisions and addressing of societal challenges in the state. “As we harness views, complaints or recommendations, we transmit same to relevant agencies for prompt actions. We have been receiving a lot of comments from the citizens. According to him, ongoing and completed projects are showcased as proof that nothing is hidden from the people. Apart from the visitors being able to subscribe to the newsletter, we have also created opportunity for them to have a snippet into the investment opportunities in the state. Therefore, we make bold to say that the website is all encompassing, and RIMA award has attested to these facts, Ani said.
COPIED FROM THISDAYLIVE.COM
