The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, InfoGraphics Nigeria Limited and Partner, iX Consults, Mr. Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, has taken over the mantle from Dr Yele Okeremi as the new President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON). He becomes sixth President of ISPON, after the CEO of PFS Solutions, Dr. Yele Okeremi, the fifth President of ISPON, completed a one-term tenure of two years.
TECHlife gathered that the new ISPON emerged following the recently concluded Annual General Meeting (AGM). The members of the new executive committee for the two-year term include nine others, namely;
- Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu (FNCS) President
- Chuks Onyebuchi 1stVice President
- Bimbo Abioye 2ndVice President
- Lanre Adelanwa General Secretary
- Abiodun Falade Treasurer
- Peter Ogedengbe Chair, Membership Committee
- Wahab Sarumi Chair, Policy & Strategy Committee
- Danjuma Attah Chair, Education & Capacity Building Committee
- Bunmi Okunnowo Chair, Media & Publicity Committee
- Adekunle Ajiboye Chair, Diaspora Committee
- Yele Okeremi (FNCS) Immediate Past President
During his inaugural speech at the handover ceremony, Mba-Uzoukwu appreciated the founding members of ISPON for their vision to establish a body that would outlive them and add value to the society at large. He also expressed his appreciation to the present members for their votes and promised to build on the legacy that the immediate president left behind.
He commended Dr. Okeremi for his stewardship during his reign from 2018 to 2020 and promised to accomplish the task ahead of ISPON.
Mr. Mba-Uzoukwu stated that although the new executives are coming on board at a time the country and indeed the world are faced with Coronavirus pandemic, however, it is also an auspicious time to make transition to knowledge-based economy and software is at the forefront of such transition.
“The ‘new normal’ has become the in-thing today, but we seem to speak about it with uncertainty. Therefore, it is our responsibility, as part of the ecosystem, to create that ‘new normal’. Often times, we are marred in the negativity as consumeric nation; dependent on imports. It is our responsibility to write this history. The situation (COVID-19 pandemic) has presented us with historic opportunity to reset and reimagine what we can actually do and begin to tell that story in the manner that people can actually believe in the local software.
He called on Nigerians to support and encourage ISPON members and software developers in Nigeria by patronizing indigenous software, which he said, needed the encouragement of industry stakeholders and the government to grow big.
Earlier, in his handover note, Dr. Okeremi said that ISPON has continued to engage successive governments to implement policies and provide supports that will ensure the development of the Nigerian software industry. He admonished the new president to keep this going and ensure a clear and consensus voice to educate government and policy makers on the need to embrace ‘developed-in-Nigeria’ software.
He pointed out that the inclusion of the younger generation in the technology ecosystem is becoming an important aspect of ISPON activities.
We know that; these are the days of the younger people. I will encourage you and your team to pay attention on having programmes that will bring these young people into our fold.
He also highlighted a need for the new leadership of ISPON to work with relevant stakeholders.
ISPON is the industry professional body for indigenous software developers and practitioners in Nigeria. Established in 1999 with the aim of creating an enabling environment for local content developers, ISPON has been in the forefront of championing the advocacy for the application and utilisation of locally developed software in order to boost our economy, GDP and give Nigeria an alternative to oil as a revenue earner.
