The Administrative Staff College of Nigeria has played a pioneering role in the propagation and spreading awareness of the e-governance concept since 2004, when the first in the series of e-governance seminars was organized. Since then, follow-up seminars were held for all States Heads of Service, Permanent Secretaries and their Directors of ICT culminating into the professionalization of the forum in 2008.
Consequently, the first professional forum was held in Kwara Hotel, Ilorin, from 7th – 9th December, 2010 with the theme “Consolidation and Take-off of the National Public Service Forum on ICT” with a firm resolve by all stakeholders that “efforts should be intensified towards establishing the National Council on ICT”, and that the Head of Civil Service of the Federation should invite all States Heads of Service to the next Forum.
Prospects of ICT as a means of Public Service Delivery in the Nigerian Public Service
Information and Communication Technologies no doubt offer great opportunities for Nigeria and indeed all developing countries vis-à-vis public service delivery, and citizen's satisfaction. This accounts for the link between ICT’s applications, optimization of government operations and achievement of important social development goals which is even a very convincing argument for the continued utilization of ICTs in the country's public service. This is why Gupta and Jana (2003), argued that the application of ICTs in government is no longer seen as an option but as a necessity for all countries aiming at having better and efficient governance. This shows that there is a strong linkage between ICTs application and efficient service delivery. In a study carried out in 2003, the European Commission observed that ICTs application enables the public sector to maintain and strengthen good governance in the knowledge society, create a public sector that is open and transparent, governments that are understandable and accountable to the citizens and open to democratic involvement and scrutiny. It also
ensures that the public sector is at the service of all, promotes a productive public sector that delivers maximum value for tax payers' money, less time is wasted standing in queues, errors are drastically reduced, more ties are available for professional face- to-face service and the jobs of the civil servants becomes rewarding in the process (Nweke, 2007a; 2007b).