The Federal Government is planning to build a specialised university that will address the existing knowledge gap in its Information and Communication Technology sector.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Adebayo Shittu, disclosed this to reporters on Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Mr Shittu explained that if established, the institution would reduce the number of foreigners who currently manage critical parts of the nation’s ICT sector.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications, Sonny Echono, was also hopeful that the specialised institution would enable Nigerians to take full charge of the sector.

On his part, the immediate past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Professor Julius Okonji, said the university would help Nigeria improve in the area of research and development.

The ICT University if established will be first of its kind in Nigeria and Africa as there is currently no university on the continent that is fully dedicated to ICT.

There are however ICT institutions in other parts of the world such as the University of Information Technology in India, I.T. University of Gutenberg in Sweden, and the Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications in China.

Some experts have described the ICT sector as the fastest growing sector of Nigeria’s economy.

While the sector has continued to grow since the privatisation exercise, the Ministry of Communications decries the knowledge gap that continues to widen in the sector.