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Looking at Professor Isa Ali Pantami's eloquent presentation in English with his Hausa accent at the second edition of the Global AI Summit which kicked off on Tuesday morning in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, one will without doubt agree that he knows the nitty gritty of what he talks about. Not only that, he is a man that walks the talk and has demonstrated this trait since his assumption of office as Nigeria's Minister of Communications and Digital Economy in 2019.
At Muslim News Nigeria, we do not praise-sing but when a son is good, we have no other option than to accept he is good. Our Sheikh, fellow Muslim brother, and the 2020 Nigerian Muslim Personality of the Year, Prof. Pantami is indeed a blessing to Nigeria. Even his critics who wanted him out during their campaign of calumny would unarguably admit that his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari certainly was a round peg in a round hole, going by his outstanding successes in his quest towards a digitalised Nigeria.
At this critical time when Nigeria is being confronted with many challenges, this renowned Muslim scholar is among the few Nigerians who has put the country on the global map through his ICT initiatives, which has contributed more for the country's GDP than oil. Little wonder he was appointed the first and the only African fellow admitted into the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec), among 89 other fellows from different parts of the world.
The same reason he was among the 200 speakers from 96 countries that spoke at the Summit, where he discussed Artificial Intelligence for the good of humanity, alongside Minister of Digital Economy of Jordan, His Excellency, Ahmad Hanandeh; Minister of Digital Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Djibouti Her Excellency, Mariam Hamadou Ali, and Head of National Transformation Institute Rudolp Lohmeyer from the United States of America.
As the Global AI Summit, organised by Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) is rounding off today, Thursday, the brilliance showcased by the 'Digital Sheikh' as fondly called by his admirers will linger on for a while. We're indeed thankful to President Buhari for giving this handsome Sheikh from Gombe State to serve his fatherland through the Ministry, and more importantly, for looking away when there was a coordinated campaign and media gang-up for his removal in 2021 over unsubstantiated allegations and debilitating propaganda.