The world we know is now a global village because of the invent
of Information Communication technology (ICT). One of the benefits of
ICT especially to institutions is that it enable them to store and
manage their data or information in a warehouse known as Database.
Database helps in retrieving various information stored at any time
irrespective of the number of years it has been stored. This makes an
institution to overcome the fear of loss when any disaster occur because
all its information will be easily retrieved from its database.
In Nigeria most of our intitutions don't have functional website
talkless of Database. This serves as a catalyst to forgery because
somebody can easily manipulate a document to serve his need in the name
of an institution especially when there is a case of fire outbreak or
any other form of disaster in the records unit of such institution and
since the institution won't be able to retrieve lost documents, they can
easily be manipulated.
For example, most of our tertiary institutions don't have a fuctional
database and you can imagine what will happen if there is fire outbreak
in their records unit. On Monday 24th September 2012, it was reported
that there was fire outbreak at the Exams and Records unit of Anambra
State University Uli and the building, files, materials, transcripts and
results stored inside the unit were all destroyed by fire and there is
no evidence that showed that the institution has a functional database.
This is so painful because it will negatively affect the current and
even the old students of the institution.
Regulatory agencies like the National Universities Commission and the
coporate affairs commision should make database a compusory requirement
for the accreditation and registration of institutions under their care
because any institution without a database is just like an empty drum.
We should be moving forward and not backwards.
Thanks.
