The Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, and the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta have received the Nigerian Institute of ICT Engineers’ (NIICTE) 2021 ‘Leadership Excellence’ and ‘Man of the Year’ awards respectively among other recipients of various awards.
Delivering his goodwill message at the Nigerian Institute of ICT Engineers (NIICTE), two-day virtual and physical sessions of the 2021 International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Institute of ICT Engineers (NIICTE) held on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, Pantami highlighted the achievements his Ministry has attained in line with the Federal Government agenda including the recent approval for the deployment of the fifth-generation (5G) technology in the country.
The Minister said that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology and Development Agency (NITDA), and other sister agencies under the MOC&CE have been able to attain the Right of Way (RoW) ‘at no cost’ to the telecoms network operators. He equally outlined other accomplishments to include the acquiescence of the Ministry as the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy in line with the realities of the modern global digital economy. The agencies under the Ministry, he stated, developed the National Policy for the adoption and deployment of the fifth-generation (5G) technology, leading to the recent approval of the policy by the country’s Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Pantami also disclosed that the MOC&CE has established Communication Centres across the six geopolitical zones, deepened the spirit of cooperation and partnership among the agencies under the Ministry, besides the creation of the Department of Digital Economy among others.
On his part, the Special Guest of Honour of the occasion and “Man of the Year” award recipient, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta said that with effective regulatory regime and various initiatives, his leadership has strengthened the role of telecommunications as a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and boosted telecoms investment inflows from an initial $36billion to over $70 since 2015, and active Mobile Telecoms Subscriptions, now estimated at 189million among others.
Danbatta disclosed that the development plan of the NCC is in line with the policy of the federal government to lift 100million Nigerians out of poverty within a ten-year period.
In order to achieve this objective, the EVC listed five-point agenda which includes Organisational renewal to achieve optimum efficiency; provision of broad-based infrastructures to drive the sector; improvement in the quality of services for the telecommunications sector; facilitating fair competition among players in the sector and promoting strategic cooperation and partnership among players in the sector.
Danbatta said the NCC is able to attain full-fledged development of digital economy; pursue and drag the target and the licensing of companies in the six geo-political zones of the country with each having at least 10 mega-based capacity following the successful implementation of the 5-point agenda.
The recent approval of the deployment of the 5G policy by the federal government and the significant signing if a Memorandum of Understanding between it and the Nigerian Communication Satellite, NICOMSAT, to free up between 3.4-3.9 megawatts in the country is among the core achievements of the Commission, the EVC said.
The NCC Boss assured that the Commission is ready for the deployment of 5G networks for the digital transformation of the Nigerian economy by January 2022.
Other dignitaries and award recipients at the virtual event included the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Chairman of the occasion, Engr. Augustine K. Nwauiune, HR Engr Otis Anyaeji, Prof. Mohammed Ajiya among others.