New Awards to NCC, Danbatta Underscore Significance of Telecom Contribution to GDP
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has put two awards in its kitty, as it receives “The Regulator Of The Year Award for 2021” with it’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO), Prof. Umar Danbatta receiving the “Public Official Of The Decade Award”.
A signed statement by the Director, Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde indicates that the combined awards was issued on the heels of a public lecture Organised by Nigerian NewsDirect, a multimedia firm with the theme; Public Sector Financing: The Oil Revenue, Challenges, Solutions and Prospects, eloquently expressed the significance of telecom sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s economy.
According to Adinde, the lecture which was delivered by the Ogun State Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser to the Governor, Dapo Okubadejo reflects essentially on the increasing challenges of the nation’s dependence on oil revenues for public sector financing.
He noted that the paper offers solutions to better public sector financing from the context refocusing on the opportunities and prospects inherent in the oil sector but particularly in other sectors.
He said By sheer coincidence, or conscious contextual social intervention, the topic of the Lecture and its treatment were not just poignant reflections of the state of the economy, they were fluent and persuasive of the role of NCC in midwifing and enabling the utilisation of telecoms and ICTs applications for economic recovery and growth. A fact that gives concrete expression to the imperative of diversification of the nation’s economy from oil, which is being vigorously pursued by the Federal Government and which NCC is a key sectoral driver.
NCC’s Director Public Affairs,Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde who received the awards on behalf of the Commission and the EVC, conveyed NCC’s gratitude for the award saying the Commission will not rest on its oars but rededicate itself towards demonstrating its worthiness of the public trust and confidence reposed in it as an agency central to rediversification of the nation’s economy.
“These garlands, swelling the repository of awards to NCC would not surprise discerning watchers of national events. In November 2021, the Commission conducted a historic auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum, in preparation for the deployment of 5G services to be activated this year. It was not the first time NCC will conduct an auction but it was the first time it had completed an auction with the final bid ending at a price more than 30 percent higher than initial bid offer. The auction, which started with initial offer of $197.4 million, close after 11 rounds at $273.6 million. Two companies, Mafab Communications and MTN Nigeria Plc, won the bid”. He noted
Besides it routine activities, just a forthnight ago, the EVC delivered the Convocation Lecture of the Fountain University, at Osogbo, where he emphasised the imperative of youth’s embrace and exploration of the opportunities the ICT revolution has offered them to contribute to the nations growth and development.
Similarly, just a day after the Convocation Lecture, a digital training centre, facilitated by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), an arm of NCC, was commissioned at Ijesa Muslim Grammar School, Ilesha, Osun State.
The foregoing shows that the Commission is unwavering in its commitment to expanding the nation’s frontiers of growth and development within the context of its mandate.
GDP in 2020, which was central and pivotal in taking the nation out of recession.
