The Nigerian Communication Commission,(NCC) has said it would unveil a strategic plan for the commission and the telecommunications industry by the end of January 2024.
The Executive Vice Chairman,(EVC) Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed this on Wednesday the executives of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters’ Association, (NITRA) Abuja Chapter, paid him a courtesy visit at the commission’s headquarters.
Maida said,” In terms of the direction we are taking, I want to thank Mr. President and Minister for considering me to fill these big shoes. I think the strategy put forward by the minister was very clear in terms of policy direction and we have to try to achieve it.
“ We also need to make sure we are telling the story in a very fair and simplicity, whether to the man on the street or internationally, I see you being very critical in telling that story.
“Be assured that our guiding principle is the Renewed Hope Agenda and the Strategic Roadmap set out by the Minister and of course, there are some aspects that are specific to us that we will add into that.
“At the end of January we will be releasing our Strategic Plan for the NCC and by and large for the industry in line with the RHA,” he disclosed.
He urged the media to enlighten Nigerians on the activities of the commission.
“… but there are also areas we have started work. We need your support to help enlighten the people to know what we are doing and talking about. The number of broadband penetration targets set by the minister to achieve is very clear but what people do not realize is that is thing is a complicated, interrelated system of components that have to come together in harmony for us to move forward.
“I think, how we tell that story is very important and also it is going to require a bit of patience for people to trust us. , we need to tell stories that give people hope so that we can get that space to implement but it is not going to be an easy job.
“Again, vandalism and disruptions are another area of concern because they are avoidable. The stakeholders understand. We know people responsible might not be intentional because they do not see the larger picture of shutting down a base station. Those are the kind of stories I would like NITRA to bring up,” he said.
On the Right of Way( RoW) the NCC boss said, “the issue on the RoW, my own Governor gave me free of charge to kick start my job. Some states do not see the big picture, that there are more values when you charge less compared to when you charge much. But we need to get people to understand the potential values attached. We need to change the narrative about the RoW, moving away from saying is about the charge to opening up and allowing infrastructure to be there and see what can happen, like in Edo, Kaduna, etc,”.
Commenting on the Subscribers Identification Modules linkage to the National Identity Number Policy he said,” we are trying to push forward the work started by our predecessors to link NIN to SIM. Although, we are being pragmatic in dealing with the challenges but it is a job that must be completed because the benefits far outweigh the pains.
“Today, if we have a way to tie everybody to an identity, there are other sectors that have similar identities like banks, FIRS, FRSC bringing it all together to NIN gives us a foundation whereby a lot of digital services can be built and there is security aspect as well because we know our challenges. I think we need to focus on the fact that we need to do this as a nation, we are not doing it to cause pain, we are doing it so that the economy can grow, there is so much in our plan,” he said.
The trio, NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Engagement, Barr Adeleke Adewolu, The Commissioner, Consumer Affairs, Engr Ubale Maska, and the Director of Public Affairs, Dr Reuben Muoka, applauded the media’s contribution to the growth and development of the telecoms industry.
In his address, the NITRA President Mr. Blessing Olaifa, said “with your appointment, we have the confidence that you have the capacity and competence to drive this institution to greater heights.
“ The telecom institution is growing very fast, not only in Nigeria but across the globe. In terms of contribution to GDP growth, the telecoms and ICT in general played a leading role in the last three years. And we have played our role over these years.
“We believe you will build on what your predecessor achieved not just in telecom but in the media,” he said.
