By Angeline Mgbele, Correspondent Abuja

Independent telecommunications regulatory authority, the Nigerian Communications Commission in keeping with its efforts to support Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage to enhance operational efficiency in governance, is becoming more tenacious on the war against electronic financial frauds by donating ICT equipment to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). The NFIU is the central national agency responsible for the receipt of disclosures from reporting organisations, the analysis of these disclosures and the production of intelligence for dissemination to competent authorities.

The state-of-the-art ICT tools comprising 40 units of HP EliteOne All-in-One desktop G5 with Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD and 10 units of HP EliteBook 830G6 laptops with Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM and 500GB SSD were handed over to the Agency by the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, at the NFIU head office in Abuja, north central Nigeria.

Presenting the ICT tools to the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NFIU, Tukur Modibbo on behalf of Danbatta, NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, said the donation was as a result of the good working relationship between NCC and NFIU and in recognition of the need to support the efforts of the financial intelligence agency in executing its mandate of safeguarding the Nigerian financial system in line with the agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

“We bring you goodwill from the board and management of the NCC led by Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta as the Executive Vice Chairman. It is in the spirit of strategic collaboration and partnership promoted by Prof. Danbatta, that this gesture is being made so as to enable your agency improve its operational efficiency using ICT tools and solutions,” Adinde said.

The DPA of NCC noted that though many organisations were lagging behind in mainstreaming ICT into their operations as today’s modern economy demands, NCC had taken the decision to support NFIU in this regard, considering that NFIU was a young and strategic institution that occupied a central position in the affairs of government.

Said Adinde: “NFIU’s role is strategic to the agenda of the current administration and therefore, we consider that this support will go a long way in helping you achieve your mandate. It is against this background that the NCC found it necessary to provide these ICT devices.

“The donation of these work tools underscore the fact that the commission values the work you are doing and believes that it is very critical to the activities of government. It is our expectation and hope that these devices will boost the morale and productivity of the staff of the organisation,” he added.

Responding, Moddibo appreciated the Commission’s gesture, promising that the devices would be put to the best use to enhance the delivery of its mandate.

“We already have an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NCC and we are happy that our collaboration is yielding positive results. On behalf of the board and management of NFIU, which I lead, I express our sincere appreciation to NCC for fortifying us with these devices,” he said, adding that its organisation was ready to support the digital economy of the government.

A visibly elated Moddibo, noted that the donation of the new devices was timely as they would be immediately deployed to deepen and speed up the development of critical digital skills required by the agency to improve the core competence of its workforce. It will be recalled that it is almost a year the Nigerian Communications Commission proactively inaugurated a 26-man Committee to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on how relevant public and private organisations could collaborate to combat electronic frauds perpetrated through telecommunications platforms,