By Clifford Agugoesi, Editor-in-Chief
The Igbo has a proverb that if the herbalist does not get proactive and superactive, termites might ravage his/her herb-sack. A good herbalist, therefore, does not have to leave anything and everything to chance. Otherwise, he/she would have himself/herself and not the termites to blame for not being proactive and superactive. Analogously, a university professor, a teacher who lectures students that would succeed him/her, is like a typical herbalist or should emulate the herbalist if he/she is to remain on top of his/her game.
In his Editor’s Note in The Communicator(January-March 2016), the in-house journal of the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) then Head of Public Relations and now current Director of Public Affairs(DPA) at NCC, Reuben Muoka wrote about his Editor-in-Chief and the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer(EVC/CEO) at NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, who was just a few months on the saddle. Muoka’s headline was : Danbatta: A Professor Truly On Duty.
“In just a matter of months, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) has demonstrated in unmistakable terms that he is the right man for the job. On his first day in office last year, he anchored his strategy on the tripod of service Accessibility, Availability and Affordability which are the hallmarks that define Universal Access as promoted by the International Telecommunications Union(ITU),” began Muoka.
He continued: “In tandem with the Change mantra of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, he has weaved his vision for Nigeria telecom into an eight-point agenda which are measurable milestones that would guide his trajectory in service as the face of Nigeria’s telecoms regulator. At the core of this strategic vision is the pervasive deployment of broadband to ultimately address the critical issue of quality of service and position telecoms as the pivot for national socio-economic re-engineering through job creation and as an enabler of other aspects of human development.
“Professor Danbatta’s Strategic Vision sits well with the Connect 2020 initiative of the ITU which is a global framework for action, to foster sustainable change in the ICT sector by year 2020. It is hinged on three key goals that are part of the proposed 2016-2019 ITU Strategic Plan.
“The fundamental goal of Connect 2020 is to foster ‘an information society empowered by the interconnected world, where telecommunication/ICTs enable and accelerate social, economic and environmentally sustainable growth and development for everyone.’ This is premised on three complementary goals namely: Growth, Inclusiveness and Sustainability-and related targets all of which are to be achieved by 2020.
“This is what drives the Strategic Vision 2015-2020 of the EVC and every indicator on the dashboard suggests there is great hope for the nation’s telecom’s sector….”
Hello! In a stakeholder engagement, at the instance of the Commission, held virtually, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Muoka’s immediate predecessor, Dr . Ikechukwu Adinde stated matter of factly: “The Media have been critical from the beginning of NCC’s journey as a regulator of telecommunications. They have been relevant in our continuous evolution and redefinition as a telecom regulatory institution.”
In short, the Media have been more or less as partners of the agency from the outset. So for Danbatta, it was and still is only a matter of onwarding with an invaluable tradition laid down and diligently upheld by successive leaderships at the Commission. Danbatta made it a point of duty upon his mounting the saddle, to have regular interface with the media to update them on the programmes and activities of the Commission and leveraged such opportunities to field questions from them. For some inexplicable reasons, however, the interfaces were halted for years but rekindled on Wednesday at The Colossus, Ikeja, Lagos, south west, Nigeria.
The chief telecom regulator’s presentation coursed through introduction, situation analysis on the industry, the strategic vision plan -SVP(1 and 2) scorecard of SVP 1, the 5-pillars of SVP 2, milestones of SVP 2, industry stats at a glance, challenges and conclusion.
I have to confess my attraction, in the main, to the second and 27th slides in his 30-slide delivery. I will explain why. The first slide, which happens to be Danbatta’s introduction, reads : “The media remain a strategic partner of the Commission. As a central stakeholder, the media have been very supportive in the areas of timely, adequate and accurate reporting of the telecoms industry to Commission’s various stakeholders.”
I am sure, I was not the only journalist at the interactive session that felt elated that at least, someone who should know and actually knows the criticality of the media in his Commission’s scheme of things again, had taken some time inspite of his busy schedules, to reaffirm confidence in the job that media people do especially in catalyzing the digital economy specifically and the overall economy in general.
And, the 27th slide, which begins the conclusion of his presentation. It reads: “The telecom environment requires a regulatory climate that is predictable, innovative, dynamic, and visionary, to be able to meet, and even surpass the demands of the current economic, social, and environmental demands of all stakeholders, especially with regards to availability, accessibility and affordability. The Commission is committed to strengthening collaboration with the media as an important stakeholder towards achieving the digital economy targets of the Federal Government.” This slide did not only present NCC as a fair, firm and forthright telecom regulatory agency that is fully aware of its role but speaks to its readiness to be eternally vigilant…as only this guarantees meeting and surpassing stakeholder expectations, as it served as a fresh invitation to the media to be both responsive and responsible.
So, I agree strongly with Muoka that Danbatta is a ‘professor truly on duty.’ Send your reactions to: publisher @cyberera.com.ng;cliffordagugoesi@gmail.com
