The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has tasked staff of the Ibadan Zonal Office (IBZO) of the Commission to sustain their commitment to regulatory effectiveness in keeping with its strategic objectives.
Danbatta who urged the staff not to rest on their oars, made the call recently at Ibadan when he visited the IBZO of the Commission en route Osogbo to deliver the 10th and 11th Convocation Lecture of the Fountain University.
The EVC, management and other staff in his entourage, were earlier received on arrival at Ibadan by the Controller, Ibadan Zonal Office of the Commission, Yomi Arowosafe, who led the EVC and his team on a tour of the Zonal Office.
Speaking later at an interactive session with staff of the Zonal Office, Danbatta commended the zonal controller and his team on the good work they have been doing in ensuring the people of the zone feel the presence and impact, as well as the significance of the Commission’s regulatory activities.
The EVC particularly urged the staff of the Commission not to relax because of the successes that have been recorded but rather rededicate themselves decidedly, to their assigned responsibilities, in order to sustain effective delivery of regulatory services to the people of the zone in keeping with the Commission’s commitment to ensuring greater regulatory effectiveness.
Danbatta asserted that his appeal takes life off the fact that the Commission and its staff have become major drivers of the Federal Government’s vision for the birth of a robust digital economy as encapsulated in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030 and the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025.
The NCC CEO reminded the staff of the necessity to internalise the regulatory imperatives of the Strategic Management Plan (SMP), 2021-2024, as well as the Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) 2021-2025, both of which are streamlined implementation roadmaps by which the Commission plans to actualise the national digital economy and broadband targets as articulated by the Federal Government.
In his response, Arowosafe who spoke on behalf of the staff of the Zonal Office expressed gratitude to the Management for the visit and promised to ensure the zonal office sustains effective delivery of NCC’s regulatory services to the people of the geo-political zone.
The staff in the EVC’s entourage to the zonal office include NCC’s Director, Projects, Abigail Sholanke; Director, Digital Economy, Dr. Austin Nwaulune; Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde; Head Research and Development, Kelechi Nwankwo; and other senior management staff of the Commission.
The IBZO was established in October 2005 to bring the Commission’s regulatory services closer to the South-West geopolitical zone, except Lagos and Ogun which are in the purview of the Lagos Zonal Office.
However, the jurisdictional sphere of the Ibadan Zonal Office includes other South-West states and Kwara State.
The recently constructed NCC Zonal Office building at Ibadan became fully functional in 2015 when the Commission’s Management directed staff to commence operational activities from the new complex.