There are strong indications that the major shake-up in the senior management cadre of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) may not be unconnected with the recent renewal of the tenure of the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission for another 5-year term.
A source close to the NCC told DigitalTimesNG that following President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent reappointment of Prof. Umar Garbha Danbatta as the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, there was the need to rejig the Commission’s management workforce to meet with the expectations of the new mandate.
Four Directors are said to be affected in the major shake-up, whose redeployments and assumption of office are said to be with immediate effect.
The affected Directors, our source said, include the Director, Research and Development (R&D), Mr Ephraim Nwokonneya; Director, Public Affairs (DPA), Dr Henry Nkemadu; Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement (CME), Mr Efosa Idehen; and Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde.
But in the new deployments said to have been approved by the EVC, Mr Ephraim Nwokonneya is now the Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, taking over from Mr Efosa Idehen, who becomes the new Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB).
In the same vein, while Dr Ikechukwu Adinde takes over as the Commission’s new image-maker having been redeployed as Director, Public Affairs, his predecessor, Dr Henry Nkemadu assumes duties as the Director, Research and Development, from where he was deputy director prior to his appointment last year as Director last year.
DigitalTimesNG gathered that the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy’s charge on the EVC after his reappointment to ensure stability and consolidation in the telecoms sector was what informed the change of guards in the directorate cadre of the NCC.
A reliable source at the Commission told DigitalTimesNG that Prof. Danbatta is so enthusiastic, passionate and determined to actualize the contents of the Commission’s Strategic Management Plan 2020-2025, launched last Tuesday.
“Having secured the second term, the EVC is passionate about the legacies he’s going to leave behind. And that is why he seems to be in a hurry to implement the contents of the SMP just launched. To do this, he needs new ideas, new approaches and new results. That was why he made the redeployments so as to inject new thinking and actions that would bring about results.
“You heard the Minister of Communications & Digital Economy, Dr. Ali Pantami say that the decision to recommend Prof. Danbatta for reappointment was to ensure stability in the telecommunications industry and consolidate on the gains and successes already recorded in the industry in the last five years.
“The changes in the directorate division of the Commission are aimed at bringing the vigour and energy needed to drive the activities of the NCC in the second 5 years of the Danbatta administration. And what has happened is that he has made these redeployments with the belief that he will achieve the success he desires.
“All the newly redeployed directors are all great guys who have contributed to the momentous and enormous progress made by the Prof. Garba Danbatta-led management. But the essence of redeploying them is to give room for greater productivity and result,” the source revealed.
Another source close to the newly appointed Director, Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, told our correspondent that his appointment was one of the very best decisions taken by the Commission under the leadership of Prof. Danbatta.
“Dr Adinde is a very quiet gentleman, consummate, hardworking and a team player. I think his appointment is that of a square peg in a square hole. He comes into this office with a rich background in public and media relations, having served at a point as the Chief Executive Officer of Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). I believe these are attributes the EVC saw in him that swelled the chances of his appointment into the Public Affairs Department.”
“He comes with very sound academic and professional qualifications, a strong system and process orientation, and thrives on professionalism and integrity, delivering tangible results, profitable growth and operational improvement in diverse organisational spheres,” the source said.
DigitalTimesNG understands that the new Director, Public Affairs has more than 25 years cross-sector experience that spans Accounting and Finance, Taxation, Information Technology, Commercial and Investment Banking, Banking Regulation, Advisory/Consulting, Auditing and Public Sector Governance.