The Telecoms industry sector has leapfrogged from a meagre 8.5per cent contribution to GDP in 2015 to 14.42 percent in Q2, 2021 even as the sector stands tall as the major employer of labour, establishment of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and enhancing equity and equality among the citizenry.
The Chairman, NCC Board of Commissioners, Prof. Adeolu Akande, made this known at the 2021 Board and Management Retreat with the theme, “Expect More, Deliver Result”, organized as part of NCC’s strategic initiative for strengthening regulatory excellence and operational efficiency to sustain the growth of the sector and it’s contribution to the nation’s economy.
The Retreat, according to the organisers, is also meant to ensure the Commission innovates its way out of the various challenges confronting the sector within the context of global economic volatility and uncertainties.
Akande also said the sustenance and development of other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, education, health, energy, services, finance among others are dependent on telecommunications infrastructure, the deployment of which is being stimulated by NCC, as the sector’s regulator.
According to Akande, globally, the sector is now referred to as the ‘new oil’ because of the continual and potential evolutions and innovations, which guarantee business profitability, growth and viability.
In his welcome address, the Director, Corporate Planning, Strategy and Risk Management at NCC, Felix Adeoye, said the retreat provides an avenue to assess the Commission’s achievements and challenges, brainstorm and determine the most effective and efficient ways to achieve the mandate.
In his keynote address, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, while speaking on the remarkable achievements recorded by the Commission in the past two years since the last retreat, also said that despite the challenges and disruption to normal work process, it is encouraging to see that the challenge has instigated an innovative mindset in getting work done and remaining committed to the achievement of the strategic objectives of the Commission.
While underscoring the theme of this year’s retreat, Danbatta said the thematic focus is meant to nudge the Commission’s Board and Management team on how the NCC can sustain and surpass its impressive track record of performance over the years.
“We want to see how we can ensure that we continue to expect more than these successes from ourselves to deliver even better results. This is the theme and underlining purpose for this year’s retreat and while we will explore the answer together, over the next couple of days, allow me to set a premise and surmise it in a single word: commitment,” he said.
Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), called on all participants and stakeholders to forge greater alliance and collaboration to defeat the collective challenges and spur the strategic partnerships needed to enhance both the consolidation of the gains and the plan for harnessing rapidly-emerging innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which Nigeria requires to launch fully into the global digital age.
The facilitator of the retreat, Prof. Pat Utomi said the sector has grown significantly and has made the nation proud. He however underscored the theme of the retreat in context by stating that the Commission must deliver more superlative results because Nigerians expect more.
Utomi who emphasized the importance of culture and commitment to sustained organizational success urged the participants to see the appropriateness and the auspiciousness of the gathering by re-focusing on objectives, strategies , culture and communication as imperatives for achieving the mission and vision of the Commission.