NCC’s Umar Danbatta receives ‘Award for Exemplary Leadership in Public Service’

*Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of Nigerian Communications Commission is conferred with the Award as one of the long-standing media players in the communications industry in the West African country

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

For his values-based leadership in ensuring the Commission performs its statutory mandate in the telecoms ecosystem, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been decorated with an Award of Exemplary Leadership in Public Service.

ConsumerConnect reports Prof. Danbatta was conferred with the Award at the 12th Anniversary Lecture and Award of Nigerian NewsDirect, held Friday, January 21, 2023, at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The EVC/CEO of the telecoms sector regulatory Commission was honoured at the event as one of the long-standing media players in the Nigerian Communications industry in the country.

Danbatta, represented on the occasion by Mr. Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs at NCC, said it was gratifying to have been considered worthy of the award in recognition of the initiatives deployed by the Commission in carrying out its statutory mandate.

The NCC Chief stated that the theme of the event, “Good Governance: Private and Public Sectors’ Roles in Raising Revenue, Growth and Positive Turnaround of Nigerian Economy”, provides a veritable opportunity for all stakeholders to seek better ways of advancing the course of good governance both in public office and private sector of the Nigerian economy.

NCC committed to collaboration with all stakeholders, says Danbatta

Giving concrete expression to the strategic vision of the Commission with respect to the theme of the programme, Danbatta said the Commission is ever determined to ensure collaboration with all stakeholders in the Nigerian communications industry and even beyond.

According to him, this approach remains one of the surest ways of enabling a positive turnaround of the country’s economy.

Danbatta thanked the organisers of the programme for the award, and acknowledged that it was a call for more work to be done to push the frontiers of good governance that ensures national development and economic growth.

Efforts at activating National Broadband Infrastructure plan

While presenting the award, Dr. Samuel Ibiyemi, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian NewDirect, said Danbatta was eminently qualified and deserving of the prestigious recognition on the strength of the huge role he has played in the attainment and surpassing of Nigeria’s national Broadband target of 30 percent in 2018.

Ibiyemi noted that the NCC EVC/CEO is currently among those leading the charge for the realisation of the new national Broadband penetration target of 70 percent by 2025.

The Publisher stated that in view of incontrovertible facts on the ground, it was easy for the Board and Management of his organisation to agree that through an effective regulatory regime and various cutting-edge initiatives, Danbatta has stabilised and strengthened the telecoms industry as a major contributor to the Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

This is besides boosting the telecoms investment inflows from $36 billion to over $70 billion between 2015 and date, Ibiyemi said.

Other eminent Nigerians conferred with various categories of awards at the event include Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy; Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State; Bello Hassan, Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), and Mimi Adzape, Executive Chairman, Benue State Internal Revenue Service, among others.