NCC Chief Executive receives Vanguard’s ‘Regulator of the Year Award’

*The organisers of the event say Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of Nigerian Communications Commission, Friday, January 27, will receive the award, based on recognition of his transformational and inspiring leadership positively impacting the country’s digital economy ecosystem

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is slated to receive the 2022 Regulator of the Year Award at the highly-coveted ‘Vanguard Personality of the Year Awards’ at a ceremony holding Friday, January 27, 2023, in Lagos.

Mr. Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs at NCC, said that Vanguard Newspaper Limited, the organisers of the event, noted that Danbatta would receive the award category at the event, based on the recognition of the professor’s transformational and inspiring leadership.

READ: NCC’s Umar Danbatta Receives ‘Award For Exemplary Leadership In Public Service’

The NCC noted the EVC/CEO’s values-based leadership has brought the effective regulatory regime in the telecoms sector, impacting positively on Nigeria’s digital economy ecosystem.

Danbatta will stand tall before Nigerians Friday to receive his category of award alongside other prominent personalities.

READ: Policymakers, Stakeholders Converge On Abuja For Regional Digital Economy Conference

According to the telecoms sector regulatory Commission, other awardees include state governors, such as Prof. Babagana Zulum of Borno State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, Abdulraham Abdulrazaq of Kwara, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State as well as Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, and other Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in professional excellence and service to humanity.

Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta at a glance

Profoundly described as Africa’s Regulatory model, Danbatta has become a model to other African regulators, stated the NCC.

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A respectable scholar and distinguished academic, the Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO has displayed a “no-nonsense mien in discharging regulatory functions”.

The Commission said yet, Danbatta is generally viewed in the industry as a calm and calculative leader, who takes fair but firm decisions in his drive to steady the Nigerian telecoms environment.

This has, no doubt, inspired many African regulators to adopt Nigeria’s model in order to revamp their regulatory activities.

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A professor of Telecommunications Engineering, Danbatta, before his appointment, had been the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil, and as a lecturer, he had supervised over 60 Ph.D, M.Eng and B.Eng projects in diverse areas of telecommunications.

Danbatta, however, was not entirely new to the industry before he later became the NCC Chief Executive, as he had a stint at the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), an international centre for advanced communications studies established in 2004 by the NCC for capacity building in diverse areas of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as the Vice-President of the institute.

READ Special Report: Umar Garba Danbatta As Icon Of Digital Transformation In Nigeria

“His first five years in office witnessed an effective regulatory regime through cutting-edge initiatives, strengthening the role of the telecommunications sector as a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Currently leading the charge to achieve the Nigerian National Broad Plan 2020-2025, Danbatta was acclaimed for spearheading the predecessor campaign, which Nigeria attained and surpassed the 30% national target in 2018, from paltry 6% when he took over,” NCC noted.

The multiple award-winning professor also midwifed highly successful 5G spectrum auctions between December 2021 and 2022.

His strides in reviving the Emergency Communications Centres (ECCs) and the introduction of harmonised national Emergency Communication Number (112) also helped the NCC to win the International Public Relations Association Golden Award 2021, because of a pivotal role they played in containing the COVID-19 pandemic.

His stellar leadership style was recently rewarded by the organisers of the prestigious Zik Prize, as they bestowed on him the Zik Prize Award for Professional Leadership.

READ: Danbatta Urges Nigerian Youths To Utilise ICT For Future Living, Leadership

Danbatta earned B.Eng, M.Sc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and received his Ph.D from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.

Yet, despite his towering achievements, Prof. Danbatta remains an epitome of modesty and humility, said the Commission.