The Interview Editors
The National Association of State Assembly Legislators (NASAL) has honoured the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, with a National Service Excellence Award.
The award was in recognition of Danbatta’s transformational leadership in deepening access to telecommunications services across state constituencies of Nigeria in the last five years.
According to statement signed by Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC’s director of public affair, the Director General of NASAL, Hon. Uchechukwu Chukwuma led a five-member delegation to the Commission to present the award in Abuja recently.
Honourable Chukwuma said, “the award from NASAL not only underscores the remarkable leadership role by Danbatta in deepening the development and growth of the telecoms sector at the grassroots but also demonstrates the pivotal role of the EVC as a change agent, a catalyst for national development and a great Nigerian patriot.”
He said in the last five years, NASAL, as the body of state lawmakers in the country, has consistently monitored the activities of the Danbatta-led NCC and observed notable improvements in telecoms services across state constituencies in Nigeria.
Chukwuma said, “Danbatta’s efforts have manifested in enhanced access to the Internet by our people, which has given them the opportunity to participate and ventilate their views constructively. As you know, citizens’ participation in political activities is one of the attributes of an ideal democracy and Prof. Danbatta has helped to promote this ideal.”
Statistics from the Commission showed that when Danbatta came on board five years ago, 217 access gap clusters were identified in the country, with 40m Nigerians excluded from access to telecoms services.
Five years after, however, the access gaps have reduced to 114 clusters with additional 15 million Nigerians now connected.
While receiving the award on behalf of the EVC, Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Adinde, who appreciated NASAL for the recognition, said the award was both an encouragement and a challenge to the EVC and his team to do more.
“It is heartwarming that NASAL has found our EVC and CEO deserving of this award. The award is an acknowledgement that his accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. We at the NCC, value this gesture, which writes the history of Professor Danbatta’s achievements in a very distinctive and enduring way,” Adinde said.
Speaking further on Danbatta’s leadership, Adinde said, “From the recent industry statistics and other relevant macro indicators, the telecoms sector, under Danbatta, has recorded positive growth in terms of active voice subscriptions, internet subscriptions, teledensity, broadband penetration and contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”
