The former director public affairs (DPA), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Tony Ojobo, has condoled with the family of the late former chairman of NCC board, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, describing him (Joda) as a quintessential technocrat with eyes for details.
In a statement he personally signed, Ojobo said Joda’s tenure as the chairman of NCC board of commissioners gave birth to the revolution witnessed in the ICT ecosystem today, adding his ability to decipher issues and analytical mind were legendary.
“The combination of Alhaji Joda and Engr. Ndukwe an accomplished technocrat, administrator and a telecommunications guru laid a perfect foundation for a thriving telecommunication industry that has become a leader in Africa.
“Alhaji Joda and Engr. Ndukwe took over an industry that had a tele density of 0.04 per cent or about 450,000 active lines in 2000 and rose to 63.11 per cent or 157.8 million connected lines and approximately 89 million active lines in 2010 at the expiration of their tenure. This was no doubt revolutionary. We celebrate Alhaji Joda for this accomplishment.
“It is most auspicious to note that the board of NCC had other distinguished telecommunication’s experts such as Engr. Olawale Ige, (former Minister of Communications), Engr. Austine Otiji (former MD of NITEL), Engr. Patrick Kentebe, and other distinguished Nigerians,” it said.
It stated that Joda was an experienced chairman who presided over the NCC board with the dexterity of a corporate guru. His tenure witnessed such activities as institutional strengthening (by the World Bank, Deloitte and Touché & Detecom Gmb), telecommunication’s demand study, restructuring of NCC to attract quality personnel, and of course the icing on the cake- the Digital Mobile Licence (DML) auction, adjudged as one of the most transparent spectrum auctions in the world.
The statement said the revolution across the spectrum of the ICT industry today was traceable to the doggedness, commitment, integrity and forthrightness of the late Joda.
“Those of us who worked under his tenure remember his days as the golden era of NCC. His counsel in the industry will be missed.
Whenever the history of the telecommunications development in Nigeria is told, the role played by Alhaji Joda will occupy prominent mention on the pages of the history. May the Lord comfort his children and the entire family, it added.
