The executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has said the mass media will remain central and strategic stakeholders to the commission’s Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003 and other policy instruments.
He gave this assurance when he received a delegation of the management of National Economy, a media organisation, on a courtesy visit to the commission’s head office in Abuja.
Speaking through the commission’s director of public affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Danbatta said the commission remains irrevocably committed to deepening its already established relationship with the media.
Danbatta insisted that the commission, by its regulatory activities in the telecom ecosystem, occupies a strategic position in the official architecture instituted to enhance national economic development.
The EVC said by the reckoning of stakeholders the commission has performed well and it recognises the role of the mass media in its successes. He noted that the commission’s relationship with the mass media has been cordial over the years and the commission will never take the media for granted or rupture the relationship.
Recalling the significance of media support in the accomplishments of the NCC, the EVC asserted that positive, prominent, accurate, timely and adequate reporting of developments in the commission by a broad spectrum of the media eased the commission’s burden and put its activities in the public sphere and enhanced its effort to enlist the support of other key stakeholders in the telecom ecosystem.
The NCC boss further stated that the commission has a deliberate policy of constructive engagement with the media and other stakeholders because it understands the centrality of providing a platform for continuous interface toward positioning and projecting the commission as a flagship public sector brand in Nigeria and a leading light of telecommunication regulation in Africa and the world.
Danbatta thanked the media for its superlative reporting of the sector’s notable contributions to the nation’s GDP, particularly the significance of the sectoral feat in taking Nigeria out of recession.
In addition, the EVC recalled with gratitude the noteworthy media reportage of the processes emplaced for the deployment of 5G services in Nigeria, especially the successful auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum for the roll-out of the 5G services. He urged journalists and other communication professionals to amplify the commission’s voice in its publicity and sensitisation of citizens and all stakeholders on the importance of the new generation network towards the economic development of the nation.
The NCC chief executive stated that the commission looks forward to a robust collaboration with all stakeholders in the communications sphere, to ensure goal-oriented reporting of the unfolding national developments in the digital economic sector, because of the derivable benefits for citizens, businesses and the nation.
