The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged Nigerian youths to leverage Internet/broadband access to unleash their potentials for innovation and creativity as well as their quest for job opportunities and skills acquisition.
The executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, made the call when he presented 100 pieces of mattresses to the Federal Capital Territory’s permanent orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Kubwa, Abuja.
Represented by the commission’s director of public affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Danbatta said the youths play a great role in nation building as they contribute to national development by bringing about social reforms, adding the NCC would always support the course of the youth in the country.
He said the commission has various youth initiatives and programmes aimed at making them self-reliant while enhancing their contributions to the economy, even as he charged the corps members to use Internet services for gainful and profitable activities, advising them to refrain from using their access to telecom’s services for irresponsible and nefarious activities which could land them in trouble.
“Access to telecommunication services, especially the Internet, plays a key role in job creation for the youths and ultimately for accelerating economic development. It is critical to the overall socio-economic well-being of every economy and the youth have a greater role to play, as agents of social change, in using the Internet for positive ventures,” he said.
He also charged the large gathering of corps members, who attended the presentation ceremony to take advantage of the various consumer-centric initiatives of the commission to protect and empower them as active users of telecom’s services.
These, according to him, include the NCC’s toll-free number 622 for consumer complaints resolution, the NCC Do-No-Disturb 2442 short code for dealing with unsolicited text messages, the 112 national emergency number managed by the commission’s emergency communications centres (ECC) located across the country.
Meanwhile, NYSC’s coordinator in the FCT, Abdul Suleman, expressed appreciation for the solidary and support shown by the NCC to the NYSC family, especially regarding the welfare of corps members deployed to the federal capital for the mandatory one-year service to the nation.
“I am happy to receive 100 mattresses donated by the NCC, under the leadership of Prof. Umar Danbatta, the executive vice chairman/CEO, to alleviate the pains inflicted by the miscreants who vandalized the camp. The generosity of the NCC is coming at a time it is most needed, especially with the orientation camp in session.
“On behalf of the director-general, management, staff and corps members, I wholeheartedly express our profound gratitude to the NCC for the magnanimous gesture and for investing in the Nigerian youths,” Suleman said.
The occasion created a lot of fun and excitement for the corps members through the ‘fast-finger’ game during which they picked up free airtime of different network operators. Smart phones were also given out to lucky winners of the raffle draw organized by the commission.
The presentation of the mattresses was in demonstration of the commission’s solidarity and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to support the replacement of some of the items carted away from the camp by hoodlums during the #EndSARS protests of October 27, 2020.
