Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of
NCC, this morning at The Computer Village in Lagos, said NCC is ready to
partner with the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria,
CAPDAN, in order to translate into reality the relevant provisions of the
Nigerian Communications Act 2003.
A deluge of members of CAPDAN, led by Adeniyi Ahmed
Ojikutu, the Association's President, enthusiastically came out to receive
Danbatta and his team who came on a courtesy visit to what has been described
as Nigeria's equivalent of Silicon Valley and Bangalore, ICT hub of the United
States and India respectively.
Danbatta later told a select representatives of the
Association at a meeting that in keeping with the spirit of item 5 of the
8-Point Agenda of NCC Management, a new frontier of collaborative and strategic
partnership has opened between NCC, CAPDAN and all CAPDAN affiliates all over
Nigeria, beginning with an MOU which details will be worked out shortly.
Earlier in May 2017, a delegation from CAPDAN was
received at NCC by Mr. Sunday Dare, the Commission's Executive Commissioner
Shareholder Management, and many issues of seminal benefits to the Nigerian
economy were discussed. Among these was the imperative of special partnership
to arrest the challenge of proliferation of substandard devices because of
their implication for poor quality of telecom services.
Also discussed at the meeting in May was the need to halt
the rise in tempo of cloning of IMEI numbers - a unique 15 digit code which
every phone or Mobile Broadband Device has.
The Association had also requested at that meeting in May
2017, for a visit by top Management of NCC to Computer Village. Today's visit
by a delegation from NCC led by its EVC/CEO underscores the reiterated
commitment by NCC to partner CAPDAN as a strategic stakeholder in the telecom
ecosystem. But Danbatta proceeded to declare that NCC is irrevocably committed
to the implementation of all issues agreed upon at the Abuja meeting of May 9,
2017. He stated that this commitment will commence with capacity building for
members of the Association as solicited.
The EVC NCC stated that the Digital Bridge Institute (a
training institution set up by NCC in 2004) with its multi-campus status is sufficiently
equipped to offer requisite training to CAPDAN members. He informed his hosts
that the National Board for Technical Education has approved a number of
courses at the Institute, including a National Innovation Diploma Programme.
Earlier, ojikutu had told Danbatta that what takes place
daily at the Village transcends selling of mobile devices, but includes amazing
technical and innovative activities such as refurbishment of ware, software
development, and demonstration of potential for the manufacturing of devices.
Ojikutu later presented Danbatta with a symbolic gift in appreciation of the
visit, and he also took him and his team on a tour of sections of the Village.
Tags
Business