Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have agreed to set up a joint committee and design a framework for collaboration to optimise development efforts for the telecoms and Information Communications Technology (ICT) industry in the country.
This was a major outcome of the interactions between Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, NCC, and Vincent Olatunji, acting director-general of NITDA, after a courtesy visit to the NCC headquarters in Abuja at the weekend.
Both parties agreed that a new era of interagency collaboration, especially within the sister ICT agencies would bring about desirable results, in line with global best practices.
The joint committee, chaired by Agu Collins Agu, a director at NITDA, is expected to provide detailed areas of collaboration and terms of reference, which will be initialled by the two organisations in due course.
Danbatta said the initiative would prove to the world that sister agencies in our clime could work together in the interest of the nation, and therefore charged the committee members to work assiduously to ensure that the objective of the collaboration was realised.
“We must concentrate on those things that we know that with the right investments and involvement of our human capital resources, we would realise things that we can show the world about the giant strides that are being made in this country, especially in the area of ICT,” he said.
According to Danbatta, the agreement to collaborate is consistent with the mandates of the two entities to ensure pervasive penetration of ICTs.
“But we have to be mindful of the fact that, the more you introduce services, the more your burden the infrastructure on ground. I hope that you (committee) will take cognisance of what you need to do to address the existing capacity of infrastructure.
“What we are looking at is the progress we are steadily making by the day to ensure we reach the destination of what we call a networked society, a society that is e-driven, a society that is ICT driven, as well as a society that will be relying on the power and leveraging on ICT to conduct all kinds of businesses,” he said.
Olatunji, NITDA’s acting DG, said there should be no rivalry in ways that the two organisations operate now because it was all about common vision and common goals, tied together for the benefit of Nigeria.
“The Information Technology sub-sector, and the telecom sector, already work together now in their operations. If those of us at the helm of affairs that are driving the industry do not work together, we will not go far,” he said.
Olatunji said the disposition of Danbatta in arriving at setting up this committee had demonstrated the quality of leadership he had brought to bear in the sector.
