The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Garba Danbatta, has called on critical stakeholders in the telecommunications and manufacturing sector to prioritise research as panacea to challenges facing the industry.
Danbatta gave the advice while inaugurating a 27-member inter-agency committee at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja late last week.
The committee, whose membership was drawn from different professions, was expected to proffer solutions to the challenges in the telecommunications sector.
“So, on our part, we are also included in the National University Commission and the National Board for Technical Education, two important regulators, one for the Nigerian university system, the other one for technical education,’’ he said.
He, however, added that it would consequently bring about the development of new products and services for the industry.
Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Mr Elijah Omizegba, reiterated that the mandate of the committee was primarily to enhance the growth of the telecommunications sector and drive the future policy of telecommunications in Nigeria.
Omizegba, a professor of Control and System Engineering at the Abubakar Tafawa Belewa University, Bauchi, said that the commission gave those three months to complete the assignment.
He advised that Nigeria should not be a consumer nation; instead, it should channel its wealth of ideas and resources in the country to the development of the country.
“We are putting one or two things in place to make sure that this can be done. We have a platform already created, where members can make their own input,” he added.
“Those things are going to be put in the final document and the commission will use it to drive the research as desired.
“We should not be a consumer nation. The wealth of ideas and resources we have in the country must now be channelled to the development of our country.
“If we are the ones building it, we will not only build what we want to build, but we can also innovative and pass the culture to the next generation,” he said.
Source: The Nation
