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Industry icon and CEO of Medallion Communications Limited, Ikechukwu Nnamani, at the weekend in Abuja, was honoured with a Special Recognition Award at the 4th edition of the Nigeria Tech Innovation and Telecoms Awards (NTITA) for his outstanding contributions to the Nigerian telecom industry in a way that has helped to expand access to millions and helped to bridge the digital divide.
Also, founder of Young Innovators of Nigeria (YIN), Abu Andrew, was honoured as the event as ‘Young ICT Advocate 2020’
As Nigeria’s most prized IT and Telecom event and the industry’s OSCARS, NTITA celebrates technology innovations, projects; entrepreneurship; and leadership able to foster right environment for ICT to flourish. The 2020 edition held as part of the commemorative events in the tech industry to celebrate Nigeria’s Diamond Jubilee.
The Governor of Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kachifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CEO/Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, and the First Lady of Gombe State, Hajiya Asmau Inuwa Yahaya were among notable industry stakeholders who were also recognized at the event.
Corporate entities honoured include: Airtel Nigeria, Rack Centre, Galaxy Backbone, NIGCOMSAT, NITDA, Infinix and Tecno among others.
The NTITA award is a collaborative venture put together by InstinctWave, UK with Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and other stakeholders.
Nnamani was specially recognised for his role in championing the deployment of telecom infrastructure that promotes, develops, and distributes local contents and ensuring high quality of service is delivered to the subscribers at an affordable price, noted CEO of InstinctWave, Mr. Akin Naphtal.
More than 80% of all internet traffic exchanged at the Nigerian Internet Exchange (NIPX) originates from Medallion’s datacententres making the Nnamani-led company a strategic resource in Nigeria’s connectivity ecosystem. The 2019 NANS Man of the Year has led his company to build strong telecom infrastructural presence in several African countries including Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Togo.
For Andrew, the NTITA 2020 recognition is a further chaallange to invest in youth digital capacity development. Since founding YIN, the organisation has partnered with several public and private institutions to build and help in the gainful engagement of thousands of young people.
“We won this award at the prestigious NTITA organised by the association of telecoms companies in Nigeria, recognizing my efforts in the last 10 years in advocating for ICT development and applications to Nigeria through digital skills acquisition and my efforts in continually training many young Nigerians who are now gainfully employed through the training received from the platform we provided at Young Innovators of Nigeria,” said Andrew.
“In addition, we have provided advice to government on the kind of skills that young people need to be self-reliant and have demonstrated will over the years by training lots of young Nigerians and special programs for women,” he added.
