By 
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has launched the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2020 – 2024 describing it as fitting to advance the country’s agenda for a digital economy.
“There is a serious improvement in the performance of the Nigerian Communications Commission. The launch of this SMP 2020 – 2024 is a clear indication of that” – Pantami
The thrust of the new SMP is to leverage the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) and the National Broadband Plan (NBP) 2020 – 2025 to help the country in its guided march into a digitised economy.
“The federal government’s economic diversification plans are focused on a robust digital economy, which will improve employment generation, as well as encourage innovation. This was prime in our minds during the formulation of the SMP” – Danbatta.
According to Pantami, the SMP by the NCC will be a pedestal to drive the implementation of the federal government’s digital economy vision.
While speaking during the virtual launch of the NCC’s five-year strategy plan in Abuja this week, the minister said the launch of the SMP demonstrated the commission’s serious improvement in performance matrix and its efforts in accelerating the implementation of the NDEPS and the NBP of the federal government.
His words: “I feel very excited for the fact that there is a serious improvement in the performance of the Nigerian Communications Commission. The launch of this SMP 2020 – 2024 is a clear indication of that. When a parastatal is performing, it will create an innovative idea on how to be more successful. When a parastatal is not performing, you will not hear anything on how to implement policies and come up with different strategies and plans.”
”It should be stressed that this plan takes into consideration the post COVID-19 pandemic in relation to regulation of the Nigerian telecom sector viz-a-viz the expectations of players in the industry” – Teniola.
Pantami stated that despite the enhanced performance of NCC, there is a need for the commission to redouble its efforts. “We need to challenge and ridicule our previous successes by setting new records through the implementation of this SMP 2020 – 2024. The NCC management must ensure effective implementation of this SMP,” he added.
Earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the SMP is the fulcrum that will aid the NCC in driving its telecom regulatory mandate in the fast-evolving telecoms industry, in the next five years. He said it will serve as a roadmap for the future of the Nigerian telecoms sector, taking into consideration the current and emerging trends in the industry and the numerous expectations of the diverse Stakeholders.
“The federal government’s economic diversification plans are focused on a robust digital economy, which will improve employment generation, as well as encourage innovation. This was prime in our minds during the formulation of the SMP. We have invested great time and effort in ensuring that this document is pragmatic, and I am very confident and excited in its completeness to successfully guide the commission in achieving the set objectives. We are committed to the implementation of this SMP,” said Danbatta.
The Chairman Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Oluremi Tinubu who was represented by Senator Obinna Agbo praised the commission for its exemplary performance and averred that the new SMP 2020 – 2024 would ensure the commission is on course to deliver on the mandate of the Federal Government for a digital economy.
Speaking in the same vein, Deputy Director, Corporate Planning, Strategy and Risk Management, Ms Helen Obi, said the development of the new SMP for the next five years was initiated with the lapse of the previous one and it would help the commission to effectively harness its internal resources to deliver on expectations of its external stakeholders and the industry as whole.
“Our primary goal in organising the launch, therefore, is to present the finished work to our esteemed stakeholders and solicit your buy-in and support in ensuring that our shared vision and mission of providing best-in-class regulatory services towards achieving a digitized economy is sustainably accomplished,” she added.
President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola commended the NCC for unveiling a strategy targeting the address the industry immediate and evolving challenges.
“This planning which is expected to take its root from the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) and the new National Broadband Plan 2020 – 2025 (NBP) [should] be more successful than the previous ones because ATCON will collaborate with the Minster of Communications and Digital Economy, NCC, NITDA, NigCoMSAT, Galaxy Backbone, USPF, and DBI to work the plan out with all other stakeholders especially our members through initiation of programmes in order to realize the set goals for the industry.
”It should be stressed that this plan takes into consideration the post COVID-19 pandemic in relation to regulation of the Nigerian telecom sector viz-a-viz the expectations of players in the industry,” said Teniola.
The event drew participation from stakeholders including the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), and National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS).
Over 700 estimated guests, including representatives of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), CEOs of telecoms companies, the media, among others, joined the launch online.
