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Tag: NCC

  • Pressure mounts on NCC to deactivate all illegally SIM cards

    Pressure mounts on NCC to deactivate all illegally SIM cards

    The House of Representatives has urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to deactivate all illegally registered SIM cards in support of the fight against insecurity in the country.

    The call was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Bello Ambarura (APC-Sokoto state) at plenary on Wednesday.

    Moving the motion earlier, Ambarura said that the mobile communications system in the country has made it easier for banditry to thrive unhindered as their activities are facilitated by the use of illegally registered SIM cards.

    According to him, SIM card activation is used to contact family members by bandits, facilitate communication with logistics suppliers such as weapons suppliers and eventually payment of ransom is done through mobile communication.

    Ambarura, however, said that the Nigerian Communications Commission Act (2003) established the power and authority to regulate the provision and the use of all communication services in Nigeria.

    “There is a compelling need to declare a state of emergency to address the indiscriminate sale of SIM cards in Illelal Gwadabawa Federal Constituency and Nigeria in general,” he said.

    The House mandated the Committee on Telecommunications to engage both the NCC and Mobile Operators on measures that needed to be taken, particularly on security.

    Also, the committee is to interface with the NCC to fashion out a sustainable regulatory framework to eliminate all forms of illegalities in the system.

  • Politicians put NCC on panic mode – By Okoh Aihe

    Politicians put NCC on panic mode – By Okoh Aihe

    In spite of being subjected to a sustained subterranean assault in the past eight years of the Mohammadu Buhari administration, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) still remains one of the five star agencies in the country. The pillars holding that regulatory agency have been built over a time but some staff of the Commission are not sure any more how much longer they can hold out.

    Reason. Under the new administration, the dark clouds are gathering as some politicians who claimed to have worked for the victory of the APC, the party in power, are scrambling for the leadership of the agency, like vultures circling to make a final pounce on their prey.

    Recall that the boards of government agencies, parastatals and companies were recently dissolved by the new government in a whiff of good news. Ironically, that triumphant decision has opened a gambit for lobbyists to swing into action, ferreting out the best opportunities. This writer has it on good authority that no fewer than twenty former governors are jostling for the board chairmanship of the Commission.

    Yes. The bad news, dear friends, is that some of these politicians, after ruining their states, are looking for the next good spot to sow their bad seed and begin a new season of despoliation. Yes, they want to head a technical agency with their political paraphernalia of ignorance and make the nation a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.

    Just raising an alarm? No. Antecendents support their obnoxious expectations. There is saying in my part of the world that when mother cow is chewing the cud the little one is watching. In the past few years, politicians have watched the NCC from afar and can now confirm that the Commission has the capacity to meet their festered, insatiable greed.

    For instance, in the life span of the previous administration, the NCC suddenly became a revenue generating agency and would pompously announce its contribution to the coffers of government. It is possible that in previous governments before Buhari, the NCC may have made more contributions to the Federation Account very quietly. Nobody spoke about it because the remittances to make to government were quite clear and had to be done mandatorily. Under the previous government the story was different. Everything was in the public domain because the story had to be told that government was working when, indeed, the razzmatazz was a ruse to beguile an unsuspecting public.

    Even license renewal which is a fundamental responsibility of the Commission to the industry became public discourse. Expectedly the two auctions for 5G spectrum which happened within a year, in contravention of the set rules, enjoyed hyperbolic transfusion into the spongy psyche of a public hungry for good news, no matter how small.

    A happy President Buhari would announce in December 2022, that the Nigerian government made $547m from MTN and Mafab alone. The duo were the winners of the first 5G spectrum auction. If you add the $316.7m from Airtel Nigeria for a 5G spectrum license and another spectrum to enable it expand its 4G services, the math becomes very interesting. And most Nigerian politicians are math savvy especially where money becomes the central issue. All the while they were watching the NCC from afar.

    The politicians know when to make a launch for the object of their greed and two significant but sordid developments may have sealed the fate of the NCC. One, is the unbridled power of a minister who literally pocketed the Commission and ran the regulatory agency from his office at Mbora. The other is the ability of the Commission to give a waiver on spectrum fee payment in excess of N72bn to an operator, EMTS. The politician loves this kind of game which smells of underhand dealing.

    A pained source at the Commission puts the situation very succinctly.  ‘’As of date, new staffs are still resuming work in the Commission purportedly recruited on the behest of the former minister as a glaring example of his misadventure. In the past four years, when Dr Isa Pantami held sway at the Ministry of Communications, there has been no advertised vacancy in the Commission, yet about 1,000 staff members have been employed, who are daily proving to be misfits.’’

    The source warns that ‘’this manifest breach of administrative procedure has to be addressed, if the Commission is not to go under.’’

    In all of this, the politicians have been watching from afar. There is nothing they like more than to stand the law on its head and employ only their children and those who can pay for employment slots. Now they want to move in to have a ball irrespective of what happens to the NCC. I will admit here that a certain category of politicians built the NCC by properly deploying technocrats and serious minded people whose driving force was their knowledge of the centrality of telecommunications in driving modern development. Now a new set of politicians is hanging in the wings and the flatulence from their greed may permanently destroy the regulatory authority and the industry forever.

    The clouds are gathering and the signs are not good at all. I have had conversations this past few days with sources at the Commission and the endgame looks very nihilistic. I have had little balm for those who are hurting and very afraid. The dangers ahead are too ominous to be ignored.

    There are quite a number of people within the regulatory authority who fear that should the politicians be allowed to have their way, it will sound a death knell to the NCC especially after surviving the wringer of the last administration.

    Here are their thoughts. ‘’Tinubu (they actually mean President Bola Ahmed Tinubu) should realise that in this era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), telecommunications is the infrastructure of infrastructures. Every other thing rises or falls on it. The very nature of the technical issues involved in regulating the industry entails that it should not be about a job for political acolytes, but head-hunting of technocrats, taking into consideration Affirmative Action. The industry will farewell if women like former minister, Mrs Omobola Johnson, and a host of other seasoned professionals who retired from the Commission, are appointed on the board,’’ they moaned.

    There is something about the wisdom of my people which says that when the living begin to relish the memory of the departed, they are actually mourning the impotence or failure of the living. All of sudden minds are going to the past, about Affirmative Action, whether women don’t deserve a place on the board of the NCC or even the headship.

    Affirmative Action at the NCC is a topic for another day. We have had women at the NCC who performed at the optimal level. Senator Abiodun Christine Olujimi remains about the only woman that has served on the board of the NCC since 1992 and she did well. I was in the Nigerian team to the 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference PP14 in Busan, South Korea. The delegation was led by Mrs Johnson as the Minister of Communications. She shone like a diamond in the sky, if you remember the cliché, and even did the nation proud by winning a global prize – the GEM-TECH Award, for initiating policies and programmes empowering women and girls via ICT. And there are so many women in her class or even better. Who says women haven’t got fire power!

    The story is really about the expedient need by the new government to save the NCC from the greed of the politicians and preserve the tech hegemony of an institution that remains perennially relevant to the development of the nation. It is about the need to look at the failures of the past and recalibrate for a challenging journey ahead in order to reposition the nation for good and deliver the people from multidimensional poverty, which keeps expanding.

    Technology will ever remain in the heart of every strategy to turn the nation’s fortunes around. If you accuse me of hyperbolism, please, tell me the market worth of Apple apropos our nation’s GDP!

  • Omoniyi Ibietan’s book on Cyber Politics for public presentation 25 July

    Omoniyi Ibietan’s book on Cyber Politics for public presentation 25 July

    A book by the Head of Media Relations at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Omoniyi Ibietan, will be formally presented to the public on 25 July, 2023, publishers of the book have said.

    Premium Times Books said in a statement on Monday that the unveiling ceremony of Cyber Politics: Social Media, Social Demography and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria, will take place at the main auditorium of the communications and digital economy complex of the NCC, located at Mbora District of Abuja, from 10:00a.m. to 1:00p.m. on 25 July.

    Published by Premium Times Books, the book publishing arm of the Premium Times Group, the 460-page book, spread over 12 chapters, gives expression to a critical phase within the distinct trajectory of Nigerian democracy through its elections.

    Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election is utilised as the sounding board from which analyses that offer great insights into the future of voting behaviour in the country are made in this new title, that is both skilful in its rendition and ground-cutting in its intellectual approach.

    The public presentation of the book will be made formally by Umar Danbatta, a professor, and the executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), where Dr Ibietan works as head of media relations. Danbatta is also the writer of the foreword in the book.

    In addition to the formal presentation of the book, there will also be a panel discussion to be moderated by Chido Onumah, a social rights activist and coordinator of the African Centre for Information and Media Literacy.

    The author of the book, Dr Ibietan: Abiodun Adeniyi, a professor of mass communication and Deputy Dean, School of Post Graduate Studies at Baze University, Abuja; and a writer and newspaper columnist, Mojeed Dahiru, will take part in the panel session.

    The panel session will focus on how politics played out and shaped the last two general elections in Nigeria. The possible implications of cyber politics in future elections will also be sprayed.

    Among other prominent personalities who have commented on the book and the author is Prof. Danbatta.

    The NCC CEO, in his foreword to the book, noted that: “the author situates the historical context of Nigerian politics and democracy” and more so “…the nexus between social media and voting behaviour, and the influence of the social media ecosystem among others in the electoral process.”

    He described the book as a “compelling narrative, a scholar’s guide and companion on the various political communication themes it interprets. It is difficult to put down this work once you are drawn by its alluring and free-flowing prose and incisive analysis.”

    The book has been available in the hard back and soft back versions in bookstores across the country since 12 June, 2023. The electronic copies of the book can also be purchased on online platforms, including Amazon.

    Prominent Nigerians and stakeholders within the Nigerian politics cycle and cyber/digital ecosystem are billed to be at the public presentation of the book.

  • NBC and NCC, what manner of template for the Buhari administration? – By Okoh Aihe

    NBC and NCC, what manner of template for the Buhari administration? – By Okoh Aihe

    The dissolution of the boards of government parastatals, agencies and companies the other day by the new government may have sent so many messages. But two of them I can relate to immediately. One, that the government is trying to create  opportunities for a new set of people to dine on the table. Two, and which is more ennobling, is that this government is serious enough to wear a bold face and clean the Augean stables of all its filthiness and shame. 

    I am at an intersection here that is not too enviable, trapped between the two extreme ends. I am old enough to know that no matter the drive of the new administration, there must be some hardened hearts who will dig in to eat and chop. After all, the previous government came with the mantra of anti corruption but left the country in total bewilderment, as many can testify today that corruption has never been this blatant in the land or so devastating on the people, with so many plunged into multidimensional poverty, as a new set of people exhibit the odious manifestations of new arriviste. 

    However, I stay more with the fact that the Augean stables need serious cleaning for the rebuilding process of the nation to begin. And so many people do agree with me on this. Because, discussing this matter of cleansing the other day, an old friend of mine simply directed my attention to one of the most important ministries in this nation. Go there and carry out a little conversation with the workers and you will begin to see the depth of rot the previous government plunged the nation into in just eight years. 

    It is eye-catching that the new administration has decided to start from the superficialities, the low hanging fruits in the system; in the main, the boards of  parastatals and agencies peopled by politicians, most of whom are so unprincipled that in whatever capacity they find accommodation, they serve as virus to destroy the system. Without mincing words they destroyed the system under the Buhari administration . 

    Without any sampling done yet, this writer can state here, based on the information at his disposal from two organisations, the National Broadcasting Organisation (NBC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), that membership of the boards under the previous administration were so badly constituted and so badly run, that a careful appraisal needs to be carried so that the nation does not go that opprobrious route again. 

    Ironically, these agencies did have great boards in the past which set them on the path to greatness. Under Dr Tom Adaba, pioneer Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Mr Peter Enahoro, who just passed recently, as board chairman, provided great leadership that helped establish a sure foundation for the broadcast regulator and the industry.

    With Engr Ernest Ndukwe as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the late Ahmed Joda, who headed the board of the Commission, provided the needed leadership by a fledgling organisation to gain traction. Both the NBC and the NCC were so firmly established that no matter the sustained assault on their roots, they have refused to succumb to the greed of politicians. Unfortunately, their resistance is failing. 

    The difference between the past and the present is that the laws were allowed to operate in the past while the politicians of today stamped on power with absolute ferocity. Look at the irony. The soldiers allowed Decree 38 of 1992, now the National Broadcasting Commission Act CAP N11 2004, to work even in the appointment of the board, while the civilian administration of 1999 allowed the Nigerian Communications Act to work, which Act was indeed reviewed in 2003. Both laws are very clear on who to appoint to the board. Unfortunately, the laws made no sense to the Buhari variant of politicians. Board members were appointed arbitrarily and without recourse to the laws and the consequential effects will last us adversely for a very long time. 

    Sample this. A source told this writer that in one of those moments, former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, engaged in what would seem an exhilarating moment of valedictory peroration when he told the story of how he cobbled together the board of the NBC. Perhaps enjoying a  flash of roguish satisfaction, Mohammed told his captive audience of the NBC how he appointed the 

    members. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, the board chairman, was the factional leader of his party, APC, in Kwara State. Some other members were from the same Kwara State, while one member was his classmate at the Law School, which, according to him, they attended in old age. A particular member was abroad, attending meetings virtually. 

    Yet everything was done in the name of the President. That was the headline in the newspapers: Buhari appoints Bolarinwa as new chairman of the NBC board. You may need to look at the Act under Composition of the Commission and what the Act says in Section 3(2). 

    With the board headed by a proxy, anything could go wrong, and they did  go wrong – finances, administration, employment and just anything you could think about. Regulatory independence was lost completely. At some point, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission ( ICPC) had to move in to stop the financial muddling and drain at the NBC. 

    At the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, sacked a respected board chairman, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye of blessed memory, in order to pave way for his minnows and lackeys. The minister moved former board chairman of NITDA, Prof Adeolu Akande, to the NCC as the chairman of the board, and also appointed all kinds of people that couldn’t look him in the face, in order to have full control of the Commission. He then got on the driving seat and drove the Commission the way he liked with the conniving acquiescence of some characters in the Presidential Villa. The strong organisation the administration met was bedraggled with unrestrained power exhibition and plain villainy and pillaging. This is totally at variance with Section 5 of the Communications Act 2003.

    It is no coincidence that the same template was implemented at the two agencies that were once powerful. Is this what happened in the other agencies, parastatals and government companies under the Buhari administration? Could the ministers have been governments unto themselves, doing things without restraint and recourse to higher authorities? So, what happens next, sweep the malfeasance under the carpet and pretend nothing happened? 

    If the new government must hear, let the officials know that there is no joy yet in some of the parastatals and government agencies. They are aware that some of these highly placed officials who did them in are trying to make their way back, and are praying fervently that the government must act urgently to protect them and punish those who, through their villainy, imposed smallness and impotence on the agencies. 

    Dokpesi: Epilogue

    The journey starts here, At this juncture, Where the good is not interred/ The journey starts here, In the memory of his presence, Where he told a devoted protege, The other day, During a visitation/ “From this moment, you People will talk, And I will listen.”/The journey starts here, From this moment, Raypower and AIT will talk. The world will Hear them/ And Dr Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi will listen, knowing the journey starts here/ The journey starts here, The end is only the beginning, For Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi.

  • Regulatory imperatives for sustaining the revolution in the communications sector – By Tony Ojobo

    Regulatory imperatives for sustaining the revolution in the communications sector – By Tony Ojobo

    By Tony Ojobo

    The telecommunications industry has undoubtedly witnessed tremendous growth and development in Nigeria. It is a sector that directly impacts every aspect of human life, business, education, governance, family, entertainment, etc. Growth in the industry was slow for several years after Nigerian Independence. The total telephone subscriptions from Independence in 1960 to 2001 was a paltry 400,000 connected analogue lines, translating to a teledensity of 0.04%. This number of telephone lines was considered inadequate for a population of 126.2 million in 2001, according to the World Bank, when the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) licensed the Digital Mobile Operators.

    Before the advent of digital mobile service in the country, applicants for telephone lines waited for years to get a telephone line. The waiting time in some cases was up to ten years. Customers who needed to make international calls went to the international call centre at NECOM House Marina, Lagos, to make such international calls. As a young Commercial officer in the Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET) Limited in 1982, I witnessed parents from different parts of the country come to NECOM House on Marina, Lagos, to make international calls to their wards overseas. NET Limited Call centre was one of the few locations where customers could make international calls. The only exceptions were some embassies, oil companies and international banks, and a few individuals with International Direct Dialing (IDD) and Alternate Voice and Data (AVD) services. 

    Generation Zs (people born between 1981 – 1990) and Generation Alpha (born between 2010 – 2020) would find this amusing; it sounds more like a fairy tale. Yes, those were the days we were still in the dark. The situation persisted even after the emergence of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) in 1985. The military government formed NITEL through the merger of Posts and Telecommunications (P&T), responsible for domestic/national telecommunications services, with NET Limited, responsible for international telecommunications services.

    I can vividly recall that at NITEL, Shomolu Exchange, where I was the Business office Manager, the organization processed applications under what was then known as “Capital contribution”, a scheme where applicants contributed various sums of money, depending on location, to get NITEL services extended to their homes and offices.

    In realization of the challenges, and the inability of NITEL, as a monopoly, to provide enough telephone services in the country, the then Military government promulgated Decree 75 of 1992, establishing the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as the industry regulator for telecommunications. The establishment of the NCC set the pace for the deregulation of the sector—the then Minister of Communications’ Engr. Olawale Ige played a vital role in the deregulation exercise. Engr. Ige in the year 2000, eventually became a member of the Board of Commissioners at the NCC.

    The Decree specified the following, among others, as the functions of the NCC. Facilitate investments in and entry into the Nigerian market, protect and promote the interest of consumers against unfair practices, and ensure that licensees implement and operate the most efficient and accurate billing system at all times. Other functions include:

    • Promoting fair competition in the communications industry.
    • Protecting communications services facilities.
    • Preventing service providers from misusing market power or anti-competitive and unfair practices, among others.

    The Decree further stated the objectives of the Commission to include the promotion and implementation of the national telecommunications policy, establish the regulatory framework for the Nigerian Communications industry and promote the provision of modern, universal, efficient, reliable, affordable, and easily accessible communication services. Some other objectives mandate the Commission to encourage local and foreign investments in the Nigerian communications industry, introduce innovative services and practices in the sector, encourage fair competition, and promote Nigerian participation in the ownership, control, and management of communication companies and organizations.

    The Nigerian Communications Act set the above objectives to ensure a vibrant communications sector, with functions and purposes necessary for a potent independent regulator. Industry watchers believe that the Commission’s performance in regulating the industry depends on its ability to align actions with the objectives.

    At the return of democratic governance in 1999, the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo was keen on transforming the communications sector. President Obasanjo personally invited investors to invest in the industry during his diplomatic shuttles. Nigeria was smarting from the effect of military governance. The developed countries were still uncertain of the safety of investments in the country due to prolonged military rule. Some major global telecommunications companies, like Vodafone and others, spurned the invitation, showing a lack of interest in the Nigerian telecommunications market. The international community still viewed the country as a pariah at that time.

    Despite the lukewarm attitude received from some international investors, the government was determined to confront these challenges. In a demonstration of its commitment, a Board of Commissioners was constituted for the Nigerian Communications Commission, Chaired by a renowned technocrat, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, and the former President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), a technocrat, an astute engineer, Dr Ernest Ndukwe, FNSE, as the Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive of the Commission. The other members of the Board were Engr. Olawale Ige, former Minister of Communications, Austine Otiji, former MD of NITEL, Engr. Patrick Kentebe, Engr. Shola Taylor, Engr. Isaiah Mohammed, Engr. Zimit, Engr. Don. Udeh, among others.

    Ahmed Joda’s Board understood the enormity of the responsibility placed on them and set out to build one of the most respected regulatory bodies in the world. The Board embarked on extensive consultations worldwide with regulators such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States of America and other regulatory bodies worldwide. The Commission also approached the World Bank for assistance and support. It engaged the services of consultants such as Deloitte & Touché, Detecon GmB of Germany, USAID, and Growing Businesses Foundation, among others, to assist with building a strong, independent regulatory body for the communications sector. 

    Two critical objectives to address were (i) the need for institutional strengthening through the adoption of an appropriate organizational structure and (ii) the engagement of the proper fit of professionals to implement the organizational objectives.

    The Board enjoyed the government’s support, which allowed it to operate freely without interference. President Obasanjo’s government respected the regulator’s Independence and did not interfere directly in its regulatory functions. The government of the day had the political will to build a solid and vibrant communications industry. It neither interfered with the Commission’s recruitment processes nor the regulatory functions of the Commission. The Communications Committees in the National Assembly were very professional and thorough with their oversight functions. All these contributed to the birth of a potent, vibrant, independent regulator.

    Topmost on the agenda of the Commission was the licensing of operators to provide services to Nigerians, who long desired communication services. The Board engaged the services Spectrum International Consulting Limited of UK  as the Consultant to advise on the appropriate auction method for the spectrum licenses. Simultaneously the Commission was addressing the institutional strengthening, spectrum auction methodology, and engagement of competent human capital to deliver on the mandate.

    Some of the factors that contributed to the success of the various exercises in the Commission include the political will on the part of the federal government to transform the sector, the professionalism of the Board of Commissioners, focused leadership, clarity of vision, and an understanding of the assignment, selfless leadership, a commitment to hiring the best hands, and desire to succeed. To remain a professional regulatory body, the Commission should maintain these tested virtues in its regulatory processes.

    The organization must ensure that responsibilities are clear and competence is recognized. The Commission should maintain the six core values of integrity, excellence, professionalism, responsiveness, innovation, and commitment in its oversight of the communications sector. There is a need to underscore the point that recruitment processes should take cognizance of people who possess the required fit for the job. When regulators compromise on getting the right persons for the job, it leads to a decline in standards and effectiveness. The actions of the supervising Ministry should not in any way undermine the Independence of the regulator. The Commission should be professional in handling matters that could compromise its Independence and thus weaken the organization’s ability to regulate the sector effectively.

    The current data from the communications regulator shows the sector’s growth level. The subscriber base for mobile services as of June 2023 is 223,338,215. Fixed wired/wireless services, 96,913, VoIP 228,553, bringing the total number of subscribers to 223,663,521. Recently the Commission licensed 25 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) to provide services in the country. These new licenses issued by the regulator further underscore the maturity of the sector and the opportunities that abound. The revolution in the Fintech space, education, commerce, agriculture, health, security, and entertainment, all enabled by internet technology, cannot be over-emphasized. The e-enablement in these sectors requires that the regulator should not be hindered from performing its functions. The telecommunications sector, a sub-sector of the ICT sector, which contributed 14.13% to GDP, out of the 17.47% for the entire ICT sector collectively in Q1 2023, should be given its flowers.

    The imperative of sustaining these significant milestones in the communication industry is critical. The 22 years of mobile communications in Nigeria have improved the quality of life in commerce, education, security, health, entertainment etc. Digital technology’s impact on Nigerians’ standard of living cannot be over-emphasized. Imagine banking without the internet, the services of online stores such as Konga, Jumia and others. The introduction of hailing services like Uber, Bolt, and others. What of payment platforms for online transactions, mobile banking, and e-enabled services? There are just too many businesses piggybacking on digital technology. These have happened because the organization’s Board, management and staff laid a solid foundation 22 years ago. The subsequent Boards, management and staff of the Nigerian Communications Commission should continue to build on the labour of these heroes of digital Nigeria. Sustaining the gains made so far in the sector is the responsibility of all stakeholders, especially the regulator. 

    The revolution in the digital technology space must continue unabated. 

     

    Tony Ojobo, PhD, former Director of Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, and President African ICT Foundation wrote from Abuja

  • NCC calls for collective effort to combat e-fraud

    NCC calls for collective effort to combat e-fraud

    The Nigerian Communication Commission ( NCC) says combatting e-fraud on telecom platforms and building consumer confidence in the digital economy require a collective effort.

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, said this during the 2nd Quarter 2023 Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) meeting in Lagos on Thursday.

    Danbatta said telecom operators, regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies and consumers must collaborate, with each fulfilling their responsibilities to tackle e-fraud.

    He said e-fraud encompassed a wide range of malicious activities carried out via electronic means, including identity theft, phishing, hacking, and unauthorised access to personal and financial information, with the intention to defraud or take advantage of victims.

    Danbatta noted that these criminal activities might not only cause significant financial losses but also erode consumer trust in the digital ecosystem.

    He said in recent years, Nigeria had witnessed remarkable growth in the digital economy, revolutionising the way Nigerians communicated and conducted businesses.

    Danbatta noted that the telecom sector played a pivotal role in enabling this digital transformation, providing the infrastructure and connectivity that fueled the interconnected world.

    He, however, said the advancements came with new challenges, one of which was the rising tide of e-fraud and cybersecurity concerns.

    He said NCC as the regulator of the communications sector had a crucial role to play in combatting e-fraud.

    Danbatta added that to further protect telecom consumers, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) periodically notified telecom consumers on the latest cybersecurity threats and how to avoid falling victim to them.

    “The NCC also type-approves communications equipment to ensure that they conform to global standards and are interoperable with various relevant technologies.

    “We must establish comprehensive legal frameworks and standards that mandate sound security practices for telecom operators.

    “The legal framework must focus on data protection, privacy and incident response, ensuring that operators are held accountable for any lapses in security on their respective networks,” he said.

    According to him, law enforcement agencies must also collaborate closely with telecom operators and regulatory bodies to investigate and prosecute e-fraud perpetrators.

    He noted that enhanced coordination, information sharing, and dedicated cybercrime units would go a long way in deterring criminals and bringing them to justice.

    Danbatta added that strengthening international cooperation in combating cross-border e-fraud was also imperative, as cybercriminals often exploited jurisdictional limitations.

    He said combatting e-fraud was not just the responsibility of industry stakeholders and authorities, but equally that of consumers too.

    “Building consumer awareness and promoting digital literacy is crucial to empowering individuals to protect themselves.

    “Telecom operators should educate their customers about potential risks, provide guidance on secure online practices and offer user-friendly tools to monitor and manage their accounts,” he said.

    He stressed that to build consumer confidence in the digital economy, telcos must emphasise transparency and accountability.

    Danbatta urged telecom operators to be transparent about their security measures, privacy policies and incident response mechanisms.

    He added that collaboration with third-party security firms and independent audits could also help validate the integrity of telecom platforms.

    Danbatta also said fostering innovation in security technologies was critical to staying ahead of e-fraudsters.

    According to him, investing in robust security infrastructure, implementing stringent protocols, promoting awareness and by fostering innovation telcos could create a safer digital ecosystem.

    “We need to rise to the challenge and build a future where the telecom platform is not only a gateway to the digital world but also a fortress against e-fraud,” Danbatta said.

    Similarly, the Director of Consumer Affairs Bureau at NCC, Mr Alkasim Umar, said e-fraud posed a significant threat to the society, as it undermined the trust and confidence in our digital platforms.

    He said the menace was also responsible for hampering economic growth and adversely impacting the lives of citizens.

    Umar said as the regulatory authority responsible for overseeing the telecommunications industry, the NCC would continue to perform its duty in protecting the interest of consumers.

    Also, Mr Emeka Akpa, the Chairman of ICAF, said fraud had escalated as a result of increased digital adoption.

    He noted that the situation required organisations to simultaneously combat fraud and provide customers with a seamless digital experience.

    Akpa said faster movement of money had also increased the risk of fraud, adding that real-time disbursements were set to double within the year and beyond.

    “Risk rises further when unsuspecting customers inadvertently share their authentication details with fraudsters targeting their devices and accounts.

    “The evolution of fraud threats has undermined the effectiveness of a reactive approach to combating fraud, which essentially focuses on stopping schemes one by one through manual reviews,” he said.

  • Nigeria’s telecom access gaps drop by 53%

    Nigeria’s telecom access gaps drop by 53%

    The number of identified areas of clusters across Nigeria without access to the telecommunications services has been reduced by 53.1 per cent as at the end of 2022.

    The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, disclosed this at a recent telecoms industry stakeholders forum in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state.

    Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by the Head, Pre-Licensing at the Commission, Usman Mamman, said from 207 clusters of access gaps in 2013, the industry has witnessed a reduction to 97 as of end 2022 by bridging 110 clusters of access gaps, representing a 53.1 per cent reduction.

    He said by implication, the number of Nigerians who fell within the access gap which were estimated at 37 million in 2013 has been reduced to 27 million, following increased access to telecoms services by those hitherto not digitally included.

    Access gaps refer to the cluster of communities or grouped areas in different parts of the country that are bereft of access to telecom services and till date, the NCC has reduced clusters of access gap by more than half.

    Danbatta said, “We have worked tirelessly to ensure we bring telecom services to people living in rural, unserved, and underserved areas of this country, totalling 37 million people courtesy of the consultancy that was conducted in 2013.

    “By 2019, we had succeeded in reducing the clusters of access gaps to 114 through the deployment of the necessary infrastructure needed to bring services to people living in rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country. The deployment of infrastructure is in terms of base transceiver stations, which resulted in the reduction of Nigerians in those clusters from 37 million to 31 million in 2019.

    “By 2022, we have reduced the clusters of access gaps to 97 from 207 in 2013. The number of Nigerians again have come down from 37 million in 2013 to 27 million as we speak. We achieved this by deploying, from 2009 to 2011, a total of 79 new base transceiver stations,” he said

    Danbatta stated that in 2013 to 2018, the telecom sector also witnessed the deployment of additional 124 base transceiver stations while from 2019 to 2022, a total of 364 base transceiver stations were deployed.

    “So far, the total number of base transceiver stations we have deployed to date between the time the access gaps were identified till the end of 2022 are 567,” he said.

    While describing the reduction in access gap so far as a landmark, Danbatta, however, said the Commission will not rest on its oars as it thrives to ensure that the remaining 27 million Nigerians, who currently lack access to telecoms services, are provided with services.

    Meanwhile, the EVC said part the regulatory interventions of the Commission to bridge the remaining 97 access across the country to provide ubiquitous connectivity in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria are the issuance of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licences and the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) networks, among others.

  • Before a former minister returns to the ministry – By Okoh Aihe

    Before a former minister returns to the ministry – By Okoh Aihe

    An industry source called the other day to ask one troubling question: did you hear anything? I hear things all the time was my riposte. It will be an unfortunate disservice to over three decades in the journalism profession if I don’t hear things.

    Oh, this is about Dr. Isa Pantami, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. He doesn’t want to leave the Ministry or its parastatals. He is plotting a return.

    Hey! You can’t quarrel with that. Dr Pantami can take any action that excites his body. After all, he is a politician. And Nigerian politicians are known to be very restless, like locusts, which is why they move from one party to another once they sense any impending moment of dullness or a dip in the expected returns on political investment. Pantami is obviously too exciteable to accommodate any dullness.

    Whether out of excitement, enthusiasm or even overzealousness, Pantami swept into the ministry with gusto and began to initiate series of actions that would reverberate in the entire telecommunications industry. Actions in the industry, whether by the Ministry or the regulator, are weighed on the strength of the Communiications Act 2003, which can unquestionably be described as the Bible of telecommunications.

    Under his watch the Nigerian Communications Communications Commission (NCC) conducted two 5G auctions in the 3.5GHz band and raked in over $800m. That was a good harvest, something extraordinary that the Buhari government would always gloat over.

    In spite of the preceding observation, the minister does not  have the good luck to enjoy the kind of cover which the NBC Act Cap N11 2004, gives the counterpart in Section 6, to the effect, that the minister can give any general direction that can override any regulatory decision of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). Instead the Communications Act 2003 shields the Nigerian Communications Commission from every external encumbrance and restricts the minister and his ministry to the areas of policy.

    This could be the reason some of the actions of the minister at the Communications and Digital Economy ministry didn’t seem to ingratiate him to the industry irrespective of his claims of achievements. He came in a blaze and left in a welter of furore. On being appointed minister in August 2019, Pantami immediately moved into the regulator’s property at Mbora, Abuja. This was too close for comfort. The regulator’s peace had been traduced and uncertainty would soon envelope the regulator that used to be the pride of the nation and even the continent.

    The minister started to exert undue influence on the regulator by way of regulatory capture. All of a sudden, there was a rash and indiscriminate employment at the NCC. Could the minister have gotten too close to know that there was staffing need at the NCC and decided to help solve the problem?  Employment used to be planned at the NCC like procurement, methodical and diligent, and only available for some of the best in the land.

    This time there was a deluge of employment without respect for the principles of the Federal Character Commission. Most of the people recruited were spirited into zonal offices where their employment would never really be accounted for. The nominal roll spiralled from less than 800 in 2019 to over 1600 in 2023. Some people call what happened at the NCC a big employment scam. But I wouldn’t be that harsh. The regulator came under so much pressure that it forgot it’s indenpence enshrined in the Act or lost the scent of its corporate culture.

    For instance, the minister claimed to have been given approval by former President Muhammadu Buhari to employ three directors. Profs. Salahu Balarabe Junaid and Aminu Ahmad were employed as NCC directors. Perhaps they were part of his technical team but it broke the norm. Why were they not employed as Ministry staff? In the past, NCC staff were seconded to the ministers for all necessary technical  support, people with competences in various fields of communications.

    Furthermore, as a proof of the obtuse recruitment at the Commission in the past few years, a promotion exercise carried out by the regulator early this year, had all 15 Senior Officers (GL9) that were promoted come from a section of the country. Insiders even nailed  it down to a couple of states in that part of the country. Some workers at the Commission said that was a very strange development and traced it to external pressure.

    Pantami’s tenure at the ministry destroyed peace and long existing camaraderie at the NCC and sowed discord, distrust and suspicion among the staff. Some workers were given positions of advantage and all of sudden they began to themselves as products of sections of the country instead of the harmony that used to be among them. They were no longer part of the knitted whole.

    In a particular instance, the minister wrote to the President early in the year and prayed that a particular position at the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) be indemnified in the name of one person, until this person retires. I can testify that the person in the position is a good man, a very good, affable guy. I don’t think that such indemnity is what he yearns for. No. Not at all. But  I also want to say that good souls can buckle under sustained pressure.

    Although the minister is the USP Board chairman with the executive vice chairman of the NCC as vice, he does not have the support of the Communications Act 2003, from Sections 112 to 120 to canvass such request or validate such appointment.

    To support his prayer, the   minister  made reference to a certain section of the Act in his memo to the President late December. Beyond the Act, this is what Section 23 of the Universal Access and Universal Service Regulation 2007, says: The Commission shall appoint an individual person to serve as the head of the USP Secretariat ( the USP Secretary ) who shall be responsible for the day to day operations of the secretariat. The USP Secretary shall be an employee of the Commission that has been seconded from the Commission’s staff to serve as the USP Secretary on or a full-time basis.“

    The  Commission has its internal employment policy  which allows it to move workers around internally to work in different positions. The minister has only meddled in, and muddled up such internal policy.

    Here is what seems to be Pantami’s final act. In a letter dated May 8, the Commission conveyed the approval of waiver request made to the President through the minister by Emerging Markets Telecommunications Limited (EMTS). At a time the country is neck-deep in debt and lacks cash to run even daily operations, the President gave a 50 per cent waiver on the huge debt being owed by EMTS on spectrum fees. The waiver is as follows: Forty Three Billion, Six Hundred and Eighty Million, Forty Eight Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty Seven Naira and Fifty Kobo only (N43,608,048,767.50) and for the 2100MHZ band, the sum of Twenty Nine Billion,Three Hundred and Twenty Nine Million, Nine Hundred and Seventy Seven Thousand And Six Hundred Naira only (N29,329,977, 600). Over the next ten years the balance would be paid in instalments as follows N4,360,804,876.75 for the 900/1800MHz and N2,932,997,760.00 for the 2100MHz band.

    On Monday night, an industry source told this writer, “we shall respond. We know who is doing this. It is not the NCC but the minister.”  Such response may further cause its own disharmony in the industry and cost the government much needed funds.

    Under the last administration, the NCC behaved like refugees of a conquered territory, permanently under fear. There was nothing too small to attract the minister’s attention. In May last year, having been blindsided on a conference organised by the NCC in Lagos, the minister fired a memo to the Commission demanding for all their programmes for the remaining months of the year.

    Under the last administration, some agencies suffered shame and top government officials were pressured to behave like zombies and turn their back on the rule books and the industries they were appointed to regulate.

    Do you hear things? This writer hears a lot. There are frantic moves in some agencies for certain things not to ever come into the open. Others are making the rounds in government circles to maintain perpetuity in office or, on the extreme side, just lobotomise everybody to ensure the past is interred, forever.

  • Telecoms adds N2.5 trillion to Nigeria’s GDP as NCC issues licence to Elon Musk’s SpaceX

    Telecoms adds N2.5 trillion to Nigeria’s GDP as NCC issues licence to Elon Musk’s SpaceX

    Telecommunications and ICT services contributed N2.508 trillion to Nigeria’s GDP in the first quarter of 2023, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) stated on Thursday.

    NCC quoted figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in a statement issued by its Director, Public Affairs, Mr Reuben Muoka.

    “Telecoms contribution to GDP was calculated from 46 distinct sectors of the economy, which constitute telecoms and information services baskets.

    “The Nigerian telecoms industry has continued to show a positive outlook, which is credited to the innovative and predictable telecoms regulatory environment implemented by the NCC.

    “One of the key highlights of the telecoms industry performance within the period was the generation of 820.8 million dollars for the Federal Government from 5G spectrum licences fees.

    “The fees were paid by three operators, MTN, MAFAB and Airtel,’’ Muoka stated.

    He added that following the issuance of the licences in December 2021, MTN and MAFAB already launched 5G services, while Airtel, which received its licence in December 2022, is set to launch the service in June.

    The NCC spokesman stated also that another major development in the sector was the launch of Starlinks broadband services, a satellite-based wireless broadband service with potential nationwide coverage.

    He added that this followed the issuance of licence to Elon Musk-owned SpaceX by the NCC, noting that the services were now available in different parts of the country.

    Muoka stressed that the growth statistics of the telecoms industry were showing impressive record of contributions to the Nigerian economy.

    He stated that the number of phone subscribers in Nigeria as at April 2023 stood at 223.6 million.

    Number of Internet subscribers for the same period was 157 million, while broadband subscriptions stood at 92 million, Muoka added.

  • So, what happens to regulation now? – By Okoh Aihe

    So, what happens to regulation now? – By Okoh Aihe

    For the first time since I started writing my column, Simply Tech, in 2020, my pen failed me. My fingers were too numb to command the computer keys and the brain simply just refused to function coherently, having been so shocked out of rhythm by the apotheosis of one of the greatest souls that ever walked this earth, High Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, on May 29, 2023.

    This is not a tribute to this meteoric personality yet. That will come shortly but his being apotheosised on such a significant day only deferred, albeit temporarily, the opportunity to point a torch on the cesspit left in the broadcasting and telecommunications industries by a government that left in a puff after allowing individual brigandage in the two ministries to hurt a nation so badly. 

    My question before the swearing in of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu last week as the new President of Nigeria is, what happens now? Is this a crystallisation of the fears of the workers of two major parastatals, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) who fear that the future holds no much hope for them  in spite of their expertise in industry regulation?

    In just eight years, the APC government under President Mohammadu Buhari, dug the nation into a hole especially in the two ministries when two powerful ministers were allowed to seize the levers of the agencies and managed them from the fickleness of their whims. Looking at what happened in the Aviation ministry, where another super minister launched a national carrier in his head, it seems there were reasons some ministers particularly got emboldened to do certain things. 

    Also before Senator Tinubu, as he was called then, could declare his intention to run for the top position in the nation, there were some people close to him who threatened to deal with anybody at the NBC who stood on the path of their opaque businesses within the system. They were rebuffed with some level of foreboding. Another small paradox. As the owner of TV Continental (TVC), what will now be the relationship between the station and the regulator? Will the NBC have the gravitas to regulate the station and what will the President do? Will he swim in that dangerous water of conflict of interest?

    Permit me to quickly observe here that some people  who worked hard to frustrate Tinubu’s emergence as President may not have done so out of mere bile or hatred but out of fear, whether he will have the capacity to climb the moral high ground when it comes to taking hard decisions.

    Before swimming myself silly in the pond of pity, let me state the cases as they are. In the last administration, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was a super minister who could do no wrong before the President, no matter how he irritated the nation. Enjoying that level of influence in a nation of over 213m people, Mohammed simply went on a roll. NBC, one of the parastatals under him, became a major victim of power-grab. All the DGs that worked under him were harassed to no end, to do things that could kill one’s joy of returning to the office the following day, while two are still facing litigation, as he maintains a sanctimonious distance. 

    He wove his way into the system which he controlled through some surrogates, while also taking control of the licensing process and produced so many licenses, some of which were merely ratified by the NBC. The NBC Act 2004 frowns at such blatant power-grab but the Commission was helpless under the last administration and nobody spoke up for them. Ironically, the Act also empowers the minister to do anything, trample on regulatory decisions if he likes. Unfortunately the ordinary  people are the ones feeling the ambivalence of such a law. 

    Mohammed declared the Digital Switchover (DSO) a cardinal programme of the Buhari government. Again, he took hold of it and completely ruined the process. He domiciled the management in the ministry and left the curators of the project in the lurch. What the President Jonathan administration did became past tense and its replacement was a pronounced spoiler. The DSO became a drainpipe from which so many hidden mouths were drinking to stupor without evidence of work done. 

    If strange things happened at the NBC, it was worse at the NCC where the Minister simply took control of all the parastatals under him with the telecoms regulator as the home ground. The Communications Act 2003 is one of the best laws of this nation, carefully crafted to shield the regulator from politicians like Dr Isa Pantami who, as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, the digital aspect being a complete baloney to hoodwink the uninitiated, sat on the law and forced the NCC, which used to be one of the most powerful and effective regulators in the world, into a position of impotence. 

    I am not using words for their cheapness. This writer was privileged to visit different parts of the world or attend regional or global programmes with teams of the Commission. The minister was never embedded in those teams. If any was in the team, like at ITU, Mobile World Congress or any other programme in Geneva  or in other parts of the world,  he was there to represent the government in the area of policy. 

    Pantami was the real deal. He regulated the NCC from within. He took charge of the commission’s activities by filling the NCC board with surrogates and lackeys and also positioned his men in sensitive positions at the Commission, his own employees, who from all the grumblings within the system, were not working in the national interest. 

    Bad things happened at the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, and worse happened at the NCC. The final act was the NITDA amendment Bill which was intended to enable the little development agency swallow up the NCC. I hear some shameless senators passed that bill but was there time enough for a concurrence from the House?

    Under the instigation of a power drunk minister the senate decided to wipe the footprints of the NCC, an agency that should earn praises for single-handedly stimulating the growth of the nation’s economy from year 2001. Where were some of these senators then? 

    Herein lies the assignment for the new President. Does he have the capacity of a rebirth, to dig some of these parastatals out of the tunnel his party has plunged them? To look at some of the activities of his own party and tell Buhari, you did us wrong here? Some workers in the parastatals I mentioned prayed that the Buhari administration should come to an end, which it has. Can the President give these workers something to hope for, a tomorrow that has meaning where they can simply carry out their regulation? The answers may either give them succour or create another sorry but sustained impasse.