Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has bagged an Award of Exemplary Leadership in Public Service.
The award was conferred on him, on Friday, at the 12th Anniversary Lecture and Award of Nigerian NewsDirect, at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Danbatta, represented at the event by the Director, Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, said it was gratifying to have been considered worthy for the award in recognition of the initiatives deployed by the Commission in carrying out its statutory mandate.
The EVC said the theme, “Good Governance: Private and Public Sectors’ Roles in Raising Revenue, Growth and Positive Turnaround of Nigerian Economy”, provided a veritable opportunity for all stakeholders to seek better ways of advancing the course of good governance, both in public office and in the private sector.
He gave a concrete expression to the strategic vision of the Commission with respect to the theme of the programme.
Danbatta said the Commission is ever determined to ensure collaboration with all stakeholders in the Nigerian communications industry and even beyond as it remains one of the surest ways of enabling a positive turnaround of the Nigerian economy.
Danbatta thanked the organisers of the programme for the award and acknowledged that it was a call for more work to be done to push the frontiers of good governance that ensures national development and economic growth.
Presenting the award, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian NewDirect, Dr Samuel Ibiyemi, said Danbatta was qualified and deserving of the recognition on the strength of the huge role he has played in the attainment and surpassing of Nigeria’s national broadband target of 30 per cent in 2018.
He added that the NCC EVC is currently among those leading the charge for the realisation of the new national broadband penetration target of 70 per cent by 2025.
Dr Ibiyemi said, with the incontrovertible facts on the ground, the board and management of his organisation agreed that Danbatta has stabilised the telecom industry and strengthened the telecommunications sector as a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
He said the NCC EVC was able to achieve the feat through an effective regulatory regime and various cutting-edge initiatives.
Ibiyemi further said Danbatta had boosted telecoms investment inflows from $36 billion to over $70 billion between 2015 to date.
Other eminent Nigerians conferred with various categories of awards at the event included the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami.
Other awardees included the governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun; Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Bello Hassan; and Chairman, Benue State Internal Revenue Service, Mimi Adzape, among others.
