The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said it will continue to consult stakeholders on issues affecting telecommunication services deployments and developments.
This, it said, is in line with its culture of inclusiveness, collaboration and partnership as predicated on its strategic focus.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission (EVC), Professor Garba Danbatta, gave the assurance when he received a delegation of the Food Basket Foundation International (FBFI) during a courtesy visit to the NCC Headquarters, Abuja.
The delegation, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Funmi Akinyele, was received on behalf of the NCC EVC by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
Danbatta said the Commission is committed to strengthening its regulation of the telecommunication sector, particularly providing the solid infrastructure and general industry regulations.
Funmi Akinyele commended the Commission’s regulatory excellence, highlighting its effort in ensuring there are regulations, frameworks and guidelines to guard the telecoms sector and online civic space.
She however expressed concerns about the state of the social media with uncontrolled contents.
She said the visit to the regulatory agency is to explore areas of collaboration in its programme to protect the digital civic space by combating misinformation and disinformation.
Akinyele said FBFI is also seeking to mitigate risks to the digital civic space to ensure electoral integrity before, during and after the 2023 general election.
This initiative, she explained, is under one of FBFI’s projects, dubbed Safeguarding Digital Civic Space for Electoral Integrity (SDSEI).
Speaking further, Muoka informed the team that NCC is not responsible for the contents of the social media as there are other government agencies that responsible for that.
However he said the Commission has engaged in several aspects of protection of the users of the Internet.
These, he said, included initiatives such as Child Online Protection (COP), and deployment of the Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT), set up to monitor cyber-attacks in the Nigerian cyberspace.
He also disclosed that NCC-CSIRT is in addition to the activities of the Commission’s department of New Media and Information Security, set up to address issued of cybersecurity.
“We have tried not to be a closed organisation. We give lots of premiums to consultations and collaborations.
“[These are] especially in the areas that will ensure that the consumers and stakeholders understand what is going on and to make input that enriches the quality of regulations, as well as being able to access information they may require to safeguard themselves and the society,” he noted.
Muoka also invited the group to join the NCC in carrying out enlightenment campaigns to educate telecom consumers on their roles and responsibilities.
He said this became imperative in order to use the Internet and telecommunication platform safely to counter misuse and abuse.
