Categories: Technology

NCC doles out N500m for research in Nigerian universities

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has committed over N500 million to Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions across the country to facilitate research and innovations to promote developments in the Nigerian telecommunications industry.

Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Professor Umar Danbatta, who disclosed this at a two-day Regional Roundtable with Academia, Industry and Other Stakeholders, which ended in Kano recently, said the funds have been committed to research grants to universities and tertiary institutions, including professorial chairs in the universities in salient areas to drive technology development.

Danbatta said the Commission is now focused on supporting the academia in the commercialisation of the prototypes from these innovative researches as this is relevant to the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy’s policy towards achieving indigenous technology for sustainable development of our country. He said the roundtable organised by the Commission was to provide the necessary platform to support the commercialisation of locally- developed telecommunications innovations which NCC has been sponsoring.

“The Commission collaborates with the Academia in maximising the contributions of tertiary institutions to innovations and sustainable development of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry as finance is needed to drive the possible success of these endeavours. “ Danbatta said.

Danbatta said these efforts have enabled the Commission to contribute to national efforts to ensure overall growth of the industry and create wealth for innovators, saying all these are fundamental to the objective of the NCC’s R&D-oriented programmes.

On the basis of these, he said ideas, inventions, and improvements that emanate from academia are required by the industry for improved efficiency and productivity.

Danbatta said appreciable impacts had been achieved since the Commission reinvigorated research grants for telecommunications-based research innovations from Nigerian academics, focusing on the successful commercialisation of locally developed solutions to foster and deepen the uptake of indigenous technology by Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission NCC, Professor Adeolu Akande, has expressed worries over incessant theft and vandalisation of telecommunications infrastructure across the country.

This is just as he said the persistent challenges consumers were experiencing while making calls were mostly caused by the destruction and/or vandalisation of telecommunications infrastructure.

Akande, while speaking in Ibadan, Oyo State, during a Village Square Dialogue, a telecoms consumer outreach programme organised by the commission to sensitise the grassroots, emphasised the need to protect telecommunications infrastructure, stating that without proper and functioning telecoms infrastructure, “to communicate with families in long distances as well banking, finance, education and entertainment would be hard.

He added that the reason for engaging the grassroots in the fight against vandalisation of telecom infrastructure was because security agencies could not be at all the sites of the telecommunication infrastructure, hence the need for stakeholders and consumers to protect it.

According to him: “The decision to hold the event in Ibadan was borne out of pride of the town being the pace setter state and the most populous in black Africa.

“We are here in Ibadan to discuss one of the most important issues affecting the protection of telecom infrastructure; telecom infrastructure is important and we must ensure we take it as critical national infrastructure.

“We need the cooperation of members of the public and consumers to protect the infrastructures. We are doing this across the country to seek the support of Nigerians and telecommunication service providers.”

The NCC Director of Consumers Affairs Bureau, Mr Efosa Idehen, in his own remarks, said one of the mandates of the Commission was to protect, inform and educate the consumers on the need to guide and protect communication infrastructures, stressing that the protection of public infrastructure was a collective effort and not only meant for NCC.

“Let’s all work together to ensure that the infrastructure is protected for better and quality delivery,” he added.

The Chairman, Nigerian Lottery Regulatory Commission, Alhaji Fatai Ibikunle, in his goodwill message, commended the commission for effective regulation, just as he thanked the NCC Chairman for bringing the sensitization programme to Ibadan.

Chief Ademola Odunade, who represented the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Lekan Balogun, described the event as a welcome development, charging residents to cooperate with NCC towards securing telecommunication infrastructure in the ancient city.

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