Ozioma Ubabukoh
The Nigerian Communications Commission on Monday said that it was in the process of trying to ensure the country had transformational leadership in the telecoms sector, in order to sustain its Gross Domestic Product contribution to the country.
“We can only achieve this by enthroning a leadership that will introduce new ideas, new ways of work, and with it-cannot-be-business-as-usual mentality; leadership that has vision and a compelling narrative about the future for all stakeholders in the industry,” the Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said.
“Unless and until we do this, we will not be able to sustain the contribution of the sector to the GDP, which currently stands at about 9.8 per cent,” he said.
He added, “We are mindful of what we have to do to sustain this resilience as indicated by all the figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics, which confirm the resilience and stability of the sector. That’s why we are taking these measures; measures that any regulator would proactively take to protect the industry.”
Danbatta hailed the new Code of Corporate Governance for the telecommunications industry recently activated by the commission, assuring stakeholders that code would usher in a crop of fresh and visionary leaders in the industry.
He, however, noted that the commission was not being reactive to the recent happenings in the industry with the activation of the fresh regulation.
The NCC, under his leadership, had introduced the mandatory Code of Corporate Governance for the telecommunications industry, which was hitherto voluntary.
The NCC executive vice-chairman said. “The corporate governance code had come before the recent happenings in the industry, meaning, we do not react to situations in the sector on ad hoc basis.
“However, where we have to come in to stave off undesired developments in the sector we don’t hesitate to do so. But more than that we also put proactive steps in place in order to ensure that the sector remains stable and resilient.”
Citing the example of the recent intervention of the commission to save 9mobile from total collapse, he said, “We intervened jointly with the Central Bank of Nigeria, consistent with an item of our eight-point agenda, strategic collaboration and partnership.”
Danbatta further stressed that with the activation of the new code, “the NCC is trying to ensure an enduring corporate institutional structure in place, with a view to sustaining stability in telecoms sector.”
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
source: http://ift.tt/2vZ5pwW
http://ift.tt/eA8V8J