Telecom
Automation, Next Stage of Service Delivery in Public Sector – Danbatta
Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said leveraging the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to automate service delivery should be the next frontier of excellent service delivery to Nigerians by public institutions.
L: R Bashir Bello, Head, Legislative and Government Relations, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs, NCC; Nnenna Akajemeli National Coordinator, Service Compact (SERVICOM); Ngozi Akinbodewa, Team Lead D, SERVICOM, and Clement Dogara, Head of Curriculum, SERVICOM Institute.
Danbatta made the assertion in a goodwill message presented on his behalf by NCC’s Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, at the opening ceremony of a three-day SERVICOM retreat, which started on December 1, 2021 at the Communications and Digital Economy Complex, Mbora, Abuja.
The retreat focused on, ‘Charter Performance Monitoring and Reporting’, was aimed at monitoring the implementation of the NCC’s Client Service Charter, identifying gaps, measuring and evaluating the progress of service delivery in the Commission.
SERVICOM, an acronym derived from Service Compact with all Nigerians, speaks to a special social contract between the Federal Government through its institutions (Ministries, Department and Agencies) and the Nigerian people that ensures services are delivered in a courteous, prompt and efficient manner.
Speaking at the event, attended by staff of NCC, Adinde said the NCC has been living up to its expectation as one of the public institution that has continued to implement the Service Charter with all its various stakeholders. The Director Public Affairs stated that the digital economy drive of the Federal Government should mean that more services be delivered online to the people of Nigeria and in a more efficient manner in line with the philosophy of SERVICOM.
He said the NCC is an important partner of SERVICOM in its journey towards service delivery and excellence, and invited the participants to recall that fact in the passion and commitment of Prof. Danbatta in ensuring that telecom service providers deliver optimal service to varied categories of stakeholders.
“Therefore, from our perspective as regulator of the digital ecosystem in Nigeria, we feel that automation of service should be the next stage of service delivery. While we have started this journey with the example of REMITA, which has brought about a lot of efficiency and transparency into the payment remittances by public and Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government,” Adinde stated.
On the implementation of the NCC Charter for SERVICOM, Adinde said the NCC boasts of one of the best and brightest brains that could be found in the public sector as civil servants, who are ingrained with good work ethics and culture. “Our staff are renowned for their warmth and geniality when dealing with internal and external stakeholders.
“They work as a team on the principle of achieving Specific Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound (SMART) objectives of the Commission,” he said.
Adinde also listed the roles of the Commission in collaborating with other MDAs in various ways, in order to achieve policy objectives of government in many fronts. He also highlighted a number of corporate social responsivity (CSR) projects of the Commission being implemented singly or jointly with other MDAs towards achieving the objective of government to serve the citizenry better.
As a further demonstration of the duty NCC owes telecoms consumers, whose interest must be protected in line with Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, Adinde said NCC created the Consumer Affairs Bureau in September 2001, to ensure consumer protection through policy development and monitoring, advocacy, as well as information and education of all shades of stakeholders.
“Consequently, NCC is one of the few MDAs that has a dedicated toll-free number, designed specifically for the escalation of issues between telecommunications service providers and consumers. We also constantly monitor the Quality of Service (QoS), ensuring that service delivery issues are within the acceptable key performance indicators (KPIs),” Adinde said.
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer of SERVICOM, Nnena Akajemili, in her remark at the event, commended NCC for contributing to the cultivation of effective communication between the Commission and its various stakeholders for improved service delivery.
Akajemili acknowledged the commitment of NCC towards facilitating major activities, even as she affirmed that the Commission had improved significantly in delivering its key regulatory functions.
Akajemili also observed that NCC went the extra mile in engaging its stakeholders as well as creating affinity between itself and its stakeholders.
Akajemili stated that she was particularly gratified by NCC’s contribution of 11.94 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), based on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report for the third quarter of 2021.
However, the SERVICOM Chief Executive beseeched the Commission sustain and expand on its collaboration with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) specifically in the area of data management, CSR, Value Added Services (VAS) and short codes, to enhance greater synergy among MDAs.
Bashir Bello, Head, Legislative and Government Relations, NCC and SERVICOM Nodal Officer at the Commission, said SERVICOM, as a service delivery initiative, requires everyone to put in his or her best in achieving desired objectives.
He emphasized the role of Management’s support, education, and commitment towards improving and consolidating the various SERVICOM interventions that had been initiated.
The event was attended by SERVICOM Team leads, departmental liaisons officers in the NCC, SERVICOM rapporteurs, and other staff of the Commission.
Dr. Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission – NCC has urged the newly inaugurated Nigeria IPv6 Council to develop a credible pathway to raise Nigeria’s IPv6 adoption from approximately 5% today to a level that places us among Africa’s leading nations within the next three years.
He stated this at the inauguration of Nigeria IPv6 Council in Lagos yesterday. Quoting APNIC’s 2026 global measurements, “Nigeria’s IPv6 adoption stands at approximately 5% while leading economies have surpassed 40%. Global IPv4 reserves are exhausted, while the rapid expansion of 5G networks, the Internet of Things, cloud services, and AI-driven applications has pushed the limits of legacy internet addressing.
“At the same time, the cyber-threat landscape continues to intensify. In this context, IPv6 is a strategic necessity for national competitiveness, security, and economic sovereignty.”
Dr. Maida urged the Council to drive collaboration between stakeholders to ensure alignment with the National IPv6 Deployment Strategy.
“To our operators, government colleagues, and enterprise partners, the time for the adoption of, and prioritisation of IPv6 deployment across your networks and platforms is now. Invest in training your technical teams,and ensure that your infrastructure and procurement pipelines are IPv6-ready by default. The investments you make today will determine Nigeria’s digital competitiveness tomorrow.”
The commission mandated the Council to establish a monitoring and reporting framework; Including providing quarterly progress updates to the Commission and an annual State of IPv6 Deployment report to the nation.
More so, drive capacity building and certification by partnering with AFRINIC, academic institutions, and professional bodies to train a critical mass of IPv6-certified engineers across Nigeria.
Champion public sector leadership by working with MDAs to migrate government networks, websites, and e-services to dual-stack or IPv6-native configurations, so that the public sector leads by example.
Engage industry players and the private sector, working with operators, ISPs, data centres, content providers, and financial institutions to remove deployment barriers and unlock private investment in IPv6 infrastructure.
They were also urged to advise on policy and regulation, recommending to the Commission the incentives, standards, and procurement guidelines required to accelerate nationwide adoption.
Mr. Muhammed Rudman, chairman of the Nigeria IPv6 Council in his presentation said that With IPv4 addresses exhausted worldwide, continued reliance on legacy resource creates scalability bottlenecks.
“Our growing digital economy is projected to reach $18.3 billion in revenue by 2026—requires modern addressing capabilities. Without urgent IPv6 transition, Nigeria risks being left behind as emerging technologies like 5G, IoT, and cloud services demand the expanded address space only IPv6 can provide
“IPv6 is essential for Nigeria’s digital transformation, providing the foundation for unlimited connectivity, enhanced security, and next-generation technologies that will drive economic growth and innovation.
“IPv6 provides 340 undecillion IP addresses, ensuring every device in Nigeria can connect directly to the internet without costly workarounds or address sharing.
“Built-in IPsec encryption improves network security. Enables IoT, cloud computing, AI, and smart city initiatives critical to Nigeria’s digital economy, he added.
As a catalyst for National Development, he said IPv6 enables expansion of digital services, e-commerce platforms, and fintech solutions, driving economic diversification and job creation across Nigeria.
“Expanded internet access reaches underserved communities while seamless device integration connects millions of Nigerians to the digital economy.
IPv6 provides the foundation for IoT deployments, smart city initiatives, and AI-powered services that will transform Nigeria’s technological landscape,” he stated.
Telecom
DG NITDA Calls for Urgent Action on AI-Driven Cyber Threats, Announces More Stakeholder Engagements
Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has raised concerns over the rapidly evolving cybersecurity risks driven by artificial intelligence, urging immediate and coordinated national action.
Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Speaking ahead of the formal inauguration of a proposed cybersecurity advisory council, Inuwa disclosed that the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy plans to convene at least two additional stakeholder engagement sessions.
According to him, the move underscores a deliberate commitment to inclusivity and transparency, mirroring the collaborative framework adopted in developing Nigeria’s National AI Strategy.
He explained that the increasing integration of artificial intelligence into everyday systems has significantly altered the cybersecurity landscape, introducing more complex and unpredictable threats.
“AI is changing the game and elevating the threat landscape. The more we integrate AI into our lives, the more we need to change the way we look at cybersecurity. There are two fundamental issues we need to think about,” he said.
The NITDA boss highlighted the dual nature of emerging threats, noting that cyberattacks are now being carried out both on AI systems and through AI technologies, thereby expanding the scope and scale of vulnerabilities.
He further warned about the rise of advanced AI-driven social engineering tactics, particularly the growing use of deepfake technology.
“We are also witnessing increasingly sophisticated AI-driven social engineering. The emergence of deepfakes makes it difficult to distinguish between AI-generated audio or video and authentic content.
“There have even been instances where such technology is used during virtual calls,” he noted.
“This is the reality of the world we live in today, and it is not a challenge any single entity can address in isolation. The only way forward is to strengthen collaboration and deepen synergy between governments and the private sector,” he added.
Inuwa stressed that cybersecurity resilience depends heavily on collective responsibility, cautioning that weaknesses within any single organisation could expose entire networks to risk.
“We are only as strong as our weakest link. If one entity is compromised, it creates risks for others within the network,” he stated, referencing recent incidents in which financial institutions were exploited to gain access to broader payment systems and even government infrastructure.
Commending the Minister for initiating the cybersecurity advisory council, the NITDA DG described it as a crucial platform for enhancing cooperation, facilitating information sharing, and building a more resilient national digital ecosystem.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to supporting the council and collaborating with stakeholders across sectors to strengthen Nigeria’s cybersecurity framework in the face of evolving AI-driven threats.
TikTok and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have partnered to launch the Digital Commerce Labs, a global initiative aimed at empowering small businesses and driving economic growth in Nigeria.
TikTok
The programme is designed to unlock digital commerce opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across select markets in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
In Nigeria, the initiative is being implemented with support from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF).
According to the partners, the programme will equip Nigerian entrepreneurs with digital skills, tools and resources to expand market access, increase revenue opportunities and build long-term business resilience.
They said the initiative would combine TikTok’s digital commerce tools and global reach with ICC’s expertise in international trade and its network of chambers of commerce to deliver training and mentorship.
The programme will be delivered through community engagement sessions, self-paced online learning modules and virtual classroom training led by industry experts.
Speaking on the initiative, Mr John W.H. Denton, Secretary-General of ICC, said the partnership would help create a more inclusive and accessible global economy.
He said the programme was designed to provide entrepreneurs with practical knowledge and tools needed to thrive in the digital age, while expanding opportunities across multiple markets.
Also speaking, Tokunbo Ibrahim, Acting Head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa at TikTok, said the initiative builds on the platform’s track record of supporting small business growth.
She noted that the partnership would help business owners move beyond visibility to achieve sustainable growth through effective use of digital tools.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek reports that the Digital Commerce Labs will be rolled out across 10 countries, with expansion planned across Africa and other regions later in the year.
Interested small business owners in Nigeria have been encouraged to apply to participate in the training programme aimed at enhancing their digital capabilities and scaling their operations.
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