The multiple award-winning Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, Managing Director, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), Mr. Muhammed Rudman and Chief Executive Officer of Wisdom Computer Technologies, Mr. Francis Uzor would be leading a team of speakers at the 2023 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Africa Forum (NDSF) series on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) holding this Thursday, June 8, in Lagos.

Confirming this on Monday, the Lead Consulting Strategist, DigitalSENSE Africa and Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media, Mr. Remmy Nweke said that would address various aspects of the main theme ‘5G: Data Governance, Safety and Security in Nigeria.’

Nweke revealed that Prof. Danbatta of NCC would lead the speakers’ faculty with his keynote on the theme under the chairmanship of Prof. Adesina Sodiya, president of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS).

Just as the Vice President, Internet Society, Nigeria Chapter, Engr. Kunle Olorundare alongside, Mr. Rudman and Engr. Adebayo would be dwelling on “5G: Open Access & Role of Stakeholders” as a team of panelists.

While the CEO of Wisdom Computer Technologies, Mr. Francis Uzor would make a special subtheme presentation on “5G: Open Access & Role of Citizens” at the prestigious Welcome Centre Hotels, along the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Road, Lagos.

NDSF series on IG4D, powered by ITREALMS Media group and hosted by DigitalSENSE Africa, an At-Large Structure (ALS) certified by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), in collaboration with NCC alongside IXPN, ALTON, ISOC among others.

NCC under the leadership of Prof. Danbatta was in 2021 decorated with ITREALMS Telecom E-Waste Regulator Award

Nweke recalls that Danbatta who currently is serving a second term of five years in office, earned his BEng, MSc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and received his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).

Reputed to having successfully spearheaded the attainment and surpassing of Nigeria’s national broadband target in 2018, NCC led by Prof. Danbatta banks on effective regulatory regime and various cutting-edge initiatives, Danbatta has strengthened the role of telecommunications sector as a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and boosted telecoms investment inflows from $36 billion to over $70 billion since 2015, among others.

Before his appointment to lead NCC in 2015, Danbatta, who is a professor of telecommunications engineering, had worked in academia as lecturer where he supervised more than 60 PhD, MEng and BEng projects in diverse areas of telecommunications, rising to the position of Acting Vice-Chancellor in a Nigerian university.

He was the Vice-President of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), an international centre for advanced communications studies established in 2004 by the Commission (NCC) for capacity in diverse areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

While at DBI, Danbatta developed expertise in the following major areas of ICT implementation, policy and regulation, including Regulation of the Telecommunications Sector of the Nigerian Economy; Competition, Interconnection and Price Regulations in a Developing Economy; and Issues Concerning Authorization of Telecommunications Services in a Developing Economy.

Additionally, his expertise are strategies for ensuring Universal Access and Service to Telecommunications Services; Strategies towards Effective Spectrum Management in a Developing Economy; Issues on Institutional and Legal Framework for Effective Regulation of Telecommunications Services; and, New and Emerging Technologies and Impact on Regulation of the Telecommunications Sector of a Developing Economy, among others.

He is a recipient of scores of distinguished awards and certificates of honour both nationally and internationally, including the prestigious Zik Prize in Professional Leadership. His strides in reviving the Emergency Communications Centers (ECCs) and the introduction of harmonized national emergency communication number, 112, helped the NCC to win the International Public Relations Association Golden Award in the year 2000, as the centers played a pivotal role in containing the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

Prof. Danbatta has served two terms of five years as a Member of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He is a Fellow of many professional bodies, including the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAEng), Renewable and Alternative Energy Society (RAES) and Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE).

Towards the last quarter of 2022, Nigeria awarded three 5G licences across Airtel, MTN and Mafab among other sterling achievements of Danbatta.