TECHDIGEST –  I was delighted when my big brother, Mallam Yushau Shuaib – a cerebral PR expert, writer and publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential – visited my family recently in London and requested that I write a review on his new book “Pantami: Trials and Triumphs of a Digital Economy Maestro.”

While I viewed his request as a special honour, the short notice however gives me a little concern. But being my benefactor, mentor and truly caring brother of nearly two decades, I had no option but to accede to his request.

From the cover, one could read the short blurb on the book by Professor Adeola Akande, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC).

According to Akande, the book is: “Much more than just being a chronicle of the vicissitudes of a respected scholar of the digital experience and faith, it is a testament to a crucial period in the life of a country.”

The chair of the NCC Board of Commissioners’ blurb set the stage for what readers should expect inside the revelatory contents of Yushau’s blockbuster, non-literary piece.

Pantami: Trials and Triumphs of a Digital Economy Maestro has four chapters with each having at least three topics.

In the book’s Chapter One titled: Personal Opinion, the author provides his previously published articles on the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. The articles include: That Friendly Call from the Scholar; The Memorable Visit for Digital Innovation; Authority on Cybersecurity and Datafication and Encounter with a Digital Economy Maestro.

The second Chapter of Yushau’s book is titled Inter-Agency Engagements, with topics that actually address certain inter-agency rivalries.

They include Resisting Multiple Telecom Taxation, The NIN-SIM Linkage Palaver and The War on Stamp Duty.

Similarly, the Chapter Three on Managing External Factors, illustrated major battles or challenges Profesor Pantami had to contend with during his tenure in office as the Minister. The topics are ASUU Battle over IPPIS-UTAS Payment System; On FUTO Professorship and Witch-Hunting or Boko Haram Saga?

Operational Exigencies is the title of the Chapter Four of Yushau’s latest publication, and therein one will find the following articles: NigComsat and the Fear of Privatisation; The Galaxy and Visibility and Record of Accomplishments.

I notice that most of the topics revolve around mandates and activities of agencies under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. Some of the agencies conspicuously mentioned in the book include the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Galaxy Backbone Limited, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), and the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST).

Some of the topics I found very interesting and intriguing are seemingly controversial. The author narrates how a very long ASUU strike was influenced over a disagreement on the payment system for Nigerian universities’ lecturers, among others.

In “Pantami: Trials and Triumphs of a Digital Economy Maestro,” the author chronicled the feats achieved by Pantami as Nigeria’s Communication and Digital Economy Minister since 2019, to include: the implementation of broadband connectivity across the country, reinvigorating Nigeria’s digital economy sub-sector, and the empowerment of citizens’ ICT skills.

Others are: the implementation of a Digital Identity Programme, implementation of a National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, digitalizing government functions and processes, as well as deployment of 4G across the country.

The controversy over the appointment of the Minister as Professor of Cybersecurity at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) and also, the debate on the Minister’s link to Boko Haram terrorism many years ago, were dispassionately analyzed by the author.

Yushau, equally, was very fair in his narrations, as he provided the genesis of the aforementioned thorny issues and how they all ended with the Minister’s triumph against his army of critics.

Using Pantami’s travails as a public office holder, the author observes (in his latest work) that the media are generally more inclined to celebrating conflict and crisis, even as they also, deliberately – and rather unfortunately – censor other crucial sides to stories that could temper the public drift towards hysteria.

As someone who marvels at Pantami’s erudition in both Islamic and Western education, I was appalled by the controversy that trailed his elevation to the rank of Professor by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO. As someone who detests being addressed as “Sheikh” to demonstrate his pedagogical humility, I expected the minister to, in the like manner, throw away the pulpy endocarp of the mango in order to get rid of the flies.

Indeed, I share the sentiment expressed by Yushau that Pantami, to some extent, triumphed over the endless trials, travails and tribulations that threatened his ministerial and professorial appointments.

As the fireworks intensified and the controversies raged such that the presidency was forced to take positions on some of the issues, one of the hidden facts, that is not stated in this book was that Mallam Yushau, a PR warlord, sat with his top commanders in his PR bunker in Wuye Abuja. He deployed his arsenals strategically and fired from the cylinders of traditional and new media with remarkable marksmanship. At the end of the day, the author’s PR warfare paid up. The rest are now history.

I think one day I will also write a book titled “An Encounter With A Spin-Master” in honour of Alhaji Yushau’s outstanding PR feats, just the way he authored “An Encounter With A Spymaster” in honor of Colonel Sambo Dasuki’s feats in espionage and military intelligence.

In conclusion, I recommend this latest edifying and intellectually stimulating book to PR practitioners, students, communication experts and players in digital innovation and ICT, among others. PR managers in particular will also find the book relevant in learning the ropes of solving dire image crisis.

Jaafar Jaafar,
Publisher, Daily Nigerian
Writes from London, United Kingdom

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TECHDIGEST – Two regulatory instruments under revision: the Annual Operating Levy Regulations (AOL) and the Frequency Spectrum (Fees and Pricing, etc.) Regulations will help in strengthening and ensuring a fair and competitive telecoms market in Nigeria, according to the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta.

This week in Abuja, the NCC organized a public inquiry on the two major regulatory instruments, notes a an official statement by the commission and signed by Director, Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde.

The first instrument on AOL ensures that all licensees are properly and equitably assessed for the annual levy as well as meeting both statutory and regulatory expectations. Its review is expected to bring the Regulations in line with current realities and sustain the enviable contributions of the communications sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The second instrument on frequency spectrum fee and pricing enables the commission to meet its sole and exclusive mandate in Section 21 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 by assigning the scarce national resource in an equitable manner. The Regulations also ensures that frequency spectrum are assigned and managed in a way that ensures fair pricing and efficient deployment of attendant services.

Speaking during the event, Danbatta said the public inquiry not only reflects the commission’s strategic mission and vision to ensure regulatory excellence through effective regulatory processes but also sign posts the commission’s consultative approach to all its regulatory initiatives.

He said the public inquiry was a precursor to the commission’s current drive to ensure efficiency in spectrum management and the unveiling of next generation services through varied enablers, adding that it was in this regard that the Commission issued a Spectrum Trading Guidelines (STG) in 2018, to ensure frequency Spectrum is readily available to licensees through an effective process.

“Furthermore, the commission has commenced the process of deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) technology in Nigeria and is driving the provision of such ubiquitous services on making frequency Spectrum available to the licensees. The efficacy and reliability of the initiatives will be hinged on proper market valuation of the frequency spectrum and fair assessment of levies,” he said.

NCC’s Danbatta Counseled On Why Regulations Must Keep Abreast Of Tech Trends At Book Launch On Telecoms Law
With the explosion in technologies, Danbatta said there has also been an attendant secondary reliance on different approaches to drive the best out of different frequency spectrum. He said this has led to the need for designation of several bands of frequency spectrum for communications services and a key illustration is the recent identification of some Spectrum frequencies for 5G deployment.

The EVC said the commission is conscious of the expectations and the need to ensure that all regulatory instruments are made ready to meet these challenges, adding that this has made the reviews which the Commission is conducting an important milestone as the public inquiry in pushing the country to the front queue of this global efforts.

“Hence, we must be prepared on both ends of the industry to prepare the country for these remarkable changes; while the licensees continue to invest in deployment, the Commission will sustain its drive by ensuring regulatory efficiency and excellence,” he said.

Danbatta further acknowledged that the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025, the National Digital Economy Policy & Strategy (NDEPS), 2020-2030 are all tailored to ensure that the commission deploys new initiatives, build regulatory efficiency and ensure market stability.

He said the policy documents highlight the central nature of frequency spectrum in meeting most of their baseline objectives. “This has made the ongoing review not just necessary but inevitable to facilitate the attainments of these objectives,” he said.

Presentations were made on the comments, inputs and recommendations received from external stakeholders on the two regulatory instruments prior to the public enquiry as well as the amended sections and new provisions made to the two regulations.

Participants at the event made valuable contributions and raised issues that would assist the commission in developing robust regulatory instruments that will continually contribute to the development of the industry and sustain its positive contribution to the nation’s economy.

The public enquiry was attended by the NCC’s Chairman, Board of Commissioners, Prof. Adeolu Akande; Chairman, Licensing Committee of the Board, Salman Abdul-Azeez; Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Ubale Maska; Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu; Senior Management staff and other industry stakeholders both physically and virtually.

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TECH DIGEST – The initiative by the Nigerian Communications Commission to establish information, communication, technology parks in all six geopolitical zones, will further boost the digital economy drive of the federal government.

In order to complement the efforts of the federal government in creating a digital economy for Nigeria, through its digital transformation initiative, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has commenced the establishment of information and communications technology (ICT) parks in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country and it is in the process of completing the first phase of the project in four of the six geopolitical zones.

The four zones include: Abeokuta for the South-west; Enugu for South-east, Maiduguri for North-east and Kano for the North-west.

According to NCC, when completed, it would boost digital skills acquisition among youths, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teaming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital transformation agenda of the federal government.

Chairman of the Board of NCC, Prof. Adeola Akande, who disclosed this, said the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), which is controlled by the NCC, is presently undertaking many projects to boost telecoms service, in collaboration with telecommunication companies.

“All these programmes are designed to meet the objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari, who re-designated the Ministry of Communications as Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. A digital economy is impossible without the widespread availability of telecommunications services and training facilities, which the ICT Parks seeks to address,’’ Akande said.

The ICT Park is an initiative of the Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, to provide innovation labs and digital fabrication laboratories (Fablabs) for use by ICT innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.

The Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) will provide a commercial hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills, create employment and entrepreneurial activities and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial Complex.

The ICT Park, when completed, will also provide capacity building to ICT startups and entrepreneurial activities across the country.

The parks are designed to provide fast broadband internet service and constant power supply. It comprises an area or location with concentration of all ICT facilities, which enables a concerted leap into the digital age by creating a dynamic environment in which local talent is incubated, cultivated, and shared.

ICT park is best tested and trusted institutional mechanism to address the needs of technology-intensive, knowledge-based Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The ICT Parks involve the construction and equipping of fully-functional modern training facilities, designed to drive digital skills for digital transformation.

Speaking on the ICT Parks project recently, Danbatta stated that the project was conceived and designed to support the federal government’s ICT-related policies and programmes by facilitating the availability and accessibility of ICT services across the country, promote their usage across all sectors and ultimately address youth unemployment in the country.

Designed to propel socio-economic transformation in the country, Danbatta said the ICT Parks would help build capacity for the teeming population of Nigerian youths in the areas of skill acquisition and innovation by complementing existing initiatives geared towards accelerating socio-economic transformation of Nigeria.

“The whole idea of putting the skill acquisition and innovation at the forefront of this very important initiative is to produce youths that can be self-reliant, generate employment for themselves and for other Nigerians,” he said.

Danbatta explained that based on its national structural spread, no part of the country would be left out as beneficiaries of the initiative. “The NCC ICT Parks Project is another move by the current leadership of the Commission to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy agenda of the federal government,” he said.

He added that the parks would support software development, incubation and hardware development. “We also hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network, which the Commission is deepening in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies,” Danbatta said.

He therefore urged the potential and would-be beneficiaries of the project, especially the youths, to be ready to leverage the initiative as it promises to empower them socially and economically.

“I would like to send out a very important message to our youths, especially those who are currently occupied with various innovative applications, those who have acquired the skills but are looking for where to put the skills into fruitful engagements, by incubating them, commercialising them, or giving publicity to these excellent initiatives, to be ready to leverage the facilities,” Danbatta said.

The NCC has been commended on the parks. The latest commendation came from the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, when he recently visited the Kano site of the ongoing construction of an ICT Park by the Commission for the North-west zone.

The governor acknowledged the efforts and commitment of the Danbatta-led NCC in ensuring increased digital access for fast-tracking digital innovation across Nigeria and the North-west in particular, saying the initiative will trigger socio-economic transformation of the area in no distant future.

According to Ganduje, “Realising that a major project that resonates with the global vision for the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is being vigorously driven by NCC leadership, shows the kind of socio-economic transformation we should expect through ICT across Nigeria in the next few years.

“For the ICT Park being built in Kano to serve the North-west zone, the government and citizens of Kano State are grateful to Danbatta and the NCC team for bringing development to the state and the zone at large.”

He also applauded the quality of the construction work being undertaken by the NCC on the ICT Park and expressed appreciation for the foresight of the NCC for accommodating an expansion plan at the project site.

Shedding more light on the ICT Park project, Danbatta, who recently visited one of the parks being built in Maiduguri, in the North-east geo-political zone, said the NCC decided to embark on the important project in order to decentralise ICT Parks in all the six geo-political zones of the country.

Danbatta, however, stated that the commission started with four zones at the moment. These include the ones located in Abeokuta for the South-west; Enugu for South-east, Maiduguri for North-east and Kano for the North-west.

The projects, he said, are being implemented with a view to building capacity, exposing Nigerian teaming youths to capacity building initiatives in the areas of skills acquisition and innovation.

Danbatta said the project, which is consistent with global best practices, has targeted areas of in each of the zones with large concentration of youths.

He promised that, because of its design to have a national spread, the Commission would ensure that no part of the country would be left out of the initiative and insisted that every part of Nigeria would experience the initiative at different times.

Speaking on the expectations from the ICT Parks, Danbatta said: “As I said, we have four ICT parks, which are at different stages of development. Going forward, we hope to see software development, incubation, including, even, hardware development. Above all, through the NCC ICT Parks, we hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network, which the NCC is trying to deploy in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies.”

According to the NCC boss, as the commission deepens broadband access to achieve the 70 per cent broadband penetration target by 2025, as enshrined in the current National Broadband Plan, the Commission, through the ICT Park, would build a pool of digital skills and literacy in line with the country’s National Digiotal Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

“As you may be aware, one of the eight pillars of the NDEPS is Digital Skills and Literacy and in this regard, NCC is supporting this critical pillar of the digital economy agenda. This is because, when we provide resilient broadband infrastructure platforms, there is a need for us to encourage local technology products and applications that will ride on the infrastructure toward developing the country’s overall socio-economic ecosystem in a sustainable way,” he said.

Optimistic that the ICT Park initiative will benefit Nigerian youths immensely, Danbatta encouraged them to take advantage of the initiative to acquire the digital skills needed for digital transformation.

According to him, “These centres will be used to showcase innovations to the global community and very soon, there will be light at the end of the tunnel. These various initiatives by the youths in areas of apps development, and other initiatives, will be achieved through the ICT Parks.”

“This is because the ICT Parks will become centres where Nigeria will be showcasing, not only to potential investors in this country but also to the international communities, who definitely will be interested in some of these important applications from Nigerian youths,” Danbatta further said.

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