From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, has urged public institutions to leverage the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to deliver automated services to citizens.

A statement by the NCC on Tuesday disclosed that Danbatta made the call during the opening ceremony of a three-day SERVICOM retreat, which started on December 1 in Abuja.

The retreat, focused on ‘Charter Performance Monitoring and Reporting’, was aimed at enhancing the monitoring of the implementation of the NCC’s Client Service Charter, identifying gaps, as well as measuring and evaluating the progress of service delivery in the Commission.

Dabatta who was represented by NCC’s Director, Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, noted that the Commission had been living up to expectations as one of the public institutions that has continued to implement the Service Charter with all its various stakeholders.

He stated that the digital economy derived 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 his passion and commitment in ensuring that telecom service providers deliver optimal services to varied categories of stakeholders.

“Therefore, from our perspective as regulators of the digital ecosystem in Nigeria, we feel that automation of service should be the next stage of service delivery. While Nigeria has started this journey with the example of REMITA, which has brought about a lot of efficiency and transparency into the payment remittances by the public, and Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government,” Danbatta stated.

On the implementation of the NCC Charter for SERVICOM, the EVC said the Commission boasts of one of the best and brightest brains that could be found in the public sector as civil servants, and they 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.

Related News

He also listed the roles of the Commission in collaborating with other MDAs in various ways, in order to achieve policy objectives of the government on many fronts while highlighting a number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects of the Commission being implemented singly or jointly with other MDAs towards achieving the objective of government to serve the citizenry better.

He further noted that 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),” the NCC boss said.

Meanwhile, the National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer of SERVICOM, Nnenna 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 12.45 percent 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 to 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, in order to enhance greater synergy among MDAs.

Head, Legislative and Government Relations, NCC and SERVICOM Nodal Officer at the Commission, Bashir Bello, 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 liaison officers in the NCC, special rapporteurs, and some other staff of the Commission.