What Nigerians Expect From the New EVC of NCC, Aminu Maida
- President Bola Tinubu recently appointed Aminu Maida as Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC
- Maida's distinguished position comes with a lot of expectations from many common Nigerians
- His track record shows him to have a long roll of achievements in his previous positions
For a couple of years, Emmanuel has wanted to relocate from Lagos. This desire intensified after he secured his first foreign job as a front-end developer. Still, when he remembers the poor internet service he has to deal with anytime he travels to his hometown, he'd rather stay back.
For Emmanuel, the government does not need to provide him with a job. He has that already. He is not looking to get empowered with some skills, either.
For Emmanuel, a working government means unwavering internet pen*tration, preferably with multiple provider options, in his village.
Source: UGC
Emmanuel is not alone in this need. In a matter of days, Nigerians will start travelling to their hometowns for the Christmas celebrations.
By then, staying out of touch with friends and family for days will become common because of the poor network connectivity in those areas.
Some will have to travel to the next village in search of network to do a little WhatsApp chat or view some reels on IG.
When one begins to think about just how rapid development could get to the rural areas if there were good internet pen*tration or even sufficient service to make good calls, then one begins to appreciate the fact that President Bola Tinubu has said his core areas of focus would be job creation, and enabling a digital economy.
The big question now is, when does this come to pass?
Just two months ago, the President made several appointments under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, which would naturally be the ministry to oversee this goal.
Critical among these appointments is that of Dr Aminu Maida as the new Executive Vice Chairman (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Regarding anything about Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) or internet pen*tration in Nigeria, this is the commission to hold responsible.
Dr Bosun Tijani, the Minister, Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, stated clearly in an interview with Seun Okin on Channels TV that the NCC is shifting focus from "Quality of Service" to wholesale "Quality of Experience" with a focus on the consumer experience with the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), not just the service rendered.
As Tijani said, the goal is to at least double the number of kilometres of fibre optic cables in Nigeria within the next three years.
This will help in no small way to deliver the targeted data download speed of 25Mbps in urban areas and 10Mbps in rural areas by the end of 2025, deepen broadband pen*tration to 70% and reach the underserved areas.
In simple terms, the NCC will focus on ensuring effective broadband infrastructure diffusion across the length and breadth of Nigeria, translating into affordable and reliable broadband services.
Upon resumption, Dr Maida showed that he clearly understood the task before him. Here's an interesting excerpt of his speech, something to prove that he has Nigerian youths like Emmanuel at heart.
He said:
“Considering the fact that many people are going more digital and virtual in everything they do, the telecom infrastructure is now under much stress.
President Tinubu’s vision emphasises the need to build more robust broadband connectivity that will not only facilitate seamless digital transactions but also serve as the bedrock for e-governance and other socio-economic initiatives.
“As such, we would align with this aspiration to increase broadband pen*tration to 70 per cent and to cover 90 per cent of the population by 2025. Therefore, we need to build a reliable telecom industry…”
Maida's track record
What in Dr Maida's track record suggests he will deliver on this promise? Or will it be another issue of too much talk and less work?
In his most recent role as Executive Director, Tech & Ops, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), he oversaw a $30m+ digital transformation at NIBSS to modernise the platforms by taking advantage of Cloud technologies, APIs 1st approach and adopting an Agile/DevOps culture.
Joining NIBSS in 2019, he developed strategies that stabilised the space and built confidence while maximising shareholder yields.
He also worked as Chief Technology Officer at ARCA Payments before that. In addition to managing people and resources, he was a part of the team that successfully funded $7m.
Maida also worked for foreign companies like Cisco Systems UK and British Telecoms UK, UbiquiSys Ltd UK and EE Ltd UK.
All of these point to the fact that if there will be any obstacle to achieving these goals, it will never be one of competence. There is hardly any task before Maida that he has not already achieved.
President Bola Tinubu and the presiding minister, Dr Bosun Tijani, have also made statements of commitment to the goal, so based on all publicly available information, there is an abundance of political will to get this bus on the road.
President Tinubu appoints CEOs for NIPOST, NCC, NITDA, others
In related news, Legit.ng earlier reported that President Tinubu approved the appointment of new and returning Chief Executive Officers for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and others.
The other agencies are the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) and Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
The Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, said the fresh appointments are under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
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Source: Legit.ng
