More acclamations are coming the way of the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, FAEng, and the telecom regulatory agency for successfully helping the country to surpass its 30% Broadband penetration target at the end December 2018.
It could be recalled that Nigeria, under its National Broadband Plan 2013-2018, had set the target of 30% broadband penetration by the end of last year, and the NCC was mandated to drive the process.
However, while there was palpable concern that the country would not meet the target as the penetration level was mere 8.5 % in 2015 when Prof Danbatta took over the mantle of the commission’s leadership, 31.48% was achieved at the end of December, 2018.
In a statement signed by its President, Abdaullahi Sani Ya’u, the National Alliance of Youth for Development, described the feat as worthy of celebrating by all and sundry.
“In a country notorious for missing vital national policy targets, what Prof Danbatta-led NCC achieved is worthy of recognition. We, as members of an organization that is deeply interested in development of the nation, are particularly thrilled by what the NCC is doing especially in the area of broadband and ICT development generally,” the statement noted.
Speaking further, Ya’u praised President Muhammadu Buhari for “putting a square peg in a square hole by appointing Prof Danbatta to superintend over the affairs of the nation’s telecom market, the biggest in Africa”.
“No doubt, Prof Danbatta is one of the best appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari. Achieving the broadband target and his other giant strides at the NCC stand him out,” Ya’u observed.
