Mobile Phone Subscribers Stands At 124m-NCC

Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), says mobile telephone subscribers has increased to about 124 million in the country which translates to 64 percent, the highest in sub-Saharan African

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Dambatta, stated this in a keynote address at the opening of a  2-day Kano Social Influencers’ Summit organized by the Centre for  Information Technology and Development (CITAD) on Tuesday.

Prof. Umar Dambatta said the feat was achieved with the enhanced access to telecommunication and improved fiber optics.

He though decried the poor quality of services by most of the telecommunication operators restating the commitment of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) in conducting its regulatory functions and ready to effect sanctions where necessary.

The NCC Boss while speaking on corporate social responsibility and special intervention by the commission lamented that N1.5billion special intervention fund for tertiary institutions was not accessed last year.

He noted that N500 million was earmarked in 2019 by NCC for Special Social Intervention Fund which is also yet to be accessed by public schools in the country.

The fund is set up to provide infrastructure in public schools as part of the commission’s corporate social responsibility, ‘’said Prof. Dambatta.

According to him, maybe many state governments are not aware of this special intervention fund in the NCC.

“So I am going to make this information available at the disposal of those who are listening to this program that NCC has social intervention fund for 2019.

“This is in addition to interventions we have been making in all spheres of human endeavors, especially in the Universities, Polytechnics, government colleges, and secondary schools.

“But this one is a special intervention fund that is dedicated to renovating schools, providing schools with furniture, provision of a borehole in institutions without one and so on,” he said.

The NCC boss added:  ” We have defined the criteria among which we assess and verify if the intervention is really needed.

“Application can be made specifying what the beneficiary institution or entity is interested in.

“And we will go and take a look, assess and evaluate if that intervention is critical to the progress and development of the particular entity that is making the request.”

Speaking on the objectives of the program, Maryam Ado Haruna of CITAD, said the event is a forum where modern advocacy tools and strategies will be showcased for Civil Society Organisations and to instill zeal and interest of productive use of social media.

The opening session which was chaired by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor ( Administration) Bayero University Kano, Prof. Haruna Wakili received goodwill messages from telecommunication stakeholders and Executive Director MacArthur Foundation, Africa Office, Dr. Kole Shettima.