The Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, Okukenu IV, has applauded the regulatory strides of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in ensuring accelerated growth of the telecommunications sector.
The Paramount Ruler gave the commendation when the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management (ECSM) of NCC, Mr. Adeleke Morounfolu Adewolu led a delegation to the state where the maiden edition of the Village Square Dialogue (VSD) was organised by NCC in Abeokuta.
The VSD, a version of the Telecom Consumer Conversation (a strategic, multi stakeholder consumer outreach programme of NCC), took place at the 92-year-old Centenary Hall, adjacent the Alake’s Palace.
The VSD is specially conceived by the NCC to interact with telecom consumers at the grassroots to sensitise telecom consumers through information sharing, education and advocacy on telecommunications-related issues.
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Oba Gbadebo, who was the Royal Father of the Day at the event, and was represented by Oluwo of Ake, Egbaland, Chief Samuel Tanimowo, said “One of the public institutions, whose activities are felt by the generality of Nigerians in many positive ways is NCC and the leadership of the Commission must be commended for its doggedness in ensuring that Nigerians enjoy the benefits of digital revolutions.”
The monarch, who was unequivocal in describing NCC as a flagship public institution positively impacting the lives of all Nigerians, also particularly commended Adewolu, an indigene of the state, for his positive representation of the people of Owu Kingdom, Ogun State, where he hails from.
The leading monarch’s assertion was underscored by the Iyaloja of Egbaland, Chief Oluwakemi Oloyede, who thanked the NCC for the sensitization programme, which she said, had benefited not only the market women and men who attended the event but also the entire telecom consumers present, who cut across social strata.
Earlier in his welcome address, Adewolu, who once served as a Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs in the State, called on the community leaders and people of Ogun State to take ownership of telecommunications infrastructure in their localities and protect them from vandalism or theft.
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He said Ogun State is central to telecoms growth in Nigeria in that it hosts one of the largest concentrations of users of telecoms services in Nigeria, with an active subscriber base of over eight million users as of the Fourth Quarter of 2021, according to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Addressing the audience further, Adewolu said telecoms services have long been recognised as the easiest and cheapest means of meeting critical socio-economic needs such as education, financial inclusion, economic empowerment and deepening social interactions.
Accordingly, Adewolu said the infrastructure through which these services are provided is called the “infrastructure of infrastructures” because they enable the digitization and seamless connectivity of all other socio-economic sectors.
Also at the event, NCC’s Director of Consumer Affairs (DCA), Efosa Idehen, made a presentation elucidating how NCC protects the interests, rights and privileges of telecom consumers. The DCA emphasized consumer obligations, especially in the area of telecoms infrastructure protection to ensure improved quality of service (QoS) and better quality of experience (QoE).
Similarly, a Principal Manager in the Technical Standards and Network Integrity (TSNI) Department of NCC, Kunle Olorundare, spoke on the contributions of telecoms to the economy, mobile network development, the benefits of telecoms, network outages and their causes, and he enjoined consumers to protect telecoms infrastructure.
“By protecting the infrastructure, you are protecting every service offered on the network. You are protecting your money (Mobile Banking), your Jobs (Recharge Card and Phone business), your children’s future (Learning on the internet) and even your community (Social communication),” Olorundare said to restate the centrality of telecommunications to individuals and businesses.