The Agidingbi neighbourhood and the adjourning settlements felt the unusual presence of persons of all status yesterday when the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, stormed The Blue Roof Events Centre to unveil the YEAR OF THE NIGERIAN TELECOM CONSUMER campaign, earlier launched in Abuja on March 15, 2017, the day set aside by the global community as the World Consumer Rights Day.
Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCC, told the audience in Lagos that the Nigerian telecom consumer represents the organic springboard of the exponential growth in the telecom industry in Nigeria, adding that the consumers as a collective “made all the success stories we speak about in telecom possible” and thus deserve special attention.
“Today’s event emphasizes the centrality of Lagos State as the telecommunications hub of Nigeria. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics in its first quarter telecommunications sector report for 2016 placed Lagos voice subscriber base at 19.04 million or 12.8% of the country’s subscribers, and 12.62 million Internet subscriptions or 13.65%. The state is home to many of the key players in the telecommunications sector so it is understandable that is has been selected as the flag off city after the major event in Abuja on March 15 2017”, Danbatta told a medley of elated and enthusiastic audience including the representative of the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Right Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, former Minister of Defence, Honourable Ademola Seriki, top management staff of NCC and the telecom companies as well as a broad spectrum of other stakeholders.
The campaign, Danbatta emphasized, was conceptualized by NCC to amplify the education of the consumer on several initiatives instituted by the Commission to improve the Quality of Service (QoS), to protect and educate the consumer on steps to be taken to redress the challenges of telecom subscription, and thus reiterate the position of the consumer as the preeminent stakeholder of the telecom industry.
Earlier, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, Mr. Sunday Dare, had indicated in his remark at the occasion that the drivers of the NCC 2017 Year of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer campaign are the 2442 Do-Not-Disturb Service Code, the 622 toll free complaints line, Quality of Service (QoS), and correcting misrepresentations about Electromagnetic Field (EMF) radiation. These are the areas the information provided in the course of the campaign would focus on.
Danbatta proceeded to amplify this position and referenced the 8-Point Agenda of NCC Management as the originating compass for the initiative particularly items TWO and SIX that speak to improving QoS, and protecting the consumer. He emphasized that the Commission is closely monitoring, tracking and reviewing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of operators and promised that greater efforts would also be put in place to ensure compliance monitoring and enforcement of set standards.
Yesterday’s event, where many consumers went away with fantastic prizes, signified another milestone in the campaign which also involves Consumer Conversation - a replica of the municipal campaigns that takes place concurrently in semi-urban and rural areas, and essentially driven by NCC zonal offices across the nation.