The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has assured that NCC is committed to ensuring that the nation's workforce leverage telecoms and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for efficient service delivery in the public service.
Danbatta stated this in a brief remark at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Nigeria Civil Service Week Celebration, which commenced on Wednesday, September 25, 2019.
The programme, organised by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of Federation, started with a public lecture this morning at the Conference Hall of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs Head Office in Abuja.
Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by Dr. Henry Nkemadu, NCC's Director of Public Affairs, stated that public service remains the engine room of the Federal Government in the formulation and implementation of its policies.
He said NCC has never wavered in its resolve to partner with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the government - and implicitly the civil servants - towards creating improved digital ecosystem necessary to support the needed ICT requirements of the public and private sectors of the economy.
“At NCC, we believe telecoms and digital access is an enabler of economic development in both public and private sectors as it enhances the performance of the national workforce across sectors,” he said.
The NCC Chief Executive also reiterated the Commission's commitment to increasing the contribution of telecoms and ICT sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through improving the efficiency and performance of the civil service in the execution of government services.
Danbatta assured that NCC would continue to support and facilitate its digitisation programme to support the Federal Government’s agenda to deploy telecoms and ICT to improve the economy, enhance security of lives and property as well as fight corruption and corrupt practices.
“We, therefore, remain committed to giving a digital boost to the Next Level agenda of the Federal Government while we continue to look for ways to also leverage ICT to empower the Nigerian youths,” Danbatta affirmed.
The Guest Speaker at the public lecture, Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), focused his presentation on “Youth Empowerment and Migration: The Imperatives of Good Governance, Innovations and Effective Poverty Reduction Strategy.”
The illuminating paper by the NUC Chief Executive became the pivot of discussions by other discussants and participants from many MDAs who attended the event. Successively, speakers critically examined the role of local forces responsible for triggering the urge in the Nigerian youths to want migrate to other lands. Participants objectively recalled forces of attraction in other countries that make the Nigerian youth to migrate to other climes.
Many participants agreed that there is need for concrete poverty reduction strategy that can encourage the nation's young population to have more faith in the country rather than seek “greener pastures” abroad because the creative energy of the youth is needed for the development of the Nigerian economy.