The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta was inducted as a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering on 21st June 2018 at the University of Lagos.
The EVC and other new fellows of the academy were inducted during the 2018 Annual Lecture of the NAE and investiture ceremony of the 10th president of the Academy.
According to the NAE, Professor Danbatta was selected because he is an erudite engineer and astute administrator whose administration in the Commission has tremendously transformed the telecom sector and grown Nigeria’s broadband penetration from 8% to 22%, according to the ITU-UNESCO Broadband Commission.
Professor U.G Danbatta said he feels personal fulfilled, as an engineer and an administrator of human and material resources, to be inducted as a Fellow of the NAE.
He said, “this is an honour to the Nigerian Communications Commission as a corporate body and to the Executive Vice Chairman. It is an honour that will spur us on to work harder in order to deliver on the mandate assigned to us courtesy of the Nigerian Communications Act establishing the NCC.
“Through this recognition, we are going to continue to ensure delivery of efficient telecommunications services to the people.”
He reiterated that it is important to recognize that there is a lot of talent within the Nigerian university system and government has deemed it appropriate to tap these talents and motivate them to drive the economy in the various sectors.
Professor Danbatta has served two terms as a Member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE) and a Fellow of the Renewable and Alternative Energy Society (FRAES).