NCC at PR stakeholders Conference
L-R: Mr Sina Thorpe, Council Member, NIPR; Mrs Nnena Ukoha, Head, Corporate Communications, NCC: Mrs Comfort Obot Nwankwo, Chairman, NIPR Lagos and Conference Convener, Mr Olabamiji Adeleye, Lead Consultant, Addefort Limited at the 9th Lagos PR Stakeholders’ Conference on Leadership and Poverty Eradication on Thursday August 18, 2022.
NCC at PR stakeholders’ Conference
L-R: Mr Sina Thorpe, Council Member, NIPR; Mrs Nnena Ukoha, Head, Corporate Communications, NCC: Mrs Comfort Obot Nwankwo, Chairman, NIPR Lagos and Conference Convener, Mr Olabamiji Adeleye, Lead Consultant, Addefort Limited at the 9th Lagos PR Stakeholders’ Conference on Leadership and Poverty Eradication on Thursday August 18, 2022.
Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission,NCC,
Professor, Umaru Danbatta has said that Nigeria and Nigerians must explore opportunities in the Digital Economy to eradicate poverty.
NCC committed to bridge infrastructural gap through broadband penetration -Danbatta
The NCC chief executive spoke on Thursday at the 9th Lagos Public Relations Stakeholders’ Conference on Leadership and Poverty Eradication.
Represented by Mrs Nnena Ukoha, Head, Corporate Communications,he called on Nigerians to explore opportunities in the Digital Economy to eradicate poverty in the country.
Speaking on the topic, Poverty Eradication in Nigeria: Leveraging Opportunities in a Digital Economy, he noted that ”For most developing countries, particularly those with large populations, inadequate infrastructure has made it difficult to participate as equal partners in the worldwide enterprise of knowledge production and dissemination. This portends an unequal distribution of access, resources and opportunities in this new economy, the Digital Economy. To avert the birth of a new type of poverty (Information Poverty), the ICT gap (digital divide) between the developed and developing nations must be bridged.”
That Nigeria like most developing nations is not enjoying the full benefits of the ICT revolution due to inadequate telecommunication infrastructure, capacity to maintain existing infrastructure, and policies for equitable public participation as producers and consumers of information and knowledge.
“A nation’s development is measured in economic terms such as per capita income, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and Gross National Product (GNP), among other indices. Indices such as level of literacy, social development, human capital development, cultural innovation and technological preparedness are not regarded as a measure of development. If we must tap into the ICT revolution, then it is time for a paradigm shift! The traditional economic terms are not a reflection of the new age of the Digital Economy “he said.
On efforts made by the Nigerian government, “There are several past and ongoing efforts by the Nigerian Government to alleviate poverty through ICT using organizations and programmes like the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA), using the offices of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) across the country as ICT hubs, the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to ensure that telecommunications services are accessible to the widest number of people (and communities) at affordable prices.
