By Emmanuel Adeleke
The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, will on Friday, January 27, receive the 2022 Regulator of the Year Award.
A statement issued by the commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, said Danbatta would receive the award at a ceremony in Lagos.
He said the award is based on the recognition of the professor’s transformational and inspiring leadership, which brought the effective regulatory regime in the telecoms sector, impacting positively on Nigeria’s digital economy ecosystem.
According to the statement, the EVC will stand tall before Nigerians at the event organised by Vanguard Newspaper Limited alongside other prominent personalities such as Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum; Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa; Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, as well as the Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and other Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in professional excellence and service to humanity.
Danbatta was described as a model to other African regulators.
“A respectable scholar and distinguished academic, Danbatta has displayed a no-nonsense mien in discharging regulatory functions, yet he is generally viewed in the industry as a calm and calculative leader who takes fair but firm decisions in his drive to steady the Nigerian telecoms environment. This has, no doubt, inspired many African regulators to adopt Nigeria’s model in order to revamp their regulatory activities.
“A professor of telecommunications engineering, Danbatta, before his appointment, had been the Acting Vice Chancellor at the Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST), and as a lecturer he has supervised more than 60 PhD, M.Eng and B.Eng projects in diverse areas of telecommunications.
“Danbatta, however, was not entirely new to the industry before he became the NCC boss, as he had a stint at the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), an international centre for advanced communications studies established in 2004 by the NCC for capacity building in diverse areas of Information and Communication Technology as the Vice President of the institute.
“His first five years in office witnessed an effective regulatory regime through cutting-edge initiatives, strengthening the role of the telecommunications sector as a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Currently leading the charge to achieve the Nigerian National Broad Plan 2020-2025, Danbatta was acclaimed for spearheading the predecessor campaign, which Nigeria attained and surpassed the 30% national target in 2018, from paltry 6% when he took over.
“The multiple award-winning professor also midwifed a highly successful 5G spectrum auction last year, while his strides in reviving the Emergency Communications Centers (ECCs) and the introduction of harmonized national emergency communication number (112) helped the NCC to win the International Public Relations Association Golden Award in the year 2021, because of a pivotal role they played in containing the COVID-19 pandemic.
“His stellar leadership style was recently rewarded by the organizers of the prestigious Zik Prize, as they bestowed on him the Zik Prize award for Professional Leadership.
“Danbatta earned BEng, MSc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland and received his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. Yet, in spite of his towering achievements, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, remains an epitome of modesty and humility,” the statement read.
