As the three-day 2021 Board and Management Retreat (BMR) organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) draws to a close, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has re-emphasised Management’s confidence in the Board of Commissioners’ continued support in achieving the set targets and goals for advancing the telecoms industry’s growth.
Following Danbatta’s announcement, NCC Board of Commissioners Chairman Prof. Adeolu Akanade pledged to “go to the drawing board” to ensure the Commission is well positioned to carry out its mandates.
The Chairman stated that the Board of Directors will focus on problems that will help the regulator increase its ability to carry out its mandates more efficiently.
Speaking during the Retreat’s wrap-up event, which began on Thursday, November 11, 2021, and concluded on Saturday, November 13, 2021, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
Danbatta expressed trust in the Commission’s leadership, saying that the Board’s support has been critical to the Commission’s success.
“I must appreciate the Board of Commissioners under Prof. Adeolu Akande’s leadership for their support,” Danbatta said.
Prof. Akande has showed his commitment to work with management to ensure that NCC performs its tasks more efficiently and effectively since taking office as Chairman of the NCC.”
According to Danbatta, the NCC has consistently met stakeholder expectations as an effective, efficient, and independent regulatory agency of the Federal Government, as evidenced by the telecom sector’s contribution to the national economy.
“We would not have been able to accomplish our objectives without the Board’s unwavering support for the Management’s vision and mission.”
As a result, I applaud the Board for establishing the policy guidelines that will guide management’s everyday operations,” Danbatta stated.
Danbatta also praised the retreat consultants, led by Prof. Pat Utomi, for effectively coordinating the 2021 BMR and ensuring that the processes, deliberations, and brainstorming sessions at the Retreat were well facilitated.
This year’s strategic annual retreat of the Commission’s Board and Management, with the subject “Expect More, Deliver Results,” was attended in person and digitally by Board members and Senior Management Staff.
The retreat comes after the release of two significant documents: the 2020-2024 Strategic Management Plan (SMP) and the 2021-2025 Strategic Vision Plan (SVP).
The SMP replaced the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030), the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025), and the Federation Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan with the SVP, which is a condensed form of the SMP.
The SVP includes three supporting documents: implementation strategies and timelines, monitoring and evaluation framework, and implementation responsibility matrix, in addition to five central visions.
The SVP’s goal is to improve regulatory focus and efficiency in the NCC’s mission delivery.
In this backdrop, the Commission has centered this year’s retreat on taking stock of the year’s notable achievements and how the Commission expects to reinvent its approach to resolving industry difficulties impeding the consolidation of the telecommunications sector’s expansion.
An eight-point statement was read out at the end of the three-day Retreat as a summary of all the deliberations for submission to the NCC Board and Management to lead the Commission’s regulatory operations for the following year.
The communique’s implementation is intended to usher in a new era of optimism and commitment to making 2022 a year of greater innovation and growth for the telecom industry.
Annual Board and Management retreats have allowed the NCC, as a world-class regulatory body, to rejig its culture, methods, and strategic objectives for improved operational efficiency and regulatory excellence over the years.
