The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has detailed some of the important steps it is taking to guarantee that businesses and individual telecoms consumers in Nigeria benefit from broadband and internet connection.

The Commission also highlighted the importance of the continuing execution of the new Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025 and its Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) 2021-2025 in driving the development of innovative technologies and local content in the country.

According to Adeleke Adewolu, NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management (ECSM), who spoke during a breakout session at the Nigerian Bar Association’s 2021 Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, the NNBP is one of the primary policy instruments that guides the sector’s development.

 
“The Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025 has four critical pillars which are:  Infrastructure, Policy, Demand Drivers and Funding/Incentives,” he said.

He asserted that the NNBP is unique in many respects, adding that it clearly defines ‘broadband’ for Nigeria as “connectivity delivering a minimum of 10 Mbps in rural areas and a minimum of 25 Mbps in urban areas to every Nigerian at an affordable price and quality.”

 He said the Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) 2021-2025 is a template developed by the NCC to streamline regulatory focus for better efficiency, in alignment with relevant policy instruments.

“For the next five years, the Commission is focusing its energies on five strategic pillars.

These are, according to him, “Organizational renewal for operational efficiency and Regulatory excellence; Provision of infrastructure for a digital economy which fosters national development; Improved Quality of Service (QoS) for enhanced Consumer Quality of Experience (QoE); Promotion of fair competition, inclusive growth, increased investment and innovative services; and Strategic Collaboration and Partnership,” he emphasised.

Adewolu declared that “the impact of connectivity on businesses and the economy, in terms of the impact of internet connectivity on businesses and the national economy is well documented.”

He recalled that 10 per cent increase in mobile broadband penetration results in approximately 0.6 per cent to 2.8 per cent rise in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He affirmed that everyone is a witness to the revolutionary impact of the internet connectivity for agriculture, health, education, information and communication, as well as entertainment.

“This is besides notable revolution in banking and financial services as we can see in the deployment of Automated Teller machines (ATMs) and banking software.

 “All industries now rely on internet connectivity provided by our mobile networks to function, such that it is impossible to imagine life without connectivity.

“In concrete terms, the Nigerian telecommunications industry has continued to lead national economic growth,” he said.

According to him, in recent years, the telecoms sector has consistently driven the growth of the Nigerian economy and has provided critical infrastructure powering the digital transformation of practically all spheres of life.

Adewolu said that in the second quarter of 2021, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector sustained its growth trajectory and contributed 17.9 per cent to national GDP.

He attributed this to the growth in the telecoms sub-sector. “This trend demonstrates how much our industry is supporting the achievement of Government’s drive to diversify Nigeria’s economy and to ensure inclusive growth across all other sectors,” he said.

 According to the ECSM, in practical terms, it is difficult to imagine how Nigeria and indeed the global economy could have fared without the internet during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He insisted that the fact that the conference was holding in hybrid format was just an indication of the benefits that connectivity, which the Commission is driving, brings.

On local content, Adewolu stated that all the major policy instruments emphasised the need for Nigerians to take bigger roles in the ownership and management of major spheres in the sector.

He also added that Mr. President recently launched the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector, which articulated very clear policy objectives and strategies for increasing local participation.

 “It would interest you that the NCC has established a National Office for the Development of Indigenous Content in the Telecommunications Sector (NODITS) to drive the attainment of Policy objectives,” he said.

 Adewolu contended that, taken together, the instruments enable NCC to aggressively drive infrastructure development, ensuring that available, accessible and affordable access to broadband infrastructure and services for all Nigerians are safeguarded.

He expressed hope that, by the end of the NNBP’s life-cycle, the country will achieve the target of reaching an effective coverage of, at least, 90 per cent of the population at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data.

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Dr. Ikechukwu Adiind, Director of Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission, and Mr. Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), issued a joint statement urging citizens and legal residents to complete the process by the end of 2021.

Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has received approval from the Federal Government to extend the deadline for the National Identity Number (NIN)-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) data verification.

The decision to extend the deadline was made in response to requests from Mobile Network Operators and other industry players for a further extension to guarantee better compliance with the government’s direction and avoid expanding the digital gap, according to the statement.

The statement reads :”The extension would also provide the enabling environment for the registration of Nigerians in remote areas, diaspora, schools, hospitals, worship centres, as well as foreigners, diplomatic missions, those in other areas that were hitherto unreachable, and increase enrolments in countries with a significant number of Nigerians.

“The review of the progress of the exercise indicated that over 66 million unique National Identity Numbers (NIN) have been issued- an indication of progress achieved in the ongoing NIN-SIM linkage.

“However, a significant part of the populace is yet to be registered into the National Identity Database (NIDB), which may be due to some challenges which the Federal Government has looked into and has made efforts to alleviate, hence the need to extend the deadline.

“As of October 30, 2021, there were over 9,500 enrolment systems and over 8,000 NIN enrolment centres within and outside the country- this has significantly eased the NIN enrolment process and subsequent linkage of NIN to SIM.

“The NIN-SIM verification process is supporting the Government’s drive to develop Nigeria’s digital economy, strengthen our ability to protect our cyberspace and support the security agencies.

The statement continues :”The administration of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has graciously approved the extension to accommodate the yearnings of the populace and make it easier for its citizens within and outside the country, and legal residents to obtain the NIN and link it with their SIM.

“The Federal Government will ensure that all innocent, law abiding citizens and residents will not lose access to their phone lines as long as they obtain and link their NIN.

“Government will also continue to provide an enabling environment for investors in the telecommunications sector.

“The unique 66 million NIN enrolments, with an average of 3 to 4 SIMs linked to the NIN, is a testament to the commitment and dedication of the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), to ensure the success of the project.

“With the creation of additional NIN enrolment centres within and outside the country, and many more coming up, the remaining citizens and legal residents living in the country and the diaspora should be able to obtain their NINs and link them with their SIMs before the end of the year.

“Consequently, the Honourable Minister enjoins Nigerians and legal residents to make use of the opportunity of the extension to enrol for their NINs and link with their SIMs.

“On behalf of the FGN, the Honourable Minister, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, and the Director-General/CEO of NIMC, Engr. Aliyu A. Aziz, urge citizens and legal residents to take advantage of the window to complete the process of enrolment and verification before the end of the year 2021,” the statement said.

The reported invasion of Justice Mary Odili’s residence by a Joint Panel Recovery team of the Federal Government on Friday, which included the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigerian Police, and the Federal Ministry of Justice, has drawn widespread condemnation.

The panel had broken into the Abuja home of a high-ranking Supreme Court Justice, claiming to have a warrant from Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna to search Dr Peter Odili’s home.

Dr. Peter Odili, who served as Governor of Rivers State from 1999 to 2007, is Justice Mary’s husband.

Dr. Odili is a medical doctor who served as the deputy governor of Rivers State from 1992 to 1993.

Dr. Odili obtained a perpetual injunction against the EFCC from a Federal High Court on March 5, 2008.

The injunction specifically prevents the anti-graft agency from probing Dr. Odili on the operations of the Rivers state government between 1999 and 2007, when he was governor.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja recently granted an order of perpetual injunction against Immigration, prohibiting the agency and its agents from harassing, intimidating, or infringing on Odili’s fundamental right to freedom of movement within and beyond Nigeria.

Dr. Odili filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit on August 25, challenging the seizure of his international travel documents by Immigration officials. Justice Ekwo issued the order in a judgment.

Among other things, the court ordered the Nigerian Immigration Services to promptly release the former governor’s foreign passport to him.

Without a proper court order, Justice Ekwo ruled that it was illegal for Immigration to claim that the EFCC had directed it to seize Dr Odili’s international passport.

“The Commission by this statement wishes to inform the public that the report is false as it did not carry out any operation at the home of Justice Odili.

“If there was any such operation as claimed by the media, it was not carried out by the EFCC. The Commission enjoins the public to discountenance the report” Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s Head, Media & Publicity stated.

Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail the action of the Federal Government.
Aggregate views of some Nigerians were that it was wrongful of the Federal Government agency under whatever guise to invade the home of the Odilis.

Reacting, Prince Emeka said those that invaded the house of Justice Mary Odili erred on the side of the law in view of the order of perpetual injunction granted to Dr Odili.

Another respondent who simply identified himself as Ojo said he learnt that the order of perpetual injunction made by a judge of the Federal High Court has not been vacated nor appealed.

A businessman, Odakoro Ovie wondered why a Chief Magistrate would endorse such search warrant in view of the order of perpetual injunction in favour of Dr Odili. Could it be that the Magistrate did not take judicial notice of the order of perpetual injunction or what, he queried.

He posited that the FG does not observe rule of law, and wondered why the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, should be part of the “unlawful action”.

Abubakar Malami, is the Chief Law Officer of Nigeria, so, he should have known better other than taking steps to ridicule the Federal Government.

In his own opinion, Nnamdi Olisa lambasted the FG for the action, insisting that there was more to it than meets the eyes.
Olisa was of the view that “maybe they are trying to indirectly harrass Justice Odili for reasons best known to them.

Mr James Anayo, stated that rather than appeal the order of perpetual injunction, the FG is further telling the world that it is no respecter of citizen’s fundamental rights and the rule of law.

Meanwhile, barely 24 hours, after the invasion of the Maitama residence of the Odilis, the Magistrate who endorsed the search warrant has revoked it.
The Magistrate claimed the government misled the court into endorsing the search warrant.
As at the time of filing this report, the Supreme Court is yet to speak on the issue, since Justice Mary had insisted the house belongs to her.

Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), has emphasized the importance of his client’s case being heard as soon as possible before the High Court of Abia State.

Barrister Ejimakor noted that Nnamdi Kanu’s basic rights action pending before the High Court of Abia State had been assigned and put down for hearing on November 2, 2021, in a statement made accessible to newsmen over the weekend.

Ejimakor said: “On this date, the Nigerian government and its Attorney-General will be expected to move their extant application for extension of time to file their defense to the suit and my opposition to the application.

“It is my intention to, on the spot, move for a ruling on their application for extension of time, so that the case can proceed quickly to the next level, which is expected to be a definitive hearing on the substantive matter.”

Ejimakor stressed that fundamental rights suits were intended to be concluded quickly, especially in situations such as the one in which his client, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu (the applicant) had been currently incarcerated.

The draft supposedly backed by some Northern legislators in the National Assembly to amend Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is an assault on the poor oil-bearing areas, according to the Centre for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade (CHURAC).

In a statement sent to the media over the weekend, the group said it was deplorable that at this time of “national turmoil,” some people were trying to stir up the tumultuous waters of insurgency.

The statement was signed by Barrister Alaowei E. Cleric, Chairman of CHURAC’s Board of Trustees (BoT), who stated that removing the 13 percent derivation from the constitution would appear to declare the environmentally degraded and despoiled oil producing communities as slaves who deserved nothing in Nigeria, including the resources found on their lands.

According to him, “It simply means that the oil bearing communities should suffer environmental destruction without remediation.

“The last time we checked, Chapter Two of the Constitution declared Nigeria as a country of social justice with equal partners where no ethnic groups should be discriminated against in any manner.

“Will the oil host communities or better still the Niger Delta region be at peace with the Federal Government, if this economic apathy is perfected by their oppressors?”

He stressed that Nigeria has already been plagued with too many problems, adding that it would not afford to have another one as the country might not survive the conflagration.

“The sponsors of that draconian bill should rather seek to increase the derivation to 50% as was the case in the 60s.

“We call on the South South lawmakers to sponsor a similar bill at the National Assembly to allow the producing states to have 100% control of the natural resources, while they pay royalties to the central government. That is even the crux of federalism,” he added.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, said that Nigeria has expressed interest in joining the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which monitors money laundering and terrorism financing.

According to Malami, the move was made in an effort to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

The AGF stated this while electronically participating in the Intergovernmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa’s emergency ministerial committee meeting (GIABA).

The FATF monitors 39 member countries to ensure that FATF Standards are effectively implemented and that non-compliant governments are held accountable.

According to Malami, Nigeria’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has issued an Executive Alert to all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDA) for the implementation of the Nigeria Action Plan follow-up procedure.

The Minister thanked FATF, GIABA, and GIABA Member States for examining and adopting Nigeria’s recently completed 2nd Mutual Evaluation Report (MER).

According to Malami, MDAs have been asked to form an internal Technical Committee to study the report and work out methods for implementation as a result of the subsequent high rating of technical compliance and effectiveness for the country on follow-up review.

He informed the member states that Nigeria is willing and ready to combat money laundering and terrorism financing with a high level of commitment in order to maintain a stable and peaceful society.

According to a statement by Dr. Umar Gwandu, the AGF’s media aide, once the implementation process and follow-up review on the MER are completed, Nigeria will request the backing of GIABA to begin the application for FATF membership.