Eager for more appreciable growth in the
telecommunication sector of the country,
former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has
charged stakeholders to seriously look at
actions taken in the past with the intent
of not only learning from them but also
devising new and better ways to attaining
progress.
Speaking at the opening of stakeholders’
conference on telecommunications
industry organised by the Bells
University of Technology, Ota, in
partnership with Nigerian Society of
Engineers and LM Ericsson Nigeria,
Obasanjo said since communication plays
a vital role in social relations,
telecommunications must be made to
enhance human existence.
He recalled that at independence in 1960,
there were only 18,724 functional
telephone lines for an estimated
population of 45 million people, adding
that between 1960 and 2000, active
subscribers base grew to 400,000 fixed
lines for the then estimated 120 million
population, despite government
monopolistic operations, poor, inefficient
and frustrating challenges.“The quantum
leap from that time to date is near
monumental.Thanks to mobile telephone
technology, the privatisation and
competition brought into it, giving room
for 120 million lines to a population of
about 180 million”, he said.
The former President urged government
to create enabling environment where
communications infrastructure would
continue to flourish to deliver a wide
range of services to the doorsteps of the
citizens like e-banking, e-education, e-
health, e-governance amongst others
across the country.
Chairman of the occasion, Eng. Vincent
Maduka, said there is need for
stakeholders in the industry to study
models used by emerging developing
nations who have done well in the sector
with the aim of innovatively improving
the sector.
The former Director General of the
Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) said
level of enlightenment and depth of
commitment of government and efforts of
the public sector are crucial to the
survival of the industry.
In a keynote address, President of
Nigerian Society of Engineers, Otis
Anyaeji, observed that in the last two
decades, Nigeria has grown to be the
largest market hub for
telecommunication equipment in Africa,
even as he called for investments focus
on manufacturing of devices such as
handsets, changers, circuit boards and
cables locally. According to him, there is
urgent need to step up local production,
begin the application of solar power
generation to reduce dependence on
diesel.
“My views would be limited to certain
areas considered salient in consolidating
on gains made in the sector. These areas
include effective utilisation of the digital
dividend II and preparing for IOT and
upgrading from Internet Protocol version
6(IPV6) which would position Nigeria
more as a manufacturing hub of
telecommunication equipment in Africa,”
he said.
Speaking on the theme of the conference:
Telecommunications Industry in the 21st
Century: Overcoming Present and Future
Challenges, Anyaeji calls for
improvement in regulations towards
promoting growth in the sector which he
believe would in turns make significant
contributions to the nations’ gross
domestic product.
# THE GUARDIAN
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