By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CelestineOkaf11
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), on Thursday, awarded the sum of N172,532,040 to selected 13 Universities in Nigeria to boost Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) development.
Announcing the award of the research grants at an event organized on Thursday, April 7, 2022, by the management of the NCC at the Conference Hall of it's headquarters in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, said it was the resolve by the Commission under his leadership to advance the impact of digital technologies on Nigeria’s economy, using indigenous products and solutions.
The award of research grants was to winners of the 2021 Telecommunications-based research proposals from academia and the professorial Chair endowments at the University of Port Harcourt, Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, and the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, in Niger state.
The benefiting Institutions from the grant are: the University of Port Harcourt, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) Imo State, and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun state, among others. Danbatta disclosed that the endowment of N60 million to three professorial chairs in tertiary institutions across the country was a mechanism for entrenching innovations in tertiary institutions.
Danbatta also revealed that institutions like Bayero University Kano (BUK); Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) in Bauchi and the University of Ibadan had previously benefited from the endowment gestures from the NCC.
Prof Danbatta stated that “The endowment of professorial chairs in universities is one of the commissioner’s initiatives in supporting academia in focused research in ICT, towards the advancement of technologies.
"The objective is to ensure regulatory and technological solutions are capable of improving the communications industry. It is, therefore, our expectation that institutions will dedicate the required human and material resources to the success of the programs.
“With these awards and endowments, the Commission would have provided more than N660 Million to Nigerian tertiary institutions for Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
“The implementation of The endowment is through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed between the Commission and each benefiting institution. We have also included the signing of MoU as part of the implementation of the Telecommunication-based Research Innovations from the Nigerian tertiary institution program.
“With these awards and endowments, the Commission would have provided more than N660 Million to Nigerian tertiary institutions for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) focused research innovations. These are part of the Commission’s efforts at vigorously driving the attainment of the goal of the Federal Government’s agenda on the digital economy, as aptly captured in the National Digital Policy and Strategy (2020 – 2030)", said Danbatta.
However, Mrs. Kelechi Nwankwo, who is the Head of the Research and Development Unit of the NCC, described the initiative as part of the commission’s effort to strengthen the telecommunications industry’s contribution to national development.
The vice-chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto state, Prof Lawal Bills, spoke on behalf of the beneficiary Universities and praised the NCC boss and his management team for the timely initiatives in awarding the grants and chair endowments. He advised that Nigeria should prioritize building indigenous technological solutions rather than relying on transferred technology. NNL.
