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NCC takes consumer outreach Programme to University of Abuja
Nasiru Yusuf
Following the re-structuring and re-branding of its existing consumer outreach programmes, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has held the maiden edition of the Campus Conversation at the University of Abuja.
KANO FOCUS reports that Campus Conversation is featured as an important part of NCC’s new Telecom Consumer Conversation (TCC).
Speaking at the event, which held at the Main Campus of the University of Abuja at the weekend, NCC’s Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Efosa Idehen, said the Commission, as a consumer-centric regulator, has always been at the forefront of protecting the interest of the consumers.
He said the Commission has, over the years, embarked on many initiatives and programmes to deliver on its consumer protection mandate, as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 and in line with other subsidiary legislations, guidelines, directions and determinations, in order to proactively address consumer concerns.
Idehen stated that, as a modified outreach programme, Campus Conversation takes life from NCC’s consumer protection and empowerment agenda as stipulated in the Commission’s Strategic Management and Vision Plans, as well as extant policies and well-conceived decisions of Management.
The objective of the Conversation is to ensure that the telecom consumers on university campuses are adequately informed and educated on their rights and privileges to acquire knowledge they require to take informed decision and protect themselves from unwholesome practices from service providers.
“Essentially, this maiden edition of our Campus Conversation is kicking off here at the University of Abuja today, as part of our strategic effort at creating awareness among the university students on their rights and obligations as telecoms consumers, as well as sensitising them on the many initiatives of the Commission designed to enhance consumer protection and empowerment,” Idehen said.
At the event, the NCC team led by Idehen, took turns to educate the campus community on Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration, the Benefits of National Identity Number (NIN)-SIM Integration, Cybersecurity and related online protection issues, among other initiatives of the NCC.
Participants were also enlightened on the various consumer-centric activities of NCC such as the NCC Consumer Complaint Toll-free Number 622; the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) Short Code 2442 instituted to manage unsolicited messages; the National Emergency Toll-free Number 112 which every citizen is expected to know and use during emergencies. Over twenty Emergency Communication Centres (ECCs) where 112 calls are received and escalated, have been constructed by the NCC and operational in different states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
Other Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials printed in bookmarks, handbills and stickers were distributed. The IECs cover a wide-range of topics on consumer concerns, including Consumer Bill of Rights, Complaints Management Process, Mobile Number Portability (MNP), SIM Registration, Obligations of Telecom Service Providers and the Consumers, and Tips on Managing Data Usage.
The event provided a rare opportunity to the students and other members of the University community to interface with the Commission. The NCC team responded to questions and comments relating to the participants’ experience with telecom services.
The Vice-Chancellor of University of Abuja, Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, who was represented at the forum by the University’s Head of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Evans Ashigwuike, commended the NCC for the elaborate enlightenment programme hosted in the university community, which he described as highly beneficial to the students.
Na’Allah assured the Commission that the University will ensure that students, who attended the Consumer Conversation pass the knowledge gained and the IEC materials circulated by NCC to their fellow students for effective knowledge-sharing and education.
The TCC, now segmented and targeted at different consumer groups, comprises: The Village Square Dialogue, The Telecom Public Sphere, The Professionals’ Dialogue, Campus Conversation, Market Conversation and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Sensitization.
Aside the TCC, other strategic outreach programmes of the Commission, delivered through its Consumer Affairs Bureau, include Consumer Telecom Town Halls on Radio, a phone-in radio dialogic programme to educate consumers at the grassroots; Telecom and The Citizen, a bi-monthly Twitter Live Chat targeting telecom consumers that are active on the social media; and Telecom TV Dialogue, a monthly television-based discourse on topical telecom issues.
The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has named the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) among the top three Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with the Best Ranking in Website Performance for 2025.
KANO FOCUS reports that this is coming barely three weeks after the telecom regulator was recognized as one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies for 2025 by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) – a testament to the Commission’s consistency in investment in technology for ensuring efficient service delivery.
In the BPSR 2024/2025 scorecard ranking of agencies’ websites, the NCC came second in the ranking, trailing behind Galaxy Backbone Limited, which came first while the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) clinched the third position, from a pool of 235 MDAs, whose website were evaluated.
BPSR deployed 14 evaluation criteria in include MDA’s website compliance with .gov.ng domain name, appearance and aesthetics (look and feel) of the website, content, relevance to MDAs mandate/government policy and the website’ structure. Others include website’s responsiveness (device compatibility), security, load time, usability/ease of navigation, availability/uptime, functionality, interactivity, accessibility and capacity building.
The recognition was announced at the official release of Federal Government 2024/2025 Scorecard Ranking for MDAs’ Website held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Auditorium in Abuja on Monday (December 22, 2025) while the award presentation took place at BPSR’s Office on Tuesday (December 23, 2025).
The award, which is an important index metric of the National e-Government Masterplan for determining the Nigeria e-Government Status, was received by the Commission in recognition of its commitment to maintaining a world-class website that enhances service delivery to the citizens.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Abraham Oshadami, appreciated the BPSR for the recognition, describing the award as “another encouragement for the Commission to be a better public service institution leveraging digital platforms such as our web presence to enhance public service delivery to our various stakeholders, thereby implementing the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business policy direction.”
While presenting the award to the NCC, alongside other two agencies, BPSR’s Director-General, Mr. Dasuki Arabi, commended the top three for their proactive decisions in maintaining world-class websites, which are compliant with the Federal Government’s policy direction in effective and efficient service delivery to the citizens.
According to the DG, the 2024/2025 MDA’s websites’ ranking represents a collective effort of federal public institutions in Nigeria to be transparent, accountable and open in governance, as well as a confirmation to align with global best practices in service delivery to the citizens.
Developed about six years ago, Arabi said as a result of the annual ranking, more public institutions have indicated readiness to embrace reforms, and align with the policy direction of the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda on improve governance for effective service delivery, as introduced by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The ideals of harnessing and deploying technological tools for service delivery has become imperative following the COVID pandemic, and distortions of socio-economic system of nations, culminating in the evolution of competitiveness, cost effectiveness, and agile governance.
“As engine room of governance, it behoves on us in the public service to perform our statutory duties and we must put in place technological innovations and standardized websites to operate services as well as deliver service needs to citizens,” he said.
The Scorecard exercise, he said, is part of the BPSR reform broader function of conducting research on reform implementation efforts and presenting ‘best practice’ models to the entire Public Service, and to among others, improve access to government information, facilitate seamless financial transaction, eliminate corruption and cyber theft, as well as facilitate access to government services.
Speaking on the rigorous nature of the exercise that produced the top three winners, the DG said “in the past few weeks members of the Scorecard Jury drawn from inter-Ministerial Agencies, had worked tirelessly to mill websites of selected MDAs through a rigorous process of enduring criteria for the ranking and the outcome had also passed through a quality assurance mechanism to validate the outcome.”
Nnenna Ukoha
Head, Public Affairs
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) acknowledges the Quality of Service (QoS) challenges being experienced in Abuja, which have impacted the quality of experience of telecommunications subscribers.
In response, the Commission is collaborating with major stakeholders and licensees to address these challenges, largely caused by disruption to diesel supply affecting IHS Nigeria Limited, the colocation provider responsible for powering Airtel and MTN base stations in the affected areas.
The challenges are a result of the activities of the National Oil and Gas Suppliers Association (NOGASA), which disrupted diesel supplies to sites with the attendant telecommunications services outages in Abuja. The NCC is committed to ensuring seamless communication services for all Nigerians and recognizes the importance of reliable power supply for the provision of optimal telecommunication services.
The NCC is actively engaging with relevant stakeholders to address the diesel supply issues and explore sustainable solutions. The Commission urges all parties to work together to collaboratively resolve these challenges swiftly by removing the diesel supply bottlenecks affecting critical telecommunications infrastructure, arising from NOGASA’s actions.
In the face of these challenges, we reiterate our commitment to fostering a conducive environment for the growth and sustainability of telecommunications services in Nigeria. We are taking proactive steps to facilitate dialogues between the impacted service providers and other stakeholders to promptly resolve the diesel supply concerns that have negatively impacted service quality.
The Commission remains dedicated to effectively managing the situation and will keep the public updated on progress towards restoring full telecommunication services in Abuja. We thank telecommunications subscribers for their understanding and patience during this period and reaffirm our commitment to delivering high-quality telecommunications services nationwide.
Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha
Head, Public Affairs
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has named the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies for 2025 under the Transparency and Efficiency Category. The NCC was recognized alongside the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, which emerged overall best-performing agency; the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, which placed second; as well as the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Ports Authority.
KANO FOCUS reports that the recognition was announced at the PEBEC Awards and Gala Night held on Tuesday at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
The award celebrates transparency and efficiency in Nigeria’s public service and was presented to the Commission for its “commitment to openness, accountability and operational excellence in Public Service Delivery.”
Receiving the award on behalf of the Commission, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to sustaining transparency and accountability in its regulatory approach. He noted that these principles remain central to improving industry performance and fostering a conducive environment for telecommunications businesses to thrive.
“The Commission is proud to be listed among the Top Five Best-Performing Federal Government Agencies for 2025. This recognition is an affirmation of the values that guide our work: transparency, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to regulatory excellence. It signals that the reforms we have pursued, the systems we have strengthened, and the decisions we have taken are yielding the right results.
“For us at the NCC, this honour is both a validation and a responsibility. It reassures us that we are on the right path, and at the same time challenges us to deepen our commitment to the Nigerian people
“As an economic regulator, our mandate is to create an environment where operators can thrive—an environment that attracts investment and sustains healthy competition, ensuring consumers enjoy the best possible choices.
“Nigerians can rest assured that we will not rest on our oars. We remain fully committed to ensuring that the telecom consumer receives the highest quality of service, supported by a fair, transparent, and competitive industry. We will also continue to strengthen our collaborations with all stakeholders—because meaningful progress in our sector can only be achieved through shared commitment and collective action,” Dr. Maida stated.
Speaking at the awards, the PEBEC Director-General, Zahrah Mustapha-Audu, said the event was organised to celebrate reform champions and highlight progress made in improving the country’s business climate.
“This evening is not merely an awards ceremony; it is a powerful affirmation of possibilities, honouring the champions who have moved beyond compliance, embracing excellence as the new standard for public service delivery.
“The achievements we acknowledge are the tangible result of collective resolve to make Nigeria the most attractive and predictable competitive destination for business in Africa.
“Under the unwavering leadership of His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, and the active chairmanship of Vice President Sen. Kashim Shettima, our reform efforts have been characterised by intentionality, accountability, and the strategic deployment of data.
“We understand that to fix the operational environment for businesses, we must first fix the government’s framework.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who chairs the council, said the awards reflect the government’s commitment to a more efficient and competitive public service.
“The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council has spent the last couple of years championing reforms that speak to the whole of our economic aspirations.
“The reforms that make it easier to do business, that restore your best confidence, that ensure our institutions work in the spirit of national growth.
“Tonight, we salute the men and women driving these institutions, when we commit to working together across MDAs, across states and across sectors, Nigeria wins,” he said.
Signed
Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha
Head, Public Affairs
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