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Danbatta reels out achievements as Nigeria hands over WATRA chairmanship to Republic of Guinea
Nasiru Yusuf
Having successfully piloted the affairs of the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) as Chairman in the last one year, Nigeria has handed over the mantle of leadership of the Assembly to the Republic of Guinea.
KANO FOCUS reports that Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), who served Nigeria’s tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s national telecommunications regulatory authority, handed over to the newly elected Chairman of the Assembly, Sekou Oumar Barry, of the Republic of Guinea.
The hand over ceremony was one of the major highlights of the recently-concluded 19th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of WATRA which took place in Conakry, Republic of Guinea. The AGM equally approved WATRA’s new Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2022-2024.
Barry, the new chairman, who will preside over the affairs of the Executive Council of WATRA for the next one year, is the Director General of the Telecommunication and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARPT) of the Republic of Guinea. The Assembly also elected the representatives of Mali and Sierra-Leone as 1st and 2nd Vice Chairmen respectively.
In his address at the event, Danbatta acknowledged the important role WATRA has been playing in creating policy, legal and regulatory frameworks for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the sub-region since the mid-1990s and commended the synergy among member states, which he noted has continued to provide an economic defense for member countries against global shocks, especially innthe context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Nigeria, Danbatta said ICT currently contributes 17 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with ambitious target of 20 per cent contribution over the next three years, stating that if one big regional market in which ICT policies and regulations are aligned is created, WATRA members can drive ICT investment and growth faster in their respective countries and collectively in the sub-region.
Danbatta recalled that he had worked closely with the Executive Secretary of WATRA, Aliu Aboki, and his team in last 12 months to achieve a lot in the re-organisation of WATRA’s internal governance and processes to make them more efficient and transparent.
The EVC, thus, thanked the Executive Secretary and his team for the energy with which they had pursued the re-positioning task just as he commended the Executive Committee for the clarity of purpose with which they have spelt out these priorities.
Danbatta said some of his achievements as WATRA Chairman, include the delivery of draft four-year strategic plan in line with 18th AGM resolution, partial payment of long-outstanding membership dues by some member states after long periods of inactivity, deployment of the new WATRA automated Asset Management System, successful organization of various high-quality capacity building programs for members, optimization of WATRA accounting, finance, and budgeting process, as well as institution of procedures for improved accountability, marked by weekly financial dashboard.
The achievements recorded under Danbatta’s one-year chairmanship also include the deployment of automatic external phone answer and routing system, completion of front-end and back-end development of the redesigned WATRA website, joint development by WATRA, the Coordination Team, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission of a new organizational framework for roaming regulation implementation, reactivation of Niger participation in ECOWAS roaming regulation implementation through WATRA-ECOWAS Commission collaboration.
Other achievements of WATRA under Danbatta’s leadership include re-translation of WATRA constitution drafted and under review by Executive Committee, renewed engagements with ECOWAS on World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC) 2023 collaboration, joint conduct of the 2nd WRC2023 prep meeting, successful organisation of 2-day technical physical meeting in Abuja on fraud and roaming tariffs for ECOWAS regional roaming in collaboration with ECOWAS Commission, kick-off of Digital Transformation of WATRA Operations and WATRA Operating Model review service being part of a $300,000 grant from the Nigerian government through NCC, Nigeria.
While congratulating Barry, as the new WATRA Chairman, Danbatta expressed the conviction that the new leadership will build on the modest achievements of the last one year. “When members see the unique role that WATRA plays in easing the task of national regulators to adopt or fine-tune regulations through mutual learning and capacity building, they see more reason to engage and be active within WATRA. So, if we build on the modest achievements of the Assembly, the benefits will be with the region for decades,” he said.
He also stated that both at home or in the diaspora, West Africa has the talents to study the most efficient ICT regulations in the world and adapt it for the region’s purposes so that it can attract greater investment into the regions and transform the economy of member states.
“What we have to do is to continue the work of building WATRA into a platform that seamlessly deploys these talents and capacity to the 16 member states. The gains to us are enormous,” Danbatta stated with patent conviction.
The EVC further assured his colleagues in WATRA of his commitment to supporting the new leadership in all ways possible.
“As I hand over to the incoming Chairman, please be assured of my continued support and that of the Nigerian Communications Commission and, indeed, the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to WATRA,” Danbatta said.
In his acceptance speech, Barry, who thanked Danbatta for making giant strides in the last 12 months, promised to work with the Executive Committee team and the Management Team to consolidate the achievements of the Assembly, and to ensure greater success of the Assembly for the future.
The 19th AGM was attended by the following 14 of the 16 WATRA member states: Togo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nigeria, Niger Republic, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Republic of Guinea, The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso and Benin Republic. Ghana and Liberia were absent at the meeting.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria, PLANE, has revealed that it has trained over 8,000 primary school teachers in Kano.
KANO FOCUS reports that the PLANE’s State Team Lead, Malam Umar Lawan, revealed this during a presentation at the Kano State Quarterly Review Meeting Agenda, held in Kano on Tuesday.
Represented by State Reform Facilitator Umma Muhammad Rakana, the State Team Lead said the training was conducted in collaboration with State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB).
Umma Muhammad Rakana
He added that PLANE had coordinated book and other learning materials distribution at the classroom level across the 532 schools in Kano state.
He said the distribution was to ensure every child own learning materials.
According to him, PLANE had supported 35 school-based management committees that sensitized stakeholders on book care and maintenance, including parents, SBMC, PTA chairmen, LGEA staff, community leaders, religious leaders, and youth groups.
Some of them, according to him, supported the programme by donating 2 hectares of land in Kafinwachiwaya, Takai Local Government area for the construction of 2 classrooms, and 2 bundles of zinc sheets.
“There were also various cash donations for bricks, sand, bags of cement ement, and costs for construction was also donated.“PLANE also organized
Reading Festivals in Minjibir and Gabasawa LGAs to promote reading culture amongst pupils, received financial donations from stakeholders, and LGEAs agreed to make the festival an annual event.
Cross section of critical stakeholders at the event
In the presentation, Lawan suggested that more teachers need to be employed to bridge the gaps of inadequate teachers in some schools, especially hard-to-reach areas.
He also advised for provision of other learning materials like pencils and exercise books by parent, noting that “this will further improve teaching and learning and better learning outcome for pupils.
Cross section of critical stakeholders at the meeting
“More school support visit needs to be conducted to ensure lesson delivery by teachers,” he said.
He said the purpose of the meeting was to give update on key activities conducted in the PLANE programmes in the last quarter, adding that the review would look at successes and challenges in order to find the way forward.
Earlier in a remark, the Commissioner for Education, Haruna Doguwa represented by Malam Munzali Mustapha commended the stakeholders for the meeting, which according to him, it was crucial to education sector.
Malam Munzali Mustapha
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Governor of Kano State Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf has directed the Head of Civil Service Abdullahi Musa to supervise the office of the Secretary to the Kano State Government.
KANO FOCUS reports that this was contained in a statement issued by Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the spokesperson to the Governor in the early hours of Thursday.
The appointment was as a result of medical vacation taken by the SSG Dr. Abdullahi Baffa Bichi who flew out of the country for medical treatment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In a letter signed by the Chief of Staff to the Governor Shehu Wada Sagagi, the Head of Service is to provide a supervisory role pending the return of the SSG in the next few weeks.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano State Governor Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf has approved the elevation of his official spokesperson Mr. Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa from Chief Press Secretary to Director General, Media and Publicity.
KANO FOCUS reports that the elevation was contained in a statement issued by Aliyu Yusuf, Director Public Enlightenment, Kano State Government House, in the early hours of Thursday.
According to the statement the appointment is with immediate effect.
The statement also announced the appointment of other political office holders to occupy various positions as follows:
“Hon. Rabi’u Saleh Gwarzo, Permanent Commissioner I SUBEB , Engr. Sarki Ahmad, Director General, Rural Access and Mobility Project.
“Hon. Surajo Imam Dala, Director General, Cottage Trade and Street Hawking.
“Dr. Dahiru Saleh Muhammad, Executive Secretary, Science and Technical Schools Board.
“Abubakar Adamu Rano, Deputy Managing Director, Radio Kano
“Hajiya Hauwa Isah Ibrahim, Deputy Managing Director, ARTV.
“Dr. Gaddafi Sani Shehu, Deputy Managing Director, Kano Hydro Electricity Development Company (KHEDCO).”
While congratulating the new appointees, the Governor directed them to assume their new roles immediately.
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