The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is to establish an Emergency Communication Centres across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Abuja.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, gave the assurance at a Media Chat with stakeholders in the Media industry held over the weekend at Bristol Palace Hotel in Kano.
Danbatta said establishing the centres would be necessary to bridge the gap between distress and emergency response agencies in the country.
Danbatta also said the commission under his leadership, had increased the amount of research grants being given to universities from N20m to N30m pointing out that three universities have so far benefited from the new grant.
“NCC as a regulator is mindful of the fact that telecom is an enabler and catalyst for economic advancement of the country and has consistently made available, affordable and accessible telecom service to check certain telecom barriers,” he said.
The NCC boss said the commission as a regulatory agency in the development of the telecommunication sector, is to ensure best practices in view of the fact that NCC is one of the sectors that had contributed to the enhanced growth of Nigerian economy.
He said the major challenges confronting the commission includes wilful destruction of its facilities and the number of taxes imposed on telecommunication companies.
“The challenges being faced by the commission include 41 categories of taxes imposed on telecommunications companies and wilful destruction of our facilities,” he said.
According to him, the commission would continue to engage stakeholders in the media industry in order to keep members of the public abreast of the activities of the commission.
