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NDUKWE STEPS OUT...
IN A BLAZE OF GLORY

Champion For All Times

Everyone who carries a mobile phone in their hand in Nigeria know of one man as the miracle worker of the 21st Century in a country where doom and gloom are the order of the day for headlines. His appointment was uncelebrated; yet, his tenure has been cerebral, hence without a dull moment. Now, however it’s time to move on; but for the country, it may well be a time of uncertainty after a decade of predictability in a sector now most loved. By MKPE ABANG

February to Hate
Next month is February 2010. And, for the Nigerian telecom sector, it is no ordinary February; no; not after events of the last 10 years. In that month, 10 years ago, Engr. Ernest Chukwuka Anene Ndukwe was appointed into the hitherto not-so-exalted, but during whose tenure it has become quite exalted, office of the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission.

So, February 2010 may well be an ordinary month for many across the world; to the Nigerian telecom enthusiast, investor, subscriber and by extension, their peers across Africa, February 2010 is and will remain a painful month – until some other person can prove otherwise in the coming months.

And the reason is simple: the man who has changed the course of history in Africa, the man whose vision took the Nigerian telecom space from the backwaters of history to the pinnacle of global reckoning, steps out as he would have served out his two tenures of five years each, as allowed by the law. And, the law, which is said to be no respecter of persons, is quite straightforward in this: two terms of 5 years each and no more! So, even if the 150 million Nigerians, who rightly see 2001 as their year of freedom from political, economic, social and any other freedoms you can think of; even if they lined the streets and ask that Engr. Ndukwe goes on serving as EVC of the NCC, unless there is an amendment to the Nigerian Communications Act as it stands today, the action will not stand. And, there has not been any such move, anyway.

While everyone who knows Engr. Ndukwe will be happy, for the achievements he recorded in the sector,  in the country and in the continent – and would love to see him take a well deserved rest – the telecom stakeholders are not so comfortable that this month has come so soon. The principal reason is simply that Nigeria, like it is her practice in all fields, has refused, or failed to find, nurture and/or appointed someone as successor to Engr. Ndukwe. And, for this reason, there has simply been no period of transition or tutelage or understudying.

What will then happen the morning after? Will Engr. Ndukwe simply walk away on February 19, 2010, leaving a vacuum, where he would also be leaving shoes too large to be filled by any expert let alone a novice? Or will Nigeria do what she knows best: appoint someone overnight to fill the position? These are the worrying signs that have ached the minds,  and heads and psyches of those familiar with the Nigerian telecom sector, for the past year.

It got so heated that IT & Telecom Digest published a cover story: 12-Month Puzzle: WHO REPLACES ERNEST NDUKWE IN 2010? This was published in the January 2009 edition of the magazine. Twelve months down the road, there has been no word, no action and no moves from the government circles indicating any thought towards finding a successor, in time, for Engr. Ndukwe.

Engr. Ndukwe once reminded this reporter, who had casually asked him what he would do if after his second term, he was asked to put in some more years: “The law is clear: two terms and no more. So, that is.”

The Ndukwe Era
Yes, that is what February 2000 to February 2010 will be regarded as; but this is an era that will go down in history as possibly the best period in annals of Nigeria’s telecommunications. Is it the auction for the Digital Mobile Licence of January 2001, which process cowed the whole world into submission that Nigeria has got more than what it takes to make the best headlines, given the transparent nature of the exercise, or the attendant controversy arising from the non-issuance of the licence to then Communications Investment Limited, which by itself went to substantiate the transparent nature of the process? Is the entry of companies like MTN into the Nigerian telecom space and how its shares went down in South Africa or the fight for market share, which would later turn into the daily toiling to find funding to expand network enough to meet the unmatchable demand in the Nigerian mobile horizon; or perhaps the immediate rise and rise of the MTN shares in the same Johannesburg Stock Exchange where the shares had gone down?

Is it the irresistible nature of the market, leading to the entry of the Second National Operator, Globacom, two years after the first operators have had a good head start or the entry of Etisalat into Nigeria, five years after the initial operators? Or are we to talk about the nearly $20 billion foreign direct investment that has flowed into Nigeria within the decade of history in question; or perhaps the over 70 million subscriber lines in the country from a mere 450,000 lines, with less at the time functional?

The Ndukwe years or the Ndukwe Era will challenge whoever steps into his shoes like no one has ever been challenged. But the era will also remain the best window of what a Nigerian or Nigerians can achieve if challenged and given free hand to operate and run a system to the best of their ability, knowledge, expertise and experience.

While Engr. Ndukwe steps out in style, in a blaze of glory next month, the next 10 years will be used to judge how far Nigeria will go in comparison with how far she has gone in the last 10 years in her telecommunications sector, which in effect, also affects her political, economic, social, agricultural, academic sectors, and indeed, the entire fabric of the country’s life.

(Box)
Food for Thought
CHAPTER i, PART 2: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOVERNING BOARD, AND ITS MEMBERSHIP; NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS ACT 2003:

8. –(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, all Commissioners to be appointed after the coming into force of this Act shall be appointed by the President in accordance with section 7 of this Act, from the 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria subject to the confirmation by the Senate.

(2) The Board shall make recommendations to the President on suitably qualified persons for appointment as the Commission’s Chief Executive and Executive Commissioners and the President shall take the Commission’s recommendations into consideration for the appointment.

(3) All Commissioners, except the Chief Executive and the Executive Commissioners, shall hold office on part-time basis.

(4) Subject to sections 11(3) and 11(4) of this Act, each Commissioner shall serve for a term of 5 (five) years from the date of his appointment at the expiration of which the President may renew his term for a further period of 5 years and no more.

11. –(1) There is a vacancy in the Board if a Commissioner -
dies;
is removed from office in accordance with Sections 7 or 10 of this Act; or
resigns from office; or
upon the completion of his tenure of office.

(2) A vacancy in the Board shall be filled by the appointment of another person to the vacant office by the President in accordance with section 8 of this Act, as soon as is reasonably practicable after the occurrence of such vacancy.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, in the instance of a vacancy on the Board that are created consequent upon death, removal or resignation of a Commissioner, any person so appointed shall hold office for the unexpired period of the term of office of his predecessor.

(4) The provisions of subsection (3) of this Section shall not apply to the filling of vacancies in respect of Executive Commissioners howsoever and whenever created.

Making of a Champion Regulator
 
In one decade, Nigeria through the purposeful leadership of a regulator has turned a once barren telecoms sector into a star studded industry of first among African countries. The world applauds the transformation ingenuity of Engr. Ernest Ndukwe while, the people will remember his deeply etched strides as the industry earnestly looks forward to sustenance of the revolution. By DENNIS ONWUEGBU 

Of Vision and Leadership
The world is caught in a certain kind of milieu in seeking to find men and women with the right attitude and conscience to lead it. Compromises have obviously become the signpost of the new face of leadership which ironically is the same element entrusted with the hopes and aspirations of the people, they are supposed to lead.

As the world economy came crumbling under the weight of what has been smartly described as Global Financial Meltdown, it must dawn on the human race that this endemic act of compromise and avarice by the leadership class is the root cause of the failings around the world.

Politically, economically and even socially; this  monumental failure by the few men and women who have been singled out correctly or wrongly have been at the centre of what has become an avoidable suffering and carnage across the world.

These few men and women who have lost their bearing have foisted on the rest of the world their ideals and ideas that are borne out of their demented and often selfish interpretation of what it means to lead a sane society The result has been a bizarre failing of society where it mattered most – giving a future and a hope to younger generations.

Countries, corporate bodies and organisations consciously and continually seek for persons with capabilities and demonstrable capacity to lead others; such an individual with ability to manage human and material resources of the group to achieve enduring life-changing results.

The pain and cost at locating these crop of people only affirms the increasing scarcity of leadership among the people of the world. Thus, it is common place to hear corporate and countries spend millions and billions of naira seeking for their next generation of successors as a way of guaranteeing continuity; otherwise, the ship of nationhood is threatened and the future of businesses are jeopardised.

How easy is the trail in search and how common are these rare men to come by?
Indications are that it is becoming difficult by the day to find the qualities and attributes that make up leadership in many men and women. A society driven by compromises, materialism and makes laughing stock of hard work; is bequeathed with leaders without vision and at best are driven by goals and inordinate ambitions.

…Like Mo Ibrahim, Like NLNG Awards
When in 2006, foremost telecoms investor and Sudanese founder of Celtel International, Mo Ibrahim instituted the Africa Prize for Leadership; he was expressing the hope of many that the continent would be encouraged through his prize with a record biggest ever prize for any award in the world. It is bigger than the Nobel Prize in terms of monetary value.

This illustrious son of Africa was demonstrating what most people can hardly do – giving back to society, and this too forms the bedrock of successful leadership – giving back to the society in service. Mo Ibrahim is one of the most successful entrepreneurs that have risen from Africa and his passion for his continent has seen him adopt the continent as the central focus of his telecoms business empire building Celtel right from the scratch into a global giant before he sold it to MTC the Kuwait headquartered company that has since changed its name to Zain International.

It would amount to an understatement to say that Dr. Mo Ibrahim earned huge financial return from the sale of Celtel and his other companies. But, he was conscious of the strategic role that good leadership could play in the lives of a people and he was persuaded that the African continent deserved this singular life-changing factor more than any other part of the world.

For a continent that has been beset with several decades of avoidable internecine and ethnic wars and selfish rivalry by so-called leaders over the control of the people’s common wealth; Africa needed this Mo Ibrahim intervention more than any other continent. And the man identified the threatening sense of lack simply described as poverty, as one impediment to the proper enthronement of a leadership culture among the people of the continent.
 
Thus, the Mo Ibrahim Prize valued at $5million, is not lacking in money as a way of encouraging the incumbent leader to aspire for excellence while in office with the assurances that his or her good works could attract a great recompense in the form of the prize, especially when the public servant is outside the trappings that public office offers.

The first winner of this coveted prize is the former Mozambican president, Joaquim Chissano who fought poverty and diseases among his people while he served as President. A leader who is often regarded as a bridge between war time Mozambique and peace that the country enjoys presently; former president Chissano’s choice was described as appropriate and the rest of the world applauded it as such.

Chissano’s successor was Festus Mogae, the former Botswana president who also left an indelible mark of leadership helping to enthrone in that one-time war ravaged country a new culture of peace and dedication to national unity, among others.

Of course, the honorary recognition of Nelson Mandela for the former South African leader’s “extraordinary leadership qualities” is all the signal that the leadership prize is out to extol the very best from Africa.

Unfortunately, shock greeted most people this year when the Prize Committee of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation announced no winner for 2009. According to the Committee which has former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan as chairman; there was none of the past leaders in the continent found fit for the prize. The Foundation confirmed that indeed several past leaders were considered but there was none found worthy of the $5million, and so the waiting for another year continues.

This position of the prize committee is a result that has further raised the question as to whether African leaders have learned anything from their past that has been mired by fighting and corruption, all at the expense of their people.  

Recently in Nigeria, a similar verdict was returned by a panel of judges in one of the nation’s most coveted literary prizes. Although the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Prize for Literature, is not about leadership but it is about one of the tools that shape leadership.

Like the Mo Ibrahim Prize, the NLNG Literary Prize had 162 entries and nine of this number made the final list of writers drawn from across the country; but on the night of the award, the judges returned a no-winner verdict because none of the works met the standard set by the body.

Naturally, this verdict elicited reactions from both authors of the works that made the final list and other interested citizens who have followed the evolution of the NLNG Prize that has recorded past winners of repute like Gabriel Okara, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Mabel Segun, Kaine Agary, Prof Ahmed Yerima and Late Dr. Ezenwa Ohaeto.

Valued at $50,000, the NLNG Prize for Literature could not be given away just for the sake of giving an award. Certain criteria are required for a winner or winners to emerge and in the mind of the judges, none of the entries for 2009 met these standards, hence there was no winner.

Several books – prose, poetry, drama, and others; there was none able to meet a certain standard. The same way, in the Mo Ibrahim Prize; several past leaders – from the North, South, East and West Africa; there was none able to meet the standards; everyone led a country but none was able to live above the distractions of corruption, nepotism and selfish motives.

In all these, the difference between those who have won and those who could not win when it mattered most, is character. That singular element that defines the man is the determinant of success and failure. Indeed, it is what certain people do and others find too difficult to live by; the things that men, and women do when no one is watching them. Character!

It is what separates a Barack Obama from other young Blacks of America and through it he has become a beacon of light for others to follow; that is the same thing that separated Mahatma Gnadhi from other leaders in India and gave the country victory over British colonial dominance and brought about independence to India; it is what made British war time leader, Winston Churchill see victory in the face of imminent defeat when Adolph Hitler has overrun several of the allies posts; this same character made Nelson Mandela, after 26 years in prison never rescind his none segregation stance in spite of have been subjected to some of the harshest prison conditions, known to man and today, in retirement he can still sing the old Thembu song of victory over adversity.  
 
Ndukwe Goes to NCC
Before his appointment as the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in February 2000, the Commission was like any other government agency with regulatory functions and are hardly heard other than to inform government at regular intervals that all is well with the sector that they managed.

Yet, every Nigerian knew in 2000 that all was not well with the nation’s telecommunications sector. That sector with a monopoly had failed consistently to match the huge investments made to bring NITEL into a world class operation, with the hopes and aspirations of the nearly 120 million Nigerians at the time.
Telephone lines even with the entry of private telephone operators, known then as PTOs; remained prohibitively expensive and beyond the reach of millions of Nigerians. A perceived respite was soon quenched when new licenses issued by the regulator to open up the landscape were cancelled and the re-engineered and obviously transparent exercise was what ushered Engineer Ndukwe and his revolution that would follow into office.

A name that was not strange to industry players in the country and to certain extent outside Nigeria, Engr Ndukwe was the chief executive officer of GT Plc and he had become responsible for the first true effort at galvanising the efforts of operators in the industry into a body with the common interest of members – Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and usually bubbling with ideas, the ATCON of Ndukwe was vibrant and had instituted an annual exhibition and conference with the name, NICOMM.

In the corporate world, Engr. Ndukwe has always exemplified himself in the discharge of his duties and from one firm to another, he has consistently risen in top management positions faster than his peers by dint of hard work.

first as an Engineer working with the Radio Communications of Nigeria (RCN), the company often identified with late Chief MKO Abiola; Engr. Ndukwe blossomed to become a core member of the company’s engineering team marking him out for special and critical assignments involving the company.
After a few years as Communications Engineer, he left RCN to a more challenging environment at GT Plc where he blossomed like a morning flower. Ndukwe’s dedication to work was what that company needed to be in contention for one of the best telecoms business in Nigeria of the 1990s. At General Telecommunications, he started as Engineering Manager in charge of radio and by 1989, he was promoted to the position of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at GT Plc.
From that point, there was no withholding the rich and objective mind of Engr. Ndukwe, from one success story to another, he gradually inched his way to the main front of Nigeria’s telecommunications industry. Canvassing methods and ways of reaching the industry’s ‘promised land.’ He soon became one of the most prominent faces at seminars and workshops especially where the issues are about the future of the country’s telecommunications industry and adopting it as a tool for social and economic change.

But to the wider Nigerian people, especially to those who have shown little or no concern over who decides what happens in the industry, the name Ernest Ndukwe was a complete stranger when he was named as the chief executive of NCC and nothing much was expected from him, until events began to unfold. These events did not just happen, they unwrapped themselves in a speed and with an efficiency that could hardly be imagined of any government agency or parastatal.

It turned out that the reforms and progress that the Ndukwe executive brought into ATCON was nothing compared to the man’s capability. He would bring into the daily operation of the NCC a new culture of work which makes complete nonsense of the bureaucratic nature of civil service and in its place, Ndukwe has introduced an efficiency that can only be found in the best of private sector establishments.

No doubt that his choice for the NCC job is a right one because, like his immediate predecessor, Ogbonnaya Iromantu; the telecoms industry was not strange to Ndukwe just as the challenges and future direction of the industry a mirage to him. To say that he had a fair a knowledge of the issues in the industry would be akin to describing him as a novice; indeed, Ndukwe has a full grasp of the industry, its future and government’s vision for the industry and for Nigerians.

Armed with this and a determined horde of supporters who have trust on his pedigree; failure was not a part of the Ndukwe agenda to the NCC. Ten years after, his testimonial is that of a world leading regulator who has everything that is expected of him and more.

A Reformist
What kind of house was the NCC of 2000? The NCC that Engr Ndukwe inherited was more of an appendage of government which was ill-equipped in terms of personnel and infrastructure to meet the demands of a global leading economy which was the dream of the Nigerian nation. Not only were there inadequate professional manpower with which to achieve the desired result; the existing manpower were ill-exposed, poorly trained to handle the situation that a larger industry would demand.

And swiftly, he swung into action engaging more engineers and other professionals into the Commission thereby making it ready for the challenges ahead. These professionals have become the image that the NCC has today, apart from engineers, others are lawyers, financial experts, information managers and analysts, among others.

Licenses have been awarded to operators before Ndukwe’s appointment as the EVC/CEO of NCC and the first major task of the regulator was to review these licenses and ascertain their suitability in view of the new climate that is government’s vision for the industry. The reconstituted NCC under Ndukwe was also mandated to design an acceptable and progressive method of licensing operators.

The first test of the new licensing regime came in early 2001 when the Commission auctioned the first round of Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM) and that auction conducted in one of the most transparent manners has become a reference point for regulators all over the world.

It automatically marked the beginning of the Nigerian telecommunications revolution. Three operators were licensed – MTN Nigeria, Econet Wireless Nigeria and M-Tel, the mobile arm of NITEL. Months after the licenses were issued, the operators began to roll-out services in August 2001 with both Econet and MTN launching out.

This successful introduction of GSM into the country with its advantage over other technologies because of the ease in rolling out and overcoming of constraints posed by difficult terrain and poor infrastructure development; only paved the way for a new culture of confidence and trust by investors and consumers and this has sustained the growth in the industry ever since.

Growth comes with its peculiar kind of challenge and the sector since 2001 when early liberalisation of the sector has given way to extensive market reform has witnessed some of these challenges and the ingenuity in managing these challenges has become one of the mainstays of the decade of Ndukwe leadership.

Aware that disputes are bound to spring up in a large market that the Nigerian telecoms landscape promises, the Commission under Engr. Ndukwe adopted the alternative dispute resolution method in tackling the myriads of issues between operators and each other on the one hand and between operators and consumers on the other hand. Thus, the Commission appointed lawyers as part of the team of internal arbitrators on some of these disputes while providing the novel Consumers Parliament as a means of creating an interface between operators and consumers of the various products and services.

To date, only a few disputes have been taken to the regular law courts for settlements otherwise,   the alternative dispute resolution system put in place by the Commission has worked effectively and continues to work.  This has saved the parties the time and cost in using the regular law courts of the land and sustained an atmosphere devoid of rancour among various levels of operation in the industry.

In one of the numerous cases handled by the NCC between Intercellular and MTN Nigeria over the former’s indebtedness to the leading operator and MTN’s spontaneous response to safeguard its investors’ interest, among other business interests; the dispute resolution committee that although MTN Nigeria may have a legitimate right to seek for the payment of what Intercellular owed it, it was however wrong for the leading operator to make it impossible for traffic from Intercellular to pass through its network with ease, thus contravening a section of the Nigerian Communications Act.

While it urged Intercellular to promptly pay what it is owing MTN Nigeria as earlier instructed and in line with the mutual agreement guiding operators in the industry. This was a classic case of how best to manage what would have ordinarily degenerated to a massive legal battle between two operators and which would have cost parties substantial sums in legal fees and man hour.  
Efficiency at what the regulator does is another reform that Engr. Ndukwe brought to bear on the Commission and in ten years, he has succeeded in transforming the work ethics at the both the Abuja head office and Lagos annex of the NCC. Several times, companies and individuals seeking licenses or information have been encouraged to go to the Lagos office with the assurances of getting the same prompt attention that they would expect from the head office in Abuja.

Licenses and approvals of various products and services that usually took several months before now to obtain, have since become things of hours and days with the new work ethics at the Commission. Operators and intending operators have come to see the regulator as the institution they can trust and a partner in their march towards actualising their dream of providing world standard telecommunications services.
 
Regulating for the People
What is the value of a regulator without a direct impact on the life of the people? This must have been the driving force behind the Ndukwe success story at NCC. The Commission is founded on the slogan of a three ‘F’ of, Fair, Firm and Forthright and these three forms the driving power behind the core values of the NCC – Integrity, Excellence, Professionalism, Responsiveness and Innovation.

Going by the outcome of every debate on where the regulator tilts when it concerns whose interest comes first, it would be easy to summarise that the concept of Consumer is King, is deeply enshrined in the daily work of the NCC run by Engr. Ndukwe. Even though he knows that the operators also need to be protected so as to remain in business and government’s interest safeguarded in its avowed commitment to Nigerians in providing affordable and efficient telecommunications services.

A proof of this total and uncompromising commitment to the consumer was demonstrated in 2007 when the NCC made history by penalising some operators for consistent poor quality of service that denied consumers the enjoyment of the services that they paid for. In spite of the long drawn legal battle that ensued when two of the operators contested the NCC sanction in courts, the consumers had their way as these operators eventually paid billions of naira to active subscribers on their networks within the period of the poor quality of service.

Subsequently, to avoid situations where operators will continue to dictate to consumers on what network they should be against their wish; the NCC has since proposed the adoption of Number Portability to enable customers migrate from one operator to another based on the service delivery of an operator at a particular time.

Although there has been insinuations that some of the operators have deliberately tried to frustrate the take-off of the plan in Nigeria, citing its failure in other countries like South Africa; however, it is obvious that the regulator is determined to introduce the system as a way of further safeguarding the interest of telecommunications services consumer in the country.

Always seeking ways of bridging the gap between the operators and the consumers, the NCC through its novel Consumer Affairs Bureau have organised regular forums that brings together operators and consumers to discuss issues that bother on quality of service as they affect the consumer and educate the average consumer of these services. This way, the regulator has succeeded in bringing to the barest minimum acrimonies that would ordinarily have grown in the sector over poor quality of service.    

Other countries in Africa and beyond have since emulated this innovations towards improving the quality of their services and the relationship between operators and consumers on the one hand and regulator and operators on the other hand.

This education-like function created by the NCC to sensitise consumers is taken round the country in the form of the monthly Consumers Parliament and other forums. This way, various parts of the country get involved and a sense of belonging is engendered among the people in the process fuelling growth in the sector.

(BOX)
A Day with the EVC
One bright Tuesday morning in 2007, this reporter got an impromptu notice from the Editor-in-Chief of the publication that an important meeting has been scheduled between the magazine and the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC Engr. Ndukwe.

The magazine in one of its numerous works with the various stakeholders in the telecommunications industry has a clarification to make concerning certain content in a publication and although other officials at the Commission have had a look at the document, there were still items that were still far from the expectation of the EVC and for clarification, he called for a meeting between his team and someone from this magazine.

This meeting was scheduled for Abuja between 2pm and 4pm so that a prompt return to Lagos could be achieved, unfortunately it did not work out exactly as it was planned. From the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos, the flight to Abuja was delayed for close to one and a half hours and by the time the rescheduled flight got to Abuja, it was nearly 3pm and between the airport and the NCC office, then located at Benue Plaza; another 30 minutes elapsed.

As soon as this reporter entered the lift to the floor where the EVC’s office was located, either in the fifth or sixth floor; behold the EVC was already on his way out of the building. He had just been summoned to make a defence of the Commission’s budget for the coming year and he had to be at the National Assembly Complex that afternoon.

When the subject of the meeting was broached with his Secretary, she advised that the reporter must wait since the subject of the discussion was important to the EVC and time was of essence in the matter.

Then began a waiting that seemed like eternity, because the reporter had other pressing company issues that must be attended to, that same day. At the waiting room on the same floor with Engr. Ndukwe’s office were already seated three persons also waiting to see the EVC.

However in a few more minutes after, another six or more guests joined the group including a woman who came with her son and she needed some kind of professional counselling for the obviously ambitious son of hers. So, the waiting room was lively as most of the guests were professionals playing in the industry with scheduled meetings with the EVC and his team.

A few minutes after 5pm when the reporter has almost lost hope of the meeting holding on that day and was making arrangement for a hotel where he could pass the night, especially given the celebrated civil service culture of government establishments, then the EVC strolled in with a smile on his face, appearing quite friendly with himself and the environment around him. His face betrayed no form of stress and that he appeared at all, was just confirming the assurances of his junior colleagues that he must return to the office to attend to everyone on appointment with his office on that day.

Another surprise awaited the reporter. Against every expectation, as soon as the man stepped into that floor, stopped first at the waiting room and looking through the room, he greeted everyone and apologised to everyone for keeping them waiting.

While still standing, Engr. Ndukwe with dispatch attended to two of the visitors and immediately ushered one group to the Boardroom of the agency and asked that two of his executive directors and a director join them for a meeting. This meeting did not go beyond 15 minutes after which he asked the reporter to join him and one of his directors and another official in his office.

With an amazing eyes for details, he pointed out one after the other the items in the document this magazine was involved with the Commission which he thought needed correcting and in some instances how certain languages, although appropriate for public consumption they are not in sequence with the functionalities of regulation and the industry.

Once or twice during this meeting which turned out as brief as 20 minutes, he admonished his colleagues for not doing enough work on some of the details otherwise, he pointed out that there would not have “been a need for this meeting, in the first place.” He closed the short session with words of encouragement for his colleagues on the need to always be on top of every situation taking painstaking efforts to clarify details.

The meeting over, he shook hands with the reporter asking that he extend his warm regards to the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Mkpe Abang with whom he has come a long way as friends in the industry and similar friendship he has extended to several media men and women.

Before the reporter left his office, the EVC had asked his secretary to invite another of the waiting guests into the office. Given the efficiency and speed of the meeting, the reporter was able to make it back to Lagos with an evening flight.

Timeless!
The Nigerian Communications Commission manages at least 1,863 licenses of different categories as at February 2009. These include the over 800 licenses for the installation of terminals and other equipment, over 400 companies licensed to carry out the business of sales and installations, more than 150 Internet services providers, a first-of-its-kind submarine cable license which was issued to MainOne Technologies, a submarine cable system company which is due to launch commercial operation in June 2010; and the various licenses for operation of the different categories of telephony which is in excess of 30, among others.

Attaining this huge number within a period of a decade speaks volume of the regulator. And managing the likely conflicts and overlap in the businesses of these categories prompts a great sense of challenge in the regulator and its systems.

There is no contest that this enormous task that has to be performed by the team which Engr. Ernest Ndukwe and the new Board at NCC has painstakingly assembled, causes regulators from other countries to ponder what could be the driving force behind the NCC. After all, the Commission is only 17 years in business.
Presently, the NCC has a total of 429 handset types that it has approved, even though some of them have since been phased out by their manufacturers and it is expected that more are likely to be approved as the Nigerian market becomes more attractive to various manufacturers from different parts of the world.

In spite of the strain that these number of licenses and handsets and other equipment types that the regulator has to manage, it continues to churn out more and more innovative programmes that could make telecommunications an affordable and enriching experience for Nigerians at various levels, especially those rural underserved population that represent more than 60 per cent of the nation’s population.

Such programmes and projects that are the initiative of the regulator which is with the full support of the Federal Government and other state agencies and ministries include the Wire Nigeria (WIN) Project, the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI), the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP), establishment of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), among several other collaborative efforts with NGOs and institutions.

While some of these programmes like the USPF and SABI are directly aimed to bring closer to the rural population of Nigeria the immense benefits and life-changing tools of telecommunications, others like the DBI, are a direct way of creating a cache of industry professionals who are able to fill some of the manpower requirements of an emerging industry like Nigeria.

Indeed, the DBI like other innovations by the NCC since the inception of Engr. Ndukwe clearly points to the fact that the centre of focus of the regulator is to guarantee the best interest of Nigerians.  For instance, most operators in the industry in the first few years of the revolution concentrated their plans in the cities and towns around with virtually all of them keeping a safe distance from the rural areas in the country.

This is obvious because operations in the rural areas are considered not lucrative and it would only amount to a waste of scarce resources trying to roll out in such communities. Wise business idea. But the NCC is aware that for telecommunications to serve as a life-changing catalyst, it must be within the reach of those who occupy the lowest rung of the society who because of their low earning power are not able to afford some of the services.

Thus, the regulator working with the government and in line with its statutory mandate provided the seed money for the commencement of the USPF which encourages operators to venture into rural areas with government providing subventions on their investment such that they will not run their equipment at a loss to their investors.

Similarly, the SABI project is one sure way in the thinking of the NCC to bring cheaper broadband services to the rural dwellers through a programme that involves the states and the operating companies in providing mostly shared facilities that will bring the benefits of the Internet and its other attachments to the people in rural Nigeria.

Today, most Nigerian rural dwellers are able to communicate with rest of the world through affordable internet and banking transactions are executed from the remotest parts of the country with headquarters of banks located in the major cities and towns. This system is made affordable as communities and villages can enter a kind of partnership with operators so as to own the tools of the services and in some cases it also provides them employment and a veritable means of earning income.

Although some of these programmes have not begun yielding results as the Commission and its chief executive have anticipated, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe have declared the last three or so years as years for action towards achieving another revolution in the nation’s drive to achieve mass deployment of Mobile Broadband.

Through its adoption of a liberal equipment adoption by operators, the regulator has succeeded in encouraging the speedy launch of operation across the country and perhaps there is no other country in Africa with the capacity of Nigeria when it comes to deployment of fibre optics, for instance.

Virtually every of the operators have a fibre optic ring running around the country to enable them carry traffic with ease from one part of the country to another; and to a great extent, this has improved tremendously the quality of service in the country and making general habit of communication improve beyond the imagination of the worse critics of the country’s poor infrastructure development.

Between Globacom, MTN Nigeria, Zain Nigeria and other CDMA operators, there are several kilometres of fibre optic lines criss-crossing the country and this covers the entire length and breadth of the country. The MTN Nigeria Y’ello Bahn at over 3,400 kilometres in length is reputed to be one of the longest in the continent and other operators like Zain and Globacom are still extending their backbone in similar dimension.

Beginning from late 2006, it was clear that the exponential growth in the sector, especially the number of mobile phone users; would sooner or later create a problem in the quality of service from the operators hence, the NCC began a deliberate sensitisation of the companies to adopt the policy of collocation in their operations.

 

And by 2007, the problem of quality of service had assumed a crisis dimension and operators did not need much persuasion to join the bandwagon of employing collocation in their activities and this has led to the regulator’s registration of at least 14 companies involved in building, maintaining and servicing sites that could collocate two or more operators at a time.

Although this has not completely obliterated the problem of poor quality of service which is an integral part of the business, it has however become an exception instead of the norm among operators.

With the adoption of collocation into their company policies, most operators have drastically reduced the cost and speed of roll-out, among other things. And the companies involved in collocation continue to improve on their services especially in the area of seeking more efficient alternative power sources.

Still not satisfied that the Nigerian consumer is not getting adequate attention from operators especially from their customer services; the NCC early this year inaugurated the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) which is another platform to further seek ways of making sure that the consumer gets maximum value for his money and protect them against undue exploitation that may arise through marketing promotions and other sales strategies.

Ironically, in spite of the various programmes of the NCC to make the experience of the consumer most enjoyable and some of which has adversely affected the operators, the conclusion among the operators is that the NCC under Engr. Ndukwe has remained a fair umpire.

According to Mrs Amina Oyagbola who was Corporate Services Executive of MTN Nigeria and is currently the company’s head of Human Resources; Engr. Ernest Ndukwe strikes a balance between the government, the operators and the consumer through his unmatched regulatory functions.

She spoke at the regulator’s 59th birthday anniversary: “it’s so important that you have a regulator that has a balanced view of life, and somebody who would take the interest of all the key stakeholders into account to ensure that Nigeria continues to grow, that this sector continues to grow, and to grow in the direction that it should, that is the interest of government, the interest of the public, the consumers, to ensure that the operators are doing what they need to do and so on and so forth; and continue to chart that course.”
  
An Intellectual Journey
In one decade, Ernest Ndukwe has added an intellectual bent to the work of regulation such that he stands out as one of the few Nigerians who through the instrument of public office has projected the telecommunications industry and his country’s image beyond what would be expected of his office; thus, he has singularly brought the country into mainstream world ICT discussions.

Everywhere he goes, he talks about how telecommunications has changed the way and manner businesses are conducted, families and individuals relate and how economies are turned around through the tools of telecommunications. Well grounded in the African scenario, he tells anyone who cares to listen that the future of the continent and its people is directly hinged on telecommunications.

Either at the ITU Africa held in Cairo last year or at the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) conference held in 2008 in Abuja; the regulatory successes of the NCC under Ndukwe continues to reverberate.

A passionate patriot that he is, Engr. Ndukwe does not fail in telling the world what the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is doing to make Nigerians benefit from the boom in the telecommunications industry. He reels out these ‘efforts’ with the skills of a master chess player with his baritone voice giving his audience the much needed assurances of government’s best intentions.

The NCC of Ndukwe’s time is a first among other government organisations with industry statistics and details within the reach of the public. Foreigners who are desirous of doing telecommunications business in the country have found the NCC website a most elaborate and comprehensive site to obtain virtually every information they require to be players in the industry.

Regularly updated, the NCC sites demonstrate the intellectual leaning of its chief executive officer whose papers and comments on burning national development issues are easily available once inside the Commission’s website.

In one of these rare opportunities to listen to the views of the NCC boss, dignitaries to the eighth edition of the Nigerian Information Technology and Telecoms Awards (NITTA 2009), Engr. Ernest Ndukwe was the cynosure of all eyes as he traced the growth path of the African telecommunications industry from its early days when telephone facilities were a preserve of the rich and powerful in the society to what has become a revolution spearheaded by Nigeria.

Between the years 2006 and 2009 alone, the NCC chief executive officer delivered more than 40 papers and speeches at various forums across the country and the rest of the world. They were essentially focused on the progress made so far by his country Nigeria, the challenge of the industry going forward and ways of bridging the communications divide between the educated predominantly city dwellers and the less educated rural dwellers, among other issues.

It based on this depth of intellectualism brought to bear on the activities of the NCC that the regulatory agency has become a source of intellectual contribution to the nation’s development. Students and scholars from various institutions now visit the Commission to conduct various research works on the growth in the nation’s ICT industry with telecommunications serving as pivot.

The earlier constraint that the Commission suffered as a result of limited space from which to operate has since been overcome as the NCC has moved to its imposing glass house edifice at Maitama area of the nation’s capital, Abuja.

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Some Speeches/Papers Made by the EVC (2006 – 2009)

Global Recognition

Bestriding the Nigerian telecommunications industry has also brought Engr. Ndukwe recognition beyond his country making him in the process a world citizen that he truly is.

This was made possible by the transparency with which the Commission conducted its affairs. Many of the players in the industry were drawn to the country by this singular act and more continues to troop in seeking for a space in the now highly competitive Nigerian telecommunications industry.

One of those who was charmed by the Ndukwe transparency record was former Nigerian head of Cisco, Maduka Emelife who was a resident of the United States of America when the NCC conducted the record breaking open bidding for the first three GSM licenses in 2001. He comments: “And I said, oh! It’s already happening, I had come to Nigeria about five years before that, it didn’t work, I didn’t know what was happening. I then tried to get information. And on one of their websites, I realised that the bid actually was live. And the result incrementally was published as bidding was taking place and results were announced on-line, and it blew my mind. I know Nigeria and I had been coming to Nigeria before then for about 10 years looking at business and things, and I was so impressed that in Nigeria, we could actually do bidding for licenses and we do it live and its real time, and people who are very far away in California can get information on what was going on. It was very, very brilliant.”

Other followers of the new trend at the NCC equally confess that their confidence in the sector has been influenced by the conduct of the regulator. This has since translated into global recognitions and demands for collaboration between regulators of other countries and the NCC.

On several occasions, the NCC boss had been made an ambassador of the country as he has been guest to other West African and African countries which needed guidance on how best to reform the operations of their countries’ telecommunications industry.

Similarly, at several international forums, the Nigerian regulator has been accorded recognition and honour for the exemplary work he has done with his team at the NCC. Some of such recognitions have come in the form of awards and special recognitions.

Last year at the annual Satcom exhibitions and conference in South Africa, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe won the Best Regulator award and this year, he won the award again, making him the first person to win the award back to back.
 
Apart from the South African award, several honours have come the way of the NCC boss from other organisations and professional groups who have come to recognise the enormous work that he has done in turning around the fortune of the NCC. These include Distinguished Excellence Award by Nigeria IT Professionals in the Americas for his outstanding contribution to the improvement of the communications industry in Nigeria; Distinguished Merit Award by the Nigeria Society of Engineers; Distinguished Leadership Award by Leadership Watch Organisation for the transparent and professional handling of the Digital Mobile Licensing Auction; Lagos Business School Alumni Association Award for outstanding contributions to the Telecommunications Industry.
 
Last December, he was honoured with a honorary degree of Doctor of Science in Communications (D.Sc.) (honoris causa) by his alma mater, the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He had earlier been named a Distinguished Alumnus by the University Alumni Association; Nigerian Achievers Award 2003 for outstanding contribution to the communications industry, Man of the Year Award 2002 by Nigerian Information Technology and Telecom Awards (NIITA); Distinguished Development Award for Enterprise by the Institute of Directors (IOD) 2003, Pillar of Information Technology Award by the College of Medicine, UNN 2004;

Other media recognitions include: Award of Excellence by City People Media Group, 2007 and 2006 Best Regulator of the Year award by Thisday Newspapers.

Engr. Ndukwe was elected a fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Engineering in 2007 and has been honoured with an honorary Doctorate Degree in Technology (D.Tech, honoris causa) by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

And as a mark of honour for his outstanding contribution to national development, he is a recipient of the nation’s rank of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR).

 

Ndukwe, Family and Religion
At age 59, Engr. Ndukwe listed as one of the reasons for him to celebrate is a peaceful home with a loving, caring and understanding wife and children who have not caused their quite busy father to fret over their conducts and actions, even when they are not together.

This peace in the home must have propelled the NCC chief executive to achieve beyond the ordinary expectation of the average Nigerian who has for years been treated to a less than average performance by public officials.

He said of his wife and children: “I have a wonderful wife who has been a pillar of support; I have some sisters of mine who have been very, very loving and co-operative…And then my children, very big source of joy. They are doing very well, healthy, well-behaved, responsible. When parents give birth to children, they are always anxious that they come out good, and I think I am lucky.”

Mrs Ndali Ndukwe completely radiates this and more. Her sense of humility both at home and outside the home is a true reflection of the driving force behind the successes that Engr. Ndukwe has recorded over the years.

With no airs around her, she completely complement nearly every aspect of her husband’s physique – while Engr. Ndukwe stands at more than six feet, she is not short but is not a six footer; while her husband has the sun-tanned skin of a negro, she is fair complexioned with an absolute Caucasian look and when Engr. Ndukwe speaks his voice booms. Mrs Ndukwe’s voice is sonorous and serenaded.

What Engr. Ndukwe stopped short of saying is that between him and his wife, there has been a perfect role sharing in the last 10 years of his service as the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC. While he is the bread winner and the visible face of the Ndukwe family, she remains the invisible hand that steers the ship and keeps the peace in the very important home front.

Once in one of the rare times that she accompanies her husband on a foreign trip, specifically Cairo in Egypt. She was the quintessential matron not only to her husband and the Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Ahmed Joda but to every of the NCC staff present at the event. She would not leave until she is sure that ‘Baba’ Dr. Joda and her husband were in the car and that the other staff of the NCC were in their various cars, as well. Not surprising that she has enjoyed a most cordial relationship with the Nigerian media since her husband became the face of NCC.

Spiritually, Engr. Ndukwe appears to be a man with a deep spiritual insight on how best to relate with God and man. He understands his purpose in life is to do things that will bring glory to his creator and because of this, he has strove to be at peace with men and women around him but at the same time being firm where corporate decision taking is concerned.

This relationship with his creator was espoused when he said of his work with God: “I have also had an exceptional work with God. I hold prayer and bible study sessions every Tuesday evening in my home with some exceptional Christian brethren.” This session does not fail except when two or the three are not available.

And the benefit of this exercise? “My work with God has been enriched by the prayer support I’ve been freely given by friends, associates, relatives and friends, colleagues at work as well as well-wishers.” This fervent faith in the Almighty and fairness to man has been put to test severally in the cause of his journey as a regulator in a market as complex and boisterous as Nigeria and with politicians ever eager to rock, even the most stable of boats.

Challenge of Success
Success comes with a price. Engr. Ndukwe in the one decade of his service as the helmsman at NCC may have come to the realisation that to succeed in public office requires more than intelligence, it also calls for insight and tact at its best. He has had a fair share of challenge.

Despite the astounding performances that the industry may have recorded and the unanimous agreement that this success has been as a result of the stable environment provided by the regulator, there has been some stormy times in the two tenures of Ndukwe at the NCC.

Notwithstanding the record breaking most transparent 2001 bidding process for the GSM licenses and subsequent auctions that went without rancour, the four 2.3GHz Frequency licenses that the NCC awarded in May 2009, brought out the first conflict over whose power over rides in matters of license issuance between the regulator and the ministry of Information and Communications.
For the three months after this crisis lingered, various individuals and groups with stakes in the industry debated and argued for and against either party thus creating an atmosphere that almost smeared the successes of the past decade.

While this argument raged and companies involved in the process threatened law suits in the event of an unfavourable outcome, the regulator was calm and tactically, as a measure not to heat up the system, shunned most public meetings where his comments would be demanded over the imbroglio; and at other times when he had to attend essentially industry-related programmes, he was quick to announce that comments over the 2.3GHz license would not be entertained.

This was equally necessary to allow the President make the necessary consultations and take a decision on the matter. Although it came almost three months after the conflict broke out, the President finally approved the cancellation of the process and the licenses that were granted asking that the regulator commence another round of licensing for the 2.3GHz frequency.

The importance of the 2.3GHz Frequency cannot be lost on the industry and the regulator. For years before now, Engr. Ndukwe and his team at the NCC have clamoured for a massive roll out in mobile Broadband as one of the panacea to the country’s development, especially its penetration to the rural population of the country.

Does the President’s decision in anyway obliterates Engr. Ndukwe’s respect for the Nigerian leader? Not likely. He said of the President in September 2007, barely five months of the President Yar’Adua regime, “The process (democratic process) has also produced a President whom to my assessment means very well for Nigeria. A man of very few words; an intellectual, I suspect he’s very honest, and we might be heading for some good time in the future.”

That future that Engr. Ndukwe dreamt so much about was almost mired by that singular action of cancellation of the 2.3GHz licenses by the ministry and for the very first time, for a man who has served the nation with a rare passion for the industry and worked with six ministers before now; he was in conflict with a minister and some officials whose ‘jealousy’ for the NCC success is understandable.   

While the NCC has picked up the pieces and has not relented in its avowed commitment to the growth of the industry, a new licensing process has since commenced for the 2.3GHz Frequency; but this may not be concluded in the life of Engr. Ndukwe’s regime. Could this be one of the disappointments of a man who have achieved so much in so short a time? Only Ndukwe will say.

Ironically today, Engr. Ndukwe is at the best working relationship with the minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili and together, they have travelled to countries of the world flying the Nigerian flag to heights never before known.

Although the 2.3GHz was a purely an issue of regulatory function, it was not surprising that other unrelated subjects were thrown up in the process as part of the distraction that is becoming synonymous with public office in Nigeria.

Then came the screening headlines in some newspapers that the NCC boss has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an allegation connected with budget of the Commission. Although the details of this, like others before it were sketchy, its purpose was to distract the regulator.

Before this, 2008 appeared as the year when the forces of destabilisation visited the NCC. In that year, Engr. Ndukwe had attained the age of 60 and there arose a call for his retirement along civil service conditions, despite an explanation that the EVC’s appointment is purely political, this matter raged for some time and even in 2009, with reforms taking place in the civil service that call has been muted more than once in the same quarters where it originated from, initially.

Alongside this call for the removal of Engr. Ndukwe was the clamour for a successor instigated by certain elements who are eager to have a shot at the position. Indeed, this clamour for Ndukwe’s successor will pose a tough nut to crack for the government in the days ahead because of the enormous work that has been done at the NCC and the need to sustain and where necessary, improve on these landmark achievements.  

Even Engr. Ndukwe himself admits that there are still more works to be done to bring the telecommunications industry to government desired level. Although presently, there are over 70 million subscribers on the networks, teledensity has climbed from a mere 0.04 in 2000 to nearly 50 per cent in 2009 and the industry provides employment to nearly 1.5 million Nigerians directly and indirectly; and the leading operator in the country, MTN Nigeria has over 27 million subscribers on its network, and has 4,422 base stations and 78 switching centres across the country; work still abound.

The Nigerian regulator believes that if the country is to enjoy a more stable and robust telecommunications service, it requires at least 40,000 GSM base stations and 10,000 CDMA towers across the country. Presently, there are only 19,000 GSM base stations and mere 2,000 CDMA stations in the country.

As it has become the enduring slogan of the unofficial African regulator, it is important to ensure that when we get connected, we remain connected. This can only be achieved when the population of Nigerians in the rural areas have unfettered access to the tools of telecommunications.
 

 

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Echoes From the Past:

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