Enter Eugene Juwah: How Further Can He Take Nigeria’s Telecom?

When Engr. Ernest C.A. Ndukwe was appointed Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission in February 2000, IT & Telecom Digest ran a cover story in its March 2000 edition: CAN HE DELIVER? Ten years after, the entire world rose in unison and applauded Ndukwe’s achievements; and IT & Telecom Digest can well concur: Yes, he delivered!

Now another chapter is being opened in the life of the telecom regulatory agency in Nigeria. Another gentleman, Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Juwah, has been appointed to take over the Nigerian Communications Commission as substantive Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The question at this time, when Nigeria has risen from 400,000 telephone lines in 2000, to over 75 million telephone subscriptions, with 95 per cent being mobile, in 2010, is: how further can Juwah take Nigeria’s telecom?

This is the major question that confronts Dr. Juwah as he prepares to mount the saddle. By MKPE ABANG

Establishment of the Governing Board and its membership
5. –(1) There is established for the Commission a Governing Board (in this Act referred to as “the Board”) charged with the administration of the affairs of the Commission.

(2) The Board consists of 9 Commissioners made up of-
(a) a chairman,
(b) a chief executive who shall also be the Executive Vice Chairman
(c) 2 Executive Commissioners, and
(d) 5 non-executive Commissioners,

who shall be appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
 
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the President shall ensure at all times that there is a duly constituted Board of Commissioners and that there are a minimum of 6 serving Commissioners on the Board at any and all times, made up of -

1The Chief Executive;
2 Executive Commissioners; and
3 non-executive Commissioners.

(4) The supplementary provisions set out in the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the proceedings of the Board and the other matters contained therein.
(5) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, the Board shall have capacity to make standing orders for the regulation of its proceedings and meetings howsoever and acts of the Board shall be deemed to be acts of the Commission.
 
6. The remunerations and allowances, payable to the Commissioners, including the Chief Executive and Executive Commissioners, shall at the instance of the Board be determined and reviewed from time to time by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.

7. –(1) Commissioners shall be persons of recognised standing, qualification and experience in one or more of the following fields -
finance or accounting;
law;
consumer affairs;
telecommunications engineering;
information technology;
engineering generally;
economics; and
public Administration.

(2) A person shall not be appointed or remain in office as a Commissioner if -
(a) he is not a Nigerian citizen;
(b) he is not ordinarily resident in Nigeria;
(c) he is a serving member of the National Assembly, State House of Assembly or any Local Government Council;
(d) he is incapacitated by any physical illness;
(e) he has been certified to be of unsound mind;
(f) he is an undischarged bankrupt;
(g) he has been convicted in Nigeria or elsewhere of a criminal offence,
being a misdemeanour or felony; or
(h) he has at any time been removed from an office of trust on account
of misconduct.

(3) The conflict of interest provisions contained in the Second Schedule to this Act shall apply to all Commissioners.
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.

Chapter II part 2 of the Nigerian Communications Act from which the Nigerian Communications Commission draws its power:

Juwah Set to Make History as 4th EVC of NCC

After surviving for 110 days without a substantive chief executive officer, during which time a lot of water practically passed under the bridge arising from concerted, covert and open battles at mounting the saddle, all wagging tongues were brought to a stop on July 22 when the Senate read the nomination of Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Juwah, whose name had been forwarded to the Presidency by the Board of the frontline nominee for the position of Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications (NCC).

The glorious exit of Engr. Ernest Chukwuka Anene Ndukwe, whose second five-year tenure ended on April 3, 2010, left a vacuum so huge that even the nearly three months of searching did not seem too long.
“You know the shoes Ndukwe left at the NCC are so big that you really need to search, search and search again to be sure you are not making a choice that will disappoint,” observed one telecom commentator, who would not want his name in print.

He was quick to add though that “the problem is that whoever is picked at the end of the day, that person’s heart will not stop beating fast for at least two years if when hopefully he may be able to prove that he was indeed the right candidate for the job. So, I tell you, if I was nominated, I would humbly turn it down.”

But here we are with reality. Barring any unforeseen twist of circumstance, Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Juwah will be sworn in as Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NCC any time soon. He would be making history as the fourth substantive EVC of the NCC, following on the heels of Ndukwe, Engr. Emmanuel Nnama and His Royal Highness Eze (Engr.) Ogbonna Cletus Iromantu.

Naturally, Juwah, like all others, went through the Senate screening; and this almost became a theatre of sorts, consuming the erstwhile Chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications, Chief Sylvester Anyanwu, as the committee was summarily dissolved.

The name Dr. Juwah may have fizzled out of the public commentary without the telecommunications space for a while. For, when his name topped nominations or persons being pushed forward by the commission’s board in exercise of its powers as enshrined in the subsection prefaced above, many not so informed on the Nigerian telecom industry’s history asked: “who is Juwah?”

Well, Dr. Juwah was most visibly known as the Executive Director, Network Operations of MTS First Wireless, especially when the company that brought mobile telephony – even if at its crudest analogue state – to Nigeria was making one of its many reappearances and resurrections in Nigeria’s telecom industry.

Juwah studied computer and electronic engineering at post graduate level. He was at sometime the officer in charge of operations at MTS First Wireless and was involved in the day to day technical analysis of MTS activities. Dr. Juwah was at that time among the very few that the resurgence of the organisation was being anchored on.

Prior to his nomination, which brought all manoeuvrings and jostling for the job to a stop, Dr. Bashir Gwandu, an executive commission of the NCC has been acting as EVC and chief executive of the commission. Dr. Gwandu had taken over from another executive commissioner, Engr. Stephen Bello, who took over directly from Engr. Ndukwe when the latter handed over at the end of his tenure. Bello however, was asked to proceed on his terminal leave as he is due to clock 60 years this October.

Since taking over as acting EVC, Dr. Gwandu has been making concerted efforts to keep the candle of success at the NCC alit. For instance, he took turns to hold wide-ranging consultative meetings with operators and other stakeholders, both in Abuja and Lagos, while also making efforts to ensure the staff of the commission continue to hold their heads high everywhere they go.

The Man, Juwah
On Thursday, July 29, exactly one week after his name was read on the floor of the Senate, the upper chamber of the National Assembly confirmed the man, Eugene Ikemefuna Juwah, PhD, as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the very important Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the body that has given Nigerian positive image in the last 10 years for having conducted its affairs in manners that have been above board and according to globally approved standards. That was when it was run by Engr. (Dr.) Ernest Ndukwe, whose second five-year tenure ended on April 3, 2010, thereby paving the way for the appointment of the new EVC.

Dr. Juwah has had extensive experience in Information Technology and Telecommunications, spanning over 30 years, over 20 of those years having been on directorial level.

Described by those well schooled in the industry as “extremely knowledgeable in digital exchanges, base station, data communication and subscriber access networks construction and operations,”  Dr. Juwah  played co-ordinating roles in the set up of an Extended Total Access Communications Systems (ETACS), GSM and CDMA Mobile Networks in Nigeria.
The Delta State born telecom expert, surely a man of many parts, obtained his doctoral degree (PhD) in Systems Engineering, 1981, from the University of Manchester, Manchester, England.

An experienced Network Operations Director with profound practical knowledge of pricing, billing, interconnection, licensing and regulatory affairs and network fraud control within the Nigerian environment, Dr. Juwah’s ascension of the exalted office of EVC of the NCC is therefore what many have called the right man for the job given, his qualifications, experience and understanding of the terrain and environment in which he is to operate.

He is a member of the board of several companies, including Egogo Technology limited, which is the Nigerian subsidiary of Xi An Huilong Network Technology Company Ltd, a foremost network engineering services provider in China. Egogo is the primary sub-contractor for Huawei Technologies. Dr. Juwah is also on the board of SystemSoft Ltd, a financial services software house as well as U2 Communication Investment Ltd, a primary wireless communication initiative; he is also the founder and chief executive of Cititel Networks Communication Ltd., which deals in telecommunications services provision playing strongly in three key areas:

Wireless infrastructure services provision in the way of mobile cell sites design and supply; wireless broadband access and transaction services provision for financial institution and government sector with clients such as Interswitch, Oceanic Bank, among others, and mobile cashless payment design and solutions for the unbanked.
Dr. Juwah is more commonly associated with MTS First Wireless, of which he was Executive Director (Network and Operations) from 1999 – 2005.

MTS happens to be the pioneer private cellular mobile network operator in Nigeria. The Company was among the first operational mobile networks in the country whose ETACS analogue mobile network was launched in 1994.
He is credited with having played a significant role in the restarting of MTS operations following a long period of dormancy. Dr. Juwah also coordinated liaison with NCC for licence renewal, frequency permits, equipment type approval and interconnection regulatory compliances for MTS First Wireless, activities which enabled the company to bounce back to operations at the time.

His experience also include having co-ordinated all operational activities for the rollout of the CDMA Fixed Wireless Service, including MSC and cell site design, construction and commissioning, other operator interconnection design, negotiation, testing and commissioning, integrating a new prepaid calling system and a new Packet Data Service Network for data and internet services of MTS.

He also led the technical negotiation teams in the projected new areas of business activities of the company, including Long Distance Carrier and International Data Access Businesses; being responsible for day-to-day technical management operations of the company, and of course being a member of board of directors.

Dr. Juwah was also the director, Special Duties of Communications Investment Ltd. (CIL) from 1997 – 1999. Incidentally, CIL was one of the companies that took part in the Digital Mobile Licence auction in January 2001, but whose licence was not issued for what the NCC described then as failure to meet payment deadlines. The forerunner of present day Globacom, Nigeria’s national telecom operator, CIL had infrastructure on the ground in Nigeria for 30,000-capacity GSM Network before it transformed to Globacom. Of course, Globacom won the Second National Operator licence in 2002 and began full scale operations in 2003.

Incidentally, Dr. Juwah co-ordinated the technical, business and commercial aspects of negotiations leading to the signing of agreement for purchase and start up of the 30,000 GSM 900 Mobile Cellular Network with Alcatel of France (now Alcatel-Lucent), which incidentally also still remains the main network builder for Globacom.

Other areas of his engagements include leading the negotiation teams to NCC for licence for the award and revalidations, frequency allocation negotiations and regulatory compliances; supervision of detailed radio network study and microwave transmission network survey, all for the mobile cellular network project stated above.

He also coordinated site acquisition and the construction of MSC and base stations for a 30,000 GSM Network; coordinated the start up data requirement for interconnection and MSC software customisation, including all access networks and routing details as well as Customer Care and Billing System data preparation; coordinated the employment of the initial high-level staff including expatriates; designed the detailed Business Plan of the company as the primary financial model to guide operations and new financing.

Dr. Juwah also served as Chief Executive Officer for Transaction Technologies Ltd. (TTL) 1996 – 1997. TTL is a consultancy specialising in the provision of network solutions to telecommunication networks.

As lead consultant to CIL, he provided advice and guidance in negotiations with Motorola of USA for the purchase of a 10,000 capacity GSM Network; coordinated the development of a full feature Telephone Banking System; coordinated the development of a Cloning Fraud Control System for Analogue Wireless Networks; was lead Consultant to Intercellular on purchase, installation and operation of a customer care and billing system. Intercellular is a fixed wireless network operator in Nigeria.

He entered into representative agreement with Natural Microsystems of US and Eureka of France for the development of sophisticated prepaid billing platforms.

He had once also served as Director Cellular Operations, MTS 1993 – 1996, during which time he participated in the team that erected and tested the first privately owned mobile network in Africa, and was directly responsible for the remarkable quality of service image of MTS during its operations.

He has extensive experience in dealer sales and support, customer service, switch and billing operations, engineering operations and was Divisional General Manager (Computer Systems) 1988 – 1993 for Leventis Technical Limited.
Leventis Technical Ltd. was the subsidiary of the Leventis Group, with interests ranging from manufacturing to Coca Cola Bottling to Computer Equipment Distribution. Leventis Technical was one of the first major distributors of computers in Nigeria, representing foreign manufacturers like Olivetti, Compaq, Control Data and Sanyo.

Dr. Juwah also worked as Computer Systems Programmer with Shell BP Petroleum Development Company 1976 – 1978, this being his first job after graduation and having completed the National Youth Service.

Besides his PhD in Systems Engineering in 1981, Dr. Juwah had what he referred to as ‘supplemental mental education’ in Prepaid Calling Solutions, Alcatel SEL, Stutgart, Germany, 1998; Customer Care and Billing Systems, Alcatel SEL, Stutgart, Germany, 1998; GSM Infrastructure Manufacture and Testing, Alcatel SEL, Gunsenhausen, Germany 1997; Telecommunication Regulation and Operator Interconnection, IBTC, London 1995; Pricing, Billing and Fraud in Telecommunications, IBTC, London 1994; TACS Infrastructure and Operations, Cellnet, Slough, England 1994; Computer Systems Management, Control Data, Minneapolis, USA 1991; Advanced Computer Systems, Control Data, Minneapolis, 1990.

Before his current appointment as EVC/CEO of the NCC, Dr. Juwah has had a taste of government appointment before; he served as a member, of the Subcommittee for Telecommunication Sector Liberalisation and Restructuring in 2002.