The Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami On Friday, April23, commissioned Emergency Communication Centres (ECC) established by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Ogun and Enugu states.
The two projects are part of the seven projects inaugurated by the Minister at a virtual commissioning of the batch nine of Digital Economy Projects for a Digital Nigeria which took place at the Communications & Digital Economy Complex, Mbora, in Abuja .
The ECCs are deliberate projects embarked upon by the Commission in pursuant to its mandates, enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, to dedicate a national emergency number and to ensure the protection of lives and property of Nigerians.
19 states of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have benefited from functional ECC projects, the implementation of which has received greater momentum under the leadership of Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive of the Commission.
Nigerians can easily receive immediate response in times of emergency from appropriate emergency response agencies (ERAs) such as; the Police, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Fire Service, Ambulance Service, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), etcetera, by dialling a toll-free Emergency Number, 122.
Other digital economy projects commissioned by the Minister include the Community ICT Centre, Dutse, Jigawa State; Information Technology Hub at Abubakar Tafawa Belewa University, Bauchi; and Digital Economy Centres (DEC) in Imo State Polytechnic; Garki Secondary School, Abuja and Ojodu Grammar School, Ojodu, Lagos State.
These five projects were executed by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
At the commissioning, Pantami, commended the agencies under his Ministry for collectively advancing the course of digital economy which he is spearheading, He noted that the projects are in line with the tripartite agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Minister added that the agenda focuses on the tripod of economic development, curbing corruption and improving security of the country.
“It is the goal of the Federal Government to leverage ICT to address developmental issues in our country and that is what we have been doing in the Ministry by facilitating development of Nigeria’s digital economy targets through a number of policy and regulatory initiatives”, Pantami said.
