Ndukwe for African Telecom Hall of fame lecture

The chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Ernest Ndukwe would deliver the inaugural lecture of the African Telecom Hall of Fame, billed to hold in Lagos.

This is coming as the eighth edition of the Nigerian Information Technology and Telecom Awards (NITTA 2009) would run simultaneously with the lecture.

The lecture which has been scheduled to hold on November 20, 2009, would offer beyond a mere food for thought as it has been planned to be a landmark opportunity to have a practical glimpse into what the future holds for Africa’s telecommunications industry.

According to the organizers, Ndukwe as the driver of the nation’s telecom regulatory body, NCC and award winning Africa’s best telecom regulator in the last nine years, is expected to delve into the history of Africa’s troubled telecom industry, provide an overview of the current situation and forecast on the future of the industry.

Ndukwe’s keynote address, the organizers said, would flow from the theme of the inaugural lecture, ‘The African Telecom Industry; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Potentials, Challenges and Prospects Going Forward.’

This, they said, would provide an intellectual platform for a wider discourse that will envelope the continent’s quest for a functional, people-oriented and economically emancipating telecommunications infrastructure and services.

The African Telecom Hall of Fame Lecture Series was initiated by IT & Telecom Digest, as the veritable platform to critically examine issues on a wide scale through the insights, skills and experiences of experts who are not only familiar with the African environment, but also committed to the development of the continent and the sustenance of the telecommunications industry, already touted as the last hope for putting Africa on the global map economically, socially and politically.

On why Dr. Ndukwe was the choice for the keynote speaker for the inaugural African Telecom Hall of Fame Lecture, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, Mr. Mkpe Abang, noted that for a man whom the world has come to acclaim as the best regulator out of Africa, and who brought Nigerian telecom industry out of the woods, he is the most qualified to give such a lecture.

“… A man who has through foresight, commitment to the telecom cause and patriotic zeal, brought the Nigerian telecom industry from out of the woods to become the talk of the world, and for a man whom the entire African continent relies on to provide direction for her telecom sector, there could not have been a better choice,” he declared.

Further, he said, it is in recognition of Dr. Ndukwe’s expertise in knowledge and thorough understanding of telecommunications as an instrument for social cohesion, good governance and political emancipation, economic growth and grassroots empowerment, among others, and given his dedication and commitment to the total growth of the African telecom industry, the we feel honoured to invite him to deliver the keynote address at the Inaugural Lecture in the African Telecom Hall of Fame Lecture Series.”

The inaugural lecture will kick-start and flow into the eight Nigerian Information Technology and Telecom Awards (NITTA 2009) with both events happening at the same time at the Grand Ballroom of the Eko Hotel, Lagos, on November 20.

Stressing that all is set to provide an atmosphere never before experienced, in that operators, ranking government officials, subscribers and key professionals will use the opportunity of the twin-events to take stock of the year going to a close, which has been a particularly challenging one, and thinker the best direction for the coming years.

Already, the Nigerian ICT industry is agog with suspense and is in a rare feverish mood as operators and professionals hold their breath in expectations of which companies, products, personalities and institutions will be honoured with prestigious awards at NITTA 2009.

In its eighth year, NITTA, the acclaimed foremost and really prestigious awards, is recognised by industry, governments and experts across Africa as the ultimate lever and benchmark for measuring and rewarding hard work, enterprise, initiation, innovation and investment foresight in a market that remains the toast of all and sundry globally.

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