The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on speeding up the country’s digitization reform process.
This was revealed in a statement issued by Reuben Muoka, NCC’s Director of Public Affairs. According to the announcement, NCC Executive Vice-Chairman Prof. Umar Danbatta said the engagement is compatible with the NCC’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) to work with relevant stakeholders.
The MoU would boost efficiency and productivity since it appropriately captures the roles of enabling policies and implementing institutions, which are fundamental elements of digital transformation. He also stated that the commission would continue to promote broadband penetration, which serves as the foundation for such a process.
According to him, enough provisions were made in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan document for the deployment of broadband infrastructure across the country to fulfill this goal. Danbatta stated, while emphasizing that broadband infrastructure would drive services that would result in the transformation of governance and the major services sector in the economy:
“After the process, governance will be paperless, and CEOs will be able to deal with mail without having to sign most things offline because almost everything will be done online.”
The change will be worthwhile because the process is related with efficiency, which naturally arises from operating a paperless governance.
“We place a high value on how we interact with sister government agencies to provide translation. Strategic collaboration and partnership are crucial components of our Strategic Vision Plan, which is why we are signing this MoU.”
Dasuki Arabi, Director-General of BPSR, stated in his statement that the bureau has opted to collaborate with the commission in driving changes for the use of emerging technologies. This, he added, was due to NCC becoming the first institution to get its Platinum Award for exceeding expectations in the manner it does business.
“Historically, this collaboration began in 2016 when the Commission became the first government agency to complete the BPSR online Self-Assessment Tool (SAT).” NCC was the first organization to be designated Platinum Organization by the Tool at the completion of the assessment, having exceeded expectations in all good practices built around nine domain areas.
“The Memorandum of Understanding will also help foster a high level of cooperation between the federal and state governments in improving service delivery.” It will also address the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index in order to dramatically improve a safe and secure environment that promotes economic growth and investment,” he added.
Arabi stated that the Memorandum of Understanding would create a window of opportunity to coordinate efforts to produce robust and resilient public services, this would result in a well-functioning federal system with zero tolerance for corruption.
He went on to say that efforts to ensure equitable and unrestricted access to government information and services were having a direct influence on the country’s socioeconomic progress.
