By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday advocated for fair taxation practices that do not stifle innovation or place undue burden on consumers.
The Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Danbatta, who was represented by Director, Consumer Affairs, Mr. Umar Alkasim, made the call at the “NCC day” during the 18th Abuja International Trade Fair organized by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) at the Abuja Trade & Convention Centre, Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua Way, Airport Road, Abuja.
Sundiata Post recalls that the theme of this year’s edition of the Trade Fair is: “Sustainable Financing and Taxation”.
According to Danbatta, this years theme is ’ is very apt and timely, especially considering the pivotal role the telecommunications industry play in driving economic growth, fostering innovation, and enhancing the quality of life for citizens across the globe. As the telecommunications regulator in Nigeria, we bear the responsibility of ensuring the sustainability and vitality of the sector.
The EVC noted that over the years, the NCC has continued to be a strategic partner to the Commerce, Mines and Industry, as the Commission leverages the Trade Fair platform to engage telecoms consumers and business owners, who are based in various regions of the country. Adding that partnering with ACCI through Special “NCC Day” event provides a veritable platform for interaction with telecoms stakeholders, especially the Commission’s esteemed telecoms consumers.
Highlighting the strategic and importance role of NCC to the economy, Danbatta said:
“The Commission recognizes the fact that telecommunications sector has been a strategic driver of the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government, as it continues to provide the needed digital stamina to support the economy, especially through technology. It is no longer news that telecommunications empowers individuals, connects businesses, strengthen industries and enable Governments to provide essential services efficiently thereby driving development and prosperity.
“Information Communications Technology (ICT) is not only one of the fastest growing industries – directly creating millions of jobs – but it is also an important enabler of innovation and development, as it provides the backbone infrastructure for transactional business and taxation for Government. However, maintaining this digital infrastructure and its continued growth necessitates substantial investment.
“Sustainable financing in telecommunication involves sourcing the necessary capital to build and maintain robust telecommunications networks. As regulators, we understand that this financing should be stable, accessible and conducive for industry growth. Taxation while essential for funding of Government initiatives must strike a delicate balance between revenue generation and industry growth.
“We acknowledge the intricacies of tax policies but emphasize the importance of creating an environment where telecommunications companies can thrive and to address these challenges, the Commission continuously engage both the Federal and State Government on the need to harmonize taxation in the telecommunications sector, he added.
He thetefore stressed that NCC’s regulatory efforts in deepening access to digital services will benefit Nigeria and make it competitive comparable with other economies in the areas of job creation; contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth; emergence of new services and industries; workforce transformation; and business innovation.
According to him, it is in response to ensuring that Nigeria is competitive in all these areas that the Commission continuously puts a number of regulatory measures in place to ensure seamless access by Nigerians to telecommunications services in order to deepen competitiveness of the Nigerian economy by making our businesses and industries digitally compliant.
He reminded that in Nigeria today, the number of active mobile subscriptions reached 220,715,961 million as at August 2023, while Teledensity stood at 115.63 per cent at the same period. Also, the number of active Internet subscribers was 159,034,717 Million with broadband penetration at 45.57 per cent as at August, 2023. In this new environment, the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses depends on their ability to leverage on new technologies by acquiring the necessary digital skills to do business on an international scale. This in turn benefits the economy financially.
Danbatta emphasized that the NCC will continue to drive the remarkable digital transformation we are witnessing in our economy today. We also believe that with sustainable financing and fair taxation practices, we can ensure that the telecommunications sector remains resilient and continue to serve as the catalyst for progress in our interconnected world.
Also, the Director, Consumer Affairs Buresu, Alhassan Abubakar Haru while fielding questions from newsmen, said the essence of the NCC Day is to educate, protect and enligjten consumers.
According to him, NCC is a responsive and customer centric organisation. One of the mandate of NCC is to educate and enlighten the consumer and the number of people here today has attested to what we are saying. NCC always want to create awaremess of the rights of people when they are using telecommunication services and that is why we are here today to make them aware of their rights.
In NCC, we have a department called Consumer Affairs Bureau. The mandate of the Bureau is to inform, educate and protect the consumer. Also, we have a slogan that we call ‘take advantage of us so that no one takes advantage of you”. So that is what NCC is doing, to create awareness to the society, particilarly to the consumer.
Sundiata Post can authoritatively report that a large number of people were educated, gifts were given to them and there was also a drama to indicate that people should not disclose their personal information to third parties they don’t know.
Also discussed was the issue of pre-registered sim cards. Telecommunication Consumers were informed that buying pre-registered sim card is dangerous for sexuriry reasons. They were also made to know that NCC is contributing to the Gross Domedtic Product (GDP) and economy in genetal.
