Nigerians can access the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through the any of the eighteen Emergency Communication Centres (ECC) built across the country, TechEconomy.ng can report.
Just last week, President Muhammadu Buhari launched the ECC located in Abuja.
Addressing top government functionaries and captains of industry, at the unveiling of the National Broadband plan 2020-2025, the launching of the Emergency Communications Centre and Toll Free Number 112, the commissioning of the Communications and Digital Economy Complex and the flag off of the Digital Innovation and Entreprenuership Training, President Buhari expressed delight at the laudable developments which he noted “will enhance the development of our National Digital Economy and support our efforts in diversifying the economy”
Speaking further, the President emphasized that the commissioning of the Toll Free Number 112, which will soon be deployed nationwide, “further demonstrates our resolve to keep Nigerians safe. We have taken advantage of Digital Technologies to ensure that Nigerians in distress, are only a dial away from the relevant emergency response institutions in the country”.
On the ECC, the EVC said NCC facilitated the establishment of 18 ECCs in 17 states of the Federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in line with the Commission’s mandate under section 107 of Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.
“This is to promote and enhance public safety through the use of a particular number designed as the universal safety and emergency assistance number for telephone services generally; and to encourage and facilitate the prompt deployment throughout Nigeria of seamless, ubiquitous and reliable end-to-end infrastructure for emergency communication needs,” the EVC said.
The recognition of the significant role of NCC’s ECC in enhancing security, resulted in the awards received by the Commission and its CEO in 2019. Consequently, the NCC has also been inducted into the Forum of Spokesperson of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA), as an eloquent testimony to its commitment to leveraging new technologies to address the nation’s numerous security concerns.
In a chat with TechEconomy.ng, the Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Dr. Henry Nkemadu, “The Emergency Communication Centres have already been commissioned and as such if there are calls to the Centres on the CORONAVIRUS epidemic, the agents will transfer the calls to the appropriate responders, in this case NCDC for necessary actions”.
The reassuring statement from NCC came few hours after the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), a specialised agency of the African Union in the field of telecommunications, has put together a set of guidelines to assist in combating the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, that every Member State should consider.
Africa has so far recorded relatively few coronavirus cases compared to the rest of the world.
Globally, telecoms/ICTs have become a pillar in the prevention, preparedness and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, ATU said.
Source: TechEconomy.ng
