Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is slated to receive the 2022 Regulator of the Year Award at the prestigious Vanguard Personality of the Year Awards.
The event’s organizers, Vanguard Newspaper Limited, stated that Danbatta would receive the award category at a ceremony to be held in Lagos on Friday, January 27, 2023, in recognition of the professor’s transformational and inspiring leadership, which brought about an effective regulatory regime in the telecoms sector, positively impacting Nigeria’s digital economy ecosystem.
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Along with other prominent personalities such as Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Kwara State Governor Abdulraham Abdulrazaq, Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel, and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, as well as the Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and other Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in professional excellence and service to humanity, Danbatta will stand tall
Prof. Danbatta has been hailed as Africa’s regulatory model, and he has served as a model for other African regulators.
Danbatta, a respected scholar and distinguished academic, has demonstrated a no-nonsense demeanor in carrying out regulatory functions, but he is widely regarded in the industry as a calm and calculated leader who makes fair but firm decisions in his efforts to stabilize the Nigerian telecom environment. This has undoubtedly prompted several African regulators to emulate Nigeria’s methodology in order to improve their regulatory actions.
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Danbatta, a professor of telecommunications engineering, was the Acting Vice Chancellor at Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST) prior to his appointment, and as a lecturer, he has supervised more than 60 PhD, M.Eng, and B.Eng projects in various fields of telecommunications.
Danbatta, on the other hand, was not entirely new to the industry before becoming the NCC boss, as he served as Vice President of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), an international center for advanced communications studies established in 2004 by the NCC for capacity building in diverse areas of Information and Communication Technology.
During his first five years in office, he established an effective regulatory framework through innovative efforts, bolstering the telecoms sector’s role as a key contributor to the GDP (GDP).
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Last year, the multiple award-winning professor also presided over a highly successful 5G spectrum auction, and his efforts in reviving the Emergency Communications Centers (ECCs) and introducing a harmonized national emergency communication number (112) helped the NCC win the International Public Relations Association Golden Award in 2021, due to the pivotal role they played in containing the COVID-19 pandemic.
His outstanding leadership style was recently recognized by the Zik Prize organizers, who awarded upon him the Zik Prize award for Professional Leadership.
Danbatta acquired his B.Eng and MSc degrees from Poland’s Technical University of Wroclaw, as well as his PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
Despite his lofty achievements, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta remains a model of modesty and humility.
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