From Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
The Executive Vice Chairman, EVC of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta has said that from $500million in the year 2000, investments in ICT in the country have grown to over $86 billion.
Danbatta who spoke yesterday in Abuja while delivering a paper at the stakeholder’s consultative forum with the academia further explained that at over 154 million subscribers, the market size demands special attention from the various stakeholders to ensure balance of interest that would continue to sustain the market and provide services that would transform daily human endeavour.
The EVC argued that there seemed to be some esoteric remoteness about academia, which insulates them from life on the street or the daily expectations of the ordinary man.
“I am of the strong opinion that the academia is not living up to our expectation when its expertise is not wired into the experience of the kind of market we are speaking about”, he said.
He explained that his expectation is that the academia should be at the vanguard of translating the difficulty and technicality of technology to suit the needs and daily applications of those who use them, thereby making life easy for society.