The Publisher, Business Metrics Nigeria and Chairman,Policy Implementation Assisted Forum(PIAFo Organising Committee,Omobayo Azeez has maintained that regulators can only achieve objectives of the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Telecommunication Sector by creating active dialogue around it to ensure that individual stakeholders understand how they fit into the bigger picture and what role is expected of them to attain these objectives for the greater good of Nigeria economy.
Omobola Azeez stated this at the maiden edition of Policy Implementation Forum (PIAFo-001) organised by Business Metrics Nigeria on Thursday August 12, 2021
He described the forum as a brainchild of concerns arising from perceived poor implementation of policies in Nigeria.
“Today’s virtual gathering focuses on the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunication Sector, and to further maintain that focus, it is themed: Facilitating Policy Implementation to Deliver Value in the Nigerian Telecoms Sector.
“This policy was launched on May 6, 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari, and according to the President, the policy is in line with the current administration’s commitment to ensure that Nigerians become active participants in the sectors of the economy. This commitment had earlier been expressed in the Presidential Order 005 on “Planning of Projects, Promotion of Nigerian Content in Contracts and Science, Engineering and Technology” and the Presidential Order 003 on “Support for Local Content Procurements by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria”.
“this forum therefore has been designed by the Business Metrics Nigeria Team to take the promises of the indigenous content policy in the telecoms sector beyond verbal commitment. We believe we can only achieve objectives of the policy by creating active dialogue around it to ensure that individual stakeholders understand how they fit into the bigger picture and what role is expected of them to attain these objectives for the greater good of our economy.
“I am also glad to announce to you that today marks the birth of a new initiative and an addition to the mechanism of policy implementation in Nigeria. You will agree with me that Nigerian archive is replete with good policies across the various sectors of the economy. But poor implementation has always characterized the system.
“Our desire is to change this order of poetic policy pronouncement and prosaic execution by creating a midpoint interface between the government and private sector players, where policies can be dissected, digested and driven to effective implementation, and later appraised using measurable metrics to assess their success over time.
“The journey for the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum has just started today with its focus on the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunication Sector, going forward, the forum shall address various other policies across telecoms sector, banking, oil & gas, aviation, agriculture, mining, MSME sectors, among others.
“At this juncture, permit me to appreciate our partners in this progressive journey who have not only endorse the ideology of the forum, but also threw their weight behind it by giving moral and material supports.
“We would like to heartily appreciate the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy under the leadership of Honourable Minister Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami; The EVC of the NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta and the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi.
“We also appreciate in no small measure, leaders and members ATCON, ALTON and ISPON.
“More importantly, we express our deep gratitude for the support enjoyed from MTN Communications Nigeria PLC, Skymax Technologies Limited, Rack Centre, AVM Consults Limited, Fiam Wi-Fi, Broadbase Communications Limited, Cedarview Communications Limited, ipNX Nigeria Limited, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), Swift Telephone Network and EnextGen Wireless”.Azeez stated.
