NCC, NBC merger; stakeholders express views

Stakeholders in the Information Communications Technology sector said the merger of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) should have been done years back.

Mr. Ajaji, ATCON President

The approval came following an issue raised recently by the Communications Technology Minister, Mrs. Omobola Johnson which paved way for the approval of the merger of the two regulatory bodies by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

DigitalSENSE News recalls that stakeholders have been calling for the merger of the two bodies, even before the creation of the Communications Technology Ministry over a year ago, since the two bodies control technologies.

Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) President, Mr. Lanre Ajayi affirmed that the merger is long overdue and that it would help the ICT industry to grow rapidly since technologies are converging which necessitate the coming together of the regulators of such technologies.

"With a single technology device, people could listen to radio, watch television, make calls, watch and stream videos online among others,” Mr. Ajayi said that it is appropriate that NCC and NBC merge to form a single large regulator in a bid to move the country forward.

The ATCON president also said there is nothing special about the name change of the new body to be formed that the body and its regulatory obligations are what matters.

Engr. Adebayo, ALTON President

Also commenting on the merger, president of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo advised the government to be cautious of the approved merger so as not to scatter the structures and frameworks of the two agencies which have recorded successes over the years.

Attributing the successes of the two bodies to their individual philosophies and agendas as regulators, Engr. Adebayo warns that any move by government to merge the two would disrupt their structures and ideologies.

“It is true that technologies are converging and that technology regulatory bodies should also converge, but my worry is about how government will address the issue without bringing in sentiments and politics, because there had never been any known successful merger carried out by government in the past,” Adebayo said.

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