Ahead of the auspicious commissioning of the Digital Industrial Park (DIP) project in Kano State, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has, once again, paid an inspection visit to the site of the ongoing construction of the project in Kano State where he got an unequivocal commitment from the contractors that the project will be completed by January 2023.
The Friday’s inspection call by the NCC’s boss was part of
the routine visits to ensure close monitoring and effective supervision of
important projects that will have great impacts on the country’s socio-economic
development.
During the visit, the EVC, who was accompanied by the NCC’s
Head of Projects, Philip Eretan, and the EVC’s Chief of Staff, Malam Hafiz
Shehu, among others, with the Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor, Prof.
Yusif Alhassan, in attendance, emphasized the need for the contractors to
expedite efforts in completing the project on schedule.
Addressing the contractors, Danbatta said that both the
Federal and the State governments are following the progress being made at the
construction site with keen interest owing to the value addition the project
would make not only to the economy of the North-West geo-political zone but
also to the country as a whole.
“This is a project that Nigerians are eagerly waiting to be
completed. The Federal Government and the State government are following it
with keen interest, and at NCC, our responsibility is to ensure that there’s no
further delay in delivery as we have been doing everything possible to ensure
that we have the project commissioned in the next few months.
“While I promise you that we will give you all the support
you need, I also demand that progress report to be sent to me fortnightly over
the two months period in order to ensure effective monitoring by us at NCC,” he
said.
Speaking further, the EVC commended the State Governor for
proving land at a prime location in Kano for the project, which he said is an
indication of the value the government attaches to the project.
The DIPs currently being built across the six geo-political
zones of the country by the NCC are expected to provide Innovation Labs and
Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by digital innovators and
entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes. The parks are
also designed to provide broadband services and to have access to constant
power supply.
This is not the first time the NCC boss would pay a visit to
the construction site of the project located at Audu Bako Secretariat in the
ancient city, which doubles as the commercial nerve centre of northern Nigeria.
The EVC’s latest visit was sequel to a similar visit to the
construction site in July 2022 and other visits he had made much earlier,
essentially to assess the level of work that has been done so far to ensure
that the project is delivered within the set deadline.
During the July 2022 visit to the construction site,
Danbatta pointed out that the project was conceived to support the Federal
Government’s digital drive by facilitating the availability and accessibility
of digital services across the country, and promoting their adoption and usage
across all sectors, as well as providing youth employment in the country.
“The idea of putting these two things (i.e., skill
acquisition and innovation) at the forefront of this very important initiative
is to produce youths that can be self-reliant, generate employment for
themselves and other Nigerians,” he said.
Danbatta had also stressed that no part of the country would
be left out in benefitting from the initiative. “The project is another move to
boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for
the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy
agenda of the Federal Government,” he said.