Digital social investments in Nigeria, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), were on showcase at the just-concluded 35th annual conference of the African Public Relations Association (APRA) in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
Through a presentation by the Head of Media Management Relations at the NCC, Dr Omoniyi Ibietan, who later emerged as the Secretary-General of APRA after an election at the event which took place between May 13 and 17, 2024, participants had a glean into some of the digital social investments and infrastructure expansion in Nigeria, through regulatory efficiency of the commission.
Speaking at the event, Ibietan highlighted 36 initiatives of the NCC within and beyond its immediate regulatory mandate, implemented to promote infrastructure expansion, support SMEs, empower educational institutions, advance innovation, and promote digital up-skilling of Nigerian youths.
These, according to him, include the Advanced Digital Awareness Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI); Campus Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIEP) programme; e-PAD project for 232 institutions; Digital Appreciation Project (DAP) for 247 secondary schools; Digital Literacy Training for Teachers (DLT); Digital Integration Programme (DIP) for MSMEs; and the E-Accessibility programme targeted at persons with disabilities.
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Others are the Nigerian Girls Can Code Competition; the Build A-Thon, aimed at enabling young persons to pitch and enhance their skills and new learning experience; Tertiary Institutions Digital Centre (TIDC) for 250 institutions; 2,291 Digital Nigeria Centers (DNC) online/offline educational resources; Local Application and Content Deployment programme; and 72 Rural Broadband Initiative projects, among others.
He added that the NCC through its component special purpose vehicle, the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), has undertaken several digital infrastructure projects, programmes and collaborative activities with stakeholders.
“These interventions have caused a shift in digital literacy, fundamentally shrank the digital divide and opened the floodgates of participation in political, economic and social processes, and enabled accessible digital public relations in Nigeria,” Ibietan was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the NCC on Sunday, May 26.
While over 20 papers were presented at the APRA conference to expound its thematic focus of “One Africa, One Voice: Bridging Africa’s Communication Divide”, Ibietan’s paper was the only presentation that showcased digital infrastructure investments by any African country.
Other papers advocated the centrality of adequate broadband infrastructure in enhancing digital culture on the continent.
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