Business
Group Tasks FG On NITEL Facilities
The Nigerian Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers has called on the Federal Government to deploy the neglected NITEL infrastructure in the telecommunications industry to other uses.
The institution’s Chairman, Mr Samuel Makinde, made the call when the association’s executive visited the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Mobolaji Johnson, in Abuja.
Makinde said that the country was losing a lot by having the premier telecommunications company moribund for several years without generating the much needed revenue for the nation.
He also urged the minister to consider building mobile libraries for Outside Broadcast Services (OBS) and internet hotspots in Abuja and its environs.
The chairman said that this would enhance the Federal Government’s job creation programme and improve internet access and penetration across the country.
Makinde lauded the minister’s drive in championing policies to grow the sector and urged her not to relent.
Earlier, Mobolaji had pledged her ministry’s commitment to partner with the Institution in the areas of policy formulations and capacity building for the industry.
“Please don‘t relent in your efforts in assisting the Federal Government in moving this country forward because the development of this country should be the first thing on our minds,’’ she said.
Mobolaji expressed confidence that Nigeria would not be left behind in the evolving global communications industry.
On broadband issues, she told the group that a presidential committee had been constituted to fashion out a roadmap to consolidate on current developments in the sector.