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Tag: Abraham Oshadami

  • Nigeria to Expand Digital Access With New Fibre Infrastructure Push — NCC

    Nigeria to Expand Digital Access With New Fibre Infrastructure Push — NCC

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reaffirmed its commitment to expanding digital connectivity across the country, stressing that stronger fibre optic infrastructure remains critical to improving broadband penetration and bridging the digital divide.

    The Commission said the renewed push forms part of broader efforts to accelerate digital transformation, drive economic growth, and ensure improved access to essential services such as education, healthcare, agriculture, and public service delivery nationwide.

    Speaking at a Strategic Fibre Optics Training Workshop held in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr Aminu Maida, said robust partnerships and technical expertise are essential to achieving nationwide digital progress.

    Maida, whose remarks were delivered by Abraham Oshadami, noted that a properly regulated and durable fibre optic network is fundamental to the country’s digital development goals.

    He explained that the workshop, themed “Strategic Fibre Optics Infrastructure Deployment and Regulatory Management,” comes at a crucial period as Nigeria steps up efforts to close the digital connectivity gap.

    According to him, expanding fibre infrastructure remains a major driver of economic development and improved service delivery.

    “As a country determined to boost broadband coverage, we recognise that strategic fibre rollout is vital for economic advancement, financial inclusion, education, healthcare, agriculture, and effective public service delivery,” he said.

    Maida further disclosed that the Federal Government, through Project BRIDGE — Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth — under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, is set to install an additional 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables across the country.

    He said the initiative is designed to improve connectivity in all 774 Local Government Areas, with the aim of widening digital access and inclusion nationwide.

    Despite the ambitious expansion plan, Maida acknowledged several obstacles, including expensive Right of Way (RoW) fees, administrative bottlenecks at the state level, and acts of infrastructure vandalism.

    He, however, said the Commission is working closely with regulatory agencies, state authorities, and security institutions to tackle these issues.

    According to him, 13 states have already removed RoW charges following the Commission’s engagement efforts, a development expected to encourage more investment from telecommunications companies.

    The NCC chief also referred to a 2024 presidential directive, coordinated with the Office of the National Security Adviser, which classified telecom infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) to strengthen its protection.

    Maida stressed that cooperation and capacity building remain key pillars of the Commission’s regulatory agenda.

    He expressed confidence that the five-day training workshop, organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in collaboration with the Digital Bridge Institute and backed by the European Union, would enhance regulatory performance and support faster fibre deployment across Nigeria.

    Also speaking at the event, Inga Stefanowicz, Head of Section for Green and Digital Economy at the EU Delegation, said the European Union’s global strategy places strong emphasis on investments in digital infrastructure, energy, transportation, healthcare, and education across Africa.

    She added that the EU Digital Economy Package for Nigeria, launched in 2022, has committed €820 million, including €160 million in grants, to support digital skills development, innovation centres, and public digital infrastructure, with particular focus on fibre network expansion.

  • BPSR Ranks NCC among Top 3 MDAs in Best Website Performance in 2025

    BPSR Ranks NCC among Top 3 MDAs in Best Website Performance in 2025

    The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has named the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) among the top three Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with the Best Ranking in Website Performance for 2025.

    This is coming barely three weeks after the telecom regulator was recognized as one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies for 2025 by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) – a testament to the Commission’s consistency in investment in technology for ensuring efficient service delivery.

    In the BPSR 2024/2025 scorecard ranking of agencies’ websites, the NCC came second in the ranking, trailing behind Galaxy Backbone Limited, which came first while the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) clinched the third position, from a pool of 235 MDAs, whose website were evaluated.

    BPSR deployed 14 evaluation criteria in include MDA’s website compliance with .gov.ng domain name, appearance and aesthetics (look and feel) of the website, content, relevance to MDAs mandate/government policy and the website’ structure. Others include website’s responsiveness (device compatibility), security, load time, usability/ease of navigation, availability/uptime, functionality, interactivity, accessibility and capacity building.

    The recognition was announced at the official release of Federal Government 2024/2025 Scorecard Ranking for MDAs’ Website held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Auditorium in Abuja on Monday (December 22, 2025) while the award presentation took place at BPSR’s Office on Tuesday (December 23, 2025).

    The award, which is an important index metric of the National e-Government Masterplan for determining the Nigeria e-Government Status, was received by the Commission in recognition of its commitment to maintaining a world-class website that enhances service delivery to the citizens.

    Receiving the award on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Abraham Oshadami, appreciated the BPSR for the recognition, describing the award as “another encouragement for the Commission to be a better public service institution leveraging digital platforms such as our web presence to enhance public service delivery to our various stakeholders, thereby implementing the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business policy direction.”

    While presenting the award to the NCC, alongside other two agencies, BPSR’s Director-General, Mr. Dasuki Arabi, commended the top three for their proactive decisions in maintaining world-class websites, which are compliant with the Federal Government’s policy direction in effective and efficient service delivery to the citizens.

    According to the DG, the 2024/2025 MDA’s websites’ ranking represents a collective effort of federal public institutions in Nigeria to be transparent, accountable and open in governance, as well as a confirmation to align with global best practices in service delivery to the citizens.

    Developed about six years ago, Arabi said as a result of the annual ranking, more public institutions have indicated readiness to embrace reforms, and align with the policy direction of the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda on improve governance for effective service delivery, as introduced by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    “The ideals of harnessing and deploying technological tools for service delivery has become imperative following the COVID pandemic, and distortions of socio-economic system of nations, culminating in the evolution of competitiveness, cost effectiveness, and agile governance.

    “As engine room of governance, it behoves on us in the public service to perform our statutory duties and we must put in place technological innovations and standardized websites to operate services as well as deliver service needs to citizens,” he said.

    The Scorecard exercise, he said, is part of the BPSR reform broader function of conducting research on reform implementation efforts and presenting ‘best practice’ models to the entire Public Service, and to among others, improve access to government information, facilitate seamless financial transaction, eliminate corruption and cyber theft, as well as facilitate access to government services.

    Speaking on the rigorous nature of the exercise that produced the top three winners, the DG said “in the past few weeks members of the Scorecard Jury drawn from inter-Ministerial Agencies, had worked tirelessly to mill websites of selected MDAs through a rigorous process of enduring criteria for the ranking and the outcome had also passed through a quality assurance mechanism to validate the outcome.”

  • NCC Advances Cybersecurity Framework to Safeguard Nigeria’s Telecom Infrastructure

    NCC Advances Cybersecurity Framework to Safeguard Nigeria’s Telecom Infrastructure

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is firming up a cybersecurity framework for securing digital infrastructure and enhancing online safety for consumers in the Nigerian communications industry.

    The framework, with likely implementation timeline by telecom licensees set for 2026, will address security challenges arising from the emerging technologies towards creating a more secure digital economy in Nigeria.

    During the second phase of the cybersecurity framework development meeting with relevant stakeholders, hosted by the Commission in Abuja on Wednesday, following the initial meeting held earlier in the year, NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services (ECTS), Abraham Oshadami, stressed the need for a water-tight approach to addressing the sophistication of cyber threats in the industry.

    Oshadami said given the increasing digitalization of services, the rapid growth of data exchange, and the sophisticated nature of modern cyber threats, the need for a robust, adaptive, and inclusive cybersecurity framework has never been more urgent.

    According to him, as emerging technologies reshape the landscape, cybersecurity now extends beyond the traditional triad of confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA), adding that intensifying geopolitical tensions and increasingly sophisticated threats are heightening risks to critical infrastructure irrespective of whether they are built on interconnected devices or legacy systems.

    “Both state and non-state actors are targeting essential sectors—including ours – through coordinated cyber and physical attacks. These attacks frequently target control systems and data integrity, underscoring the critical risks posed to operational technology (OT)—especially in our sector.

    “As cyberthreats evolve, they endanger not only system performance but also human safety, amplifying the severity and consequences of disruptions to vital communications infrastructure. Cybersecurity now encompasses human safety and must address the real risk to people’s lives when a system is attacked or compromised,” he said.

    While emphasizing the need to develop the framework, Oshadami said as telecommunications industry continues to serve as the backbone of Nigeria’s digital economy, its critical role in national development, economic transformation, and societal interaction makes it a strategic asset and unfortunately, a prime target for cyber threats.

    Oshadami further explained that the second stakeholders meeting on the cybersecurity framework was to present the progress made since the initial meeting, including the refined framework based on stakeholder input; and to further validate key components, design principles, and implementation strategies of the proposed framework, among others.

    The ECTS stated that as the national regulator, the NCC remains committed to an inclusive and consultative process, recognizing that sustainable cybersecurity outcomes can only be achieved through shared responsibility and strong public-private partnerships. “With your continued expertise, insight, and collaboration, we are confident that we can co-create a framework that not only secures our digital infrastructure but also fosters innovation, competitiveness, and long-term industry growth,” he said.

    The presentation of the proposed framework by the Chief Executive Officer of CyberNover,  Dr. Kazeem Durodoye, the consultants to the Commission on the project, Dr. Kazeem Durodoye, further provided details of the framework to stakeholders at the invents, cutting across representatives of telecom licensees and government agencies in the digital economy ecosystem.

    Meanwhile, the NCC’s Head of Cybersecurity and Internet Governance, Babagana Digima, while stating that the project is supported by the World Bank, commended all stakeholders for their input, saying while it was expected that the proposed framework will be finalized by end of third quarter of 2025, its implementation is expected to take off in early 2026.

    The forum provided a platform to consolidate a shared understanding of the strategic relevance of the proposed cybersecurity framework in enhancing national cybersecurity preparedness and sector resilience; and review and refine the preliminary inputs gathered during the first engagement, incorporating technical perspectives and sector-specific concerns, among others.

  • Oshadami Receives the prestigious CIO Awards

    Oshadami Receives the prestigious CIO Awards

    The status of the Nigerian Communications Commission as a flagship public sector brand, got another fillip, yesterday, as Engr. Abraham Oshadami, a Deputy Director and Head of Spectrum Database Management, was declared winner of the CIO OF THE YEAR AWARD for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), a nomenclature for one of the awards to the public sector group.
    The Award, conferred on Oshadami at Oriental Hotel Lagos on 26th November, 2021, “celebrates and honours successful and outstanding individuals and organisations that are using digital innovation and information technology systems to bring about real growth and transformation to businesses”.  Oshadami was Head of NCC’s Information Technology Department since 2016 until 1st September, 2021 when he was reassigned to Spectrum Administration Department in keeping with Commission’s strategic realignment.
    Organised annually by Edniesal Consulting Limited – an enterprise governance and corporate services firm – the Chief Information Officer (CIO) award is given in both public and private sector categories to Nigerian or African citizens or persons eligible to work in Nigeria. Such persons/executives must be serving in the capacity of senior Information Technology Executives, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Digital Officers or Chief Information Officers, and their entities must have been registered and doing business for at least two years by July 31 when entries are submitted for assessment annually.
    The CIO Award by Edniesal Consulting Limited is the “Largest CIO Awards in Africa”. The awards are in different categories, namely: MDAs, banking, telecoms, insurance, technology, energy and so on.
    Participants, who are usually persons primarily responsible for IT operations in the organisations they work, officially submit applications,Wow which are reviewed by a project team. The reviews are forwarded to an interim jury which undertakes the first major assessment. The Interim Jury then presents three top nominees in each category to a Grand Jury for assessment. The grand jury conducts an assessment and presents a list of final winners to an Independent Assurance Team for a final review and submission of report.
    This is the process Engr. Oshadami’s application passed through and he’s adjudged the best CIO in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government as the best of the public sector executives supervising Information Technology operations where they work. The NCC website, one of the items in the purview of the IT Department of the NCC which Oshadami supervised for 5 years, is been serially referred to as a forest of resources, due to the volume and quality of resources therein and its reliability as a source of credible information to journalists, other communication professionals and several close and far-flung stakeholders seeking information about Nigeria’s telecom sector.
    In 2018, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s website was adjudged the Best Website of the Year in the MDAs’ Category by the Nigerian Online Merit Awards (NIOMA). The award particularly noted NCC website as the most “interactive, current, relevant and error-free” among all MDA websites assessed.
    Same year, the NCC also received the best awards for use of social media to disseminate information and to promote visibility on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube to promote visibility and interaction. The social media handles are solely in the purview of the Public Affairs Department of the Commission, while the Information Technology Department and the Public Affairs Department collaborate in administering some aspects of the Commission’s website.
    Oshadami, a first class graduate of electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Ibadan, has worked in different capacities and mostly in Management positions since September 2004 when he joined the Nigerian Communications Commission.