AMINU MAIDA: ONE YEAR ON
MOHAMMED DANLAMI SALIHU reckons that the NCC chief executive is laying the foundation for sustained growth
Aminu Maida was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission in October last year. He inherited an industry grappling with multiple challenges: high operating costs, rampant vandalism, diminishing consumer confidence in operators, and more. He faced an uphill task, but with passion, rigor, and conviction, Dr. Maida has fully embraced his role.
This determination is intrinsic to his nature. Aminu Maida, a trained engineer with a PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Bath, UK, has built a distinguished career in both telecommunications and payment systems. His extensive experience and leadership have uniquely prepared him to lead Nigeria’s telecommunications regulatory body.
The telecom industry in Nigeria has faced significant challenges over the past decade, exacerbated in recent years by macroeconomic pressures across sectors. The cost of diesel has skyrocketed, operational expenses are steep, vandalism of telecom infrastructure is widespread, and foreign exchange scarcity has made investments difficult. Tasked with steering the industry through these difficulties, Maida has defined his strategic focus around three key stakeholder groups: industry operators, consumers, and the government.
In his strategic blueprint, Maida emphasizes five key drivers that will guide his leadership approach. One central driver is the welfare, skills development, and working conditions of NCC staff: The People. Recognizing their critical role in fulfilling the Commission’s mission, he is committed to providing them with the necessary resources, training, and a conducive work environment. His other strategic drivers include compliance, digitalization, data, and collaboration.
Since assuming office, Maida has championed data-driven regulatory decisions. He believes that a regulator’s actions cannot be arbitrary or anecdotal; data is the foundation of sound policy. Collaboration is also pivotal to his approach, and his efforts have led to significant achievements within the past year.
One notable success is the signing of the Presidential Order on Critical National Information Infrastructure by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in July. This order designates telecommunications infrastructure as critical national assets, requiring maximum protection by law enforcement. This breakthrough resulted from NCC’s advocacy, led by Maida, and involved collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
Dr. Maida’s advocacy has also yielded benefits for operators at the state level. Due to his efforts, seven states—Zamfara, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, and Katsina—have waived Right of Way charges, allowing telecom operators to lay fibre more affordably and with less bureaucratic bottlenecks, thus facilitating wider connectivity across the country. His home state of Katsina was one of the first to adopt this measure, underscoring the impact of his influence.
In May this year, in line with his commitment to collaboration, NCC partnered with Nokia to train young engineers in 4G/5G technologies. Together with the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Maida signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nokia Solutions and Networks Nigeria. This partnership will provide hands-on training to young Nigerians using a 5G/4G test lab set up by Nokia at NCC’s Digital Parks.
Nokia Nigeria has since set up up a fully functional 5G/4G test lab, that is leveraging their latest radio and transmission technologies to conduct these trainings.
Another critical issue that Maida has addressed is the longstanding interconnect and USSD debt in the telecommunications industry. Working closely with the Central Bank of Nigeria and other stakeholders, NCC has taken significant steps toward resolving these debts. According to THISDAY Newspaper, NCC has already facilitated the settlement of interconnect debts and is actively working on a resolution for the USSD debt, reportedly over N200 billion as of October 2024.
An insider source from NCC told the newspaper that NCC called all parties involved in the interconnect debt issues to a meeting, where the debts were reviewed and resolved and immediate decision was taken for the payment of all outstanding debts owed by different telecoms operators. “All outstanding interconnect debts had since been cleared,” the source said.
According to the newspaper, after successfully resolving the interconnect imbroglio, the NCC, under Maida’s leadership is currently addressing the USSD debt to also reach an amicable conclusion.
THISDAY further stated that “extensive negotiations have been ongoing to resolve the USSD debt issue, with NCC designing a framework that will determine the issues surrounding the controversial N200 billion debt, which accumulated over the years between the banks and the telcos.”
Aminu Maida’s leadership at the Nigerian Communications Commission is set to usher in a new era for Nigeria’s telecommunications sector. Through a comprehensive strategy, that focuses on meeting the expectations of the consumers, the industry, and the government, and an unwavering commitment to staff of the commission, collaboration, data-driven decisions, digitalisation and strict regulatory compliance, he is addressing the industry’s complex challenges and laying the foundation for its sustained growth and resilience.
Salihu writes from Kaduna
