Access to telecom services continues to elude millions of Nigerians. At the last count, no fewer than 217 clusters of access gaps were identified. The figure has, however, been narrowed down to 114, which is still huge when the numbers of the digitally ‘disenfarchsied’ is considered. LUCAS AJANAKU reports that ICT Parks could bridge the deficit and promote digital inclusivity if well managed.
About a decade ago when the telecoms revolution was in its infancy, it was not unusual for people to identify specific points in their living rooms to get connection to telecoms signal.
In some cases, access could only be obtained at a specific point in a grave yard. People don’t mind as they would carve out that access point and stay there to make calls whenever they wanted.
Things have, however, changed as investment on base transceiver stations (BTS), optic fiber cables and others has become ubiquitous with far reaching impact on quality of service (QoS). But the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which has succeeded in bringing access gap clusters down from 217 to about 114, representing 40 million and 25million respectively, said it plan to build Information Communication Technology (ICT) Parks across the six-geo political zones of the country to close the gaps.
The initiative has received the commendation of the Kano State governor Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje. The governor spoke when he visited the site of an ongoing construction of an ICT Park by the Commission for the Northwest zone located in the ancient city.
The governor acknowledged the efforts and commitment of the Prof Umar Danbatta-led NCC in ensuring increased digital access for fast-tracking digital innovation across Nigeria and the Northwest in particular, saying the initiative will trigger socio-economic transformation of the area in no distant future.
Ganduje said: “Realising that a major project that resonates with the global vision for the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is being vigorously driven by NCC leadership shows the kind of socio-economic transformation we should expect through ICT across Nigeria in the next few years.
“For the ICT Park being built here in Kano to serve the Northwest zone, the government and citizens of Kano State are grateful to Prof. Danbatta and his team for bringing development to the state and the zone at large.”
He also applauded the quality of the construction work being undertaken by the NCC on the ICT Park and expressed appreciation for the foresight of the NCC for accommodating an expansion plan at the project site.
Already, three ICT Parks in Katsina, Gombe and Ibadan are being constructed by the NCC as parts of efforts to digitalise the economy.
NCC Chairman, Prof. Adeola Akande said: “The NCC, through the Universal Service Provision Fund and the telecommunication companies, are undertaking many projects to boost telecoms service.
“All these programmes are designed to meet the objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari who re-designated the Ministry of Communications as Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. A digital economy is impossible without the widespread availability of telecommunications services and a population that is literate in ICT.”
Akande said the Commission is also working on other projects to improve the welfare of society.
“We have endowed a professorial chair on Telecommunication Studies at the University of Ibadan”. We are constructing a Knowledge Service Centre at the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education in Oyo and we shall soon begin work on an ICT park in Ibadan costing N500 million. We are also bringing campus-wide internet service to the Oke Ogun Polytechnic.
“Many secondary schools in Ogbomoso, Oyo, Ibadan, Ibarapa and Oke Ogun will benefit from the Knowledge Service Centres to be constructed by the USPF and NCC this year.
“In the past few months, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has trained hundreds of thousands of youths in telecommunication services. The NCC will complement this effort with training programme for youths in Digital Job Creation across the country,” he said.
Project cost, scope
Prof Akande said the Ibadan Park, for example, would cost N500 million.
Each ICT Park will provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by ICT innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.
The Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) will provide a Commercial Hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills create employment and entrepreneurial activities and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial Complex.
The ICT Park consists of laboratories for ICT innovations and Commercial Hubs providing capacity building to ICT startups and entrepreneurial activities in each of the zones.
The parks are designed to provide fast internet service (broadband) and constant power supply.
A typical ICT park comprises an area or location with concentration of all ICT facilities, which enables a concerted effort to leapfrog into the digital age by creating a dynamic environment in which local talent is incubated, cultivated, and shared. Analysts say ICT parks are best trusted institutional mechanism to address the needs of technology-intensive, knowledge-based Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The NCC ICT Parks, which are being built across the six geo-political zones of the country, involve the construction and equipping of fully-functional Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) in each of the six geo-political zones of the country.
The parks will also provide a Commercial Hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills; create jobs and entrepreneurial activities; and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial complex.
Prof Danbatta said the project was conceived and designed to support the Federal Government’s ICT-related policies and programmes by facilitating the availability and accessibility of ICT services across the country, promote their usage across all sectors and ultimately address youth unemployment in the country.
Designed to propel socio-economic transformation, he said the ICT Parks will help build capacity for the teeming population of youths in the area of skill acquisition and innovation by complementing existing initiatives geared towards accelerating socio-economic transformation of Nigeria.
“The whole idea of putting these two things (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 for other Nigerians,” he said.
Danbatta said based on its national structural spread, no part of the country will be left out as beneficiaries of the initiative. “The NCC ICT Parks Project is another move by the leadership of the Commission to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming youths and, ultimately, support the overall digital economy agenda of the Federal Government.
. “We also hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network, which the Commission is deepening in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies,” he said, urging potential beneficiaries of the project, especially the youths, to be ready to leverage the initiative as it promises to empower them socially and economically.
“I would like to send out a very important message to our youths, especially those who are currently occupied with various innovative applications, those who have acquired the skills but are looking for where to put the skills fruitful engagements, by incubating them, commercialising them, or giving publicity to these excellent initiatives, to be ready to leverage the facilities,” he said.
Why ICT Park?
Under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, the NCC is saddled with “Designing, managing and implementing Universal Access strategy and programme in accordance with Federal Government’s general policy and objectives thereon.”
Accordingly, the Commission is supporting the Federal Government’s policies such as the National Digital Economy Policy & Strategy (NDEPS), 2020-2030; the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP)-2020-2025; the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content 2021; the NCC’s Strategic Management Plan, 2020-2024 and its soon-to-be-unveiled second Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) among others by embarking on ICT Park Project.
Challenges
One of the challenges that may confront successful implementation of the project is timely release of land for citing the project. For so long, the release of land by state governments was a major drawback to the completion of NCC Emergency Communication Centres. Before Dambatta took over, land allocation for ECCs was a major challenge.
Another challenge is sustainable management model especially in the provision of electricity and other equipment. Though generators would be provided, this may not be enough. The government must therefore explore the use of alternative energy supply such as solar.
National spread
Shedding more light on the ICT Park project, Danbatta, who spoke during a visit to Maiduguri, Northeast geo-political zone where one is being built, said the NCC decided to embark on the important project “which will see ICT parks decentralised in all the six geo-political zones of the country.”
He said the Commission is starting with four zones at the moment. These include the ones located in Abeokuta for the Southwest; Enugu for Southeast, Maiduguri for Northeast and Kano for the Northwest.
The projects, he said, are being implemented with a view to building capacity, exposing Nigerian teaming youths to capacity building initiatives in the areas of skills acquisition and innovation.
Danbatta said the project, which is consistent with global best practices, has targeted areas of in each of the zones with large concentration of youths.
He promised that, because of its design to have a national spread, the Commission would ensure that no part of the country is be left out of the initiative but added every corner of Nigeria will see the initiative taking up, of course, at different times.
Expectations
Speaking on the expected tech fruits from projects, Danbatta said: “As I said, we have four ICT parks, which are at different stages of development. Going forward, we hope to see software development, incubation, including, even, hardware development. Above all, through NCC ICT Parks, we hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network the NCC is trying to deploy in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies.”
Boost for digital economy
As NCC deepens broadband access towards achieving the 70 per cent broadband penetration set for 2025 by the Federal Government, the Commission, through the ICT Park, will build a pool of digital skills and literacy in line with the country’s National Digiotal Economy Policy and Strategy, unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
“As you may be aware, one of the eight pillars of the NDEPS is Digital Skills and Literacy and in this regard, NCC is supporting this critical pillar of the digital economy agenda. This is because, when we provide resilient broadband infrastructure platforms, there is a need for us to encourage local technology products and applications that will ride on the infrastructure toward developing the country’s overall socio-economic ecosystem in a sustainable way,” he said.
Asked when the projects will be ready for commissioning, Danbatta said he just visited the Kano Park to examine the level of progress of the project while the other three ICT Parks being built in Maiduguri, Abeokuta and Enugu are also at different levels of completion.
“So, going by the level of work already done, I would like to say that before the year runs out, al other things being equal, we should be able to commission one or two of these ICT parts in the country,” he said.
Youths’ empowerments
Danbatta further explained the huge opportunities which the ICT Parks will bring to would-be beneficiaries of the project among the Nigerian youths.
“I would like to send out a very important message to our youths, especially those who are currently occupied with various innovative applications, those who have even acquired the skills and are looking for where to put these skills to bring the skills to fruition by, maybe, incubating them, by commercialising them, by giving publicity to these excellent initiatives, that there is going to be a centre in the ICT Parks.
“These centres would be used to showcase their innovations to the global community and very soon, there is light at the end of the tunnel, these various initiatives by the youths in areas of apps, various software products developed and other initiatives, will see t light of day.
“This is because, as I said, we are going to have a centre where we are going to be able to showcase this, not only to potential investors in this country but also to the international audience, who definitely will be interested in some of these important applications that, we hope, we can come up with,” he said.
