NCC Boss Top Cheerleaders As Book On Telecommunications Law, Regulations Launches

By Clifford Agugoesi, Editor-in-Chief

Nigeria’s Chief telecommunications sector regulator, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta led a cross section of industry cheerleaders who showered encomiums on the authors as a book on telecommunications law and regulations was unveiled online Thursday, February 25, 2021. Titled Nigerian Telecommunications Law And Regulation, the book was written by two of the industry’s brightest legal and regulatory minds-Quasim Odunmbaku and Rotimi Akapo.

Odunmbakun is currently a telecoms regulatory professional at the NCC while Akapo is a lawyer with specialization in Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT) practice. Nigerian Telecommunications Law And Regulation is written in 18 chapters and has 610 pages.

Speaking at the virtual public presentation of the book, Danbatta, in his capacity as Chairman and Lead Presenter at the event, said that law and regulation were two critical pillars, which influenced the speed and impact of innovation in the telecoms sector.

“As important as these two factors are, they typically lag behind technology – it, therefore, behoves on all legal and regulatory practitioners in the sector to keep abreast of developments so that knowledge gaps do not stifle innovation and/or deny consumers of the optimum value,” he said.

Represented by the Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management at NCC (ECSM), Adeleke Adewolu, the NCC EVC/CEO acknowledged that there was a noticeable paucity of well-researched books and reference materials on the legal and regulatory regime governing the telecommunications and indeed the ICT sector in Nigeria.

“I am, therefore, delighted that the authors of “Nigerian Telecommunications Law and Regulation” have taken up the challenge and have produced a comprehensive reference material which touches on practically every aspect of the subject.”

The official public presentation of the book was done by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, who, who incidentally was a former ECSM at NCC, and had worked closely with one of the authors. Dare, who observed that the telecoms industry had grown exponentially over the years noted that without robust infrastructure and a forward-looking regulator in NCC, Nigeria would have suffered greatly with the onset of the coronavirus(COVID-19) pandemic. Dare,who also alluded to a recent statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics that credited the ICT sector for helping pull Nigeria out of recession, described the book as “a compendium that will greatly enrich the level knowledge needed to enhance telecoms growth.”

Reviewer of the book, Dr. Mohammed Suleh-Yusuf, after an insightful review of the book, said, “The book is highly useful to practitioners and lay readers alike. It serves as a window into what shapes the industry and ensures readers are familiar at surface, to the basic rules and norms that influence the industry.” He identified Areas for Future Review of the book as follow:

“The book attempts to address every legal issue and takes a more descriptive approach in appraising regulatory instruments. However, it would have been a lot more helpful, if more analysis went into the substance of each instrument by assessing its viability and efficacy in the industry and whether any is due for reform. A clear example of this is the book’s review of the Nigerian Data Protection Regulations 2019 and the Guidelines on Local Content for the ICT Sector, both documents suffer doctrinal and legitimacy difficulties, yet the book missed that.

The book does an excellent job in introducing readers to various legal enactments in the industry. Consequently, the titling of the book would be more apt if it was titled “Introduction to the Regulatory Framework of the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector”. A lot more attention ought to have been made to philosophical underpins of each regulatory instrument which was maintained initially. The book nonetheless does an excellent job in making readers aware of the varying legal enactments that affect the industry but this appears to stray from the general thesis of the book.

Also, a narrower and highly analytical assessment of the viability of the current regulatory state of the industry and its impact thereof would do more justice to the overall efficacy of the book, and not necessarily a compendium of laws which the book currently appears to be.

It is hoped that further editions of the book would critically evaluate the extant laws and advance remedies or reform where needed.”

In their good will messages, other telecoms stakeholders overwhelmingly endorsed the book, describing it as a good reference material and comprehensive guide, reference material and source-book on the policy, legal and regulatory framework governing the Nigerian telecommunications sector, with not a few stakeholders affirming the book will fill a critical contemporary knowledge gap for legal practitioners, investors and the academia, among others.

Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria(ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo congratulated the authors saying ALTON is elated by their work. He was full of praise for Odunmbaku, who was a former Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs of the association, while recommending the book to the public. According to him: “The book carefully dissects the policies, rules, regulations and industry best practices which makes the Nigerian telecommunications industry the success story that it is today, despite numerous challenges.” He announced that ALTON would purchase 10 copies of the book for N500,000.00 or about(US$1,312.06).

According to the Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Operations, Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), Akinwale Goodluck, who confessed having a good personal knowledge of the co-authors noted that many who were desirous of having credible information on telecoms in Africa would find the book very useful. Said Goodluck: “As an industry practitioner, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and recommend it very strongly for everyone with an interest in the Industry. It also provides invaluable insight for other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to learn from the Nigeria experience.”

 Speaking at the book launch, President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria(ATCON) Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani described the a book as an inclusive rich book from a good place, a manner of speaking that validates the rich credentials of the authors.

He said: “On behalf of the National Executive Council Members and the entire members of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), I want to express ATCON’s profound congratulations to these two persons, namely Mr. Quasim Odunmbaku and Mr. Rotimi Akapo who had worked together to produce a book that is completely dedicated to Nigerian Telecommunications Law and Regulation.

We at ATCON are happy to identify with these duo because these efforts which have manifested in the publication of book that captures the developments that the industry has recorded vis-a-vis law and regulation in Nigeria.

With the birth of this book, the industry should expect the following :

(a) Increase in the flow of foreign direct investment – This book will give the potential foreign investors the opportunity to understand the laws that guide the industry and how the industry is regulated in terms of investment.

(b) it would also serve as a yardstick for measuring the development of the industry

(c) finally, it would give those that are just entering the industry a head-start because they are going to benefit immensely from the industry’s experiences that has been put together in a book format.

Once more, we congratulate both of you and also enjoin you not to rest on your oars as the industry looks to read the second edition of this book in the next 5 to 10 years because of the nature of our industry which is highly dynamic.” Nnamani specifically recommended that some industry for a be dedicated towards the review of the various chapters of the book and promised that both ATCON and Medallion would support the authors by purchasing an undisclosed number of the book.

The immediate past President of ATCON, Olusola Teniola, aligned his views, with that of the current President saying the authors have challenged the industry by putting together an encyclopaedia behind the growth of the Telecommunications industry from the perspective of legal, regulatory, economic, social and technological impacts.

Other stakeholders, who rated the book highly both in content and relevance to industry practitioners included Chairman, Section of Business Law, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ayuli Jemide; Director, Legal & Regulatory Affairs/Company Secretary, Airtel Networks Limited, Shola Adeyemi who was ably represented by Lucky Ubani; Principal Partner and Head, ICT Law & Regulation, Sceptre Law, Lagos, Otu Etuk; Prof. Abiola Sanni of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, among others.

The stakeholders were in accord that the book, which sets out with great clarity and in the greatest detail the history, current status and how to navigate the policies and regulation of the Nigerian telecommunications sector in the real world, is a must-read for regulators, investors, scholars and industry practitioners.-With additional reporting by Angeline Mgbele, Correspondent Abuja.