The Minister of Communications, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has set targets for the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the parastatals under the ministry as well as the directors of the ministry.
The minister urged them to significantly improve the level of their performance to reflect the ‘Next Level’ paradigm of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Pantami who made this known during an extensive meetings and briefings by the various CEOs, assured them of the federal government’s support as they discharge their duties and reminded them of his commitment to sanction any parastatal that fails to step up its performance.
The minister tasked the CEO of Galaxy Backbone Plc to improve the reach and coverage of its services in the public sector and to significantly improve the quality of services provided.
Also, the minister tasked the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to bring to an end the issue of sales of pre-registered, unregistered and partially-registered SIM cards, citing that it would help in reducing numerous security challenges the nation face.
He also told the NCC to stem the tide of illegal deduction of the data of subscribers and work towards the downward review of the cost of data, and to ensure compliance with the maximum 2 per cent Call Drop Rate directive to telecom operators.
He tasked Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited to significantly improve its level of visibility across the country and to ensure great improvement in the quality of its services.
Pantami told the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), to ensure an appreciable improvement in the efficiency of its letter and parcel delivery service, and to increase the effective area of its coverage in the country.
For the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) the Minister urged them to have a greater level of focus on increasing local content development and patronage in the hardware and software sub-sectors.
He also charged NITDA to strengthen the execution of its IT project clearance mandate to capture more projects by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and ensure the promotion and adoption of the Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF) by the MDAs.
He finally charged the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to ensure there is a sustainability model in place for all the projects deployed, and prepare a plan to reduce the access gaps in the rural, unserved and underserved areas.
