Contractors Pledge To Complete NCC’s First Digital Park In Kano In January 2023

Contractors handling the first Digital Industrial Park (DIP) project in Kano State, has given a commitment to complete it by January 2023.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, obtained the commitment Friday, November 25, when he paid an inspection visit to the site in Kano.

The Friday’s inspection visit by the NCC’s boss was part of the routine visits to ensure close monitoring and effective supervision of important projects that will have great impacts on the country’s socio-economic development.

A statement today, November 27 by the Director of Public Affairs of the NCC, Reuben Mouka, said that during the visit, the Executive Vice Chairman emphasized the need for the contractors to expedite efforts in completing the project on schedule.

Professor Danbatta told the contractors that both the Federal and the State governments are following the progress being made at the construction site with keen interest owing to the value addition it would make not only to the economy of the North-West geo-political zone but to the country.

“This is a project that Nigerians are eagerly waiting to be completed. The Federal Government and the State government are following it with keen interest, and at NCC, our responsibility is to ensure that there’s no further delay in delivery as we have been doing everything possible to ensure that we have the project commissioned in the next few months.

“While I promise you that we will give you all the support you need, I also demand that progress report to be sent to me fortnightly over the two months period in order to ensure effective monitoring by us at NCC.”

The NCC Executive Vice Chairman commended the State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje for proving land at a prime location in Kano for the project, which he said, is an indication of the value the government attaches to the project.

The statement said that the Digital Industrial Parks are currently being built across the six geo-political zones of the country by the NCC and are expected to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by digital innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.

It said that the parks are also designed to provide broadband services and to have access to constant power supply.

“This is not the first time the NCC boss would pay a visit to the construction site of the project located at Audu Bako Secretariat in the ancient city, which doubles as the commercial nerve centre of northern Nigeria.

“The EVC’s latest visit was sequel to a similar visit to the construction site in July 2022 and other visits he had made much earlier, essentially to assess the level of work that has been done so far to ensure that the project is delivered within the set deadline.

“During the July 2022 visit to the construction site, Danbatta pointed out that the project was conceived to support the Federal Government’s digital drive by facilitating the availability and accessibility of digital services across the country, and promoting their adoption and usage across all sectors, as well as providing youth employment in the country.

“The idea of putting these two things (i.e., 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 other Nigerians.”

The statement said that Professor Danbatta had also stressed that no part of the country would be left out in benefitting from the initiative.

It quoted him as saying: “the project is another move to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy agenda of the Federal Government.”

The Executive Vice Chairman was accompanied to Kano on Friday by the NCC’s Head of Projects, Philip Eretan and the EVC’s Chief of Staff, Malam Hafiz Shehu, among others. Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor, Professor Yusif Alhassan was also in attendance.