A virtual gathering was held to further discuss the maiden edition of the Policy Implementation Forum (PIAFo-001). The forum was originally to discuss concerns arising following the perceived poor implementation of policies in Nigeria.
Focused on the national policy for the promotion of indigenous content in the Nigerian telecommunication sector, the gathering was organized by Business Metric Nigeria and themed: “Facilitating Policy Implementation to Deliver Value in the Nigerian Telecoms Sector.”
According to the Chairman, Organising Committee Of Policy Implementation Assisted Forum, Mr Omobayo Azzez, the policy was launched on May 6, 2021, by President Muhammadu Buhari, and according to the President, the policy is in line with the current administration’s commitment to ensure that Nigerians become active participants in the sectors of the economy.
This commitment had earlier been expressed in the Presidential Order 005 on “Planning of Projects, Promotion of Nigerian Content in Contracts and Science, Engineering and Technology” and the Presidential Order 003 on “Support for Local Content Procurements by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria”.
He went on to say that the forum has therefore been designed by the Business Metrics Nigeria Team to take the promises of the indigenous content policy in the telecoms sector beyond verbal commitment.
Azeez also stated that the objectives of the policy can only be achieved by creating active dialogue around it to ensure that individual stakeholders understand how they fit into the bigger picture and what role is expected of them to attain these objectives for the greater good of our economy.
More so, he announced that the birth of a new initiative and an addition to the mechanism of policy implementation in Nigeria has been marked.
In his words, “you will agree with me that Nigerian archive is replete with good policies across the various sectors of the economy. But poor implementation has always characterized the system.”
“Our desire is to change this order of poetic policy pronouncement and prosaic execution by creating a midpoint interface between the government and private sector players, where policies can be dissected, digested and driven to effective implementation, and later appraised using measurable metrics to assess their success over time.
The journey for the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum has just started today with its focus on the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunication Sector, going forward, the forum shall address various other policies across the telecoms sector, banking, oil & gas, aviation, agriculture, mining, MSME sectors, among others.”
The Chairman also appreciated the partners in this progressive journey who have not only endorse the ideology of the forum but also threw their weight behind it by giving moral and material supports.
These partners include the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy under the leadership of Honourable Minister Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, The EVC of the NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta and the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, leaders and members of ATCON, ALTON and ISPON.
Not left out, he expressed deep gratitude for the support enjoyed from MTN Communications Nigeria PLC, Skymax Technologies Limited, Rack Centre, AVM Consults Limited, Fiam Wi-Fi, Broadbase Communications Limited, Cedarview Communications Limited, ipNX Nigeria Limited, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), Swift Telephone Network and EnextGen Wireless.
