Four retiring staff of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have received encomiums from the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, for their dedication to duties and rising to be counted as committed members of the team that is making the nation proud with their individual contributions to the development of telecommunications in Nigeria.
The four staff, Mallam Aliyu Ibrahim, Deputy Director/Head, Administration Department; Okechukwu Christian Aninweke, an Assistant Director/Head, Risk Management; Patience Ante, Principal Manager, Lagos Zonal Office (LZO); and Daniel Agbi, Deputy Manager, also of the LZO, reached their mandatory retirement ages of 60 years and have embarked on their pre-retirement leaves, after their respective valedictory sessions that took place at the Commission.
Mr. Ibrahim, who spent 26 years of active service in the Commission, had at various times served in several departments, before being appointed Lagos Zonal Controller; Kano Zonal Controller; and Head, Consumer Protection and Advocacy before retiring as Head of Administration of the Commission, a position he held for more than four years.
The NCC boss said Aliyu’s various postings across departments, and his outline of contributions at his various posts were testaments to his hard work and dedication to duty. He specifically commended Aliyu’s administrative competence that enabled the Commission to start off NCC Digital Innovation Park project being constructed in Kano.
Aninweke, joined the Commission in 2001, and is retiring as an Assistant Director and Head, Risk Management in the Corporate Planning Strategy and Risk Management Department, after 21 years of dedicated active service. He was also President of NCC Staff Cooperative and Multipurpose Society for two tenures.
Mrs. Patience Ante, on her part, served the Commission for 18 years, having been enlisted in 2002 as Confidential Secretary at the Commission’s erstwhile Human Resources Department where she worked for seven years before her redeployment to Lagos Zonal Office. In Lagos, she first worked in the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Unit where she served different sections of the Zonal Office operations. Before her retirement, Ante rose to the position of a Principal Manager and served as Head, Licensing and Authorization Unit at the Lagos Zonal Office.
Agbi, popularly called ‘Apollo’ by the staff of the Commission, joined the Commission in 2005 as a protocol officer. His duties included working closely with high profile personalities in the Commission, including Board members, Ministers, and the Executive Management. His core responsibilities included liaising with the Nigerian Immigration Service. Agbi, also fondly called ‘Papa’ worked with uncommon zeal, passion and honourably. He is retiring from the Commission at the rank of Deputy Manager.
During their different valedictory sessions, the retirees appreciated the opportunity given to them to serve Nigeria officially in various capacities through the NCC. They also profoundly commended the EVC, Prof. Danbatta, for his remarkable leadership qualities and finesse which have repositioned the Commission as a flagship Nigerian public sector institution.
