The Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has been elected to the Governing Council of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE), in recognition of his contributions to the development of engineering profession in the country.
The NAE Council is the highest decision-making body of the academy that oversees the country’s highest professional bodies in science, technology and engineering.
A statement by the Director, Public Affairs of the NCC, Mr. Reuben Mouka, indicated that the Honorary Secretary of the academy, Engr. Christy Adelowo, in a notice, stated that the EVC and other council members would serve for two years.
Danbatta, a professor of telecommunications engineering with several decades of experience in academia and professional practice, was inducted Fellow of NAE on June 21, 2018, during the professional body’s Annual Lecture and Investiture of its 10th President.
Speaking on his election into the NAE council, the EVC thanked the professional body for considering him worthy to serve, promising that “the Council can count on my intellectual and moral support towards the achievement of the overall objectives of the Academy.”
His contributions to the engineering profession had been well demonstrated over the years, including his delivery of several public lectures such as the one at the academy on November 9, 2016, titled ‘The National Broadband Plan as Catalyst for Social and Economic Transformation: The NCC Mandate’.
On June 23, 2021, the EVC received a special recognition from the NAE in appreciation of his contributions through remarkable implementation of various programmes of the NCC which has seen very purposeful collaborations with the academia and other professional institutions in science and technology towards the advancement of the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
Danbatta has severally played similar roles, roles in the past, including his two terms as a member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE), Fellow of the Renewable and Alternative Energy Society (FRAES) and Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (NIEEE).
