The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, said eight million Nigerians have activated the Do-Not-Disturb (2442) code.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Umar Danbatta, made this known at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Technology Innovation and Telecommunications Awards (NTITA) in Lagos.

NTITA was organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and powered by Instinctwave.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that NCC received the Consumer Initiative Project of the Year Award and the Regulator of the Year Award.

Mr. Danbatta was given the Telecoms Man of the Year Award.

He said that the level of activation of the code increased from nearly a million, after the declaration of 2017 as the year of the consumer in March, to the present figure.

He attributed the achievement to NCC’s massive campaign and consistency with the eight-point agenda of his administration.

According to him, the agenda included projection and empowerment of telecommunications consumers.

”More Nigerians are accessing the 622 code to lodge their complaints, and I am happy to say that we have succeeded to resolve their complaints,” he said.

Reacting to the awards, Mr. Danbatta said that the commission always looked at the credibility of awards given to it.

He said that ATCON awards were credible; hence, the NCC did not hesitate to receive them.

According to him, NCC is living up to its reputation as a regulator and would not relent in hard work, flexibility, attainment of set targets and effective regulation.

“We are living up to our reputation through engagement with other stakeholders in the industry and the manner we develop frameworks and guidelines, as well as how we issue directions,” he said.

ATCON’s President, Olusola Teniola, said that the association organised the awards ceremony to foster a healthy competition in the Nigerian telecommunications industry.

Mr. Teniola said that ATCON gave awards to some government institutions and telecommunications and information technology companies that spearheaded innovation and creativity in the last few years.

He said that the innovation had impacted positively on products and services rendered by all the organisations.

”ATCON thought the only way to encourage further innovation in the industry is to reward those who are not resting on their oars but striving to make a difference in the sector.

”ATCON organised the awards ceremony to drive further investment in the sector.

”It is believed that creativity and innovation will automatically lead to further investment in the sector both locally and internationally.

”We also decided to give the most authoritative and recognised awards to deserving individuals because our industry has contributed a lot to Nigeria’s GDP,” he said.

NAN reports that MTN received the 4G/LTE Provider of the Year Award, while the Rack Center got Cloud Service Provider of the Year Award, and Airtel, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year Award.

The Popular Phone Brand of the Year Award went to Tecno.

(NAN)