In continuation of its efforts to implement Emergency Communications Centres (ECC) in all the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, a delegation of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently visited Oyo State Government to strengthen partnership on the successful implementation of the public safety project in the state.
The delegation led by the Commission’s Head of ECC, Muhammed Ibrahim, at the instance of the Ibadan NCC Zonal Controller, Yomi Arowosafe, was received by the State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who appreciated the delegation for the courtesy visit.
The Governor, who took time to listen to the delegation on NCC’s desire for increased collaboration and synergy with the state government, said he was “particularly interested in having a more effective Emergency Communications Centre in the State” while expressing his administration’s readiness to support the Commission’s drive for promoting safety of lives and property.
Speaking earlier, Ibrahim explained to the Governor that the purpose of the visit was to seek areas of collaboration towards successful delivery of the ECC project in the state in line with Item 5 of the 8-Point Agenda of the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta focusing on strategic collaboration and partnership in all the Commission’s regulatory activities.
According to him, the ECC is a one-stop-shop through which members of the public can access help from any Response Agency such as the Police, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Fire and Ambulance Services, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and so on by dialing a toll-free number ‘112’ from any network.
He stated that through this dedicated number, members of the public can conveniently access help when in distress by simply dialing 112 from any of the networks they use and they shall not be charged.
Ibrahim stressed that embarking on the ECC project is in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, which mandates the NCC to “promote and enhance public safety through the use of a particular number which shall be designed as the universal safety and emergency assistance number for telephone services generally; and encourage and facilitate the prompt deployment throughout Nigeria of seamless, ubiquitous and reliable end-to-end infrastructure for emergency communications needs.”
He further added that as a nationwide project, 14 states of the Federation, including Oyo State and FCT, currently have ECC while efforts are ongoing to activate ECC in the remaining 23 states.
Also in his comment, NCC Ibadan Zonal Controller, Yomi Arowosafe assured that the NCC Zonal Office in the state is open to working with the State government and collaborating with other necessary stakeholders on all telecoms-related issues.
