The Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, is billed to deliver the 2021 edition of The Bullion Lecture.
The Bullion Lecture is a platform conceptualised by the Centre for Financial Journalism (CFJ Nigeria) for lively and professional discourse on national and international issues.
A statement from the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, states that Danbatta will speak on the theme: ‘Telecoms, Digital Banking and Nigeria’s Economic Development’ at the lecture scheduled to hold next Thursday, at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, Victoria Island, Lagos. Danbatta, a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE), Nigerian Academy of Engineering (FAEng.), Fellow, Renewable and Alternative Energy Society (FRAES) and Fellow Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (FNIEEE), is an erudite engineer, philanthropist and nation-builder per excellence. An astute administrator and renowned scholar, Danbatta he holds BEng and MSc degrees from the Technical University of Wroclaw in Poland, and PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, United Kingdom.
Until his appointment as the country’s chief telecoms regulator in 2015, Danbatta was a lecturer at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Bayero University, Kano, for 32 years, where he taught courses in telecommunications engineering and electronics, and held academic positions of Dean of the Faculty and Head of Department at different times.
Prof. Danbatta has also supervised more than 60 PhD, MEng and BEng projects in diverse areas of telecommunications, and has also served as external examiner to seven universities and polytechnics and is an assessor, technical reviewer and editorial member to eight research journals. He has to his credit more than 50 articles in journals, conference proceedings and technical reports in addition to being the author of a six-chapter, 167-page book titled: Elements of Static Engineering Electromagnetics.
Founder/Chief Executive Officer of CFJ Nigeria, Ray Echebiri, said the lecture will be chaired by the President, Africa FinTech Network and former President/Chairman of Council, The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Dr. Segun Aina.
Distinguished panelists, who will dissect the lecture, are Managing Director/Chief Executive Office of Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Mrs. Chizor Malize and the Executive Director, SystemSpecs Limited, Mr. Aderemi Atanda. Expected guests at the lecture include government officials, captains of industry, banking industry executives, Information and Communication Technology ICT) professionals, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of multilateral institutions, senior media executives and other journalists, and members of the public. Participation at the lecture will be virtual and in-person.
