" ITREALMS: Stakeholders’ forum holds June 9

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Stakeholders’ forum holds June 9

The organisers of the annual stakeholders forum has announced a new date for the event.

A press statement made available to Champion Infotel informed that the event has been shifted to June 9.

The 2008 stakeholders forum was originally billed to hold last Monday.

Also the Minister of state for Information and Communications, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande as the leader of the government delegation to the event, would deliver a keynote address to the occasion.

The event scheduled to hold at the Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi in Lagos, would afford government officials to the occasion to present their views, direction and focus on the best bargain for the consumers in the nation’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

The forum with the theme: The Place of the Consumer in the Nigerian Telecom Industry, is being organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and managed by Africa’s foremost ICT magazine, IT & Telecom Digest under its Stakeholders forum series initiated in 2006.

Commenting on the forum, editor-in-chief of IT & Telecom Digest, Mr. Mkpe Abang said that Alhaji Nakande has given assurance that government is very keen on ensuring that consumers of ICT products and services have the full benefits of their money hence the need to enlighten them on what their rights are and when and how to demand such rights.

“The minister’s keynote address will give the direction that government expects operators to follow so as to ensure that consumers are not short-changed while at the same time educating the consumers on what they are entitled to,” Abang said.

He pointed out that the choice of the theme underlines the importance NCC attaches to the consumer in the nation’s ICT sector, adding that NCC is particularly concerned about the consumer, and it is this that led to the commission initiating the idea of an interactive forum to enable all stakeholders, from operators to government, the regulator to academia, professionals to the consumers as well as consumer advocacy groups, to discuss the real issues affecting the consumer and how to resolve them.

He expressed confident that this event would afford the NCC and operators the opportunity to really focus on raising the consumer to that kingship pedestal that it truly should occupy.

Stressing that speakers would also be drawn from operating companies, the regulator, professional bodies, among others.

Also speaking Head, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Dave Imoko, said the Commission recognised the high importance of the consumer, just as it realised that consumers need to be adequately informed of their rights so that they could stand up to service providers when they fail short of laid down expectations, hence the forum.

“For the purposes of awareness, education and information, and many other salient reasons, therefore, this seminar is most vital so that the operators and service providers can also be reminded of what they owe the consumers, while on their parts, the consumers will come to understand the important position they occupy in the scheme of things,” Imoko stated.

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