Lagos — AS the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, prepares to bow out of office in April, after a two-term tenure, there is need for stocktaking, especially as the telecommunications sector in Nigeria and Africa will also be celebrating ten years of rapid development.

Ndukwe emerged the helmsman of the Commission in 2000 and before his coming, telecommunications was nothing to write home about.

Many who knew the level of development of the telecoms sector in Nigeria as at 2000 would acknowledge that there has been spectacular growth. Indeed, Ndukwe in ten years, virtually took the sector from ground zero to its present remarkable height.

In 2001, barely eight months after his appointment, he began the revolution with the auction of digital mobile licenses.

Five companies, MTN, Econet now Zain, Communications Investment Limited (CIL), United Networks and MSI Celltel began the bid but only three, MTN, Econet (Zain) and CIL won. CIL failed to meet up with the 14-days deadline to pay the license fee and its provisional license was revoked. However, when the owners of CIL used another company (Globacom) to apply for the Second National Operator license, they won.

The relatively transparent, fair but firm beginning is believed to have laid a good foundation for achievements recorded in the sector in the last ten years.

The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) auction reportedly fetched about $855m, while the license for the SNO yielded about $200m. Since then, more funds have been earned by NCC through sales of other licenses, to the extent that between 2004 and 2007, telecommunications reportedly generated over N700 billion for the government.

The success story is in part due to the effort of Ndukwe to carry stakeholders along using such platforms as the telecommunications parliament, the CEOs' forum, Telecom summit, Digital World conference and the engagement of study groups comprising stakeholders in government and the private sector.

Also, during his tenure, the interconnectivity rates, which posed an initial challenge, was addressed and Per Second Billing (PSB) became possible in the country, although not without hitches.

Perhaps, it is in 'teledensity,' access to telephone and internet lines, that Ndukwe's achievements are most visible to the average Nigerian. It is estimated that Nigeria today has over 75 million active mobile line subscribers and over 15 million Coded Division Multiple Access (CDMA) active subscribers.

These noted breakthroughs notwithstanding, it is a fact that much more still needs to be done to fully exploit the vast potentials that exist in Nigeria's telecom industry. Even Ndukwe's vision and targets, are yet to be fully achieved. For example, part of his vision was to ensure that all parts of the country are covered by telecommunications and ICT services and that nobody in Nigeria will be left out. These have not been achieved.

Also, Nigerians are not satisfied with the level of monitoring of the operators under Ndukwe, a development that has led to all manner of criticisms and insinuations.

Again, many have waited seemingly without end for the operators to adequately reduce tariffs but this has not been possible during Ndukwe's tenure. The cost of SMS and calls are still scandalously high, compared to what obtains in other countries of the world, including other African states. Like the operators, Ndukwe has tried to explain this vital issue away by citing adverse operational environment, like the high cost of power and dilapidated infrastructure.

Critics of the high cost of telephone tariffs have, however, reasoned that the telecommunications companies are not the only concerns that are operating in the nation's tough terrain, insisting that nothing can justify the current cost of air time, especially also, given the inefficiencies of the operators.

All said, however, the consensus cannot but be that Ndukwe has achieved a remarkable feat at NCC in ten years, despite several storms that tried to capsize the boat of the Commission. It must also be stated that unless another capable professional is handed the baton of the Commission, the gains of the past may be reversed.