For over two years, I have been transitioning – by the grace of God, not in hospice; and certainly not in my sexual orientation, I remain a man, HIM, HE, and HIS, in cognition, courage and character. But I was transitioning as an employee of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and as a labourer in the vineyard of the Federal Government of Nigeria. After close of business on 6th February 2026, I finally left the NCC, a denouement to more than 20 years of work with the Federal Government of Nigeria which started with an appointment as special media advisor to Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation in 2005.
More than 17 of those years were spent at the NCC where I started as the frontline officer of the Commission with the National Assembly (Nigeria’s bicameral federal legislature), and in the final phase as Head of Online Media, Head of Media Relations, and exiting as a Deputy Director, a rung to substantive directorship. I am so delighted that my plan to leave mainstream public service before the mandatory retirement age has been realised. Earlier, I had made three unsuccessful attempts to leave, though my sojourn at NCC had been an interesting journey. I will recall a few anecdotes but deeper reminiscences will come later to enrich my memoirs (if I have life and able), otherwise, others will do it.
My resumption at the Commission after scaling all examination hurdles (despite being head hunted), coincided with the birth anniversary of Ernest Ndukwe, the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of NCC at the time I joined the Commission. It was on 2nd September 2008 and as I sent him a felicitation note via a regular SMS, he acknowledged and was thankful, wishing me well in my career at the telecom regulatory agency. Seven months later, at a retreat for middle level staff, while making a presentation, Ndukwe requested that I rise from my seat. He also ordered another lady, now a director at the Commission, to rise. He asserted that both of us were models we were models who came into the Commission with a clear idea of what to do, with a determination to add value and we hit the ground running.
I did not and still do not know what the lady did that impressed Ndukwe but I came into NCC as the frontline liaison officer of the Commission with the National Assembly (NASS), where the 2008 budget of NCC was yet to scale legislative hurdles at the ninth month. By October, the month after my resumption, as I had promised Ndukwe, the budget was passed and the Commission did not spend a dime to get it done. We shared meaning afresh with those who consciously shared intention, offered attention and saw purpose in berthing at a common ground. We leveraged goodwill.
At the place I worked before joining NCC, I was manager media strategy and external relations but I think Ndukwe was particularly fascinated by and ready to explore the non-media external relations aspect of my skillset which explained his preference for me to ‘anchor’ NASS for NCC. It took Tony Ojobo’s arrival as Director of Public Affairs Department for me to move to my turf – media relations. I remember Ndukwe had told my boss, Dave Imoko, Ojobo’s predecessor, that I should give him (Ndukwe) hints about goings-on in NASS as they occurred, before he would receive detailed reports from me through my boss. NASS had become so central to NCC operations and objectively so considering its role in the deregulation and liberalisation of telecom industry in Nigeria. For free, I would say the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003 was a major statement of legislative imprimatur on the Nigerian telecom reforms and Ndukwe was always mindful.
I think one other reason Ndukwe took interest in me was a blueprint I submitted shortly after I arrived at the Commission to justify the creation of Legislative and Government Affairs Department. The Department which became a unit of a broader Public Affairs Department in April 2010, had been a section of the Commission before I arrived and it was my first port of duty. While government relations as a component of organisational structure was popular in the private sector, I doubt if any Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA) of government had a clear structure emplaced in the manner NCC envisioned and set up one.
It would be my lot to prepare a framework that was not just strategic but to justify the creation of the department; as well as ensure its activities are measurable and connect with the first-tier enterprise operations. My submission captured how NCC would relate with other MDAs, States, Local Governments and non-state actors that were mainstreamed as stakeholders. The blueprint, which spoke to multi-stakeholderism and strategic engagements, was adopted with a slight modification by Ndukwe and set the tone for NCC’s relationship with the Governors Forum today. The derivable benefits of that relationship can be gleaned from the increasing collaboration of the Commission with subnational entities on Right of Way issues and the implementation of the National Economic Council decisions as they relate to telecom industry in the broader context of the digital economy sector.
Ndukwe was a leader, not infallible, but he could hold his own. Let me instantiate by recalling an incident. One day, Ndukwe rang my line and requested that I come to his office immediately. When I got to his office, he gave me two documents and said: “Niyi! Those candidates could not pass our exam. So, we cannot employ them. Tell our people to send us new candidates. We will consider them if they pass our exam and interviews.” Those he referred to as our people were the sponsors of those candidates and their names were written on the respective documents I was directed to deliver. Ndukwe’s directive in this instance became so consequential in my thoughts and gave me hope that Nigeria may succeed. Nations rise and fall at the instance of leadership.
One other leadership offering to recall at the Commission was that of Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta. Like Ndukwe, like all of us, Danbatta has his foibles but he was a good leader, towering in intellection and management. Being a scholar, teacher, university administrator and even dean of students at Bayero University Kano (BUK) before he became EVC, Danbatta recognised that I was an activist. He too was one, after all he was in Wroclaw, Poland in the days of socialism and he returned to Nigeria ‘radicalised’. ‘Marxist UG’ they called him at BUK where he spent much of his life teaching and mentoring. He spoke so much about my activism when he presented my book to the public in July 2023.
When I returned to the Commission in 2019 after my studies, I sent Danbatta two ‘revolutionary’ memoranda and he summoned me to his office. He told me why he could not approve my submission as contained in the documents. “Dr. Niyi, you are going to put me into trouble”, he stated, laughing as I stood before him. Then, he continued. “I get your point and I know you are fighting for others since you are already done with your PhD, but we cannot sustain this policy if we start it as you have proposed.” He told me with avuncular intonation. “Noted sir”, I responded. I would learn later that he read those memoranda thrice before he sent for me to discuss the content.
The photograph accompanying this piece is chosen intentionally because it tells one more story about Danbatta. It was taken at one of the events in the era when I was practically the official compere of key events of the Commission. This particular event took place at NCC Annexe Office in Mbora District, Abuja. I had been slated to emceed the event but I suddenly had bouts of fever. I was so febrile and wanted to call in sick but I remembered Danbatta’s words during a tete-a-tete after a stakeholder forum in Lagos the year before. As I held his hand to assist him descend the stage after the event, he said to me: “Dr. Niyi, I learn something new from you each time you compered events. I admire your versatility and how you connect the contexts.” It was those words that stopped me from calling in sick. I got up from bed, readied myself and proceeded to the event. The kind words of a leader can be an elixir. Danbatta’s gave me a psychological, even if momentary healing.
I do not know what the verdict of history will be about my sojourn at NCC but a journalist who seemed to have studied my life’s journey made an attempt in the narration in the link below. The report was published in July last year by many media systems of communication, particularly in the Fifth Estate, when I was enlisted in the 2025 PR PowerList.
Importantly, I am extraordinarily grateful to my Maker, The Almighty God, for the engracement. I am equally thankful to everyone, including external stakeholders that I met on that journey and who toiled very sincerely to make NCC a great brand. As Billy Ocean stated in his 1984 memorable musical rendition, SUDDENLY, “if I have to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing.” May Nigeria Succeed.
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