The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has been elected into the hallowed Governing Council of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE), a step which signposts his outstanding role in the development of engineering profession in the country.

The Council of NAE is the highest decision-making body of the Academy. The Council oversees the country’s highest professional bodies in science, technology and engineering. Notice of the election,  conveyed by Honorary Secretary of the Academy, Engr. Christy Adelowo, indicated that Danbatta, and other council members will serve for two years. Danbatta, a professor of telecommunications engineering with several decades of experience in academia and professional practice, was inducted a Fellow of NAE on June 21, 2018, during the Annual Lecture and Investiture of 10th President of the Academy.

Responding to the election, the nation’s chief telecom regulator, expressed appreciation to the Council for considering him worthy to serve the profession in another capacity. “The Council can count on my intellectual and moral support towards the achievement of the overall objectives of the Academy”, Danbatta said.

Danbatta’s contributions to the engineering profession has been eloquently attested to, with a number of public lectures, including one at the Academy on November 9, 2016, titled “The National Broadband Plan as Catalyst for Social and Economic Transformation: The NCC Mandate”. On June 23, 2021, Danbatta received a special recognition from the NAE in appreciation of his contributions through remarkable implementation of various programmes of the Commission which has seen very purposeful collaborations with the academia and other professional institutions in science and technology towards the advancement of the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

Danbatta has severally played similar roles in the past, including his two terms as a Member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE), Fellow of the Renewable and Alternative Energy Society (FRAES), and Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (NIEEE).