If there was ever any doubt as to the relevance of telecom in the growth of the economy of modern Nigeria, such doubt dissolved at the just-ended  9^th All Nigerian Editors Conference (ANEC) which held in Asaba, Delta State. The theme of the conference was Nigeria Beyond Oil: Role of the Editor. The event provided a fitting watering hole to discuss the possibilities of moving Nigeria from a mono-product (crude oil) economy to a nation with diversified economy. Keynote was delivered by the riches Black man on planet earth and by far the most successful entrepreneur out of Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

Nigerian economy before the discovery of crude oil in the late 50s and up until the oil boom years of the 70s was powered by cash coming from agriculture, coal and sundry minerals. At a time regional economies thrived on the strength of agriculture produce from the various regions. Nigeria was a global leader in the supply of coal, palm oil and other palm produce, groundnut, cocoa, latex from flourishing rubber plantations etcetera. But all that diminished, even vanished, when crude oil crudely blinded the vision of the nation’s leadership. Oil simply replaced hard work and visionary thinking. But crude oil has always come with a curse or at best a negative syndrome which has stymied the economies of nations across the globe which depended solely on it. It is called the ‘Dutch Disease’, and it all too soon cankered the very soul of the Nigerian economy.

The Nigerian Guild of Editors forum was therefore a perfect assembly of eminent Nigerians to discuss the future of the country outside the fast depleting oil wells in the Niger Delta creeks. Though, the discourses were to x-ray the prospects and possibilities in other sectors as veritable alternatives to growing the nation’s economy outside crude oil, telecom took the shine off other aspects of the economy as the sterling example of what good thinking and purposeful leadership could do in the life of a nation.

Host governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, was the first to site the example set by the telecom sector as a pointer that a modern, robust Nigerian economy is possible beyond the fortunes of ‘black gold’. In his In his opening address, he paid glowing tribute the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the regulator of the Nigerian telecom sector. Uduaghan should know. He is one of the few governors in Nigeria who have envisioned a Nigeria where export in ICT-savvy manpower is possible in the coming years. Delta State is already partnering with the NCC to build an ICT Park in the state. Besides, the concept of ‘Nigeria Beyond Oil’ was borrowed from Delta Beyond Oil, an economic philosophy originally fashioned by Uduaghan’s Delta State. Uduaghan said with the revolution achieved in telecom, it is possible to rekindle such in other sectors if the right mix of policy, human capital and environment were provided.

More accolades came for the NCC from the Presidency. In his paper, Opportunities in Non-Oil Nigeria, the Special Adviser to the President on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Professor Sylvester Monye, pointed to the success story of Nigerian telecom as a prelude to the evolution of a better Nigerian economy beyond the cheap, easy money from oil. He said NCC has shown the way that it is possible to grow the nation’s economy and achieve the landmark visions of the federal government. Telecom currently contributes over 8.5 percent of the GDP and with the drive to enact a broadband revolution currently championed by the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Commission, Dr Eugene Juwah, there appears more than a whimper of hope the Nigeria would yet crawl out of the economic gulag which over-dependence on crude oil plunged it.

The highpoint of the presentations was the paper delivered by the Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede. He spoke on the subject – Financial Institutions in a Non-Oil Economy.  He described the telecom revolution as worthy of replication in other sectors. But he was quick to add that such revolutionary feat achieved in telecom could not have been possible if the regulator, NCC, was not on top of its game. No success comes cheap, he told the audience made up of three governors – Uduaghan of Delta State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and Peter Obi of Anambra State and representatives of the governors of Katsina, Kano, Kwara and Akwa Ibom states.

“We have seen from the example of telecom that it is possible to grow the nation’s economy beyond the accruals from oil. We have also seen that whereas banks are always willing to finance secure ventures with possibilities of high returns on investment especially trading, telecom has made most financial institutions to rethink their strategy and now most banks are eager to fiancé long-term and capital intensive ventures like telecom. In fact, telecom has become a low-hanging fruit in the menu project-financing for banks”, the lawyer-banker said.

Imoukhuede  commended the leadership of the NCC for turning around the fortunes of a sector once made unattractive on account of government interference. He urged other regulators to emulate the leadership of NCC and turn the fortunes of their respective sectors for the better. He said every bank is now willing to finance telecom ventures because they are sure of returns on investment.

The EVC of NCC chaired the session for Imoukhuede’s paper. The EVC who was represented by Tony Ojobo, Director, Public Affairs of the Commission, took the audience on a journey through the ages in the nation’s telecom annals. He reminisced on the old days when people had to troop to NITEL in Lagos from across the country just to make international calls. Today, the story has changed. Nigerians can make international calls from the comfort of their living rooms provided they have a mobile phone. And now, it is easier to count the number of Nigerians without a phone than it is to count those with a phone.

Such has been the impact of telecom and Juwah predicted that the impact would double in the coming years especially when the broadband initiative begins to take firm footing. It has not only created jobs, it has enabled other sectors including banking to function at optimal capacities and to compete favourably with their contemporaries in other parts of the world.

The NCC is rated one of the best telecom regulators in the world and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has consistently recommended the Nigerian regulator as a model for other telecom regulators in emerging economies. Little wonder, countries after countries have understudied the Nigerian model as a template for their local telecom markets. The growth of the Nigerian telecom market is such that Nigeria has ceased from being ranked among troubled economies like Afghanistan to being compared with flourishing telecom nations like India and China. It is all thanks to the vision and drive of the leadership of the NCC.