NIGERIA

STATEMENT BY H.e. MR OBAFEMI ANIBABA
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

Your Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure in addressing this august assembly today.

I bring you special greetings from our President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Our special compliments go to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey, our hosts of this Conference, who have put such excellent facilities at our disposal. We congratulate you on the elaborate preparations made to ensure the success of this conference. We also note the enviable state of development that the telecommunications industry in Turkey has attained.

Mr. Chairman, in Nigeria much progress has been achieved in the ICT industry since the last Plenipotentiary Conference held in Marrakech in 2002.

1. Due to the deregulation and liberalization policy of the Nigerian government, the nation’s teledensity has grown from about 1% in 2002 to about 21% today.
2. The international investors responded positively to the investor-friendly environment in country resulting in an inflow of private sector investment of over $8 billion in the past five (5) years
3. The Federal Government of Nigeria has also identified the need to encourage the use of satellite communications services to extend services to remote and rural areas. She has therefore embarked on the building of a national communications satellite which is scheduled for launch in March, 2007
4. An ambitious Rural Telephony Scheme has also been embarked upon to ensure that the underserved and unreached areas are included in the Information Society
5. To improve Internet penetration, National Internet Exchange Points have been established as well as an aggressive program to ensure wireless broadband coverage of the country.
6. The country has also identified the need to make computer terminals widely available and affordable to most Nigerians and has embarked on a program called Computer for All Nigerians Initiative (CANI)
7. The Nigerian government has funded the establishment of the Africa Regional Office of the Digital Solidarity Fund and has also fulfilled its pledge to the fund.

These are a few of the many programs that have been initiated by government to demonstrate our commitment to the development of the Nigerian ICT industry.

Mr. Chairman, we envisage an ITU that will continue to be alive and responsive to the needs of its members and to fulfill its increasing mandate. We pledge our full commitment to this ideal of an International Telecommunication Union (ITU), that is strong, efficient, dynamic and vibrant, where all member nations have equal rights and opportunities in all the affairs of the union.

Regarding the WSIS declarations, Nigeria believes that it is absolutely necessary for ITU to expand its mandate to ensure that all issues assigned to it are well covered. This also calls for greater commitment from member states of the Union.

Permit me Mr. Chairman to announce that Nigeria is seeking election to the ITU council as well as presenting a candidate for election into the Radio Regulation Board and therefore seeks the full support of this august assembly in this regard.

In closing, I wish to acknowledge the efforts and positive contributions to the ITU of the outgoing Secretary General Mr. Utsumi, the Deputy Secretary General, and the Directors of the different Bureaus of the ITU over the past four years. We wish them success in their future endeavors.

Finally, I wish to congratulate you Mr. Chairman on your election and I wish you success as you direct the affairs of this Conference.

Thank you and God bless you all,