By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has finalized arrangements to host an event to celebrate the 2023 World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) in Abuja, with focus on its regulatory initiatives on clean energy usage in the telecommunications sector.
The theme of the 2023 edition of the WCRD is “Empowering Consumers through Clean Energy Transitions.”
NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said that the theme provides an opportunity for the Commission to share the policies it has instituted with the public, as well as other actions taken to encourage operators in the sector to transition to environment friendly and renewable energy sources in their operations.
Danbatta, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Mr. Adeleke Adewolu, at the inauguration of the committee to organize the event, said that the Commission was committed to reducing the impact that telecommunications operations have on climate change and the environment.
He also noted that the peculiarities of electricity supply in Nigeria have resulted in the telecommunications sector being a contributor to carbon emissions.
Danbatta, a Fellow of the Renewable Alternative Energy Society (FRAES), stated that studies have shown that renewables and energy efficiency, boosted by substantial electrification, can provide over 90 percent of the necessary reductions in energy-related carbon emissions.
He added that increasing the use of electricity sourced from renewable energy presents the best opportunity to quicken the world’s energy transformation.
