Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Benjamin Ezra Dikki
The Federal Government says it has decided to sell the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited in order to inject the entrepreneurial spirit into the running of the company, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, has said.
Dikki said this when the Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency, Prof. Seidu Mohammed, paid him a courtesy visit, according to a statement made available to our correspondent by the Acting Head of Public Communications, BPE, Mr. Alex Okoh.
The BPE boss said it was necessary to inject entrepreneurial spirit into NigComSat in order to make the company commercially viable.
He explained that in privatising NigComSat, the security of the nation would not be compromised.
He added that the BPE would strategise and evaluate how much private sector participation would be required in the company to drive its growth.
Dikki stressed that the BPE would rely on informed guidance from key stakeholders to determine the model of privatisation to be recommended to the National Council on Privatisation for adoption in the privatisation of NigComSat.
He said that in executing the transaction, the Joint Project Delivery Team comprising the BPE, the Ministry of Communication Technology, NASRDA and other key stakeholders would be empanelled for the purpose.
According to him, Information and Communications Technology that encompasses satellite systems and telecommunications is critical to the growth of any nation.
Mohammed said the purpose of the visit was to apprise the BPE of the activities of his agency and to seek more clarification on the planned privatisation of NigComSat.
The NASRDA boss explained that there was a need for communication satellite for all Nigerians as it was vital not only for telecommunications but also for earth characterisation to support the agricultural sector of the country.
He lamented the poor funding of the science and technology sector of the country and called for more investment in the industry to boost the competitiveness of Nigeria.
BY EVEREST AMAEFULE
