Ernest Chukwuka Anene Ndukwe
@ 60: The measure of a man
The measure of a man is not where he stands in times of
comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of odd challenge and
controversy.
— Martin Luther King Jr. Strength to Love 1963.
IN his well talked
of luminous memoir titled The Measure of a Man, actor, producer and American
icon, Sidney Poitier said “I have no wish to play the pontificating
fool, pretending that I've suddenly come up with the answers to all life's
questions. Quite that contrary, I began this book as an exploration, an exercise
in self-questing. In other words, I wanted to find out, as I looked back at
a long and complicated life, with many twists and turns, how well I've done
at measuring up to the values I myself have set. Poitier became the first
black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor.
In his award winning album titled 'The Measure of a Man', Sir Elton John sang
of the many things a real man has to go through before he can be addressed
as such. Elton John sang that “God alone knows how you crossed that
span, Back on the beat, back to the start, Trust in your heart, That's the
measure of a man, It's the fire in the, eyes, the lines on the hand, It's
the things you understand, Permanent ties from which you once ran, That's
the measure of a man.
In the end, it seems, the lasting measure of a man is not what society thinks
of him but what his actions teach him that he is. We forge our own destinies,
take our own measures, and cannot face hardships or seek the meaning of life
without by degrees becoming whatever we expect to find.
In Man's Search For Meaning a book that has been described as one of the best
reference materials on how strong the human spirit can withstand adversity
that life throws at it, and still strives on to achieve success, renown author
Victor Frankl casts the inquiry in a new light. Surviving four Nazi concentration
camps that killed his wife, his parent, and his only brother, cut off from
the outside world, tagged with a number and stripped of all personal identity,
beaten daily, worked to the point of physical collapse, and powerless to avoid
further suffering in a world without apparent meaning, in a prison sentence
without apparent end, Frankl watched helplessly as malnutrition, illness,
and abuse slew hundreds of fellow inmates. Yet, as a professor trained in
neurology and psychiatry he also observed something clinically remarkable:
that healthy prisoners died quickly if they lost hope that they had something
to live for and that sickly inmates clung to life if they believed their existence
held a purpose.
Frankl concluded that man's deepest need is for meaning and purpose. How men
frame their own existence has as much to do with their emotional survival
as good nutrition does with their physical well-being. Prisoners who used
external cues such as wealth and education to define their status lost critical
parts of their identity in the depersonalizing and dehumanizing environment
of the camps. Those who learned to find meaning in life even when confronted
with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that could not be changed, transformed
personal tragedy into triumph. Although they could not end their suffering,
these prisoners resolved to suffer with dignity and thereby turned their senseless
predicament into a series of small daily personal achievements that cumulatively
made survival possible. That to him is the true measure of a man.
Dr. Ernest Chukwuka Anene Ndukwe, a renowned telecom engineer, perhaps share
his place in history with very few Nigerians, men and women who have had the
privilege of selfless service and have served this nation creditably even
beyond their expected ability. Both in private and public life, his life has
remained a beacon of hope to this generation and generations yet unborn. As
the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC), Nigeria's Telecommunications Regulatory Agency. Engr. Ndukwe,
a professional engineer with close to three decades of local and international
experience has proved his mettle. Prior to his appointment in February 2000,
he had held several senior management positions in leading telecommunications
companies. He had also served in various Committees set up by the Nigerian
government to formulate policies for a liberalized telecommunications industry
in Nigeria.
Mr. Ndukwe is an Alumnus of the Lagos Business School, a Fellow of the Nigerian
Society of Engineers (FNSE) and a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management
(FNIM).Under his tenure, the NCC has witnessed tremendous growth and transformation,
earning a reputation as a transparent and open agency. Mr. Ndukwe was at the
helm during Nigeria's first Digital Mobile License Spectrum Auction, which
was acknowledged internationally as a resounding success. This auction process
and other licensing initiatives that followed have led to a vibrant liberalised
market and the rapid network growth that has been associated with the Nigerian
Telecommunications Industry within the last three years.
Mr. Ndukwe is a past Chairman of the Administrative Council of the African
Telecommunications Union and is also a former Chairman of the West African
Telecom Regulators Association (WATRA), an organization he helped pioneer.
He is a recipient of several industry and civic awards. He has also been decorated
with the rank of OFFICER OF THE ORDER OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC (OFR), one of
Nigeria's prestigious National Honours.
Before his appointment as the chief executive of the NCC he was the Managing
Director and Chief Executive officer of General Telecoms, formerly GPT (WA)
Limited. He is the first Nigerian to hold that position since 1989. According
to him "I took over from an expatriate. The challenge before was to prove
myself and demonstrate that I can do even better, that has been my greatest
challenge ever since".
Ndukwe's love for engineering started right from childhood. “I did not
come into engineering by accident,” he was quoted as saying. “Right
from my childhood, I had always known that I wanted to be an engineer. I had
always enjoyed using my hands to fix things. I made an early decision to read
engineering although I did not know my area of specialisation till later on,”
he added.
Ndukwe studied at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where
he bagged the Bachelor of Science degree in electronics/electrical engineering.
He went on to do satellite communications courses at Harris Corporation Training
school Florida, United State. He also undertook an executive programme at
the Lagos Business School.
He was a pupil at the Nigerian Railway Corporation where he served during
his National Youth Service Corps Programme. Thereafter, he joined Radio Communications
Nigeria Limited as Communications Engineer before moving over to General Telecommunications
Plc as Engineering Manager (radio). His movement within the organisation was
however fast. By 1989, he was promoted to the position of Managing Director
and Chief Executive Officer.
The man popularly called “Mr. Telephone” is well talked about
in telecoms circles across the world. He has done great things, in spite of
his penchant not to have his praises sang. NCC is rated as one of the most
effective and telecom watchdogs on the continent and this is a credit to Nigeria
because it has made Nigeria to pivot of telecoms not only in Africa but globally.
Experts today say that due to Ndukwe's doggedness NCC has become substantially
more influential than South Africa's ICASA.
A glance into Ndukwe's stewardship at the NCC points to the fact that seven
years of mobile phone services have transformed Nigeria's society and economy,
bringing unprecedented changes in just a short time, officials say. Earlier
this year, Nigeria, Africa's most populous country outstripped economic powerhouse
South Africa as the continent's biggest market for mobile telephony. As of
March 2008 there were total of 60.9 million phone subscribers -- that is 70
times more than before mobile services were launched in the country in 2001.
This opening up of the industry came with the licensing of three Gobal System
of Mobile Communications (GSM) operators -- South Africa-based MTN Nigeria,
Econet Wireless Nigeria (first known as Celtel, now as Zain) and M-TEL, the
mobile arm of state-run group NITEL. Local operator Globacom and United Arab
Emirates group Etisalat were later licensed but the latter has not yet started
operations.
Analysts say MTN ranks as market leader, followed by Globacom and Zain, with
the number of mobile subscribers likely to rise by 10 million per annum over
the next five years. The exponential growth has pushed up Nigeria's (mobile
telecoms penetration rate) from 0.73 percent in 2001 to 32.79 percent in March
2008.
Before the advent of mobiles, Nigeria had a congested, expensive and un-user-friendly
landline system, with more than 10 million people waiting to be connected
by the state-run telecoms monopoly NITEL in 2000.
The telecoms sector according to analysts has generated some 2.5 billion dollars
in taxes and attracted 15 billion dollars of direct foreign investment. As
services have grown, costs have plummeted. The connection fee for a fixed
line has crashed from around 500 dollars seven years ago to around 20 dollars.
A mobile SIM card now costs less than two dollars, down from around 300 dollars
when the GSM operators first set up, and ownership of a phone is no longer
a status symbol as was the case before the liberalisation. The sector has
created millions of jobs, many in the non-formal sector, mainly hawking of
recharge cards and sale of handsets and accessories in towns and villages.
Ndukwe, however is not resting on his laurels. He has his eyes set on the
convergence in the ICT sector which has been identified as capable of yielding
numerous benefits for all stakeholders in the industry - the economy, government,
regulator, operators and consumers.
According to him, convergence would facilitate a conflict-free ICT environment
and enhance quicker rollout and growth of both wireless telephony and Internet
access.
For the regulator, it simplifies the procedure of licensing and promotes flexibility
and efficient utilisation of resources. “It also enhances easy entry
and level playing field for all operators,” Ndukwe argues, adding that
it would afford each operator the freedom to provide service with convenient
technology under a single authorization.
Convergence, he said, will enhance economies of scale and greater efficiency
as a result of optimum sharing of infrastructure and resources. It would also
lead to cheaper cost of providing services. In Nigeria, the ICT Industry has
been boosted in the last seven years with about 55 million telephone lines
connected to date. When compared to a total subscriber level of less than
half a million in July 2001, the growth has no doubt been phenomenal. This
rapid growth is attributed largely to the enabling and conducive environment
for investment with respect to government policy and regulatory regime.
"As we strive to catch up with the world, it is imperative that Nigeria
remains in tune with technological trends in this fast moving industry. One
obvious fact is that the technological borders between telecommunications,
IT and broadcasting is blurring at a quickening pace. Another fact is the
trend towards the realisation of a ubiquitous network society where people
can access and exchange information freely, at any time, from anywhere, and
from any appliance in converged ICT environment.”
Ndukwe's achievements speak for themselves whenever millions of Nigerians
re-echo hello into their cell phones. Standing firm and believing in the potential
of the sector at a time such belief is at best an upstream effort is the true
measure of a man. Well done Ernest Chukwuka Anene Ndukwe as you turn 60.
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