Other awardees included the Managing Director, Digital Realty Nigeria, Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani, Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), Mr. Gbenga Sesan, and Managing Director, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), Mr. Muhammed Rudman, among others.

Confirming these at the weekend, Sir Remmy Nweke, the lead consulting strategist, DigitalSENSE Africa and Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media group, said that recognition in the corporate category included Upland College, Digital Realty Nigeria, Welcome Centre Hotels and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

As said by him, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem emerged the DigitalSENSE Africa Broadband Advocate of the decade; Mrs. Ibukun Odusote was acknowledged as DigitalSENSE Africa Empowerment Advocate of the decade; Dr. Chris Nwannenna as DigitalSENSE Africa IG4D Advocate of the decade; Engr. Gbenga Adebayo was honoured as DigitalSENSE Africa Telecoms Advocate of the decade; and Mr. Muhammed Rudman was named the DigitalSENSE Africa Internet Personality of the decade.

Also, Engr. Ike Nnamani emerged as the DigitalSENSE Africa Connectivity Enabler of the decade; Mr. Francis Uzor was honoured as DigitalSENSE Africa IG4D Ambassador of the decade; Mr. Gbenga Sesan came top as DigitalSENSE Africa IG4D Influencer of the decade, while honour was bestowed on chairman, NDSF@15, Mr. Edetaen Ojo as the DigitalSENSE Africa Freedom of Information (FoI) Champion of the decade.

Dr. Ekuwem, he said, was represented at NDSF@15 by the Chief Technical Officer, Teledom Group, Engr. Joseph Enyia, and Mrs. Odusote likewise Mr. Rudman were represented by President, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) Mr. Sola Akinsanya, while the legal adviser to DNS WomenNG, Barr. Mrs. Amaka Onumonu and Ms Peculiar Showale stood in for Engr. Ike Nnamani and Mr. Gbenga Sesan, respectively.

In the corporate category, he said that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) emerged DigitalSENSE Africa Telecoms Regulator of the Decade; Digital Realty Nigeria (formerly Medallion) was named the DigitalSENSE Africa Data Centre of the decade; Upland College come-forth as DigitalSENSE Africa Most Supporting School of the Decade; and Welcome Center Hotels went home with the DigitalSENSE Africa Valuable Partner of the Decade.

He also said that the recognition were part of the agenda to mark the 15th years of hosting the Nigeria DigitalSENSE forum on Internet Governance for Development presided over by the award-winning Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, Mr. Edetaen Ojo with the theme: “IG4D: Innovative Digital Economy & Safer Civic Space in Nigeria.”

According to Nweke, NDSF@15, held at the prestigious Welcome Center Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos, attracted civil societies, non-st actors, community based organisations, youth, students, media, men and women as well as internet and telecommunications enthusiasts in the country.

A panel session anchored by Nweke had speakers made up of seasoned industry experts including the NDSF@15 chairman, Mr. Ojo, Engr. Adebayo; Executive Director, Mr. Sesan, who was represented by Ms Peculiar Showale and Data Protection Officer, Upperlink Limited, Ms Francisca Iloezumma, whereas the open mic session was sponsored by the Domain Name System Women Foundation in Nigeria (DNS WomenNG).

Nweke recalled that in 2009, the Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) series on Internet Governance for Development made a debut at the Golden Gate Restaurant Ikoyi-Lagos and ever since, has remained firm in rallying stakeholders to take discourse on Internet access, openness, affordability, connectivity and ICT infrastructure among others.

“These awards are our own ways of appreciating both individual and corporate support over the years. It has not been easy but with God by our side and support of most of these persons and organisations in deepening and sustaining our contribution on Internet penetration, improving access, affordability, technological adaptation that bring forth digital sense in Nigeria. So, here we are today,” Nweke declared.

NDSF series on IG4D powered by ITREALMS Media group is hosted by DigitalSENSE Africa, an At-Large Structure (ALS) certified by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), in collaboration with relevant stakeholders not limited to Internet Society (ISOC), Nigeria chapter, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Digital Realty Nigeria, NNPC Limited, NLNG, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) among others.

Digital Realty Nigeria, formally known as Medallion Data Centres Limited is a Lagos-based number 1 peering point for the region.

Confirming this, the Lead Consulting Strategist, DigitalSENSE Africa, a project of ITREALMS Media group, Sir Remmy Nweke, said that Engr. Nnamani, the immediate past National President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) would be the guest speaker at the 2024 NDSF on the theme “IG4D: Innovative Digital Economy & Safer Civic Space in Nigeria.”

Nnamani, who was also the former member of the Executive Board cum Treasurer of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), would join the Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, and chairman of 2024 NDSF on Internet Governance for Development, Mr. Edetaen Ojo.

Pointing out that the 2024 NDSF on Internet Governance for Development has been confirmed to hold at the prestigious, Welcome Center Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos by 10am.

Nweke recalled that for over 16 years, Engr. Nnamani has led the Digital Realty datacenter in Lagos, which boosts all submarine cables in the region, long distance providers, metro fiber providers, mobile services providers, fixed services providers, Over-The-Top (OTT) providers, Internet Exchange, Value Added Service (VAS) providers, and global Tier1 service providers, among others.

He pointed out that over 68 per cent of all internet traffic exchanged at the Nigeria Internet Exchange takes place at Digital Realty’s datacenter in Lagos, Nigeria, just as the company recently completed its ultra-modern 1MW IT Load state-of-the-art datacenter called LOS2 in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

Also, Engr. Nnamani is reputed for promoting the establishment of telecom infrastructure in several African countries including Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, and Angola to name a few.

Disclosing this, the Lead Consulting Strategist at DigitalSENSE Africa and Group Executive Editor of ITREALMS Media group, Mr. Remmy Nweke, said Engr. Nnamani has been confirmed to chair the dual events slated for the prestigious Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos next month.

As said by him, the 2022 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum on Internet Governance for Development is the annual digital rights forum by ITREALMS with this year’s theme being: ‘5G: Enthroning Internet Governance for Digital Economy’ while the public presentation of the book: Sagacity of a digital revolution, comes as a sideline event meant to enrich the knowledge base of the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) industry and is authored by Remmy Nweke, a multiple-award winning journalists.

Engr. Nnamani who also is the President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Nweke said, is known as very active in promoting forward-looking industry policies for the growth of the telecom industry across Africa working with both regulators as well as operators to achieve this goal.

He is currently the President and Chief Executive of the premier telecom body in Nigeria – the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) with over 100 member companies, cutting across all sectors of the telecom and ICT industry in Nigeria including Telephone Operators (PNL/Fixed Line Operators, MNOs/IDAs Operators), Infrastructure Providers (Interconnect, Data Centre Operators, Towers/Base Stations Providers); Internet Services Providers (ISP) (Wholesale Segment, Retail Segment), Value Added Services Providers (VAS), Over The Top (OTT) Players, FINTECH/e-Commerce Operators, Telecom/ICT Equipment Manufacturers, Telecom/ICT Consulting firms, and Telecom/ICT Equipment Dealers.

Equally, Nnamani recently served as an Executive Board member of Nigerian Internet Registration Association, the organization responsible for managing Nigeria’s Country Code Top Level Domain (.ngTLD).

Under his leadership at Medallion’s datacenter in Lagos, which is rated the most interconnected facility in the West African sub-region being the number 1 peering point for the region and boosting all submarine cables in the region, long distance providers, metro fiber providers, mobile services providers, fixed services providers, OTT providers, Internet Exchange, VAS providers, and global Tier1 service providers, amongst others.

He has also promoted the establishment of telecom infrastructure in several African countries including Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, and Angola amongst others.

Noteworthy is that Engr. Nnamani has won several national and international awards for his contributions to the growth of telecoms and ICT industry in the global information technology space, just as he was recently awarded the 2021 Outstanding Promoter of ICT for National Development Award at the Titans of Tech Hall of Fame Awards.

In 2020, he was inducted into the Nigeria@60 ICT Hall of Fame by TechTV and named the 2020 ICT Personality of the Year by Communications Week, as well as awarded the ICT Entrepreneur of the Decade by Nigerian NewsDirect. He was named the 2019 NANS Man of the Year, 2019 Beacon of ICT Hall of Fame Award Recipient, 2019 Nigeria Telecom Industry CEO of the Year, and 2019 ICT Industry Entrepreneur of the Year.

Additionally, he was named the 2018 ICT Entrepreneur of the Year at the Beacon of ICT Award and the 2018 Africa Digital Award winner. Engr. Nnamani graced the cover of the 2018 Top 20 CEOs edition of ICT Watch magazine; and was listed in the Top 100 ICT Contributors in 15 years; the 2018 Telecom and ICT personality of the year and was the 2018 Enterprise Award by the Transformation Institute in Toronto, Canada, clinching alongside the 2017 E-Payment Man of the Year.

Engr. Nnamani holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee State University, Nashville, United States of America (USA).

Meanwhile the chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Engr. Gbenga Adebayo is warming up as the reviewer of the latest book in the industry, entitled ‘Sagacity of a digital revolution’ whereas the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, would give the keynote at NDSF 2022 on the main theme.