A Deputy Director at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Commission and Head of Spectrum Database Management, Engr. Abraham Oshadami, was declared winner of the CIO OF THE YEAR AWARD for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), a nomenclature for one of the awards to the public sector group.
The Award, conferred on Oshadami at Oriental Hotel Lagos on 26th November, 2021, “celebrates and honours successful and outstanding individuals and organisations that are using digital innovation and information technology systems to bring about real growth and transformation to businesses”.
Oshadami was Head of NCC’s Information Technology Department since 2016 until 1st September, 2021 when he was reassigned to Spectrum Administration Department in keeping with Commission’s strategic realignment.
Organised annually by Edniesal Consulting Limited – an enterprise governance and corporate services firm – the Chief Information Officer (CIO) award is given in both public and private sector categories to Nigerian or African citizens or persons eligible to work in Nigeria. Such persons/executives must be serving in the capacity of senior Information Technology Executives, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Digital Officers or Chief Information Officers, and their entities must have been registered and doing business for at least two years by July 31 when entries are submitted for assessment annually.
The CIO Award by Edniesal Consulting Limited is the “Largest CIO Awards in Africa”. The awards are in different categories, namely: MDAs, banking, telecoms, insurance, technology, energy and so on.
Participants, who are usually persons primarily responsible for IT operations in the organisations they work, officially submit applications which are reviewed by a project team. The reviews are forwarded to an interim jury which undertakes the first major assessment. The Interim Jury then presents three top nominees in each category to a Grand Jury for assessment. The grand jury conducts assessment and presents a list of final winners to an Independent Assurance Team for a final review and submission of report.
This is the process Engr. Oshadami’s application passed through and he was adjudged the best CIO in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, as the best of the public sector executives supervising Information Technology operations where they work. The NCC website, one of the items in the purview of the IT Department of the NCC which Oshadami supervised for 5 years, is been serially referred to as a forest of resources, due to the volume and quality of resources therein and its reliability as a source of credible information to journalists, other communication professionals and several close and far-flung stakeholders seeking information about Nigeria’s telecom sector.
In 2018, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s website was adjudged the Best Website of the Year in the MDAs’ Category by the Nigerian Online Merit Awards (NIOMA). The award particularly noted NCC website as the most “interactive, current, relevant and error-free” among all MDA websites assessed.
Same year, the NCC also received the best awards for use of social media to disseminate information and to promote visibility on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube to promote visibility and interaction. The social media handles are solely in the purview of the Public Affairs Department of the Commission, while the Information Technology Department and the Public Affairs Department collaborate in administering some aspects of the Commission’s website.
Oshadami, a first class graduate of electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Ibadan, has worked in different capacities and mostly in Management positions since September 2004 when he joined the Nigerian Communications Commission.