 Mr Chairman, Your Excellencies, Secretary-General of the ITU, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring the greetings and best wishes of President Goodluck and Bella Jonathan and of the people of Nigeria. Let me also commend the government and people of the United Arab Emirates for their unparalleled hospitality and to the International Telecommunication Union for the excellent arrangements made for this conference. The WTDC 2014 presents us all with an opportunity to collectively launch into the future, guided by the lessons we have learnt in the years since our last meeting in 2010. In the time since WTDC 2010, Nigeria has established herself as one of the fastest growing and as such one of the most important mobile cellular markets in the world. We have over 172 million active SIM cards in the country and 64 million internet users. Yet, with an estimated population of 170 million, prevalence of multiple ownership of SIM cards and insufficient mobile coverage in rural areas, Nigeria still has tremendous opportunity for growth. We have developed cogent policies, frameworks and guidelines which include a national ITD policy, a national broadband plan, local content guidelines as well as legislation and regulation to take advantage of these opportunities and sustain growth. The theme for WTDC 2014 is broadband for sustainable development and this is very much in line with our focus in Nigeria. Through our Connect Nigeria initiative, we continue to roll out ICT infrastructure and ensure that it is not only accessible but it is affordable to the entire population. Nigeria is a member of the Alliance for Affordable Internet and our aim is to consolidate and direct the capabilities of stakeholders and capacities towards increasingly affordability of broadband in Nigeria. Our focus will also be on connecting Nigerians. As we roll out this infrastructure, we are working to get as many people as possible to adopt and appropriate ICTs. Earlier this year we launched a national, a nationwide digital awareness campaign under the slogan Connected Nigeria, Connected Nigerians, Imagine the Possibilities with the objective of increasing the capacity, the confidence and trust Nigerians have in their digital lives. The Nigerian government is also focusing on harnessing the economic potential of ICTs and looking at ways that its local ICT industry can grow and increase in global influence. We are lowering the barriers to entry, identifying incubating and accelerating local talents and ideas and providing access to markets and to finance. ICTs are invaluable to the process of governance and the Nigerian government is increasing its adoption of ICTs to provide better client response to citizens' demands, improve service delivery and make administrations more efficient. We are doing this by connecting government, creating and informed citizenry and increasing online service delivery. We are mindful that we are doing all of this at a time when citizens are perceived to be increasingly skeptical of government's use of technology. ICTs are tools because they are open to all, the same tools that are considered catalysts of socioeconomic development and unprecedented social advancement are also the ones used by terrorists and criminal networks to accomplish criminal acts and perpetuate fair. How should we as a society respond to this? Nigeria is actively engaged in the key forums working to answer this question. Our goal is to find a balance between security on the one hand and privacy on the other for Nigerians and we extend our cooperation in working with stakeholders that can help us to achieve this. I would like to conclude by introducing and presenting the country's candidacy for reelection into the ITU Council and Mr. Charlotte Taylor's candidature for the post of Deputy Secretary General to the ITU. As a country we have invaluable experience to share and I recognize globally for the achievements we have made in regulating and developing our telecommunications sector. Mr. Taylor has over 30 years of experience in the ICT sector, most of which were gained in senior positions in the private and public sector and of course within the ITU itself. I close by again thanking the government and the people of the United Arab Emirates and the International Telecommunications Union for the organization of this convention and I wish you all successful deliberations. Thank you.