Following the death of Victor Adetunji Haffner, the first Nigerian CEO of a telecoms company and former president of International Telecommunications Union’s Administrative Council, industry players have expressed their condolences and reflected on his contributions to the sector.
Haffner, who died at the age of 96 years, was one of the founding fathers of the Communication Technology industry, an industry he traversed for over two decades from November 1954, when he was employed as pupil engineer in the Nigerian Posts and Telecommunications (P&T), and 1975 when he retired as managing director of the Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET) Limited. He however continued making invaluable contributions to the development of the industry up till he breathed his last on November 5, 2015.
In a tribute signed by telecoms industry players, Haffner is described as the first among equals in the engineering profession, as he was registered as Engineer No 00001 with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
According to the tribute, “As telecommunications engineer, Haffner coordinated the provision of point to point telephone and telegraphic services in virtually all major cities of Nigeria for the public service, as well as for police, maritime and aeronautical services.”
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