|
President Jonathan, Who Killed NITEL? By Leonard Karshima Shilgba, PhD
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s apology over the “bloody Sunday” killings in Londonberry, Northern Ireland, by British troops on January 30, 1972, when he was barely 5 years old, and promising to bring some closure on the matter following a 280 million dollar-12-year enquiry is a lesson in statesmanship and responsibility in governance. True leaders take responsibility; they don’t ignore it simply because aberrations of the past did not happen under their watch. Now that they have been entrusted with leadership they must bravely inherit the attendant liabilities just as they relish the perks. The destruction of Nigeria’s telecommunications company NITEL by the PDP-led Nigerian government must not be swept under the carpet. It is time to resurrect the matter, indict key players, apportion appropriate penalties, heal the company, and move on. In the excitement of the Global Systems Mobile (GSM) telecommunications networks floated in Nigeria in the recent past, Nigerians have taken leave of the required consciousness of the egregious crimes that have been committed against them in the wake. Is it true that the era of GSM has brought improvement in the speed of doing business in Nigeria? Yes. Is it true that the coming of GSM into the Nigerian economy has created jobs for some people? Certainly. Is it true that the introduction of GSM in Nigeria has improved on communication, bridged distances, and made access to communication easier for Nigerians? Absolutely. But have Nigerians not paid undue price for all these? I agree they have. By 2001, NITEL management, then under the control of government, was making some interesting innovations in communication in Nigeria. Beautiful public phone boots were installed in many public places, including on university campuses. Subscribers could purchase call units and obtain plastic call cards, which they used at their convenience. That was great. The coming of GSM should have rather complemented than cripple the services offered by NITEL. Less than ten years after, those boots are gone; NITEL has become moribund, and no government official has been punished, and yet in a “democracy” that is supposed to be the epitome of transparency and accountability. The government is yet seeking bidders for NITEL after past failed attempts at “privatization” when the company was sold to PENTASCOPE and later to TRANCORP. How about past “probes” by the national assembly? In 2008, the senate committee on communications, under the chairmanship of Senator Sylvester Anyanwu, “probed” the alleged mismanagement of over N112 billion in the PENTASCOPE/NITEL deal. Have Nigerians been told of the outcome of that “probe”? What is the present status of that “probe”? Is President Jonathan not interested in bringing closure to this issue? Must President Jonathan not apologize to Nigerians for the killing of our NITEL under his PDP government? Must Nigerians forgive and forget simply because the GSM was introduced by a PDP-led government; but then, at what price? Is it not true that the destruction of NITEL was part of the original deal in order to “woo” foreign investors? Are the GSM road-side “call centres” not there because of the disappearance of the standard public phone boots that existed under NITEL, which could be accessed by Nigerians with pre-purchased call cards at any time of day or night? Although Senator Anyanwu had assured that the probe would reveal many fraudulent deals behind the BPE-led privatization of NITEL, and also disclosed that in less than six months PENTASCOPE-led management of NITEL had borrowed N 40 billion from the Nigerian banking sector purportedly to “inject into” NITEL, about two years after that committee is yet to inform Nigerians of the outcome and status of the “probe”. Who killed NITEL? President Jonathan must answer this question or cause an answer to the question. Then, he must apologize to Nigerians and atone for the egregious sins committed against our commonwealth in the name of privatization. Permit me to allow Senator Anyanwu speak. This is what he said about two years ago about the issues involving NITEL’s privatization: “They (PENTASCOPE) have more than N13 billion in treasury bills; I'm not even talking about the N59billion we are supposed to have made within that period. These things we want to probe. So much happened in NITEL and Nigerians were totally short changed; and, we think it is the responsibility of the Legislature to ensure that those who killed NITEL do not go Scott free. Nigeria made too much investment in NITEL to let it go like that. It is not a witch-hunt. We must begin to ask questions because that's the only way we can move forward. It will be a continuous thing because they cannot do such things and get away with it without anybody asking questions… Where were these financial institutions? Where were the auditors who were auditing NITEL at the time? NCC has its own questions to answer. At the time, BPE was responsible for the sale and privatization of all the government parastatals including NITEL. The regulatory body will have its own questions to answer. But what I am worried about is that some of these financial institutions, who are now putting resources together under the pretext that NITEL owes them and therefore they want to clamp down on NITEL, were part and parcel of what happened.” Who killed NITEL? I ask again. The senate probe has become moribund even as NITEL has. The Nigerians are left defrauded and lonely. We have no one to speak for us. We have no legislators to represent our interest. Yet, they are talking of “elections” in 2011. President Jonathan is promising “free and fair elections in 2011.” Mr. President, why must we continue to waste our time? Who should we “elect” and for what when you, our supposedly elected public officials, elect to seek your pecuniary interest only? You and your colleagues in government are supposed to be our servants; you are supposed to listen to us. But do you? If public officials will connive with oil and telecommunications companies (even foreign companies!) to rip off Nigerians, what hope have we? If our public officials will frustrate our efforts at getting compensations from destroyers of our environment and wealth what hope have we? Who killed NITEL? For about 10 years now since GSM first came to Nigeria, poor voice quality, drop calls, and extortionary billings have been the harrowing experiences of Nigerians. What have the appropriate legislative committees and the NCC done to protect Nigerian consumers? Nothing! But let those public officials, who can stop the defrauding of Nigerians, deny that they have been compromised by telecommunications companies operating in Nigeria, and I will point out to Nigerians a liar. Let any of them that have been compromised already deny and that person will see what I shall do? The time for glossing over issues has passed. Dr. Jonathan, I urge you to apologize to Nigerians and take urgent steps to revive NITEL. There should be no further steps taken to privatize NITEL. Rather, Dr. Jonathan must take those necessary steps to revive NITEL, at least to the 2001 status. Then, we can talk after that. MTN declares hundreds of billions of naira in profits. Why can’t they, when the same company offers better services in its home country South Africa, but would not invest what is needed to do same in Nigeria? But since the communications committees of the national assembly and NCC have been apparently compromised MTN has not been called to order. The billings by telecommunications companies such as MTN are outrageous. There are no efforts made by either the NCC or the communications committees of the national assembly to protect consumers. Hardly will someone in Nigeria make a 5-minute call before the units run down as quickly as wax before excessive heat. Even in more advanced countries with sophisticated GSM services and more mobile lines, national land lines operate efficiently, with public phone boots, which are very helpful even to foreigners, who may not need to buy a mobile handset when they arrive on short visits. Why do we behave in Nigeria like kids who discard their old toys as soon as a new one arrives? Leonard Karshima Shilgba, PhD Associate Professor of Mathematics and President of the Nigeria Rally Movement (NRM)—www.nigeriarally.org. TEL: +234 (0) 8055024356; Email: leonardshilgba@nigeriarally.org |