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Tag: Okoh Aihe

  • A hunter’s tale and a troubled telecoms sector – By Okoh Aihe

    A hunter’s tale and a troubled telecoms sector – By Okoh Aihe

    A couple of months ago, I had an interesting conversation with a friend who, after reading one of my articles, had quickly called to ask if I was, by any means, suggesting an increase in telecoms tariffs. Yes was my quick-fire response without waiting for him to land. Even you too will pay more for your transactions, he reminded me.

    Yes, I told him I was prepared to pay more and have the service available instead of enduring the service uncertainties confronting us at the moment. From my little knowledge of the industry, I tried to explain to him that the way the industry was going, labouring under such a weight in a volatile economic environment, it would soon go down or witness such a wrench that everybody, at least those lucky enough to still be able to fund their phones, would feel it across the land.

    Enjoy the contradiction here. No customer wants to pay more for a product or service. But mine comes from a selfish point of view that many may not understand. With nearly all the economic pointers heading downwards, telecoms, which remains one of the very few products that one can hold onto, and maintain the bragging rights of being part of humanity, shouldn’t also be allowed to die just because we can’t fix our economic environment.

    Last week, the operators spoke up by saying that if something wasn’t done urgently, the industry would soon start load-shedding and serve their customers the way the power sector has served the nation since the day I was born. And that is not yesterday! Please, don’t say God forbid if you have not listened to their story.

    Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), a foremost analytics provider on the nation’s economy, provided a commodious conscourse for the operators to ventilate their fears. At a forum appropriately titled, Telecoms Industry 2.0: The Next Investment Frontier in Nigeria, experts and industry operators traced the trajectory of an industry that hit the tipping point in the early 2000, and has remained ever so buoyant and socio-economically relevant until in recent years (2022) when the weight of a failing economy became too heavy for it to bear.

    In spite of immediate uncertainties, the forum observed most hopefully, that Nigeria can become the third largest mobile market in the world in ten years with an annual investment of $1bn. The reason for such aspiration and market positioning is stated.

    Nigeria’s share of the global telecoms investment market is 0.6 percent while her share of the global population is 3 percent. Global telecoms investment is projected to hit $342bn by 2027.

    “If Nigeria can increase its share of the global telecoms investment to at least one percent, this could result in $3.5bn, boosting forex inflow into the country and productivity, which is suitable for employment, and overall economic growth. For Nigeria to regain its lost position as Africa’s largest economy, there is an urgent need to press the reset button and revive this sector. Time is not on the side of Nigeria,” FDC warned.

    Keynote speaker, Bolaji Balogun, Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill Denham, who should also be credited as a major proponent of the telecoms sector being a founding member of Econet Wireless at the time, now Airtel, submitted that the industry needs about $1bn yearly to improve service quality, increase universal coverage, smartphone penetration, broadband quality and reduce industry’s carbon footprints, among others, noting that “there are more grounds to cover for another 25 years.”

    “We cannot secure this nation without improving our digital infrastructure. Our digital infrastructure has the power to change Nigeria’s economy,” Bolaji declared as he referenced the pervasive security challenges facing the nation.

    Without a doubt, there are too many worrying concerns for the industry at the moment – staggering inflation defying logic, unstable forex market, making it impossible for operators to access forex for equipment and expansion, and even maintenance, resulting in depreciating quality of service, a populace daily plunged into hunger, multiplicity of charges and taxes by the Federal Government, States and even social groups, among others.

    The unfortunate result is that the industry is haemorrhaging. In the past 18 months, the two floated telcos have recorded a combined loss of N743bn. And there are fears for the worst.

    Engr Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), alerted that the industry has become a victim of its success, Karl Toriola, Chief Executive Officer of MTN warned that the industry cannot carry on much further, noting that in its present shape, nobody would be ready to make any investment in the sector.

    “Nobody is going to put in $1 with the expected return of 60 cents on the dollar,” he pointed out.

    Toriola therefore called for an urgent  tariff review to save the industry from collapse.

    “There’s no way under the surface of the earth, in the kind of inflationary environment and forex devaluation that we’ve seen, that an industry can maintain the same prices for 11 years.

    “Price increase has become imperative, it is now an absolute necessity because the sector is in an intensive care unit, ICU, and needs urgent rescue to avoid total collapse,” he said.

    Engr Adebayo has never been shy to speak about his industry, pointing out landmines on the way. The other day, he appealed to the government not to use telecommunications as an economic palliative to the people.

    At the FDC forum, he noted that “the behaviour of those that superintend over government agencies is poor and antithetical to progress. Remember that when the operator signed agreement to provide telecom services in the country in 2001, the part the Nigerian government signed was to provide 18 hours of power supply to the operators. That part of the bargain has not been fulfilled since then. Yet, the greater part of our operating expenditure, OPEX, is on power.”

    Except some urgent measures were taken by the government, the industry could be plunged into the ignoble realm of load-shedding as it is done in the power sector where, for lack of capacity to provide services to the customers, the operators go into product rationing, which is also called load-shedding.

    “With all these, services will continue to be impaired. Today, we are heading to a situation where telecom services will be provided in parts because telcos may not be able to service all their sites at the same time,” Gbenga warned ominously.

    I have read responses about the regulator,  the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), saying it would not be arm-twisted by the operators’ threat. This for me, is esoteric hogwash, if not regulatory intransigence, to mistake the pains and fears of the operators for threats.

    In the past few years, service costs have been heading for the skies. The value of the Naira has crashed beyond understanding except for those skilled in money matters in a warped way, the epileptic power sector has been allowed to raise tariffs copiously, diesel cost has crippled industries, with telecoms carrying a troubling share, in fact there is general infrastructure failure which makes it difficult for the operators to render premium services. And the regulator is talking of threats!

    Have they never heard of the hunter’s tale? After a lone hunting expedition at night, the hunter returns home with a lot of games. But he refuses to share his experience, the things he saw; you know so many things happen at night. The hunter was witness to all of them but keeps mum in order not to set the village on fire with his revelations. He does not only carry the load, he feels the pains of his silence.

    FDC has done the country a lot of good by providing a platform for the telecom operators to speak up. Unlike the hunter, the operators who bear the pains of a challenged industry, have chosen to share their experiences and save the nation and the industry in particular a lot of headache. Lots of facts have been laid out, a lot of data have been put on the table to help the regulator and government take informed decisions instead of pretending that all is well. Will anybody ever  deny that a failed telecom sector could take down every other sector of the economy?

    The FDC forum has put a lot of information in the public domain, all pointing to the obvious that the telecoms industry is not in a good place. The NCC should work with the information and, on behalf of the Nigerian Government, think of agile regulatory measures that can remedy some of the immediate problems while encouraging the government to quickly fix the bigger ones.

    So many sectors of the economy need a lot of fixing. The NCC can point the way by straightening out the telecoms industry for good measure.

  • From Olympics to telecoms, the world brooks no tardiness – By Okoh Aihe

    From Olympics to telecoms, the world brooks no tardiness – By Okoh Aihe

    The 2024 Paris Olympics Games ended on Sunday in a blaze of glory. The French gave their elevated understanding of beauty and creativity while Hollywood gave a little snippet of what awaits the world in Los Angeles in four years’ time.

    The Olympics wasn’t just about games, it was about doggedness and discipline, it was about the capacity of humanity to push the body beyond human elasticity and achieve results beyond the attainment of ordinary humans, it was about people who wanted to put their names in the stars and affect human memory ever after.

    Nigerians are aghast that no athlete from the Nigerian team made it to the podium, after N12bn spent on just over 80 of them, belatedly. Some Nigerians did though, they came with the rest of the world where their talents were oiled for success. It would have been a major testimony if we won a medal, just any medal. The journey  of failure remains the superstructure of our daily existence, especially at the level of governance.

    All the while, watching the Nigerian contingent in Paris reminded me of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, not because of the sprint master, Usain Bolt or the American swimmer that enjoys water more than fish, Michael Phelps, but because of a peculiar Nigerian story which ace sports journalist, Onochie Anibeze, we fondly call coach, shared with us.

    According to the story, it was time for Nigeria to do a particular race and organisers were calling former Nigerian sprinter, Innocent Egbunike, to come and prepare his team. Unfortunately, Egbunike came with the American contingent, not Nigeria’s and therefore would not be able to do anything for Nigeria at the time. We just needed somebody to organise them, the organisers informed, because they will get on the field and won’t have their things properly put together, their jerseys may not be of the same colour. Several Olympics later – London, Rio, Tokyo and now Paris, Nigeria has hit the nadir of sports failure. We hardly disappoint the world.

    Not only that, there is something about Nigeria which gives the impression that the world must wait for us to get up and get going. And because the world has no room for tardiness, even very small countries like Saint Lucia with a population of 186, 856 and Botswana, a population of 2, 719, 694, have sprinted ahead of the self-acclaimed giant of Africa that used to dominate in sprint, boxing, weightlifting and football. Nigeria’s population is presently guesstimated at 232, 679, 478. Yes. In everything, we guess. In everything, we joke.

    Thank God for D’Tigress and Coach Rena Wakama, the country’s memory at the Olympics would nearly have been obliterated!

    Paris only provided a global screen for the world to look at our tardiness as a nation. There are things happening in order sectors, that viewed collectively, will nearly run us to the conclusion that this country ain’t going anywhere yet.

    At the same time that the Olympics was in full swing in Paris, some Nigerian officials were meeting with representatives of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Abuja. That meeting would have gone unnoticed but for some very little news that filtered out of the meeting location at Mbora in the Federal Capital Territory.

    While Nigeria was previously seen as a gold fish in providing regulatory standards for the global community, a new study by the ITU which was presented at the meeting, points to the contrary, requesting the Nigerian government to provide clarity in whom the international community and businesses should deal with because of regulatory overlaps of agencies that seem to be functioning in the same sector.

    Some of the agencies identified in the document include but not limted to: Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), National Identity Card Management Commission (NIMC) and National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).

    The study, Collaborative regulation: Accelerating Nigeria’s digital transformation, was to help Nigeria prepare for the next phase of growth in the fast expanding digital ecosystem. All of a sudden, a country that used to receive high level invitations to speak at international conferences concerning the exponential growth of its telecommunications industry, has come under the radar, needing help, obviously.

    “For over twenty years, ITU and our partners in the wilder global regulatory community have made enormous progress in analysing, mapping and understanding the evolving role that regulation plays in society and in economies. Through this effort, we now have a clear-eyed view of the path ahead for all countries, no matter where they are, in their journey towards fifth generation collaborative digital regulation, or G5, that has emerged as the gold standard for regulators and policy makers seeking to promote an enabling environment for digital transformation. The G5 framework marks a shift of scope beyond a narrow consideration of telecommunications/ICT to a far broader one of each country’s readiness to exploit a fully enabled digital economy and society,” said Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director, Telecommunications Bureau (BDG), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as he explained some of the activities of his organisation.

    The study points out some level of unwieldiness and contradictions in the entire ecosystem that need to be addressed urgently if Nigeria is to rise beyond the level of old glory to attain new heights.

    The study also observes that “there is currently a proposed NITDA Amendment Bill (2022), which is expected to repeal the 2007 Act. An overriding objective of the NITDA Amendment Bill is “to create an effective, impartial, an independent regulatory framework for the development of the Nigerian information technology sector and support the develoment of the digital economy” including through promoting access, research, consumer protection, and innovation, amongst others.

    In proposing a clear approach towards G5 regulation, the study suggests that “the institutional frameworks should support role clarity, policy coherence, and lean governance. While responsibility for digital transformation at the federal level is shared between the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy agencies (such as NCC, NBC and NITDA), there are a large number of other government agencies that impact digital transformation and e-government implementation, which leads to issues of responsibility overlaps and ineffective coordination. In instances where there are overlaps, gaps or lack of clarity, as in the case of NCC and NITDA, there is a need to clarify uncertainty, take steps to reduce forum shopping, and address ineffective policy implementation,” the document stated.

    Interestingly, the study predates the National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill 2024, introduced by current minister of the Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani. The Bill is described as an Act to enable the growth of  Digital Economy and digital governance in Nigeria.

    Under the APC administration, two Bills have been introduced into the digital ecosystem, the NITDA Amendent Act 2022 by Isah Pantami and the recent one by his successor. They must have their reason that concentrates efforts on Bill making to harvest the fortunes of what seems a ready made industry. That is what they call low hanging fruits.

    Beyond the superficial good intentions are the subterranean plans that polarise the agencies and industry and make them easy targets for a ministry and supervising ministers whose intentions are difficult to justify. The Bills seek to whittle down the regulatory powers of existing agencies and subordinate them to the whims of new laws being dressed up at the National Assembly. Bosun’s National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill, actually suggests that only the Nigerian constitution will take precedence over the Bill when passed. Were the National Assembly to go beyond superficiality, they will throw the Bills away, or at best, hammer them into shapes that will enable them function justifiably in their respective fields.

    Without doubt there is growing confusion in a sector that was examplary in the past. The ITU which promoted Nigeria as a model of good regulatory jurisdiction, has, in the study, asked the Nigerian government to make intervention that can restore the industry back to its glory days and position it for the digital opportunities ahead.

  • Technology, the tortoise in every story – By Okoh Aihe

    Technology, the tortoise in every story – By Okoh Aihe

    When we were small children still in primary school, we would gather once a week under the big umbrella tree on the left end at the approach of the school compound, to tell stories under the auspices of very strict teachers who would later turn out in life to be very good people. Those teachers, they did their best to educate us and oftentimes, we misunderstood them.

    Always, the tortoise would feature as the central character in these stories; it was the good, the bad and the ugly, blessed with a lot of craftiness to amuse and to deceive, mostly to its benefit.

    In today’s Nigeria, GSM has displaced the tortoise. If there is a problem because of bad governance, it is because there are tools for mobile communications. When a man and his wife are having problems in their relationship, it’s because there is mobile technology to put a wedge between them as they can stay on the same bed chatting with their phones instead of chatting with each other.

    Nigeria is going through heady times and again mobile technology has found itself in the midst of discourse. The hunger protests which began last week have only reminded us how very fragile even our most reliable infrastructure can be but fingers were also pointed at the government for supervening in the activities of the operators by slowing down the speed of the Internet. It didn’t occur to anybody that services may have been zonked by the huge communications hitting the network at the same time or some base stations may have gone out because of the inability of their owners to power them with diesel. But the government was already on the downside of credibility and the people went headlong for an easy prey.

    It was therefore reassuring that Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy would rise to quickly dispel such rumour, and his position was validated by Engr Gbenga Adebayo, President of the Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), who explained that there was never such conspiracy with government to stymie the health of the Internet. Yet mobile technology remains in the midst of discourse and it is now responsible for all our problems like the tortoise of old.

    But I see a more deep-seated problem. Also last week, MTN, which had to quickly close its offices nationwide for fear of reprisals after disconnecting about 6m lines for failure to meet the SIM-NIN linkage policy standards, released its half year report. The company reported a loss of N519.1bn after tax. Ironically, the company is making more money, a revenue of N1.53 trn between January and June, this year which marks 32.6 percent appreciation, compared to N1.15 trn of H1 2023. Company chief executive Karl Toriola said the macroeconomic headwinds haven’t changed at all.

    “The country has been dealing with rising inflation and continued depreciation of the Naira against the US dollar and other currencies,” Toriola observed.

    The conditions cannot be dealt with overnight but something tangible has to be done in order to ameliorate the plight of those whose voices of pain have been very loud recently.

    Welcome to our world.  The company making more money is also making heavy losses.  But here is one line of thought. If MTN Nigeria  with its experienced Board and sound management could be running losses, it means more things are happening in the telecommunications industry than people would ordinarily want to look at, just like every other sector of the economy that is challenged.

    ALTON’s Adebayo sketched a status of the industry when he called on the Nigerian government not to use the telecoms sector as a palliative to solve the current economic challenges confronting the country. Speaking at the Groupe Special Mobile Association (GSMA) digital economy report launch which happened recently in Abuja, he observed that, plus the economic situation of the country that was in dire straits, the telecommunications sector pays over 45 associated charges in form of taxes to the Nigerian government. Unfortunately, the demands of the operators have not always been met with speed and understanding. He pegged his point on the tariff review that has become contentious.

    “The price review should be a simple regulatory process. The public debate this has gained makes it appear the industry is insensitive to people’s concerns.

    “While the government tries to provide incentives for the public on account of ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, the telecoms sector should not be used as a palliative to solve the people’s problem. We must price right to sustain the industry; we must price right to have the right investment.”

    Adebayo’s position should be very concerning although there are so many concerns at the moment which call for immediate attention. There are protests in different parts of the country over hunger issues that are not addressed. Some corporate players are bailing out of the country and some people in opportunistic positions to advise the government simply sneer at the development and say Nigeria is doing well.

    Really? We are not a nation of figures. We hold statistics in contempt. But even from this position, I will suggest that happenings in the telecommunications sector do present us with a graphic template to confront some of the challenges facing the nation. Resolving these issues will percolate on the larger economy.

    Minister Tijani believes there are tons of problems troubling the sector more than tariff review. We can only advise urgent action by the government and the industry to resolve these issues. Even without having to regurgitate some of his recent presentations, Tijani has been talking a lot about a digital economy whose success, I am sure, will be anchored on a strong telecommunications industry.

    Technology can  play the role of the tortoise here, ever present in every story, in every strand of development.  Unfortunately, the cunning, hard-shelled animal that we used to pick in rubber plantations are going extinct, in the same way that technology grows into irrelevance and yesterday’s longings. The telecommunications sector has so much to offer us as a nation;  its state of health should be a primary concern to all, especially the government that is building our future around it.

  • For telecoms, coincidence becomes nightmare – By Okoh Aihe

    For telecoms, coincidence becomes nightmare – By Okoh Aihe

    It was my strong determination this week to write in defence of the Tinubu administration that it couldn’t be behind the large scale disconnection of mobile lines as a sure channel of ensuring that those planning demonstrations over hardship in our nation on  August 1, 2024, fail in the process as they will be unable to communicate with each other.

    It was a decision that wasn’t going to serve me right but I was ready to take some fall in standing for the truth even if the timing was inappropriate. Is the truth still out there? Let me observe that there are so many strands of stories flying all over the place that truth is confused for fiction and even fiction is assuming some level of acceptability except sorting and verifications are detailed.

    Too many things unfolded too quickly. An alarm was raised by Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) that there were indications that telecommunications companies in the country were trying to frustrate planned protests. He is a well-known voice in the human rights community whose concerns should not be overlooked.

    “From all indications, it would seem that the underlying target of the telecom companies is to limit the reach of their customers in order to restrict access and thus frustrate the protests,” Adegboruwa complained in a statement.

    His fears were genuine. There were mass disconnections across the various networks. By Monday, MTN alone, this writer gathered, had disconnected about 6m lines! Adegboruwa’s number was one of them. Around Abuja, there was bedlam anywhere MTN has a service centre or franchised service centre. Except you had the guts to be inquisitive, nobody wanted to risk his life as they thought the demonstrations were already building up.

    The truth, no longer an apparition, came out very quickly. Moving posthaste to remove the noose from his members, the very proactive Engr Gbenga Adebayo issued a statement to the effect that the harmonisation exercise of the SIM Registration database and the National Identity Database which has been ongoing, was responsible for the mass disconnections.

    “Customers who recently had their lines blocked are those whose records showed a mismatch between the databases. Affected customers are advised to contact their service providers through the communicated channels to resolve the issue,” Adebayo admonished.

    Adegboruwa’s number fell in this category. His number was barred because the image on his registration was blurred. His case has been resolved, however.

    By Monday afternoon, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which dithered in response, released a statement, titled: NCC Orders Immediate Reactivation of Lines Affected by NIN-SIM Verification Issues, to put the matter in clearer perspective.

    “Over the weekend, many telecoms subscribers/consumers were unable to access their phone lines because of the inability of many telecoms consumers to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs). This meant that their numbers were blocked by their service providers in keeping with laws and policies of NIN-SIM linkage.

    “Since December 2023, the Commission has since reviewed the deadline a few times; April 15, 2024, was set as the deadline for the full network barring of subscribers with four or few SIMs that had unverified NIN details. This deadline was then reviewed to July 31, 2024, to give consumers more time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified . Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs,” the regulator explained further in a statement.

    The Commission therefore directed all operators to reactivate all lines that were disconnected over the weekend in view of the short time it took them to undertake the exercise.

    The directive brought a lot of attention and activities to the operators’ service centres, leading to chaotic and violent scenes in some instances.

    MTN was the most affected, expectedly, because it is the largest mobile network in the country. With a total industry subscriber base of 219, 005, 878 by March 2024, according to the NCC, MTN controls 76.7m, the company chief executive, Karl Tortola, said in the company’s Annual Report.

    Looking at the history of the industry, I want to point out that this is a coincidence most unfortunate. NCC has explained the position of the regulator and the industry. The disconnections had nothing to do with the planned demonstrations. But hunger, tension and apprehension can spin wild conspiracy theories which call for strategic response from the authorities. But responses from successive governments to national challenges have always been more arbitrary than strategic with sour end results.

    The NIN-SIM verification exercise is a good policy but so badly implemented that the only referential qualities are anarchy and pain which it has brought upon Nigerians. Once upon a time, a former Communications and Digital Economy Minister said it would take only two weeks to implement. This is 2024. The exercise gets so convoluted daily that it takes sincerity to admit that we are not getting close to the conclusion.

    Somebody asked, why would MTN disconnect over 6m lines within a short period? My answer was simple. When a child gets burnt in fire once, even fireflies frighten him.

    Recall that in October 2015, MTN was fined N1.04 trn by the NCC for delaying the disconnection of 5.1m lines that were improperly registered. A negotiated agreement brought the fine down to N330bn with some other conditions. It would have been anomalous, if not extreme corporate negligence, if MTN allowed thunder to strike a second time.

    But this story is not about MTN but about an entire industry that is facing serious challenges at the moment. The big operators are making losses because of a very challenging operating environment. The quality of service has gone down as operators are finding maintenance and expansion difficult. In fact, the announcement this week about a management change in 9MOBILE only amplifies the problems of the industry, and offers a little hope of a corporate rebirth that may impact positively on  the whole industry.

    The mass disconnections of mobile lines over the weekend over SIM-NIN verification may just have served to draw urgent attention to an industry that needs immediate help. The operators are facing their own demons but still have to support a National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) which an industry source said does not have the capacity to move at the speed of NCC and the industry.

    With such knowledge resident even within the NCC, it does not serve any purpose to issue bogus disconnection orders to heat up the polity and make an already sweating President look very bad.

    One last line. The regulator has given a reprieve and final call for subscribers to carry out needed harmonisation and verification of their SIMs and NINs. Will they take advantage of it or wait for another opportunity to complain and cause chaos?

  • BON raises a cry for NBC – By Okoh Aihe

    BON raises a cry for NBC – By Okoh Aihe

    It was pretty cool last week when the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) made a plea for the survival of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as it called on the government to adequately fund the organisation to enable it to do its job successfully.

    The NBC is the regulator of the broadcast industry. Usually the relationship between the regulator and BON members is mired in controversies, in licence fees not being paid by operators, petulant fines imposed by the regulator or even government hiding under the regulator to make the operating field for broadcast operators difficult. It’s hobbling from one litigation to another and with the regulator at the losing end nearly always.

    But rising from the 79th General Assembly which held in Benin, Edo State, last week, BON called on the “Federal Government to adequately and effectively fund the National Broadcasting Commission as a regulatory agency and remove it from the list of revenue generating agencies of government.”

    While appreciating the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration, the broadcasters confessed that their industry was facing an existential threat because of hard economic decisions by the government, including the removal of oil subsidy and the deregulation of the foreign exchange market which on their own have bred other problems with the astronomical increase in electricity tariff as the most damaging for their operations.

    BON which, in a 9-point communique, appealed to the government to take urgent measures that can cushion their industry in these challenging times, including an indefinite suspension of NBC’s demand of 2.5 percent on the gross earnings by broadcasters, equally stated its position on other industry issues as follows:

    “The meeting reviewed the controversy the NBC Code has generated in recent times. In addition to pronouncements of courts on the same matter, we call on the NBC to urgently convene stakeholders for a review of the 6th NBC Code.

    BON further calls on the Federal Government to expedite action on the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting. We request that NBC in conjunction with BON and other stakeholders should return to the drawing board to analyse the achievements recorded on Digital Switchover with the aim of mapping strategies for a migration that will be beneficial to the citizens.”

    It is fitting that BON is looking beyond the severe concerns of the broadcast industry to begin to make a case for the survival of the regulator by raising a number of issues that impact on their sector at the moment and as always. When properly addressed, the industry and regulator can be at peace with each other and May even enjoy a whiff of prosperity.

    Without a squint of the eyes, this writer can say straight away that the Code needs urgent review in order to weed out some very seedy sections that maliciously target some operations. An industry manual needs consensus building which this Code lacks, as some of its contents bear the imprimatur of some shadowing personalities whose understanding of the industry never rose above point zero, but had all to do with pecuniary returns.

    Calling for stakeholders gathering over the Digital Switchover (DSO) is most patriotic. Nigeria seriously lags behind in the exercise sanctioned by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in July 2006, and is therefore shut out of the plethora of benefits that should accrue to the nation. The benefits are far-reaching and the broadcasters are right in saying that we must fix the process and then explode a sector that is shamefully diminished.

    But some have said that the government cannot directly put money in a regulatory agency without controlling its activities. I want to observe that there is hardly a regulator in whatever field anywhere in the world that is not a product of the government as it tries to create conducive environments for businesses. The supervening factor is that once the law has been put in place, the regulator should be allowed to exist independently on the basis of the law.

    The above scenario featured in Nigeria from 1992, even with all its imperfections, until the coming of the Muhammadu Buhari administration in May 2019. The administration came into office with characters that least understood the place of the regulator or were too selfish to acknowledge the prime relevance of the regulators to the economy and plunged several of them into deep trouble or depreciated status of relevance.

    NBC was one of them. Overnight some of these regulators who were hailed globally for keeping the frontiers of modern regulation, were designated revenue generating agencies and all their earnings shaved away. The government didn’t need any permission to take their money. Their accounts with the Central Bank were raided regularly. The Tinubu administration didn’t initiate this although the practice has continued.

    This is one of the problems that has kept NBC in a very helpless position. The Buhari government started by taking 25 percent of their revenue and this graduated to 50 percent, and of course, the handshake would grow beyond the elbow and become a full fight. At some point, all the monies were taken and it took indeterminate periods for their portion to be returned. From all indications, this government inherited a ruined economy and is even more frantic for cash. That means organisations like NBC will continue to suffer.

    Sources within the Commission told this writer that things were not looking good at all. Every money that goes into the CBN account of the organisation, including small loan repayments and other refunds by staff, is mistaken for revenue by the government and is simply taken away, leaving the agency with very little to float on.

    A source informed that they have not able to do monitoring of broadcast stations which is very important to the regulator and the agency is also unable to put money aside for Zonal Operations.

    “They should stop going on that it is business as usual. They should face the reality hitting us in the face,” an NBC source warned.

    Let’s situate the fears of the industry and also the apprehensions of some workers of the NBC. Without a good Act that is void of government interference, the regulator is impotent. Without good funding, the regulator is castrated and will freak out before, or be manipulated by operators. And without requisite industry knowledge that comes from training which would always need funding, the regulator is a little shadow of itself, afraid of even good intentions from the stakeholders. The NBC shouldn’t wear the foregoing paraphernalia because they don’t look good at all.

    A former chief regulator of the broadcast industry has suggested that the government should cede part of the proceeds of spectrum sales from the broadcast band to the broadcast regulator. This is a long standing industry suggestion but has really not been given serious consideration by the government.

    But the broadcast regulator needs to be strengthened. We have already stated here that the problem it faces today wasn’t created by the Tinubu administration. However, this government can take another look at the plight of the regulator through strategic engagement with the management of the Commission, consultations with some previous regulators and other industry professionals to ferret out solutions that can redeem the regulator and the industry from their parlous position. The government needs to engage in activities and strategic actions that can help the regulator build capacity in its staff.

    One other thing. There is no crime in self preservation which is a decision BON has taken by supporting the regulator. Irony sometimes is redeeming. NBC has to live to prevent the broadcast industry from plunging into disarray and near death or according to BON, “to prevent the unprecedented shutdown of many broadcast media houses.”

  • A Minister’s Bill and a troubled industry – By Okoh Aihe

    A Minister’s Bill and a troubled industry – By Okoh Aihe

    There are very good vibes coming from the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy. They give a good feel to the ears and even more catchy for the eyes. At a press meet which looked more like a well-worked roadshow to promote a new Bill currently with the National Assembly, titled: National Digital Economy and e-Government Bill, the Minister, Dr Bosun Tijani, said the passing of the Bill could inject $18.3bn into the nation’s economy.

    That sounds very good and attractive. Introduced as A Bill for an Act to enable the growth of Digital Economy and Digital Governance in Nigeria by improving the certainty of digital transactions, digital service delivery, and matters related, the 54-page document has objectives, which include: To enhance the use of digital technology to grow Nigeria’s economy; To create an enabling environment for fair competition to promote innovation, growth, and competitiveness for the Nigerian Digital Economy;  To create export-oriented capacities in Nigeria’s digital economy to improve Nigeria’s balance of trade and services; and To mandate, promote and enable the digital transformation of public institutions and Government processes for efficient and effective service delivery.

    The Bill seeks to bring clarity and validity to digital transactions, trade and business relationships while setting new standards in government to government communications and government interface with the public.

    It is fair to say that the Bill looks at governance with digital eyes from the psychedelic positioning of the young-at-heart who, perhaps, look at yesterday as a life too far gone and very antiquated. The Bill encourages you to do transactions without ever meeting your trade partners, and everything executed to specifications, with the right signatures electronically appended, and with generous assurances of fidelity in the entire process. It will smoothen  processes and evaporate bureaucracies in government offices. It plans to reset Nigeria with a new engine, a digital one for that matter.

    This is not a preview at all. But there are a couple of things which raise something more alarming than the proverbial red flag. I am not a learned fellow, dear friends, but fairly literate to the extent of knowing when a language is becoming violent and superfluous. Look at this.

    In Part XV, under Miscellaneous, which is annotated as Supremacy of National Digital Economy and E-Governance Act, the Bill which is confusingly called an Act, states as follows: Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law but subject to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in all matters relating to the digital economy and e-government, the provisions of the Act shall override the provisions of any other Law.; and The Regulatory agency shall establish regulations on the use and adoption of new and emerging technologies as it relates to information technology.

    The foregoing two examples will suffice. But here is my gut feeling about the Bill. The Bill puts on the costume of dollars to beguile a nation and a National Assembly that may not see beyond the superficiality of monetary attractions, especially in a country with roaring inflation and troubling food prices. The Bill which is like a child trying to appropriate the responsibilities of a father, holds in absolute contempt other existing Acts irrespective of age.

    Already in existence are the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015; Nigerian Communications Act 2003; The National Broadcasting Commission Act Cap N11 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004; National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Act 2007, and, in fact, there is already a very controversial Bill at the National Assembly which seeks to amend the existing NITDA Act. And then, this new one entirely.

    This particular Bill will set up a regulator for the digital space which may be given the rapacious opportunity to swallow up other Acts before it. That may be the only way to accommodate a new regulator in these days that the current administration is trying to trim the size of government. The dollar sign is only a ruse, a smokescreen that will evaporate at the approach of reality.

    But I must also admit the Bill is well written, perhaps too sugar-coated; the lawmakers must strip it of all its excesses and octopi positioning. The Bill should only try to encourage new businesses and opportunities in the digital ecosystem and not cause chaos in already established areas.

    Irrespective of promoted advantages and the huge inflow of cash expected to come into the economy, I see a whole lot of contradictions and that troubles me. It seems the minister is on a drive at such a speed that leaves relevant stakeholders behind.

    Asked whether the telecommunications industry was ever consulted as critical stakeholders before the Bill was put in place, a highly placed industry source told this writer that there was never such consultation. “Those in authority are not interested in negative or constructive feedback. They are only interested in what they want to hear. Are the critical stakeholders being engaged? The answer is no,” my source said, adding ruefully that “we are not in a very good position as an industry.”

    I will attempt a little explanation. People expected that the minister would pay more attention to the digital economy, new tech businesses and tech upstarts where he has earned a name. He seems not to have disappointed their expectations at all.

    Somebody had asked me what would happen if the telecommunications sector should unplug some of these young tech companies. There would be a failure of immense proportions, the source volunteered an answer. That is not likely to happen soon. The source was only trying to explain why the minister should be interested in the fortunes of the industry, and there are no strong signs to prove that he is presently.

    The telecommunications industry is in dire straits. Out of the big three,  two made significant losses last year and one of them even had to scale down CAPEX by as much as 30 per cent. It is no surprise that the quality of experience, as the NCC chooses to call it now instead of quality of service, is painfully poor. Glo is a private business and does not announce earnings while 9MOBILE remains in the woods.

    Unfortunately, the regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is also troubled and it’s immediate attention may be tailored towards its own survival. Although it is often said that government is a continuum, this writer gathered that the previous administration caused so much distortion and chaos within the regulatory system that steering the agency to a safe zone has become a daunting task. This comes with pains which the agency is feeling and the industry as well.

    A source within the Commission said on Monday that the regulator is aware of the challenges confronting the industry at the moment and was working with key stakeholders to achieve industry sustainability and elevated quality of experience.

    “Let quality improve and let Nigerians have something to be happy about,” the source explained.

    Confronted with the grind of survival, the minister’s Bill may be a distraction, although the NCC will not have the stomach to say so. This writer is old enough to inform here that Dr Bosun has not earned the trust of the telecommunications industry and there is a small group at the regulatory agency praying for affliction not to return a second time after a painful and destabilising experience under the previous administration. I am of the strong opinion that there is a good way ahead to make amends.

  • Censors board, a low hanging fruit most troubling – By Okoh Aihe

    Censors board, a low hanging fruit most troubling – By Okoh Aihe

    I have a friend with an acerbic tongue and a caustic pen that cuts straight to the bone. Although much more reputed as a sports journalist, his cosmopolitan knowledge about just everything around him can be humbling. His writings can make anybody feel uncomfortable, especially if you belong to the band of those who stand truth in the head and try to paint it as alternate reality.

    Nearly two decades ago, my friend gave me a stunning education about happenings in the civil service. He challenged me to name some government agencies and parastatals for which I found my knowledge shamefully deficit. He told me there were over 200 of these bodies, some of them created not really to do anything but just to enjoy some budgets and make some connected individuals happy. As he reeled out the list with a wry smile, I could see that he enjoyed the confusion writ large on my face.

    This was years before the Oronsaye Report, which recommended that the government weed down its burden of agencies and parastatals from 263 to 161, would come into the open in 2012. Although some governments since then have been coy about the Report, with the Buhari administration actually walking the opposite direction and nearly deracinating it. However, the Federal Executive Council which sat on February 26, 2024, has approved total and full implementation of the Report.

    I am in full support of the implementation of the Report because I can testify that there are so many  people in government who are not doing anything at all or with knowledge too inadequate or outdated to contribute meaningfully to the running of an effective civil service.

    In spite of my position, I was still a little nonplussed and distressed when an industry source, in response to my article of last week, titled: For Nollywood, ascendancy fuelled by Providus, furnished me with the information of the 3-week ultimatum given to the Minister of Arts, Culture and Digital Economy, to wind down the operations of the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).

    Part of the June 21, 2024, memo sent by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, to the Minister, reads as follows: “Accordingly, the Ministry of Arts, Culture & Creative Economy is hereby mandated to initiate all necessary administrative/ financial processes and procedures that will lead to the winding down of Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board and subsequent scrapping for it to function as a Department in the Ministry within three weeks of the receipt of this communication. The scrapping feedback should be made to the undersigned within the first 30 days of being a Department under Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy.”

    This should be good news to me. But it is not. I was too enthused last week about the intervention of Providus in Nollywood with a N5bn Fund to even accommodate this kind of development.

    Like the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to the broadcast industry and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to the telecommunications industry, the NFVCB is the regulator of the creative industry and it strains credulity that the agency is becoming a department in the Ministry.

    NFVCB draws its regulatory power from Act No. 85 of 1993 which states as follows: To licence a person to exhibit films and video works; to classify films and video work; to regulate and prescribe safety precautions to be observed in licensed premises; to regulate and control cinematographic exhibitions; and to regulate the import of foreign movies and export of Nigerian movies. The foregoing are just a few of the functions.

    Here is my plank of argument. For most of the governments that I know, the Tinubu administration has been most bullish and even articulate in canvassing the fortunes of Nollywood. The government created a new ministry to give more attention to the industry and the creators’ economy generally, and has even attracted a bank, Providus, to give loans in very liberal terms. Last week I expressed the optimism that more of such interventions should be expected and this should stimulate growth in the industry.

    I was of the opinion that the government wants to make the entertainment industry bigger and more attractive to the practitioners and investors since a cardinal function of government is to enable a good environment for businesses. Nollywood occupies a prime place  in the industry and was already expressing growth characteristics with operators reacting excitedly to what is happening in their industry. Under this circumstance, the regulator has a substantial role to play in trimming the excesses of the industry while priming it up to attract investors. With all their capacity to entertain  and excite, are the inherent bohemian proclivities of industry practitioners that need to be properly managed by those trained and psychologically disposed to do so. I doubt if the ministry can manage the creative industry.

    Let me establish my fears. As far back as I can remember, no ministry has been able to manage its relationship with the regulator. Two examples will suffice. Both the NBC and the NCC were created in 1992 for the broadcast and telecommunications industries, respectively. Over the years, the parent ministries have put them under immense pressure as they fought to take over their regulatory responsibilities. Each new minister to either of the ministries would always get a briefing of how disobedient and dishonest the regulator is and how officials would embark on frivolous travels in the name of regulation. Besides, they have money to play with and they are very reckless in doing so.

    For a long period, the laws protected the two agencies. But under the Buhari administration, the ministers of the two ministries simply jettisoned the laws and took over regulatory responsibilities from the agencies. It was a clear case of regulatory capture and the concerned agencies and their industries are still struggling to recover from the damage caused by politics and hubris exhibited by politicians.

    The case of NFVCB is beyond capture, it is total swallow sanctioned by the government based on information available to top government functionaries.

    But let me say this. The Censors Board remains central to the growth of Nollywood. The agency carries out responsibilities beyond regulation which throw a lot of beautiful light on the nation. I will give instances. Around 2008, the Board organised a Nollywood forum on the sidelines of the Los Angeles Film Festival. It was a major hit, well attended by industry personalities across the global spectrum.

    The Board has regularly hosted a stand at the Toronto Film Festival in Canada to connect Nigerian producers, exhibitors and distributors with international partners. So, it was a double slam for the agency when Genevieve Nnaji’s Lion Heart and Mo Abudu’s Death and the King’s Horseman were featured at the festival. In addition, it has worked closely with industry heavyweights to feature Nigerian programmes at the Cannes Film Festival in France and even at FESPACO in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

    The Censors Board has grown with time, getting more interesting like old wine which tastes better with age. This writer is aware that the British Board of Film Classification, Kenya Classification Board and the South African Classification have requested a study tour of Nigeria to understudy the activities of the Board, while nations like Ghana, Malawi and Uganda are setting operations in the similitude of the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board.

    For me, it is like walking backwards when the agency is seen as a low hanging fruit in the government scheme of events, and simply plucked out of existence.

    I seriously believe that the Oronsaye Report should be implemented post-haste. But I also realise that the Report has been out there since 2012, within which period so much has happened in the technology space and in Nollywood in particular. I am persuaded to think that implementing the Report in its original form may be akin to doing a lazy man’s job. Even a review will have to be critical and devoid of emotions and a blind rush towards contemplated answers.

    I don’t see the Censors Department (I hate to contemplate this) functioning well from the ministry. There will be frustrations for those whose creativity has put Nigeria in the eyes of the world, very positively. Nollywood will be the loser.

  • For Nollywood, ascendancy fuelled by Providus – By Okoh Aihe

    For Nollywood, ascendancy fuelled by Providus – By Okoh Aihe

    I am happy for Nollywood. Those who know the history of the industry will admit that Nollywood is enjoying some bubble at this time, like a guy on an imaginary trip on a gossamer. But this is real. All of a sudden, the days of yore, of little beginnings, look so anachronistic, some kind of fables and ancient tales that never happened. Yes, they happened and Nollywood has undergone a most appreciative evolutionary process before our very eyes.

    Let me strip myself of circumlocution and hit the target straight. The relationship between Nollywood and Providus Bank, facilitated by the Tinubu administration, is a most welcome development and, without doubt, can rocket the industry to new heights. Yes. This is the time for Nollywood ascendancy and it’s nearly surreal.

    The small news at the corner of the papers that the Federal Government was disbursing the second batch of a N5bn Creative Fund to Nollywood, is big news to me. All of a sudden, the industry once described as woolly, unable to display investment dashboard and return paths for invested funds, has attracted the imprimatur of a very young bank – oh yes, just founded in 2016 – which from all indications, may be leading the nation to where a huge honeypot in the financial sector is buried.

    One Fegho Umunubo, the. Special Assistant to the President (Office of the Vice President) on Digital and Creative Economy, was reported to have said in an Instagram post that: “N5bn Creative Fund Launch, Under the renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu (GCFR), we successfully launched the 2nd batch in partnership with Providus Bank at Eko Hotels last week.

    “Following the successful disbursement of the N1.5bn to four producers/actors for their movie projects, we are excited to support more creative projects.”

    Such a huge amount to only four industry practitioners! This is as good as it can be and I am praying for more of such investments.

    Let me explain. Nollywood was built on personal and family funds, some scratches from friends and admirers, and the visionary wizardry of some traders at Apongbon, Lagos and Iweka Road, Onitsha, among others. Some kind of crowdfunding that couldn’t make the industry practitioners – actors, crew members and other behind-the-scenes players earn enough to ward off  pecuniary difficulties.

    I do not want to list the names of those who died in the process or those who lost businesses and family fortunes; Nollywood is spinning a good story that is worth telling, and please permit me to add that the industry is built on the efforts, sweat, honour and blood of so many people, quite a number of whom are happy to be alive.

    So, this is much a tribute to the gallantry and creativity of the departed as well as a deserved appreciation of the resilience of the living.

    Monday night, Zik Zulu Okafor of Zulu Productions commended the efforts of Providus Bank for providing an industry support fund for Nollywood, admonishing his colleagues to build on this foundation in order to attract more funds for the sector. He warned against profligate spending and counselled that such a fund should only be deployed for the purpose for which it was given.

    Industry Sheik, Zeb Ejiro of Zeb Ejiro Productions declared his own position to this writer.

    “We should not allow this opportunity to slip through our hands. We must not allow it to fail. Please, if you are taking the fund, let it work. The money is almost like an equity fund. No timeline to return it. No crazy conditions. This is the best so far that has come to us,” he said.

    Let’s try to explain the position of the industry some more. There have always been conversations about a fund for Nollywood to activate the industry and position it to attract global attention and even funding. This writer is aware and actually participated in some of such discussions at Sithengi in South Africa, Fespaco in Burkina Faso, Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia and at a forum in Los Angeles. Sometimes, everybody disagreed openly and even internationally, and then they began to fight over funds that were not yet available.

    Besides, previous governments didn’t have the gravitas to float a fund for Nollywood but were very happy to bask in the glitz and glamour of the industry and enjoy photo opportunities with Nollywood stars. They enjoyed the beauty of the industry and were not ready to assist in doing the spade work.

    Without looking at the distractions of previous history, Providus agreed with the government to float a fund. We have always argued that the creative material should be a strong enough product to securitise a loan. Providus reasons the same way. I am told that bickerings in the industry have also seriously reduced. This is good, because the industry needs some peace to make progress.

    But I must say that this is the time for the industry practitioners to be creative in making money work for them. The reason for this is that the industry they knew in the early 90s has changed so much, moving at the pace of technological evolutionary processes.

    The much revered DVD which put lots of power in the hands of some traders, has died naturally. The television stations that used to contribute airtime to producers through barter arrangement are struggling for life. DSTV which became a star of the industry and a redemptive messiah through programme commissioning and acquisition, can now only do that within the limits of fund availability but more with a consideration for profit.

    That leaves the cinema houses to play its role. While I will want to observe that the cinema culture has really not gained too much traction even with all the investments, it takes much focus and process fidelity to create a product that hits at the cinema. And you must be ready to count the tickets! Not every moviemaker can have the gusto of Funke Akindele to create  A Tribe Called Judah.

    That directs attention to Netflix and a number of over-the-top channels that are streaming programmes from different corners of the world. However, Netflix has been putting a lot of money into high-end Nigerian movies. The organisation is very much concerned about quality assurance and has the capacity to push out its movies.

    An industry source told me, the YouTubers are also making a lot of money. This is quite encouraging that the entertainment sector which only a few years ago swallowed money with little capacity to pay back, is becoming a good bride.

    So, in my enthusiasm to commend Providus Bank, let me, in aligning with Zik and Zeb, also sound a note of caution to everyone in the value chain. The moviemakers should explore all marketing channels, including the ones not known to us yet, to ventilate their products commercially. This means seeking the services of experts with open access to modern marketing tools and opportunities.

    For Providus, I respectfully observe that not all projects are bankable, not all producers and actors are bankable and not all scripts have commercial value. The bank should be very interested in the creative process without jeopardising the poetic licence of the creators. While the Tinubu administration should be commended for creating the Ministry of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy with Hannatu Musa Musawa as minister and appointing Dr Shaibu Hussein to superintend the quality of Nigerian films at the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Providus, more than any other organisation, has the coveted opportunity to influence the quality of Nigerian films. With a caveat:  no meddling with poetic licence.

    I commend the efforts of those who used their bare hands to break ice and built the pillars of an industry that has arrested the admiration of the world. I salute the boldness of Providus to make funds available to Nollywood at very liberal terms, and I invite this government to stand up and have a good dance with the stars.

    Sheik Zeb Ejiro

    Just as I was contemplating this material Monday evening, Zeb Ejiro, the acclaimed Sheik of Nollywood, notified me of an invitation to the Nigeria Week London 2024, where he will be honoured with a Life-time Achievement Award. I celebrate with you, Zeb,  and would like to see the recognition as a fitting tribute to your brother as well, Chico Ejiro, whose memory will form part of the Nollywood Walk Of Fame when it does come.

  • Nothing has changed, my Brother – By Okoh Aihe

    Nothing has changed, my Brother – By Okoh Aihe

    Our material on this page last week titled: Between NCC and NMC, good news in small packets, has elicited a little dig from a very close friend who observed we almost created the impression that the telecoms industry is witnessing an el dorado.

    No, we pointed out, we have only written in support of the relationship between the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission, on one hand, and Nokia on the other, to train some young Nigerians on Nokia’s 4G and 5G equipment as a good deal that should be encouraged with a prayer that more of such deals be cultivated.

    This writer is aware of the dearth of qualified tech personnel that has dogged the telecommunications industry since 2001 and the story is not about to change. As technology grows with the speed of light literally, so is the challenge for skilled workforce to push the fortunes and frontiers of the industry. For instance, while 2G was a big story in early 2000, the world is today confronting the monstrous possibilities of 5G as the new technology that can virtually make all things possible – download big movies in seconds and make it possible for machines to whisper to each other in landmark conspiracy.

    This writer couldn’t be talking of any el dorado in the industry because of the number of things popping up in the observatory. Sometimes, one is at the edge of frustration to still be talking about them at this point in time. Too trite and mundane after two decades of ceaseless industry operation.

    For instance, in the corner of the nation’s capital where I live, not too far away from the city centre, I still move from room to room in search of strong signals for effective calls or actually just pick a point of advantage on the bed to make a good call happen. This is a recent development, meaning that quality of service has plummeted because one of the key stakeholders in the industry may have dropped the ball. It is not just about Abuja, it is about a failing in the industry that is pervasive, even hitting my neck of the country that has not been fortunate in enjoying a fair share of modern amenities.

    No el dorado, dear friend, because each time I call the regulatory authority to get  updates on the Commission or the entire industry, I get a response which has become a refrain, unfortunately:  nothing has changed, my brother. This is not just from a source but sources. The sources are no purveyors of despair but good souls who know the heroics of the regulator in the days of yore and are genuinely worried that things are yet to get a stir, not even turning the corner yet.

    In the life of the previous administration, the telecommunications industry had little to celebrate because of the unfortunate mix up of regulatory activities and policy making by both the NCC and the Ministry. It was a dangerous act strange to the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 that took the industry below our basest expectations.

    The appointment of Drs. Bosun Tijani as Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and Aminu Maida as Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, was expected to bring immediate relief to the Ministry, regulatory agency and the industry. And the people celebrated expectantly, even suggesting that their pedigree – education, history of work and achievements – and youthfulness would galvanise the sector into immediate action. I wouldn’t now want to agree, most shamefully, that we celebrated too early because I still expect a spark into action.

    What then is the problem? This writer was told that the regulatory hijack which unfortunately happened under the last administration as a fallout of the protracted fight by the ministry to control the telecommunications industry, has not changed. Big decisions are still being cleared with the Honourable Minsiter, and this can affect the pace of decisions or even for decisions to genuinely address industry concerns. The NCC will need to address that problem if it ever wants to make progress again.

    Nobody is talking of progress now because it cannot happen. The fortunes of the industry are not looking good at all. We gathered that things are so troubling that some operators have had to cut their Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) by as much as 30 percent. This means there won’t be any expansion or growth or even new employment. What is imperative at the moment is for the regulator to stabilise the industry.

    “We are unable to source the Dollars to import equipment for maintenance and expansion,” an industry source lamented.

    Aaha! This is one source of the failing quality of service which has lately troubled the sector and there can be no magic about it. Telecoms equipment are not manufactured in this part of the world and you have to pay Dollars for your purchases. Things are not that bad, I hear you say?

    Let me table only two examples. One. MTN Nigeria reported a huge revenue yield of N2.46 trillion in the full year of 2023. It retained market dominance but suffered a loss of N137bn, unfortunately.

    In the same period, Airtel Africa, announced a revenue of $4.98bn and also suffered a loss of $89m.

    This is hardly coincidental. Both organisations attributed the loss to the volatility in the Forex market, the devaluation of the Naira and the near impossibility of sourcing Forex for equipment purchases.

    The second example is also not inspiring at all. The fate of two operators, 9MOBILE and Ntel, is so fluid that nobody can determine their status or whether they have any value addition to the ecosystem. The first is losing subscribers in droves and is nearly at the level of inconsequence, while Ntel is fighting for reincarnation. Their inability to contribute their expected quota to the market is enough to impact the industry negatively.

    What therefore is at issue? NCC should stand up for regulation and resolve all areas of conflict with the ministry and the minister. Ordinarily there shouldn’t actually be any problems because the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 is very clear on this. Please, go to Sections 23, 24 and 25 of the Act. People shouldn’t allow emotions, fear and job security becloud their ability to take responsible decisions while in office.

    Time has come for the NCC to do a stress test for the industry it regulates in order to take some urgent actions that can help the operators. There is the need for the regulator to have a proper conversation with the operators in order to find what ails them, and then be in a position to take their requests to the Tinubu administration.

    Apart from providing valuable services to subscribers and industries with their super infrastructure, I am of the opinion that the NCC is in a position to do a little calculation to determine how much tax the industry remits to the government and be convinced that its intervention is expedient for the good of all stakeholders.

    There is too much at stake at the NCC, so the regulator should quickly engage in actions that can redeem the industry. And the government should also help the regulator to perform by instituting the board. At the moment only a few people who are not reflective of the plurality of the nation are taking all the decisions.

    An operator told me, “without a board the different zones of the nation are not represented at the NCC and that is  good.”

  • Between NCC and NMC, good news in small packets – By Okoh Aihe

    Between NCC and NMC, good news in small packets – By Okoh Aihe

    All of a sudden, the little information on the NCC website, that equipment manufacturer and vendor, Nokia, has agreed with the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to train some Nigerians on its 4G and 5G equipment, means so much to me now.

    There was a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the effect that Nokia Solutions and Networks Nigeria, will train young Nigerians on latest 4G/5G radio and transmission technologies at the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Digital Parks.

    Digital Parks? Pray, what happened to the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) with facilities in different parts of the country which was built to carry out such high end trainings for the telecommunications industry? So much money went into the build out of its facilities. It is a shame that years later some fellow would canvass lesser alternatives for reasons very difficult to understand.

    The agreement draws on an emotional thread of the past unbeknown to many. Years ago, I had close encounters with Nokia in their office in Finland as a visiting journalist and at one of its world press conferences at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

    Having been exposed to their immense capacity in their head office and the factory, my question was simple and direct: Why wouldn’t Nokia set up a factory in Nigeria which at the time was exploding exponentially and was hailed as the most attractive mobile market in Africa, and then hit the African market from its Nigerian operations?

    The answer was simple but not totally unexpected. For us to set up a factory anywhere, we must have at least about 1000 or was it actually 5000 skilled workforce and the power supply must be uninterrupted. At the time, Finland got most of its power supply from Russia and had witnessed no dip in several decades.

    I felt some bolts tightening inside of me. I knew of the industry power demand which the nation could hardly meet. The power situation was bad, very bad. Operators in the telecommunications sector were building alternative grids with generators. This was over 18 years ago and the situation has hardly improved.

    I wouldn’t want to regurgitate the woes of the power sector, how companies are shutting down or fleeing the country, my candid cautionary appeal is that we confront the truth with striking intentionality that can yield immediate results. The power problem cannot continue to be an irrepressible bogey haunting every one of us without end.

    As they say, lamentations can blind the eyes against the good things ahead. Only good news here, please!

    The good news is that Nokia Nigeria would be setting up a fully functional 5G/4G test lab, leveraging their latest radio and transmission technologies.

    According to this statement from the NCC, “This collaboration advances the vision to enhance the capacity and skills-set of Nigerians, by equipping them with contemporary skills and knowledge needed to adapt to the rapidly evolving telecommunications industry.”

    This is very much in line with the new vision of the Ministry to drive digital literacy and build a pipeline of technical talents across Nigeria. In addition, Nokia Nigeria would also set up an Entrepreneur Learning Programme where it would deliver high-quality vocational trainings to 200 Nigerian students chosen from across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.

    This is the way to go, breaking new grounds and building new alliances for Nigeria to access digital opportunities. The more relationships that can be built the better for a nation whose youths are frothing for opportunities that can level them with the rest of the world.

    It is no surprise therefore, that the number one pillar of the Strategic Blueprint released by Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, in October 2023, is Knowledge, which, in his words, is the foundation upon which nations build a robust and sustainable economy in a rapidly interconnected world.

    Pursuing what he planned to achieve, he said: “Our commitment to talent development is unwavering. We have set an ambitious goal to train 3 million early to mid-career technical talents over the next four years. These trainings will cover tech-enabled and tech-adjacent skills, core tech competencies and advanced proficiencies.

    “This holistic approach is designed to empower our workforce to thrive in a constantly evolving technological landscape. Ultimately, our strategic intent is to retain at least 1.5 million of these skilled professionals within our local talent pool and facilitate opportunities for another 1.5 million of our talented individuals to excel in the global talent marketplace, preferably through remote opportunities.”

    This is but a little window into what the Knowledge Pillar stands to offer. The Strategic Blueprint reserves so much meat for the youths which Tijani said must be trained in readiness for global opportunities. The MOU with Nokia offers so much hope. It is expected that other deals will be tied up in this direction to encourage a segment of this society that has largely been disappointed by successive governments.

    After all, a particular government, not too long ago, said our youths were lazy! Not this government anyway, who appointed Tijani and Dr Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission, both young minds, to resuscitate the telecommunications sector with their youthful energy and exposure to modern practices.

    I wish to suggest that the NCC has a lot to offer in building capacity across this nation. The Commission has too many stranded assets at the moment, all kinds of digital packages donated to secondary schools and tertiary institutions, that must be audited, harnessed and reconfigured to suit the new vision of the Ministry.

    After all, the two young minds have promised to work together to rejig the industry and build capacity in our youth in readiness for life ahead and in situating them firmly for global opportunities. This is the time to work and add some needed noise to this government’s one year quiet anniversary in office.