By Charles Ikhaghe*
Globacom, Nigeria’s second national telephoning carrier which came into life after the dysfunctional
NITEL, has raised hopes that all isn’t lost for the
exploited common man.
For Chief Mike Adenuga the man behind the success story of Globacom, it was the fulfillment of a dream many had thought would remain an illusion. In the first place, there were reports that Adenuga was being blackmailed to steer clear of his much fouled decision to revolutionize telephoning in Nigeria by introducing a second-by-second billing system, in the place of the fraudulent per-minute reckoning.
The rumors (or whatever they were) had it that the National Communication Commission (NCC) which regulates and licenses telephonic operators had been approached by the older wireless outfit like MTN and ECONET to discourage Globacom from the per-second billing system.
They were said to have worried that if Globacom went ahead with the plan, its lower tariffs would upset the field and send the system crashing. Telephone would then be open to all at affordable prices. And this could defeat the idea once floated by a former Nigerian minister of state that “The telephone is not for the poor”.
It is believed that Globacom would have come on board much earlier but for the problem created for the company by the NCC and other carriers, which wanted the minister’s idea to continue as burden on Nigerians.
Somehow, the blackmail didn’t work, although it did not evaporate the people’s anxiety.
The waiting was made worse by NITEL. The populace had looked to this National carrier to break the backbone of MTN and ECONET (now AIRTEL). But people were disappointed when it also resorted to the minute-by-minute billing.
Worse, its network fell short of what ECONET and MTN were providing. Its GSM services couldn’t rise beyond the standards that had been linked to its costly and failing landline services.
So, naturally all eyes were set on new entrants whose publicity and advertising thrust was to bring on something fresh by way of per-second
billing. To be sure, the wish of many Nigeria GSM subscribers has always revolved around the point that at the flat N50-a-minute, ECONET and MTN
were ripping them off in billions of Naira every day.
What Globacom has therefore done in successfully effecting the second-billing system in Nigeria is not only to demystify the claims of a misanthropic minister, but also to assert that the complaining Nigerians were right all along in kicking against the status quo with the roll-out of this second National carriers; telephoning will be available and affordable to all and sundry.
It will enhance communication among the people and assist in delivering multi-sectorial development and growth in Nigeria.
But there is another fundamental deduction from the Globacom revolution. It reveals the little respected indigenous entrepreneur should not be
blacklisted as no-gooders compared to their expatriate counterparts.
For too long we have believed that there isn’t much we can gain from our local businessmen and professionals. We prefer to catch on to the so-called big foreign contractors and carpetbaggers, who have well-placed Nigerian politicians and ex-Military rulers as their front men.
Sometimes, we even go ahead to turn over juicy and strategic areas of the economy to enterprise owned entirely by foreigners, with a small splash of Nigerians on their boards here and there. At the end of the day these companies garners huge multi-billion dollar contracts into their
portfolios.
When the chips are down, they cart off more than three quarters of the money they make here back home. The profits don’t stay here, for further development nor do these expatriates merely leave us with enduring and positive features of the work they have been paid for.
Has this not been our experience with the foreign-owned assists in Nigeria?
There is still one more reason why we should welcome indigenous entrepreneur. Globacom advent has ushered in the real competition that brings down the cost in the system.
The coming of Globacom also made former-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s task of desiring the GSM operators to be “responsive to the demand of their customers on lower billing and improved services” easier.
Obasanjo summoned representatives of the GSM operators to Aso Rock Villa then and frowned at their poor quality services, high tariffs, interconnectivity problems, network failure and interrupted calls amongst others.
I believe the time has come when Nigerians should take our stand truly with local entrepreneur in a new attitude and dedication to the service of
Nigeria. Ikaghe lives in Lagos
