The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • The cap fits

    The cap fits

    Pursuant to Section 34(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 2023 (EA 2023), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has fined eight Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) N628.03 million for flouting the capping of estimated billing for unmetered customers.

    The DisCos are: Abuja, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, and Yola electricity distribution companies.

    Coming at about the time that the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, cried out last week Monday that his electricity bill witnessed an astronomical rise within one month, the public outcry against estimated or crazy bills, is real. According to Hamzat, his electricity bill jumped from N2.7m in March to N29m in April!

    Hear the deputy governor: “Last month, in my house, or the state house that I live in, the bill was N2.7m last month. This month, Eko DisCo sent us a bill of 29m. I sent it to the Commissioner for Energy. It’s crazy. I actually procured a meter. I bought a meter to say, ’Look, don’t give estimated billin’g. I bought the meter, but to convert it is wahala,” he lamented.

    That must surely find space in The Guinness World Records!

    Anyway, NERC said in a release that the sanction was sequel to a review of billing practices between July and September 2024, which showed that the DisCos failed to adhere to monthly energy caps issued by it.

    According to the commission, it had issued the energy caps to guard against over-billings, the very regulation that the DisCos breached.

    “The public may recall that in 2020, the commission issued the Order on Capping of Estimated Bills (Order No: NERC/197/2020) and subsequently issued monthly energy caps which aimed to align the estimated bills for unmetered customers with the measured consumption of metered customers on the same supply feeder.”

    There is no gainsaying that many DisCos have been observing this regulation in the breach. As a matter of fact, it is clear that the DisCos have never liked the idea of power consumers being metered, preferring instead, to be issuing them estimated bills without any logical basis of how they arrived at them. Hamzat said this much; that despite having paid for prepaid meter, the DisCo supplying him electricity has not brought one.

    It was only a matter of time for the strident cries of the consumers to get to the ears of the government.

    It is true that the DisCos inherited the problem of estimated billing from their predecessor, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), which in turn inherited it from the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).

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    But then, it is over 11 years that the country’s power sector was privatised. In other words, it is over a decade that the DisCos took over and we are here still talking about a crucial tool like prepaid meters which they ought to have brought along while taking over the entities at privatisation in 2013.

    To date, the metering gap is still about 50 per cent, in spite of the efforts by the Federal Government to close it.

    We commend NERC for the N628.03million sanction on the DisCos. The amount may look hefty but, against what the DisCos illegally raked from their customers, it is not much. The fines, according to the regulator, represent a paltry five per cent of the gross overbilling during the period under review. The icing on the cake is NERC’s order to the DisCos to give credit adjustments to the hapless overbilled customers by May 15, 2025, which is the end of the April billing cycle.

    But NERC should not make such an exercise one-off. Rather, it should be periodic. The fact of the matter is that many, if not most of the DisCos would never want customers metered because that is the only way they can continue to get revenue for supplying Nigerians with darkness.

    We want to believe that they are too steeped in the iniquity of overbilling that they cannot repent and do business in accordance with best global practices.

    Now that the market has been liberalised, more and more state governments should start or accelerate the process of having more players in the sector. This is better than keep complaining over their fraudulent activities. They need such therapy to whip them into line.

    Perhaps now that the inexplicable estimated billing is now getting to the high and mighty, the government would be compelled to do something to check the ugly trend.

  • Prisoners of hope

    Prisoners of hope

    •Inmates’ degree feats at NOUN reinforces the correctional as more reformative than punitive

    The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) just set record — 51 inmates, from Nigeria’s correctional facilities, just graduated from the university: 41 with first degrees; another 10 with post-graduate degrees. 

    This NOUN-Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) collaboration, to make convicts better citizens after serving their terms, must be hailed by all. But now is the time to put in place a robust ex-convict rehabilitation policy.

    These prisoners-turned-graduates should be fully aided by a doughty social support system, after they have finished serving their terms. After surviving the crucible of academics, even within the strictures of a correctional, they should be helped to escape the post-correctional stigma that is the harsh reality of ex-convicts.

    Still, first thing first: whatever the NCS is doing to draw its inmates’ attraction to scholarship, is good. It should continue with it. No only that, it should expand such policies, so that many more knowledge-driven inmates can take full advantage.

    It should also improve study atmosphere at its centres, so much so that it could start breeding a coterie of model inmates, which it can showcase to prove correctional sentences are no end to a life with purpose.

    With such modelling, the NCS can begin a practical campaign based on what on the surface looks like a paradox but is really the very fundament of the correctional as a reformative centre: hate the crime but love the criminal.

    A sentence for a crime committed is societal sanction hard — even if well-deserved –enough. Being sent to a correctional is a logical follow-up. But that follow-up should lay more stress on de-blighting those lives, rather than grinding them the more in the harsh sand of infamy. The society can only be better for it.

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    We must also thank NOUN, which has come out with a model to make our inmates tap into the guiding lights of higher education. The results it is producing so far clearly show we just might have some decent human resource trapped in lawful captivity. The country loses nothing by putting in place a system that can tap into these captive resources after having served their terms.

    Indeed, NOUN is so reminiscent of the Plato Allegory of the Cave — an allegory of a mind shackled to pit-dark ignorance at the bottom of a cave. Then, came the first thrust of knowledge: the naked lamp. After, came electricity. But the ultimate, in the final release for debilitating ignorance, is the sparking majesty of daylight!

    Applied to correctional services, sentencing could make the shackling to the cave. Progressive learning, to make a better citizen, begins the ultimate release from past misdeeds. It’s a viable way to national development, via citizen improvement. The concept of the correctional should be interpreted as the state equivalent of tough love — by which a parent applies a sanction, out of love to correct, not out of cruelty to maul.

    Still, this exposure to higher education should only be the start of improving every level of inmate lives. Not every inmate has an inclination to study. But every inmate desires better treatment and respect for his or her humanity. But inmates modelling better lives, even within correctional walls, help.

    Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little; later: el-Hajj Malik el- Shabazz, after his conversion to Islam after what he considered shocking American/Christian/White hypocrisy of his day) but always Malcolm X (even long after his assassination in 1965: he lived from May 19, 1925 to February 21, 1965) was famous case of prison reformation.

    He got thrown into the can for larceny and burglary. In his thunderous anger against the negro hopelessness of his racist, native America, “X” represented his craving for his true African identity. “X”, in America, was just a glorified nobody.

    But he left prison, if not less angry, then in better ways to channel his anger. That was because of the learning he had acquired in prison. He entered as a virtual bum. He left as an intellectual in his own right, though a radical intellectual that gave the establishment such a fright, it was forced to deal with his more pacifist contemporary, the Revd. Martin Luther-King — who too, ironically, fell to the assassin’s bullet.

    Reserved society would prefer a Luther-King to a stormy petrel as Malcolm X. Witness the Luther-King public holiday in the United States. Yet, prison self-education bred a better version of Malcolm. His campaign, though unorthodox, also helped to force concession for Black rights

    The summary is that an improved mind does no one no harm. That’s the post-correctional direction both NCS and NOUN plot. It should be lauded and embraced by everyone.

  • Okuama: One year after

    Okuama: One year after

    It is high time the Federal Government rehabilitated an incinerated village and released or prosecuted the detained suspects

    It is now over a year since Nigerians heard and witnessed the tragedies at Okuama. It began with the killing, in cold blood, of 17 army officers in an ambush on March 14, 2024. It was a bad day for the conscience, and it was a moment in barbarism.

    In the course of getting to the bottom of the horror, however, the village of Okuma, a tiny speck in the vast Nigerian map, caught fire, and a scandal of internally displaced persons became a factor in the Niger Delta region for an unlikely reason: the Nigerian Army.

    Although the Nigerian Armed Forces denied they were responsible for turning a bucolic island into a place of fire and brimstones, it is still hard for many Nigerians to think of any other person or persons, or even groups to have stepped into that place that the army itself admitted it had cordoned off. The bonfire razed everything in sight except the Anglican Church.

    It is a testimony to pious cynicism that the arsonists could not evince any evidence of righteous sensitivity. They did not want to touch the anointed but they did the hapless villages all the harm that a people could suffer. They had no shelter over their heads. They had no means of livelihood. They had no food or medicine. Most importantly, the place they called home was now rubble.

    A lot has happened since the soldiers fell under the shower of bullets. Their bodies, including their hearts, have been recovered. The president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had shown great sympathy for the departed soldiers and showered mercy on their families with cash and scholarships. It was a fitting appreciation for our men in uniforms who had fulfilled a vow to lay down their lives for their countrymen. The army has to be at peace with the nation it defends. We cannot abide a bitter army because, at bottom, they are a band of brothers.

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    But that does not detract from a more fundamental point. That is, the army operates in a democracy and under civil authority, and that calls for the soldiers to subject themselves to the rule of law and ethos of decency. That compels everyone to find out answers to many questions raised then that have still not had answers. Hence, the House of Representatives set up an inquiry into the matter.

    It is unfortunate that one year after we have not had a comprehensive report, and more unacceptable is that the army turned down the summons of the legislature to appear before it. It is an act of democratic contempt.

    If the army set up an inquiry into it, it ought to let us know the findings. The report should also be intended to bring closure to the murders of their own as well. But we have a question on the ineligibility of the army to be a judge in its own cause since it is an interested party. But it has shunned the democratic authority the people gave such an assignment. Hence, a member of the House representing Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu Federal Constituency, Francis Waive, called for justice in this matter.

    The troops have operated in the areas that include Akugbene, Okuama and Okoloba communities in Ugheli and Ugheli South of Delta State. Others are the Okuama Amusamo, Akwagbe, Arhavwarien, Pirigbene, and Igbomatoro communities, all in Delta State. So, the call for justice is both for the army and the people. In the end, it ought to be justice for the constitution and human decency. It is also justice as institutional purification; that is, making sure that neither the army nor the lawmakers overstep their bounds.

    But all that remains in limbo one year after.

    The army said it knew who killed 17 of their officers but they have not flushed them out of the dark. This is curious because neither the Directorate of State Services nor the state government, nor even the local government knew of their so-called peace mission to Okuama when they were fatally ambushed. We need the facts. We need to know why and who razed down the village.

    Even while all these matters remain in the air, the urgent matter is home and succour to the displaced. We may suspect some persons in Okuama, but we cannot justify razing the village and depriving the old and young from returning to their normal lives. This calls for rehabilitation. The small villagers lived humble lives as fishermen. It only calls for the Federal Government to, at least, play a significant role to bring a minimum of happiness to these vulnerable citizens.

    This administration should not fall into the hideous Obasanjo image of Odi and Zaki Biam.

    Again, some persons have been held in army detention in Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, without recourse to justice. They include Professor Arthur Ekpekpo, president-general of Ewu Clan Development Forum, Chief Belvis Adogbo, Mabel Owhemu and Dennis Amalaka. Two others who were held but died without getting justice were senior citizens and octogenarians. They were Dennis Okugbaye, who was sick unto death before he was released, and James Ogboroko, former president- general of the Okuama Community.

    If the army suffered injustice, it is against the grain of a good society to perpetrate its own.

  • Obe Ess (1957-2025)

    Obe Ess (1957-2025)

    • Icon of newspaper cartoons, as cutting wit and powerful satire, exits

    Of the Obe clan from Igbara Oke in Ondo State, Obe Ess — Olaseinde Obe — had cemented his name in the pantheon of Nigerian newspaper cartoon greats (if not the most pungent of them all), just as his uncle and sibling also made own marks in Nigerian journalism. 

    Seinde Obe died on April 15. But Obe Ess lives on, with his nimble, inimitable strokes and razor-sharp wit — to eternally sear the wayward but thrill forthright.

    It was quite a three-some, across two journalistic generations: Peter Obe, the great photo journalist whose works bestrode the defunct ‘Daily Times’ like a true colossus that he was. 

    Then, his two nephews: Olaseinde (Seinde, for short; and even shorter still: S) Obe; and younger sibling Taiwo Obe (TO) — who from the core journalism practice of his early career, went into media consultancy, but now runs Journalism Clinic, a training outfit for journalists. 

    The older Obe Ess wanted to be an artist, much to the thrill of their father.  The younger TO wanted to be a tailor.  Their father gave him a beating.

    But thanks to their patriarch’s guiding strokes, both siblings ended up in journalism — for many years at ‘The Guardian’, the leading title of their era; just as their uncle, Peter Obe was at ‘Daily Times’, the market leader of his time, though TO too started out at ‘Evening Times’, a ‘Daily Times’ publication.  The trio added — and TO is still adding — tremendous value to journalism in Nigeria.

    But among the three, Obe Ess created a rare niche for himself — a niche of the newspaper cartoon as sheer poetry, both in strokes and the accompanying words.

    Indeed, his pen — or rather, “stroke” — name showed his sheer felicity with words and his easy schmoozing with pun.  “S” comes from “Seinde”, the shortened form of Olaseinde.  But not for him the banal “Obe S”, but the more intriguing “Obe Ess” — what really is this guy’s name, many were wont to ask! 

    That artistic camouflage was so well done that many stablemates that knew the cartoon “hermit”, whose tiny cubicle at ‘The Guardian’ screamed a polite “don’t intrude!” never knew Obe Ess and TO were siblings!  TO said Difference was Obe Ess’s middle name.  He sure lived his name, making a difference, in artistic cartoons!

    If the man Seinde craved being left alone to craft his art, Obe Ess, the cartoon muse forced willy-nilly intrusion into the public space, whomsoever was concerned, by the sheer pungency of his works.  The traditional cartoon was comely strokes, as prosaic as they come — not this one!

    Obe Ess created the newspaper cartoon equivalent of the poetry of John Donne and his English metaphysical poetry peers.  His wit is also reminiscent of the poetic concept the metaphysicals called “conceit” — lean and mean wit that cuts sharply, but still polite and refined it makes you laugh, even if the target knows (s)he should cry! 

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    It’s sheer intellection that cuts with laconic humour!

    That was a critical upgrade — by Difference! — such that the cartoonist is not just a newspaper yokel punching above his weight of limited knowledge.  He was rather a philosopher, in fine strokes and apt words, taking his place on the high table of refined and civilised discourse!

    The Obe Ess signature came in many forms but none with diminished punch.  Many an undergraduate, in ‘The Guardian’ early years, would rush to grab that newspaper, in search of the cerebral “Cocktail Circuit”, with its high humour, served in solemn wit.  It was excellent Sunday-Sunday tonic!

    Then, there was the ING series, that had a throaty laugh at Ernest Shonekan’s ING — Interim National Government — bumbling, punning ING as a continuation to nowhere, which indeed it was. Tragically for Nigeria, it led to another five years of tragic military rule under iron Gen. Sani Abacha.

    Even with the advent of democracy, the ace cartoonist’s work was not done, until he breathed his last.  Among his last set of cartoons — accessed online — was the “T-Pain” series, against the Tinubu administration’s tough reforms and resultant pains.

    Now, artistic licence is almost always uni-dimensional, in its moral advocacy.  The T-Pain series fall into this same reality.  But in a wild social media age, of bristling vulgar abuse and torrential insults, Obe Ess still retained its pristine civility, even in cutting criticism.

    Olaseinde Obe is gone.  When comes another?  Comfort and deep condolences to his family; and to the loved one he left behind!  But we will forever cherish the immortal Obe Ess.  He lives forever in our cartoon consciousness!

  • That bill on indigeneship 

    That bill on indigeneship 

    • Time not ripe to bring up such a law

    Two words have proved very sensitive in Nigerian socio-political context for decades now — indigenes and settlers.

    While some contend that Nigeria ought to have matured to the point of all feeling free enough to step into full rights wherever they are settled, others hold the view that cultural identity conferred by heritage and language  cannot be passed on to people who came to settle from other communities, far or near.

    It is against this background that the bill being sponsored in the House of Representatives by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, has stirred another debate among the lawmakers and outside. Coming at a time when cultural identity and land ownership is at the centre of the conflict in parts of Bokkos and Bassa local government areas of Plateau State, the bill is worth careful consideration by the two houses of the National Assembly, in consultation with the general public.

    The bill’s sponsor contends that residency should be enough for citizens of Nigeria to be admitted to full rights wherever they may be settled. Besides, marriage is expected to integrate a wife to the community of her husband. But, this is more theoretical than practical. We therefore advise that the bill be withdrawn now in the interest of peace and unity. There are justifiable fears that if this is allowed now, some people who are more adept at moving from one part of the country to another could displace the original inhabitants and this could create or prolong bad blood that would last ages.

    In Plateau State, the Berom have been up in arms against the Hausa-Fulani who migrated and settled in parts of the state, including Jos North. This has led to relentless blood shedding that even intermarriage has been unable to curb. This was the same with Ife-Modakeke communities in Osun State, communities around the boundaries of Ebonyi and Benue states, and the Aguleri-Umuleri inhabitants of Anambra State.

    Communal clashes are not limited to Nigeria. The red Indians of the United States sought and obtained some guarantees of their cultural independence that reflect in their political rights. Besides, in some states, local offices are reserved for indigenes only.

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    In Spain that has a long history of such crises, no one would dare introduce a Bill among the Basque nationalists without provoking another round of fight. Yet, Spain is a developed country. The Scots and Welsh are mindful of their identity and political autonomy.

    It would therefore be unthinkable to seek a law that would obliterate cultural identity. The Northern Ireland crisis was only settled not long ago, with enough guarantees for Irish nationalism.

    We concede that Nigeria should grow into a nation where there are equal rights for all, but we cannot pretend to be there yet. There is still a long way to go. We must be given enough time to work at it, otherwise things could get worse. All tiers of government have to begin aggressive programme of promoting integration among the various peoples of the country.

    At the moment, many are suspicious of the motive behind introduction of the bill, and feel that it was not informed by the purest of intentions. It is, therefore best that the bill be withdrawn now while Nigerians realise that we have a duty to promote interethnic harmony more than a century after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates.

  • Pascal Dozie (1939-2025)

    Pascal Dozie (1939-2025)

    • From a humble beginning to a colossus in corporate Nigeria.

    Born on April 9, 1939, in Egbu village, Owerri, Imo State; faith and handwork thrust Pascal Dozie into the inner circle of the corporate world.

    Dozie studied Economics at the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom, after graduating from Holy Ghost College, Owerri. He earned a Master’s degree in Administrative Science from the City University, London, majoring in Operational Research and Industrial Engineering.  Dozie worked briefly in the United Kingdom as an economist at the National Economic Development Office while he lectured part-time at North Western Polytechnic.

    In the 1970s, he was invited to Uganda as a consultant for the African States Consulting Organization, and he worked closely with late President Milton Obote. After the military coup in Uganda, his mother persuaded him to return to Nigeria, where he founded the Africa Development Consulting Group (ADCG), a consultancy firm.

    Dozie consulted for, and later became a Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria. As Chairman of the defunct Progress Bank, based in the south-east, he saw the problem faced by traders in moving cash from one city to another. According to him, “there was no central server, and if you had an account in Aba, you couldn’t withdraw in Lagos.” Traders who carried cash from their banks in the south east, were exposed to armed robbery, and Dozie saw a business opportunity. In an interview granted a newspaper, he said: “So we came up with the first DIBS (Diamond Bank Integrated Banking System) which eliminated the need to carry cash when trying to perform a transaction. All you needed was to prepare your cheque and when you arrive at your destination, you get your cash.” He continued: “A year or two later, we came out with a payment card which led to value card. The rest, they say, is history.”

    He was the Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank from 1991 to 2006. From banking, Dozie ventured into telecommunications, also as a pioneer. He played a huge role in getting MTN South Africa, into Nigeria. While many were skeptical about investing in telecommunications, considering the failures associated with NITEL, Dozie dared the odds, and raised substantial portion of the equity investment requested by MTN, to establish the biggest private telecommunications company in Nigeria.  He served as chairman of MTN from 2001 to 2019, overseeing its major expansion and growth.

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    Dozie also served as President of the Nigeria Stock Exchange and Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, which placed him atop Nigeria’s corporate world.

    Described as a passionate believer in the power of private capital, he co-founded Africa Capital Alliance, a private equity firm. He co-chaired the Commonwealth Business Council, and was also Chairman of Kunoch Ltd and Pan-Atlantic University. He also chaired the board of Johnnic West Africa, which was a majority shareholder in ‘BusinessDay’ Nigeria.

     Pascal Dozie was a recipient of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) as well as the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). Among other several awards; in 2012, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA).

    In his tribute, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said Chief Dozie was “a steadfast believer in Nigeria’s vast potential, was pivotal in shaping the financial services industry and expanding access to mobile connectivity nationwide. His influential leadership extended well beyond corporate world.”  

    Pascal was married to Chinyere Dozie and between them, they had five sons, one of whom was Uzoma Dozie, who took over from him as Managing Director of Diamond Bank.

    We join other Nigerians to commiserate with his family and wish his soul eternal repose.

  • Still on state police

    Still on state police

    • Fed Govt should expedite action on the matter

    A press statement by the Force Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on April 2, stated, “The Nigeria Police Force is set to host the maiden edition of National Police Day on April 7, 2025, at Eagle Square, Abuja. This was sequel to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s pronouncement on same, on April 19, 2024, during the Nigeria Police Award and Commendation Ceremony in Abuja.

    The historic event, which ran from April 2 to April 7, 2025, featured a series of activities, like medical outreaches, community engagements, exhibitions by security companies and their partners, among other programmes, aimed at fostering stronger police-community relations.

    We agree with the president that, given the enormous sacrifices policemen are making to keep the country safe, nothing is too much to appreciate their efforts. Not in the least a day set aside to reflect on their needs, achievements, sacrifices, among others.

    Indeed, the president set the tone of the historic occasion: “As President, I reaffirm this administration’s steadfast dedication to the welfare and empowerment of the Nigeria Police Force. A secure Nigeria is vital for our collective prosperity, and this vision begins with ensuring that our police force is well-equipped, well-trained, and well-motivated.  We are resolute in our commitment to police welfare and comprehensive reform.”

    Thus, rather than the fanfare that greeted the occasion, we should be more concerned about the state of our police force, especially so as the country is going through a lot of secure challenges that require all hands on deck to tackle.

    There is no gainsaying the fact that the security challenges we are confronting are beyond our police force. That is why soldiers, whose major responsibility is protection of the country’s territorial integrity have had to be drafted to assist the police in maintaining internal security.

    The country and successive governments have done a lot to boost the capacity of the policemen. Security trust funds have been established in some places to raise funds for them to procure sophisticated tools required for crime fighting.

    We must admit though, that with a population of about 220 million, the less than 400,000 policemen in the country are grossly inadequate.

    There are also inadequacies in terms of sophisticated tools of crime fighting and what have you, but many people have come to the conclusion that a central police force is inadequate for the country.

    This led to agitations for state police to be on ground in the states. The argument is that being closer to the people, and as indigenes of their respective states, the state policemen better understand the terrains, unlike the NPF as presently constituted, whose officers could be transferred to places where they know next-to-nothing about. This is a minus for crime detection and prevention.

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    Of course, not everyone agrees that state police is the panacea to the insecurity in the land. For instance, the Muhammadu Buhari administration did not seem favourably disposed to the idea of state police. So, it did little to advance its course.

    But the Tinubu administration which is a strong advocate of federalism appears more receptive to the idea. This is why we would appeal to it to expedite action on the matter.

    The Federal Government and governors had agreed at the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) they held in December, last year, to finalise discussions on the creation of state police at their next meeting, then scheduled for January 31, 2025.

    Interestingly, it is governors, some of whom had objected to the idea of state police initially that now claim to be waiting on the Federal Government to come up with the modalities for state police.

    We know this demands a lot of painstaking planning, spelling out the ‘dos and don’ts’ of the state police, the relationship between them and the NPF, etc., the Federal Government should expedite action on it, especially as more governors have bought into the idea.

  • 12 months reprieve

    12 months reprieve

    • NCC deserves commendation over decision to extend period of unused airtime

    As Nigerians get set to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the deregulation of the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, one of the major complaints of consumers might soon be sorted. The idea of consumers losing their unused airtime in the event of any form of deactivation has for long cost subscribers of the different networks a lot in monetary terms. 

    It is therefore commendable that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has proposed a 12-month window  for subscribers to reclaim unused airtime on lines that have been deactivated due to inactivity. The Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management,  Rimini Makama, said the initiative aims to strike a balance between protecting consumer rights and addressing operational challenges within the telecommunications sector.

    In the past, under the Quality-of-Service Business Rules 2024, a prepaid SIM card with no revenue-generating activity for six months is subject to deactivation, and may be recycled after an additional six-month period of inactivity. This meant that the airtime was often forfeited by the subscribers so affected.  However, under the proposed changes, affected subscribers would be given up to one year to reclaim their unused credit, provided they can prove ownership of the line.

    We commend this initiative by NCC even if we feel that this ought to have happened earlier than now, more than two decades after the deregulation in a sector that has seen multiple companies operating in the sector. What this means is that so much money has been lost in a country with widening tele-density that has made operators very happy with their profits year-on-year.

    In a globalised world of the 21st century, communication is key to economic prosperity. A situation that would guarantee a bit of equity and justice to both subscribers and the telecom companies is a very progressive step.

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     It is therefore commendable that, according to the legal unit of NCC, “the Draft Guidance on Unutilized and Unclaimed Subscribers’ Recharges is a crucial step in fulfilling the commission’s mandate to create regulatory instruments that support a dynamic communications market”. 

    We just hope that the legal processes would be completed soon to create a more equitable system. The important thing is to make sure that this good idea does not die as an idea. It is equally important that all the legal knots are fully tied so that technicalities would not be employed by either party to have an undue advantage.

    Proof of ownership of the lines in question must be beyond reasonable doubts so that some dubious subscribers do not benefit unduly from a law meant to protect both honest subscribers and the companies.

    We also expect that the NCC should be equally in a position to enforce accountability in the sector beyond numbers of subscribers. There should be records of those lines that had forfeited airtime during the six-month window. There must be clarity about the amount involved. This would help in the advocacy for the functionality of the new law.

    Since 2001 that the GSM market opened in Nigeria, there have been various issues and complaints by subscribers. First was the one-minute billing which some networks insisted was the standard practice. It was the Chairman of Globacom, Chief Mike Adenuga, who demystified that by introducing the per-second billing and the other companies followed suit. The same thing happened with the cost of SIM cards. Initially, the telecom companies sold lines for as much as N30,000 or more until Globacom started selling at very cheap rates.

    These major issues are ones we felt that the NCC ought to have stepped in to regulate, knowing the standard international best practices. We believe that a regulatory agency must work hard to shield the people from corporate manipulations. Today, even if subscribers show a level of understanding as regards the ever- increasing rates, it is still their line of duty to have a real hands-on approach in regulating the industry. There are widespread allegations about data charges as some people allege cheating by the networks. Sometimes the subscribers complain of data and the fact that some of their subscriptions last less than the actual duration. Communications is very important in human life, it is even more important in the 21st century for obvious socio-economic reasons. The communications available in any economy determine how functional such economies can be. More needs to be done.

  • Revitalising BOA

    Revitalising BOA

    • The new boss must take the bank out of the doldrums

    President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Mr Ayo Sotinrin as Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) is coming at a critical time that agricultural productivity is low, thus resulting in the high prices of staple food items, including rice, beans, maize, yams, gari, tomatoes, pepper, fish, meat, eggs and poultry, among others, in the country. 

    The bank, which traces its antecedence to its formation as Nigerian Agriculture Bank (NAB) in 1972, has gone through a number of structural mutations till its rebranding in its current form in 2010. It has been largely moribund over the last decade and a half.

    Had the BOA successfully and effectively discharged its mandate, the country’s agricultural sector would not be in the doldrums it is in today. Among its responsibilities are providing credit to support agricultural and non-agricultural value chain activities, promotion of cooperatives to enhance capacity development, developing and maintaining an efficient agricultural information system, as well as assisting farmers with technical and extension services.

    The bank is also mandated to provide financial inclusion services and create opportunities for self-employment in rural areas to mitigate the rate of rural-urban migration.

    It is estimated that over 80 per cent of farmers in the country are small-scale farmers who cultivate limited land areas, make use of rudimentary implements, and lack access to up-to-date knowledge, technical skills and quality inputs, including seedlings and fertilisers. Yet, they produce the bulk of staple food items, which explains the low productivity relative to demand, despite the availability of vast arable land and favourable climate.

    These small-scale farmers cannot afford to obtain credit from commercial banks at the prevailing astronomical interest rates and the BOA, which was established to provide credit to the sector at affordable rates, has, unfortunately, been dormant.

    An effective, efficient and optimally performing BOA would also have facilitated the organisation of the teeming small holder farmers into more viable and productive cooperative associations through providing the requisite financing as well as technical support to achieve this objective, with salutary impact on agriculture in Nigeria.

     With access to better funding through the bank, stakeholders in the sector would have been able to acquire modern storage facilities and significantly reduce the current high level of post-harvest losses, as food products get spoilt on farms while awaiting transportation to urban markets.

    Some of the factors that have impeded the viability of the BOA over the years are high number of non-performing loans that hinders its capacity to provide sustainable financial support to the agricultural sector, inadequate capital, dearth of qualitative human capital, inefficient banking structure and inability to mobilise savings from farmers and rural dwellers.

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    During the tenure of Mr Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, the apex bank virtually took over the functions of the BOA through such initiatives as the Anchor Borrowers Scheme (ABS) that was designed to channel funds to support small holder farmers.

    That the ABS had limited impact despite the humongous resources supposed to have been provided to beneficiaries indicates that the CBN lacked the structure, network and expertise to implement the programme. Despite its challenges, the BOA has the highest operational coverage nationwide with regard to development financing for agriculture, has developed a high degree of interface with small holder farmers through its offices and facilities across the country, and has deep institutional knowledge of rural and agricultural financing.

    The BOA’s new managing director surely has his job cut out for him. With his rich experience in agriculture financing cutting across the private and public sectors, there are high expectations that he has what it takes to reposition the bank to realise its potential, to the benefit of Nigeria’s agriculture and the economy as a whole.

  • Scanners to the rescue

    Scanners to the rescue

    • A good move by FAAN but only adequate maintenance can make it work

    With powerful scanners and e-gates, Nigerian international airports are on the verge of offering travellers a new, less intrusive, travel experience.

    E-gates will shut out touts that often congest the terminals. Scanners will greatly reduce direct bodily searches, which not a few find not only humiliating, but also a potent tool for corruption. The scan red-flags specific suspects of travel infractions. Only those then would be searched.

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) deserves commendation for this twin-innovation. It should not only humanise travel, it should also near-eliminate how bodily searches are weaponised by unscrupulous border officials to fleece travellers of hard -earned money.

    FAAN, in announcing this twin-innovation, said it just installed powerful Rapiscan screening machines, powered by the latest technology, for its airport surveillance, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), with plans to soon replicate such in other Nigerian international airports. The gadgets are to streamline security processes. That way, they should also shorten time at pre-flight check-ins.

    Like the single window policy to harness import revenue by port agencies, all border agencies as the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) would have own monitors linked to these powerful scanners.

    The scanners, Orion 928DX, have smart features to identify, pin-point, explosives, narcotics, excess currencies and sundry organic but outlawed materials. Each specific agency would pick up the red flag on their monitors and proceed to intercept the suspect traveller, for further searches.

    But the scanners even have room for upgrade into fresher technologies, with more acute facilities to ferret out illegal cargo and bring the erring traveller to book.

    Still again, the critical success factor, to implement this new innovation, and to ensure future upgrades, is a doughty maintenance regime, which always ensures the gadgets are in top shape. Unfortunately, Nigeria is not exactly top-notch in maintenance culture.

    Many terminals — air or rail: referencing the modern train stations that go with the standard-gauge rail upgrade — appear a cemetery of abandoned gadgets. Not a few of these gadgets are victims of power supply glitches. Others result from bare-faced stealing, by unscrupulous officials that simply pocket budgeted funds to buy spare-parts, but get their trail covered by curative accountants.

    FAAN announced it had trained, retrained and would continue to train its workforce to make its new travel dream a roaring reality. That’s reassuring. Still, it should factor in other structural and systemic factors that befall routine maintenance; and make even the simplest of gadgets a nightmare to maintain here.

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    FAAN should also be encouraged to escalate these travel innovations beyond Lagos, to Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano, etc. It would be a new dawn indeed, were baggage checks to be left exclusively to scanners, as obtains in most travel destinations in Europe and America.

    That, going hand-in-hand with FAAN’s plan to abandon the old manual search tables, would birth the country with a fresh halo of positive travel. That, of course, starts with e-gates that okay or reject e-boarding passes.

    Anyone with an invalid pass is automatically shut out. A well-decongested terminal is more conducive to sane travel. But, as the gospels say, the beginning is nothing without a successful end.

    That’s why FAAN must push through this laudable plan with all the seriousness, and inter-agency coordination, it can manage.