The Nation Newspaper

Tag: services

  • Patronise products with service centres, consumers advised

    The importance of after sales services in all services and products, be it cars, laptops, phones, fridges, washing machines, television sets, etcetera, cannot be over emphasised.

    Mr. Tokunbo Abiodun bought a Touchee brand mobile phone for N20,000 from ‘Phone For You’ shop at Otigba Street, Computer Village, Ikeja.

    He liked the phone very much. According to him, the phone had almost all the features he wanted in a phone and moreover the performance was almost excellent. “To buy such a phone from a popular brand would have cost me nothing less than N150,000. But because Touchee is a relatively unknown brand from a Japanese company, the price had to be very pocket friendly to attract customers,” explained the embattled Abiodun.

    Recounting his ordeal, he said before he knew it, the Touchee mobile phone became his favourite. He armed himself with it anywhere he went and unwittingly transferred all his documents and contacts to the phone, unfortunately without any backup.

    After about a year of using the phone, just one day after making a call, as he wanted to place the phone back on his desk, he noticed the screen colour changing to multi colour. As he stared at the phone trying to grasp what was happening, the colour changed from multi to just white, grey and black.

    “Tentatively, I placed the phone on my office table wondering what to do next. It is not that I do not have another phone but that particular phone held many of my important details. Picking the phone again, I saw that I could not decipher anything on the screen,” lamented Abiodun.

    Continuing, he said, “In fact, as I was still holding the phone, it started ringing but I couldn’t even answer the call as the whole screen was just blank.”

    The next day, he took the phone back to where he bought it, ready to pay for the repairs. The telephone repairer that was called in confirmed that the screen had gone bad and needed replacement, but unfortunately the spare parts of the phone could not be found anywhere in the market.

    Abiodun, desperate to have the phone repaired so as to retrieve his documents, paid two boys to search around the Computer Village and environs to get the screen or matching one, all to no avail.

    The only option left to him was to buy another Touchee phone at the full price so as to use the good screen to replace his damaged screen in order to have his old phone working again so as to have access to the documents he stored in the phone. Too bad.

    Relating his own experience, Engineer Bright Emmanuel, who is an Information Technologist, regretted that Nigeria is filled with so many substandard phone models without a service centre. “One of the primary qualifications to operate a mobile phone brand in any country should include having a service centre with parts available. Imagine a vehicle without any spare part in Nigeria, why buy it? But mobile phones seem to have passed the test un-noticed because agencies responsible are not really efficient.

    “I bought a Fero phone in 2015. I was disappointed when I wanted to fix the ear jack and charging port. I went to their service centre and was told to check or call back in two weeks because the parts were being shipped from China. I kept calling and calling till I finally dumped the phone. It was so frustrating,” lamented the information technologist.

    Speaking further, he said, “My advice? Make sure you do not buy a mobile phone that does not have both parts and a verified service centre in Nigeria.”

    I am sure most of you still remember the story of Nnenna Onu [not real names] published on this page. She bought a Mi-tribe A 500 mobile phone from the Online store, Konga.com. After about one year of using the phone the battery parked up prompting her to get in touch with the seller, who directed her to Mi-tribe supposed Service Centre ‘Archos’ at 20 Oremeji Street, Computer Village Ikeja.

    She was informed the battery was not available though they had placed orders from the head quarters of the company, Mi-Fone, in Kenya. After several visits to the Archos office and being given the same excuse each time, Onu decided to contact the company’s head office through an email but her email did not receive any response.

    At that point, it dawned on her that she was never going to get any help from them. She had made a mistake to have bought a brand without any office or service centre in the country. She had to improvise with a padded Infinix battery which makes the phone to trip off from time to time when the battery which is occupying the space for Mi-tribe battery loses contact with the phone.

    Mi-tribe A 500 is from the stables of Mi-Fone, a Mauritanian mobile phone founded by Alpesh Patel and touted to be the first mobile phone made in Africa.

    Mrs. Oni Balogun who purchased a 7kg Hotpoint washing machine in London and shipped to Nigeria is still at a loss about what to do. Hotpoint is a known and premium United Kingdom brand but it does not have an office or service centre in Nigeria.

  • 1,200 get free medical services

    1,200 get free medical services

    No fewer than 1,200 residents of Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area have benefited from free medical services offered by the council, Rotary Club of Magodo Central and GoldCrest Family Centre.

    The council Chairman Abdul Fatai Ayodele Oyesanya,  said the programme was in fulfilment of his electoral promises to the council’s residents.

    He urged them to pay adequate attention to their eyes because they are important to the body.

    He praised Rotary Club of Magodo Central for partnering the council to give succour to visually-impaired residents, adding that the club’s largesse should be emulated by other Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO).

    Rotary Club President Olorunlake Olaleye said provision of free health care to humanity is one of the cardinal goals of the club.

    GoldCrest Family Centre President, Revd Agatha Chukwura said the NGO was created to cater for the welfare of the less privileged, widows, orphans and indigent families.

    She added that yearly the NGO renders free medical services to these people to improve their well-being.

     

  • ‘How market products, services in austere times’

    ‘How market products, services in austere times’

    Nigeria’s inflation is currently 16.01 per cent. We are out of recession, according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    However, marketing budgets are yielding low returns as Nigerians are still struggling with economic hardships. At this time, how best can products or services be marketed?

    During austerity, consumers think more of utility than luxury; more of functionality than design; more of must-haves than good-to-haves; and more of reusables than consumables.

    Therefore, we have to go to the market via unconventional routes: flip the Pareto Principle, narrow your targeting, focus on repeated sales, and make your customers brand ambassadors.

    In flipping the Pareto Principle, create new product mix that can make 80 per cent of your customers generate more income for you.

    A product mix that can easily initiate upselling and cross selling is a good strategy in motivating customers to spend more. Bundle your products with brands that are strategic to your route-to-market, the same way Mr. Biggs outlets appears at every Mobil gas station.

    During this period, you will have to narrow your targeting to the core of the prospects that need your services/products. For example, everybody may needs fumigation to protect against Lassa fever, but families with children will respond faster to that need because the stake is high. There is always the core of the market that would be readily receptive and responsive to marketing. If that core is identified and engaged, it yields better results.

    Rather than focusing on increasing the number of customers, focus on generating repeated sales. Frequency of patronage can make up for loss of customers and it is cheaper to manage.

    Don’t spend unnecessarily on billboards, TV Commercials and radio jingles, if the demography and psychographics of your targeted customers does not fit into above-the-line advertising.

    Put events together to bring your prospects to your door; use ambient ads to be in their face. Explore social media ads, facebook’s algorithm tracks prospects and help convert them to customers, faster than word of mouth. Remember, if it isn’t digital, it isn’t strategic.

  • Reviewed fees will stimulate better services, say surveyors

    The reviewed professional fee charged by surveyors in Lagos State will enhance quality service and professionalism.

    This was the position of the Association of Private Practising Surveyors of Nigeria (APPSN), Lagos branch Chairman, Mr. Olufemi Odetunmibi, at the body’s 2017 annual workshop, last week in Lagos.

    “The essence of the reviewed fee is to ensure that surveyors render proper services to clients, because when the fee is not right, you can be sure that the service will not be right,” he explained.

    Odetunmibi, while welcoming participants to the workshop, themed: “Corporate business ethics: Repositioning surveying as an enterprise,” said the essence was to encourage members to be alive to their responsibilities.

    “Our members should have the mind-set that they must practice the profession within the ambit of the corporate profession. That will not increase our fees, but will allow the public to have value for their money,” he said.

    Odetunmibi called for an increased patronage of professional surveyors for sustainable development, urging the public to be proactive by getting quality services from his members in developing their property.

    He said although surveyors’ services where being utilised, it can be better as any major development should have the input of a surveyor, warning that people who short-circuit developments have themselves to blame at later dates.

    “If we are looking for sustainable development, then the people, who have the technical capability to do that should be carried along from the beginning. Even when it is completed, we should be carried along to ensure that it is sustained and not developed and left unattended to,” he observed.

    Odetunmibi noted that land administration would remain very important in the scheme of things; hence, he urged that the global approach should be closely monitored so surveyors could be active players in the way things are shaped. This, he said, is because prevailing events place greater responsibilities on private survey practitioners to reposition the practice of surveying.

    “Anytime you see any infrastructural decay, find out if any registered surveyor is involved; most times, you find that our people are not fully involved in the foundation and we are asking that this should change. Surveyors, especially those in private practice, have contributed a lot to economic growth by ensuring that proper foundation was always laid,” Odetunmibi said.

    The guest lecturer and Managing Partner of Sanya Alabi and Co., Mr. Julius Olusanya, urged members of the association to add value to their services in order to give back to the society.

    “In business, you are potentially managing men, money and materials to achieve a purpose. You can either add value as an individual by giving back to the society through providing job opportunities to others, or you just make profit,” he said.

  • Delta introduces local equivalent of VAT on goods, services

    Living in Delta State is about to be more expensive, as the state government has introduced a Consumption Tax, its variation of the Value Added Tax (VAT), to be paid on goods and services.

    The Delta State Board of Internal Revenue (DBIR), during a press briefing yesterday at its head office in Warri, urged the people to comply with the law, which has been in effect since June 13, adding that it is its responsibility to ensure that the law is effected and complied to by all sales and service outlets.

    Speaking on the new Delta State Occupancy, Restaurants and Departmental Stores Consumption Tax, Executive Chairman of the DBIR Sir Monday Onyema explained that dwindling finances, particularly from the federation account, underscored the need to introduce the new tax.

    Onyema, who was represented at the briefing by the board’s Secretary, Chief Mike Edegware, appealed to  ressidents doing business in the state to obey the law.

    He added that the board will sensitise and enlighten stakeholders ahead of implementation.

    “The law, excluding Value Added Tax (VAT), imposes a five per cent tax on the bill issued to a customer, who pays for the use or possession of any hotel, facility or event centre or purchases goods or services in any restaurant, whether or not located within a hotel or goods and services within a departmental or supermarket in the state.

    “While the tax is paid by the consuming public, the responsibility to collect the tax imposed is that of a person owning, managing or, controlling any business or supply any goods or services chargeable under Section 3 of the law”, the board said.

  • NRC begins Lagos-Kano rail services

    The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said it has commenced operations on Lagos to Kano rail services after two months of Jebba-Mokwa washout out as a result of heavy rainfall.

    Its Director of Operations, Mr Niyi Alli, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that the corporation has resumed both passengers and freight services along the routes.

    “We have resumed operations after the unfortunate washout incident along Jebba-Mokwa road. The normal services have resumed between Western Line and the North in terms of haulage of freight and passengers. Necessary steps have been taken by the corporation to ensure such disaster be prevented in the nearest future,” he said.

    Alli said not only the railway way affected by the disaster but also the major road between Jebba to Mokwa town.

    He said adequate measures have been put in place to ensure the rail services were improved on a daily basis.

    “Adequate supervisions have been put in place on the tracks to prevent any disaster in future. The development would prevent further incident in order not to have much impact on the train services.

    “We are looking at the various washouts prone areas and ensuring necessary steps taken to prevent future occurrence at the same time minimise the impacts,” Alli said.

    The director said continuous rain has affected the quick execution of the project since June.

    NAN reports that NRC Managing Director Mr Fidet Okiria, had told the newsmen on June 16 that heavy rainfall had flooded and damaged railway line linking Jebba to Makwa routes.

  • Ecobank extends rapid transfer services to customers

    Ecobank extends rapid transfer services to customers

    Ecobank has extended the capabilities of its Rapid Transfer product enabling all bank account holders in Nigeria receive money via the Rapid Transfer instantly from 33 African countries where Ecobank operates.

    With this development, a bank account holder in any bank in  Nigeria, who is privileged to receive transfer of funds from within Africa can now benefit from the Ecobank Rapid Transfer product. Rapid Transfer is an Ecobank proprietary send and receive money transfer product available in all Ecobank location across Africa. This unique product facilitates easy transfer and access to funds across Nigeria and in all countries where Ecobank is present.

    Announcing this new development in Lagos, Head Remittance, Consumer Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Esther Obot, said this is a strategic initiative that expands the reach of the product and allows non customers of Ecobank access the enormous benefits offered by this product. According to her, this is a more convenient way we believe bank customers in Nigeria can be served better.

    She explained that the Rapid Transfer service was conceived by Ecobank out of the need to provide convenient, accessible, and reliable money transfer service for its retail and wholesale customers and non-customers alike. The uniqueness of this product is its swiftness in delivery and accessibility as transactions are consummated instantly at the receiving end. “No matter the bank you have your account, you can receive money through Rapid Transfer” she reiterated.

  • The ‘price floor’ for data services in telecoms

    After the brouhaha and the exchanges – including the legislative intervention and the attendant thawing of the ice cold grip of obfuscation of facts and populism – that greeted the introduction of a floor price for mobile data services in Nigeria, it is necessary to dilate on the real motive behind the direction and the debate the matter has generated. I refer to the sociological and economic contexts – the images and metaphors that have shaped both the decisions and the fallouts.

    In doing so, I apply three core principles of relationship management, albeit more applicable in international relations. These are: the Golden Rule, which enjoins that you treat others the way you also want to be treated. The second is the Platinum Rule which instructs that we should treated people the way in which they wish to be treated. Finally, the Double Platinum Rule which commands us not to capitalize on the ignorance of the people but to treat each other with fairness.

    Implicitly, the application of these principles in this instance speaks to our right to know. And we have an obligation to treat others likewise – OTHERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW. Besides, the spirit of the second principle implies people should be treated the way in which they want to be treated. One implication of this ‘injunction’ is that people need to be told the truth. The second rule is by extension and congruity to the third is a challenge to the public intellectual – when others capitalize on people’s ignorance, the rest of us have a duty to put their submissions in contexts that enable the public to see which interests are served by the submissions and arguments of those who seek to deceive the naive.

    Nigeria has over 153 million active lines, and the tele-density is 109.5 percent. Broadband penetration is already at 21 percent – an impressive mark indicating the sector will surpass the 2018 target of 30 percent. At present, there are over 93 million Internet users in Nigeria.

    It is also noteworthy that the ICT sector is the third biggest contributor to the GDP, following the oil (petroleum), and agriculture sectors; it is also terrific that 15 years of the liberalization of the telecom sector has recorded an impressive cumulative investment of $68 billion.

    Interestingly, the Nigerian story is in congruence with the global trend of how the ICT sector is displacing hitherto notable strongholds of national economies. At the moment, the four most capitalized companies in the world are in the ICT sector – Microsoft, Apple, Google and then Facebook, which recently pushed Mobil, a renowned oil giant to a fifth place.

    Therefore, the real motive for the direction from NCC with respect to the price floor is to safeguard a reversal of national fortune, protect the entrepreneur (irrespective of the size of investment), save the industry, and prepare the market for the real competition ahead.

    Without any iota of equivocation, the public needs to know that ‘price floor’ and ‘price cap’ are regulatory guidelines that are usually not imposed. They are products of discussions and engagement between regulators and operators to ensure the survival of the industries or markets. The former is a minimum price while the latter is a maximum price for a service or product agreed upon by government or organizations in tandem with stakeholders – OPEC does this regularly to protect the interest of its members and the industry.

    The telecom market watchers would therefore recall that a price floor of three naira 11 kobo (3.11K/mb) was in place since 2014 until October 2015 when it was suspended to enhance data penetration. Before the suspension of the new price floor on November 30, Etisalat offered data services at 94 kobo per megabyte, MTN did at 45 kobo, Airtel at 53 kobo and Glo at 21 Kobo. Other smaller operators like Smile and Spectranet also offered different prices but neither of the small operators offered data services at a price above 94 kobo.

    As in other jurisdictions, the Nigerian telecoms market is segmented. Operators that control less than 7.5 percent of the market or are recent entrants are encouraged through policies, regulations and guidelines to stay in business. It was therefore necessary to intervene when some of the operators started offering data at prices that do not even cover the cost of production – a scenario akin to dumping in elementary economics.

    This is precisely the rationale for nudging the players in the data segment to agree to a price floor because activities of some operators have become anti-competitive and predatory.

    Predatory pricing finds expression in offering services at a price clearly below production cost by some operators ostensibly to attract customers to their networks after which they will shrewdly increase the prices. By the time this happens, the predatory operators would have succeeded in driving the smaller operators out of the market. An indication of a grand plan to return the industry to the days of NITEL – to create a monopoly or a duopoly or even at the very best an oligopolistic scenario in which a few operators will hold the nation and its people by the jugular and offer data services at possibly 10 naira per megabyte – and the customer will either take it or leave it.

    A pointer to this possibility as the discerning and industry enthusiasts will have noticed is that there has not been any spectacular expansion of network infrastructure by any of the key operators since October 2015. In its stead, the industry has been signposted by an inordinate scramble and partition of customers that speaks to a clear and present danger orchestrated to hurt the health of the industry.

    Expectedly, in the vortex of these challenges, the NCC reflected on the scenario and decided to undertake a benchmark study, especially across Africa. As the commission embarked on the study, the operators were notified, and some of them confirmed NCC’s findings in the follow-up engagements that NCC had instituted to nudge operators to an evidence-based direction. Quite expectedly too, there were correspondences between the commission and the operators preparatory to the advent of the price floor. And it was evident to all stakeholders that the introduction of a price floor was imperative to sanitize the market.

    However, in view of the fact that there was no unanimity of position nor a scintilla of readiness by the operators to converge positions on an appropriate pricing, the NCC on October 19, met the operators to convey its position  after considering respective responses from the operators and the objective realities of the industry. Consequently, a floor price of 90 kobo per megabyte was introduced as it was considered a fair pricing. It was also agreed that the floor price will be effective from December 1.

    As we can see, procedurally there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the introduced price floor. The pricing methodology is an instrument to check abuses by operators, abuses which by this and many narratives in the public space had already set in. Importantly, the price floor is cost oriented in keeping with the ITU’s recommendation for cost-oriented telecommunications services provision.

    It is also pertinent to state that the big operators have had their days and are still enjoying economies of scale as well as operational stability. There is absolutely no reason for a gang up because the Nigerian Communications Commission as the regulator of telecommunications services also has a responsibility to ensure the survival of the new operators.

    Indeed, the survival of all operators is the utmost interest of the Commission in view of the implications for employment generation, service provision and the growth of the economy at large. This explains NCC’s interest and determination to ensure a level playing field for all operators to enable the country to move steadily at the right pace.

    • Comrade Panti is a social entrepreneur. He lives in Abuja.

  • Legion to cadets: render selfless services to nation

    •Sewing machines donated to 65 widows 

    The Nigerian Legion Corps of Commissionaires has warned its cadets against harassment of the people.

    It urged them to render selfless service to the nation and conduct themselves well in the course of their duties.

    The Legion’s National Chairman, Col. Micah Gayya (retd.), spoke at the weekend during the passing out parade of Batch “B” cadets of the Delta State Command at the Petroleum Training Institute in Effurun.

    Gayya said there were usual misgivings about the legion because of alleged misconducts of some members.

    The Legion chief, who inaugurated a new patrol vehicle for the state command, advised the members to avoid being used for “contraband or to harass” the public.

    He said the Legion was not competing with any security agency but was established to create jobs.

    Gayya said: “The idea is to get them jobs to do and the service we know best is security. We are deployed in government offices and private homes, but we are not in competition with any security outfit.”

    The Legion chief presented sewing machines to 50 widows of fallen heroes from the 25 local government areas of the state and 15 others from Nigerian Army’s 3 Battalion Barracks in Effurun.

    He hailed the state command for remembering the women, saying it was impossible to reach out to all widows across the country.

    Gayya said: “It is utterly impossible to reach out to all the widows in the country. Some state chairmen are doing well; others are not. Please, do not sell these items, but do what will get you something to support your family.”

    The state commandant, Corps Commander Anthony Ohiri, urged the new cadets to “maintain high level of ethical standards” and render selfless service to their fatherland.

    Dignitaries at the ceremony included corps commandants from Bayelsa, Cross River and Edo states as well as officers at the national office of the legion.

    Others included Veteran Affairs Division of the Ministry of Defence, Dr. Jude Alozie and Delta State Head Pastor of Deeper Life Church, Pastor Jude Chukwocha.

  • ADUNNI ADE COMMENDS LAGOS STATE’S FREE LEGAL SERVICES

    ADUNNI ADE COMMENDS LAGOS STATE’S FREE LEGAL SERVICES

    A-LIST Nigerian celebrities have come out to support Lagos State Government’s programme aimed at defending the public.

    In that light, the Lagos State’s Ministry of Justice, Office of the Public Defender has held a programme at its Epe Secretariat in a bid to sensitise the public on societal reforms, which saw some Nigerian entertainers lending their voice out to the grassroots.

    Speaking to The Nation, Nollywood actress, Adunni Ade commended the Lagos State government for bringing free justice to the grassroots and campaigning against societal menace.

    “Creating awareness for more people in Lagos State, especially those in the Epe Area is a testimony that the government has the plight of the people at heart. This concept is very good for the litigation of the society,” she said.

    Actor Yemi Shodinmu who was also there to lend out his voice expressed enthusiasm about the government’s commitment to social justice.

    He said; “There is something I have always been interested in, and it is fighting against oppression. When I got the opportunity to come and do what I enjoy doing from the office of the public defender, I didn’t hesitate because this is something that concerns everyone and it is of societal norms.”

    The director, Office of Public Defender, Salami Olubukola made known the significance of the programme.

    “Today’s event is all about justice. What Lagos State government is saying is that irrespective of your age or religion, you have a right to justice. We want to provide free legal services to the people of this locality.

    “What we have done today is that we have brought justice to the grassroots’ level of the society. We have a high court located in this locality as we speak now, we even have the toll-free line which people can call and they will be attended to.”