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Crossover Telecommunications Training
Telecom Answers Associates announced at the weekend
that 41 candidates scaled the second stage hurdle in job placement
from among the pack of candidates who sat for recruitment
examination last week. It says another process will have to commence
very soon as the number of successful candidates is still far from
the current requirement but the result shows promise that given
fast track orientation and accelerated training, Nigerian graduates
are actually capable of meeting industry requirement in a short
while.
Telecom training Institute, THE CYBERSCHUUL,
announced the earlier week that it has just introduced a fast track
training program for persons of diverse non-telecom disciplines who
have to be padded with quick knowledge to make them employable and
usable in the telecommunications industry.
Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu who made the announcement at the
University of Lagos where about two hundred prospective employees
commenced a screening process via a written examination said it is,
as usual, the institute's response to industry need arising from
result of recent study carried out on the dearth of skills and the
requirement to re-orientate an otherwise idle Nigerians towards
productivity.
He explained that although the Institute had run a
training program called Telecommunications for non-engineers for
several years, the major shift between that and the new one is that
Telecom for non-engineers was designed for those who have already
been employed within the industry but crossover telecom training is
fine-tuned to meet the need of applicants who want to equip
themselves with minimum technical and industry knowledge before going ahead to find a job in the
industry. He said about 281vacant job
positions are available for grab but the institute's mandate is to
fill the vacancies with those who have the knowledge and the skills,
not just with anybody.
The
vacancies include: Network Planning/Operations/Maintenance Engineers
(16), Marketing Executives/ Product Marketers (160); Managers, IT
Operations/ Analysts & Administrators(10); Customer Care Executives
(80); and Research/Survey Assistants (Temporary/part-time jobs)(15)
Reasons
for non-shortlisting candidates for the ongoing process can be found
at
Click here
THE
CYBERSCHUUL has also indicated that it will soon upgrade the 250
slides of Questions and Answers in Telecommunication to 300 slides
in order to accommodate new stuff on recent industry developments
such as convergence, 3G systems, Number Portability and Wimax.
Cyberschuulnews 324
Government fires CEO of MTN
For misrepresenting a financial deal as a ‘gift to
the head of state’, a deal in the neighborhood of $130,000, the MTN
group has reluctantly fired the CEO of its Ivory Coast
operations, Mr. Aimable Mpore. MTN had no choice in the matter really
because government called for the head of the CEO for discrediting Ivory Coast’s
institutions.
Mpore was pressured by a government official to part
with company’s money in the name of providing an ambulance to treat
disaster citizens presumably on the orders of President Laurent
Gbagbo and he succumbed. He however wrote in the company account
books that the expenditure represents ‘a gift to the head of state’.
Government claimed it has arrested the official concerned and also
asked that Mpore must leave the country within 5 days. MTN said it
has confidence in its CEO but has no choice since government has
asked that Mpore be sent out of Ivory Coast.
It is not unusual for citizens of emerging markets to
consider that telecommunication operators have deep pockets and they
do several things to extort money from them, sometime in
collaboration with insider collaborators even within the telcos
also.
NCC inaugurates Forum of experts to facilitate Consumer
Protection
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, took
consumer protection initiative a notch higher early in the week by
inaugurating a 12-member Industry consumer Advisory Forum, ICAF,
headed by the Director General of the Consumer Protection Council,
Mrs. Ifeyinwa Umenyi.
ICAF is to review the general consumer code of
practice regulations by the Commission as well as facilitate
consumer protection, information and educational programmes.
Chairman NCC, Alhaji Ahmed Joda said the Commission
is fully determined to ensure that the interest of telecoms
consumers in the country are protected, and urged ICAF to work
assiduously to complement various efforts of the commission in this
direction.
Members of ICAF include : President of the Nigerian
Society of Engineers, Engr. Kashim Alli, President of Nigerian
Medical Association, Dr. Prosper Ikechukwu Igboeli, President of the
Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, President and
Chairman of Council of Nigerian Institute of Management, Sir Peter
A. Edeoghon, National Disabled Empowerment Forum, NADEF, Dr. Chris
Nwanoro, President of the Association of Telecommunications
Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, President of the
Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, ALTON, Engr.
Gbenga Adebayo, President of Consumer Awareness Organization, Dr.
Mrs. Felecia money, and President of Consumer Right Project, Mrs.
Alero Edu and three others.
The Choice to make
The imminence of IPv6 is evident in the rapid
depletion of IPv4 addresses. Organizations that had resisted
implementing IPv6 because no business case could be made for it are
now waking up to the fact that the business case for IPv6 is, simply
put, the ability to stay in business. Implementing IPv6 can be
challenging under any circumstances, but with the right planning and
the right choices of methodology and implementation tools, the costs
and risks can be controlled. This is the time to train those who
should be skilled in its implementation.
There is a decision to make: to wait till everything
is ready, i.e. when the industry is ‘mature enough’ for such
technologies or to bring about the environment in which the
technology will be recognized as unavoidable. Do people wait to know
how to manufacture car before they start driving it? That is the
choice to make
COREN charts new path for training of engineers
Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in which
engineering is being taught, Deans and Heads of Engineering
Programmes in Universities and Polytechnics as well as COREN Council
members who are planning for education and training of engineers
will gather in Abuja during the week to avail themselves with stuff
from world class consultants on the subject of new teaching and
learning tools for engineering training.
Among them; Prof Michael Cultip (Connecticut, USA);
Engr. Prof. J. A. S. Redwood Sawyer (Sierra Leone); Engr. Prof.
Peter Achi (Owerri, Nigeria) and Prof. Mona Dahms (Denmark)
According to Engr. Felix Atume, Registrar of COREN,
The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN,
feels very concerned about and is resolved now than ever before, to
reverse the dwindling standard of education, particularly
Engineering Education.
eLGA National Summit
holds in Abuja
Chairmen of Local Governments in Nigeria will be in Abuja during the week of February
16-18 to give meaning to detailed preparation towards actualizing
the eLGA initiative as a tool for empowering local governments for
implementation of federal government’s 7 Point Agenda.
Director General, National e-Government Strategy (Negst),
Dr. Olu Agunloye said the idea of
eLGA is to embrace the magnitude of seven point agenda particularly
in deploying ICT to develop the rural areas. He said NeGst had
designed various platforms to achieve the goal including capacity
building through which jobs will be created especially for the
youths.
Agunloye noted e-LGA is a platform in which the local
government administrators would enhance their governances to benefit
the masses and generate more revenue.
Cyberschuulnews 323
Crossover Telecommunications Training debuts
Telecom training Institute, THE CYBERSCHUUL,
announced during the week that it has just introduced a fast track
training program for persons of diverse non-telecom disciplines who
have to be padded with quick knowledge to make them employable and
usable in the telecommunications industry. Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu who
made the announcement at the University of Lagos where about two
hundred prospective employees commenced a screening process via a
written examination said it is, as usual, the institute's response
to industry need arising from result of recent study carried out on
the dearth of skills and the requirement to re-orientate an
otherwise idle Nigerians towards productivity. He explained that
although the Institute had run a training program called
Telecommunications for non-engineers for several years, the major
shift between that and the new one is that Telecom for non-engineers
was designed for those who have already been employed within the
industry but crossover telecom training is fine-tuned to meet the
need of applicants who want to equip themselves with industry
knowledge before
going ahead to find a job in the industry. He said about 281vacant job positions are available for
grab but the institute's mandate is to fill the vacancies with those
who have the knowledge and the skills, not just with anybody.
The
vacancies include: Network Planning/Operations/Maintenance Engineers
(16), Marketing Executives/ Product Marketers (160); Managers, IT
Operations/ Analysts & Administrators(10); Customer Care Executives
(80); and Research/Survey Assistants (Temporary/part-time jobs)(15)
Reasons
for non-shortlisting candidates for the ongoing process can be found
at Click here
SEACOM gives update
A posting from Frédéric Cornet in the early hours of
February 4, 2009 gives an update on the progress of work on SEACOM’s
cable saying it has already laid on the
floors of both the Indians ocean and Red Sea.
He said the cable has been laid from the edge of the South African
waters to Mozambique
and cable laying is also proceeding in the
Red Sea from Egypt
towards the coast of
Yemen. A third ship is currently
being loaded with the remainder of SEACOM’s deepwater cable which
will be deployed from India towards
Africa, where these three cable segments will be joined.
SEACOM has been preparing to provide services to
customers by June and recruited over ten experienced local
telecommunications professionals from
India,
Kenya, Mozambique,
South Africa and Tanzania to operate and
maintain the cable stations.
SEACOM, a privately funded initiative, provides high
capacity bandwidth linking southern and east Africa, Europe and
south
Asia. When it is fully functional in
2009, SEACOM will be a service provider of international fibre optic
bandwidth along the east coast of Africa linking South Africa, Mozambique,
Madagascar,
Tanzania, Kenya and
Ethiopia
to India and Europe.
GTV goes into liquidation.
An early in the week announcement from GTV, a pan
African satellite pay TV station, said it had gone into liquidation.
It became news last week that the broadcaster could no longer
sustain transmission and it told its subscribers who are said to be
more than 100,000 that it would go off air. It has subscribers in
many west and east African countries but not in Nigeria where its senior
rival MultiChoice calls the shots. Only a few saw it coming.
GTV is a creation of Gateway Communications, the
Pan-African telecommunications company. The two entities separated
legally two years ago and Gateway Communications' telecommunications
business was bought by mobile network operator Vodacom in 2008.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Unilag gets National Centre for Energy Efficiency and Conservation
The Energy Commission of Nigeria, ECN, has created
four new research centres and situated the National Centre for
Energy Efficiency and Conservation, NCEEC, in the University of
Lagos.
Oluwole Adegbenro, a Professor of electrical
engineering and former Dean of the faculty has
been appointed the pioneer director.
The mandate of NCEEC includes developing guidelines for energy
efficient end-user products, energy efficiency codes and standards
and specifications for domestic, industrial and commercial
facilities.
CyberschuulNews 322
Ofcom rated Best Regulator in Europe
UK’s communications
regulatory authority, Ofcom (Office of Communications) was recently
rated highest and best among all telecom regulators in Europe. The European Competitive
Telecommunications Association (ECTA) which published a rating table
derived through a complex assessment procedure also said that Netherlands and Norway
came next in that order.
eCharge
MTN Nigeria
introduces credit loading via ATMs
Mobile operator MTN Nigeria went one notch up
in e-novation during the week as it announced that its subscribers
who hold InterSwitch debit or cash cards can use any Automated
Teller Machine (ATM) or point of sale (POS) terminal connected to
the InterSwitch network to load their phones, completely paperless.
Explaining how it works, Mr. Mike Ikpoki, Sales and
Distribution Executive, MTN said “eCharge makes airtime available in
any denomination to MTN subscribers wherever they may find
themselves. They can buy airtime directly with their ATM cards
without the need to handle cash. All they need to do is to find an
ATM or a point of sale terminal connected to the InterSwitch
network. They simply punch in the amount they want and their phones
are credited with that value of airtime. They can even buy
electronic airtime in the comfort of their bedrooms via SMS.”
A 'busy' week in the HOUSE.
The Nigerian National Assembly witnessed very unusual
happenings during the week.
On the telecom tuff, it was one Hon. Dino Melaye who
hosted a Press Conference to give advance notice of a motion he
intended to move on the floor of the Honourable House. Newspaper
reports of the press conference said the Honorable Member wanted it
known to Nigerians that he would call for the removal of the
Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission,
NCC. He found him too old, at 60 years, to continue being in office
and he also has record of the man’s corrupt practices especially the
cozy relationship that he maintains with telephone operators. He
also wanted Nigerians to know that the man had been offering bribe
to his own colleagues in the House of Representatives so that his
impending motion would not fly.
It was novel to legislative procedure for a Honorable Member of the House to call a press
conference to warn citizens of an impending motion in the House. He
was allowed to move the motion the day after the Press Conference.
Shortly after the Press conference, an online portal www.thetimesofnigeria.com
had also come up with a report of the press conference and two days
after, an NCC spokesman did a Press Release which responded to the
Press Conference.
Hon Dino Melaye is a popular 'activist' in the House
of Representatives going by revelation of an internet search on him.
He was the arrowhead and Point-man of the Pro-Etteh Group during the
debate when Mrs. Patricia Etteh, a former Speaker of the House of
Representatives was being processed for impeachment. He was also
identified on TV when the ETTE-Must-go, Etteh-Must-stay fracas
turned into a fight in the House.
Reports said he eventually moved his motion and it
was shut down.
Reproduced hereunder are four independent accounts of
the happenings:
- A ‘thetimesofnigeria.com’ report of the
Press Conference,
- A follow-up report of
‘thetimesofnigeria.com’ on the issue
- Some comments of readers of 'thetimesofnigeria.com'
website
- NCC spokesman’s response to the press
conference, and
- A newspaper's report of the Press conference,
the Motion and the result of the Motion.
Reps Set To Remove Ndukwe As NCC Boss With Public
Hearing
Taken from
http://thetimesofnigeria.com
If all
goes according to plan, Ernest Ndukwe, the executive vice chairman
of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ought to start
emptying his office as a plan to oust him before his term ends next
year will be unveiled today at the National Assembly.
That
is if the plan is not truncated by Ndukwe’s large financial war
chest which has turned the House Committee on Information and
National Orientation headed by Dino Melaye into a toothless overseer
without the ability to bite. Vexed by the poor services offered by
GSM service providers under NCC’s regulation, the House Committee
headed by Melaye last week resolved to launch a public hearing
starting this week to highlight their grievances against the Ndukwe
led NCC.
Thetimesofnigeria.com is in possession of a copy of the prepared
motion set to be moved on Tuesday by Melaye, chairman of the
committee calling for the public hearing. Ndukwe is said to be too
cozy with telecom service providers and has been accused of “having
stakes” in many of the company to be an unbiased regulator. In the
six-paragraphed motion that will be read on the floor of the House,
Melaye said that “This Commission has not been able to fulfill the
mandate of regulating, supervising and enforcing the Act
establishing it.”
The
motion said, “Further worried that the poor telecom services of
these service providers to Nigerians have not been checked or
corrected by the commission.” It accused NCC and Ndukwe of
nonchalance. “ Nigerian Communications
Commission is seen not only to be non-challant but protecting the
telecom service providers to the detriment of the Nigerian public.”
Following the complaint, the motion said it has resolved to “mandate
the House Committee on Communication to conduct a public hearing on
the licensing and regulation of all telecom service providers in Nigeria
and make recommendations to the House within three (3) weeks.”
Ndukwe
is said to be very influential in the House and has in the past
spent huge amount of money lobbying both committee and House members
to secure his office until the end of his tenure. To checkmate the
influence of money, those hatching the plot decided to strike this
week after they were informed that Ndukwe has traveled out of the
country. But the plot has already been leaked to Ndukwe and he has
already mandated his subordinates to do whatever it takes to stop
the motion from being moved on the floor of the House as planned
this Tuesday.
Leading Ndukwe’s effort is Dave Imoko, NCC’s director of corporate
affairs and long term associate of Ndukwe. Over the weekend, Imoko
is known to have visited several members of the committee urging
them to climb-down. Ndukwe himself has maintained contact with
members of the committee and his staff urging them to do “whatever
it takes to make sure the motion is not moved” a source close to one
of the lawmakers who was visited by Imoko and his team told
Thetimesofnigeria.com.
Taken from http://thetimesofnigeria.com
Copy & paste Comments of readers of
‘thetimesofnigeria.com’ website
On Tue Jan, 27 2009 05:37 by Attah
It is a shame that instead of putting our heads together to fashion
out ways of moving this country forward people like Dino Melaye are
trying to paint the NCC and its Chief Executive in bad light. The
NCC is the only government parastatal which has brought succor to
the common man since 2001. Ndukwe has done a lot for the telecoms
industry and he is recognised by both the local and international
community. A lot is being burrowed from the NCC by other regulatory
agencies around the globe. Before making frivolous claims, I expect
Dino to get his facts right instead of making empty noise. He needs
to be schooled on the successes and vision of the NCC so that he can
realise that he is only making a mockery of himself and his
co-sponsors.
On Mon Jan, 26 2009 03:02 by Osadebe Anam
Even in US we have "No Network" problems and poor reception too. Leave
Ndukwe alone. NCC is the only Commission that is FUNCTIONAL in
Nigeria
today.
On Mon Jan, 26 2009 10:22 by Darlington Isiekwene
I wonder what kind of people we are as a nation, this is the only
sector that is working right now and people are still looking for
ways to bring it down. NEPA (PHCN) has become moribund, NITEL, same
and other Govt agencies/parastatals. Why cant
we celebrate those that do us proud. Ndukwe has tried his humanly
best to bring us out of the quagmire called "communication darkness"
why do some group of people (who should ask questions when they are
confused), now want to truncate the very laudable issues on telecoms
that the NCC has put in place? Nigeria,
na wa o o o
On Mon
Jan, 26 2009 10:16 by Francis Adebayo Ademuyiea
You people should allow the man to finish his tenure, afterall it is
just some months away, why the hurry? that
is how we are as a people, PHD holders, pull him down holders. Once it
is not your brother, you want the person down,
let him finish his tenure, please. He has done Nigeria
proud at home and abroad, a record which many of you will never be
able to boast of in your lifetime. Please let him finish his tenure , ah!
Ndukwe’s Bribe Stop Scheduled House Public Hearing On
NCC
Taken from
http://thetimesofnigeria.com/Article.aspx?id=1372
Wed Jan, 28 2009
As
predicted in our report on Sunday on the ongoing attempt by the
National Assembly to institute a public hearing into the activities
of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) headed by Ernest
Ndukwe, a massive bribe of key members of the House has temporarily
scuttled exercise. An attempt to move the motion by its sponsor,
Chairman, House Committee on Information and National Orientation,
Hon. Dino Melaye was scuttled by Chairman, House Committee on Rules
and Business, Hon. Ita Enang on technicalities.
Though
the motion has the support of 117 members of the House, Enang
objected to it accusing Melaye of violating House rules by
discussing the motion with the media before it tabling it in the
House. Melaye disagreed with him stressing that the content of the
motion was never disclosed when he addressed a press conference to
disclose attempts by the Ndukwe led NCC to scuttle the motion by
bribing members of the house including himself. He argued that he
was exercising his fundamental rights to freedom of expression and
that nothing he did violated rules of the house.
However, Thetimesofnigeria.com investigation reveal that following
our exclusive report on Sunday that attempts were underway to bribe
lawmakers to climb down, rather than abate, the bribery efforts was
intensified. Between Sunday night when we first ran our report and
Tuesday when the motion was moved, Ndukwe sent his “moneyman” Dave
Imoko, on a bribery binge armed with N50 million cash and the
promise of more to come. Ita Enang, from the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) representing Akwa Ibom was one of those who
received money from Ndukwe’s man, Idoko.
Another key member of the House who received money and helped the
effort to reach out to his fellow lawmakers is the Chief whip of the
House, Emeka Ihedioha. A member of the House who was approached and
rejected the bribe money told Thetimesofnigeria.com that the “NCC is
bent on stopping the public hearing at any expense.” “They are
willing to pay whatever it takes and I believe that the GSM
providers are funding this project.” The motion is supposed to be
resurrected today when the House opens for business.
Taken from
http://thetimesofnigeria.com/Article.aspx?id=1372
NCC’s response to Press conference of Hon. Dino Melaye
"NCC has performed creditably"
by
Reuben Muoka, NCC Spokesman
We have continued to receive calls from various
quarters concerning comments at Press conference hosted by Hon. Dino
Melaye, which basically dwelt on the person of the Chief Executive
of the Commission, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe. We are amazed at the
level of defamation of the character of the person of Engr. Ndukwe,
and unsubstantiated allegations by an Honourable member of the House
on a motion which he is yet to be canvass its passage by the
Honourable House.
We are aware that Hon. Melaye had last week sought to
move a motion in the House seeking for Public Hearing on the quality
of service situation in the industry. We are also aware that
Hon. Melaye was a member of the ad hoc committee that held a public
hearing on this same matter.
We thought that the matter would be left to the
respected Honourable House to resolve but we were surprised that the
same Honourable Dino had to call a press conference where he
highlighted issues that are beyond those raised on the floor of the
House. He also made grave unsubstantiated allegations outside the
floor of the House which tend to rubbish the success that this
nation has made in the telecom sector.
On the issue of the Commission not fulfilling its
mandate of regulating the industry:
The Commission has done its best in regulating the telecommunications
industry. The fact that the nation has been able to achieve 57
Million active subscriber lines today from 400,000 lines in 2001,
achieved a Teledensity of 41 per cent today from about .06 in 2001,
and attracted investments of more than $12 Billion today from about
US$50 Million in 2001 speaks for itself. We accept that the quality
of service is not acceptable and we are doing everything we can to
address the issues. We are also working on the best possible ways to
achieve a lower tariff regime. We insist that the Commission has
done its best in the service of the nation, and will need the
support of all stakeholders to achieve more for the nation.
We should not forget easily about seven years ago,
only very few Nigerians have phones. Today, they have phones.
We are really worried about the undue attention being given to the
Commission by certain individuals while we have other public
organizations in
Nigeria
that cannot compare with the achievements of the Commission. The
Commission had gone through a similar Public Hearings in 2006 by the
Lower and the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly.
In achievements the Commission stands shoulder high
above most other government agencies, unfortunately, telecom that
has become the pride of the nation is not appreciated; instead it is
negatively portrayed at all times in certain quarters. If 50 per
cent of the achievements recorded by the Nigerian Communications
Commission is replicated in all the other
utility service areas of this country, Nigeria would have become
one of the topmost countries of the world.
Engr. Ndukw deserves an honour in this country and we
are really worried that his efforts are being vilified in certain
quarters. The average man in the street would reject any insinuation
that the telecom revolution in Nigeria has become a
problem rather than a solution. We are not against the House holding
a Public Hearing if only it would be used to advance the needed
solutions for the telecommunications industry. We hold the House at
a very high esteem and will cooperate fully when the Public Hearing
is convened. We hope this will complement our continuous efforts to
improve on the status of the telecommunications industry.
On the issue of supporting the operators
We have said on many occasions that consumer is our main stakeholder.
We have instituted many schemes like the Consumer Parliament to
educate the consumer about his rights. We have penalized the
operators on the failures on quality of service and had forced them
to pay compensation on that account. We had stopped them doing
promos when it affects the network. The operators have had to
take the Commission to court on several occasions and we have had to
defend our position in court and had won. We are operating in a
democratic system and we apply due process in all our undertakings.
We are operating under a law made by the National Assembly, the
National Communications Act, 2003. We have strived to make a success
of this law and have attracted positive comments and commendations,
even from the international community and institutions.
On the Issue of Tax Waiver:
We are worried that the Hon. Dino Melaye would personalize and condemn
a very positive economic decision of the Federal Government,
implemented by the Nigerian Investment Promotions Commission, and
facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Finance. The Tax Holiday
granted telecom operators, was not restricted to few companies in
the sector. It was also enjoyed by the other sectors of the economy.
It was an incentive to attract investors when Nigeria needed them most.
It is most unfortunate that the Hon. Member would turn around
suggest that the chief Executive of NCC would be held responsible.
On the allegation that Engr. Ndukwe had attained 60
years of age and therefore is not capable of regulating the
industry:
Ordinarily, this comment deserves no response because the Hon. Member
ought to know the difference between a political appointment and
career civil service. The appointment of Engr. Ndukwe to the office
of the CEO of NCC was done by Mr. President, and was confirmed by
the Senate of the
Federal
Republic for a
five year tenure that will expire in 2010. Mr. President and the
Distinguished Members of the Senate had full information about the
person of Engr. Ndukwe before his confirmation for the second
tenure. This appointment was by merit and in tune with the
National Communications Act, NCA, 2003. The laws and regulations
guiding the appointment of Engr. Ndukwe to head a Commission is a
political appointments like most other Commissions, and that his age
has nothing to do with this position because he is not a civil
servant. The nation is replete with several Commissions whose chief
executives are above this age. The fact that he has an Id Card in
his place of work or such other modern administrative paraphernalia
of office does not make him a civil servant.
Moreover, we do not see how this
matter is related to the matter under discussion.
Reps abort motion to probe NCC 28/1/2009
From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Victor Oluwasegun, Abuja,
THE NATION
The controversial motion requesting the House of Representatives to
conduct public hearing on the operations of the Nigeria
Communication Commission (NCC) was shot down yesterday.
The House deferred its consideration following heated arguments
between the sponsor, Chairman, House Committee on Information and
National Orientation, Hon. Dino Melaye and Chairman, House Committee
on Rules and Business, Hon. Ita Enang. The motion was listed as the
first business of the House in the Order Paper under the title,
"Nigerian Communication Commission and Telecommunication regulation
in Nigeria."
Melaye, supported by 118 others, was scheduled to move the motion.
Melaye had, at a press conference on Monday in Abuja, alleged plans to kill the
motion. He had accused NCC’s Executive Vice-Chairman, Mr. Ernest
Ndukwe of trying to bribe the legislators to kill the motion. But
NCC’s spokesperson, Mr. Reuben Muoka, denied the allegation, saying
it lacked credibility. The motion said NCC, which is responsible for
the licensing and regulation of all telecommunication service
providers, had not been able to execute the mandate.
It said "NCC is seen not only to be ineffective in carrying out its
mandate but also protecting the telecommunication service providers
to the detriment of the Nigerian public." The sponsors said they
were concerned that there were special services consumers ought to
have been enjoying from the telecom service providers that were not
being provided. They said the poor services presently being provided
to Nigerians by the service providers could be attributed to lack of
adequate supervision by the regulatory agency.
The sponsors, therefore, prayed the House to mandate its Committee on
Communications to conduct a public hearing on the operations of
telecom service providers in relation to the NCC Act so as to make
recommendations to the House within three weeks. When Melaye
attempted to move the motion, he was cut short by Enang.
The Rules and Business Committee chair drew attention of the House to
the Monday news conference by Melaye. He said Melaye spoke
extensively on the issue at the news conference, adding that he
breached the House rules. Enang said Melaye created the impression
that the House had taken a position on an issue that had not been
brought before it. He prayed the House not to grant Melaye’s request
to table the motion.
Melaye, however, said he did not discuss the content or the prayer of
the motion at the news conference. He said he merely informed
reporters about his intention to table the motion before the House.
Speaker Dimeji Bankole, who watched the trend of argument between
Enang and Melaye, invited them to meet him after the plenary.
The intervention by Bankole averted what seemed to be an explosive
motion going by the tone of Melaye on Monday.
taken from
http://www.thenationonlineng.com/dynamicpage.asp?id=75892
Ndukwe's
Response
PRESS CONFERENCE BY
THE EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION,
ENGR. ERNEST NDUKWE, OFR,
ON JANUARY 31, 2008, IN RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE COMMISSION
BY A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, HON. DINO MELAYE
Distinguished Gentlemen of the Press.
Let me start by saying a big welcome for responding to this invitation
because I know weekend is full of activities – social events and
time to be with your families. It is my pleasure to welcome you all
to this press conference which I called to enable me address you on
some issues that have been brought by an Hon. Member of the House of
Representatives, Hon. Dino Melaye which touched on both my person
and that of the Commission in which I serve as the Chief Executive
Officer. We need to make a few clarifications and I thank God for
making this day possible.
First of all, let me start by thanking the Almighty God for my safe
return to our beautiful country after a trip to Malaysia and the United States of America.
Regarding the trip to Malaysia,
I went wit the NCC Chairman and the President of the Digital Bridge
Institute to explore areas of cooperation between NCC and similar
institutions in
Malaysia. It was a most rewarding
trip and we were guests to their Multimedia
University
located in the sprawling Cyberjaya (Cybercity) in Selangor, Malaysia.
It is our plan at the DBI to convert the Oshodi and Kano campuses of the DBI to ICT
parks and a university. There is also plan to site a DBI campus in
the South East/South South part of the country. Our trip to Malaysia was therefore to seek their
cooperation and exchange ideas on how to make the DBI a major Centre
of Excellence in ICT’s in Africa.
We were all inspired by what we saw at the Cyberjaya.
I was
also in Washington
as guest of the World Bank Global Information and Communication
Technologies (GICT) group.
That week, they had what is called the ICT Sector Week and they
invited experts from both public and private sectors of the ICT
industry around the world to review their activities around the
world and proffer ideas on what the future emphasis should be for
World Bank in their engagements with countries around the world.
I am
pleased to report that I was the only regulator that was invited
from the African region to participate as a resource person at the
event. I participated on two panels – the opening panel at 9.00 am
on Monday 26th January 2009 that dealt with the role of ICT’s in
enabling a better world and the fourth panel at 4.00 p.m. that dealt
with Policy and Regulatory Responses to Convergence and Developing
Wireless Technologies.
On Tuesday, 27th January 2009, I also participated in another
brain-storming session with the group between 2.30 p.m. and 5.00
p.m. before I headed out to the airport to board my flight back.
The World
Bank and the IFC have been of major assistance and support to the
development of the Telecommunications industry in Nigeria.
Ladies
and gentlemen, it was during my stay in the USA
that I was informed of a motion that was initiated by Honourable
Melaye about the state of the industry and the role of the NCC in
regulating the operating companies etc. I was informed that this
motion was brought up on Thursday, last week and to be followed by a
formal presentation on Tuesday, the 27th of January 2009.
However,
on Monday, January 26 2008, Hon. Dino Melaye granted an interview to
the print and electronic media where he made far reaching
accusations. Thanks to the World Wide Web, I was able to read about
his statements in the newspapers of Tuesday, January 27th, 2009.
I was informed that the Honourable Members of the House took exception
on this action of going to the media before the motion. On
Wednesday, January 28, 2009, when the motion was allowed for debate
and the Honourable Members agreed that what was needed is for the
report of the public hearing that has already been held, be
presented to the House by the House Committee on Communications.
In
effect, while we are there at the World Bank in
Washington
receiving recognition as a nation for what we have been able to
achieve for this industry, there was something else going on in Nigeria.
Let me say that it will be an understatement to say that I was not
shocked by these allegations from Hon. Melaye. I did not know how to
respond to that but I decided to finish my assignment and come back.
I can only assume that it was done out of limited information,
unless, perhaps, the person is working the scripts of other people.
But I do not know.
Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to put it on record that
1. I am proud of what the Almighty God has used me and other members
of the NCC Board and members of staff to achieve for Nigeria
in the past eight years.
2. I have personally served this country with the highest level of
integrity and uprightness since I assumed office at the NCC in 2000.
3. That I am proud of the highly professional and hard-working team
that we have managed to put together at the NCC. I don’t think I
will be blowing our trumpet too much to say that NCC remains one of
the most professionally run government agencies in Nigeria.
NCC is today recognized internationally as a high performing
regulatory agency in the world, not just in
Africa
because at the World Bank, I was actually treated like a celebrity
because people talk about what is happing in the Nigerian telecom
industry.
4. I must also say that NCC has never been afraid of any probe by the
National Assembly and in fact had subjected itself to the last
public hearing that was done by the Ad-hoc Committee set up by that
Honourable House. We have also been guests on several occasions to
members of the Communications Committees of both Upper and Lower
Houses of the National Assembly. So, it is incorrect for anyone to
say that we are apprehensive of public hearing. NCC is actually in
public glare at all times. We are always under the scrutiny of many
Nigerians.
5. That the allegation that the NCC was trying to stop the motion in
the House is false and malicious. To even suggest that the
Commission was trying to stop the motion by extending pecuniary
incentives to members of the House is false and baseless. In fact, I
also find it insulting to suggest that Honourable Members received
bribes. The whole allegation is laughable because even NCC is known
not to be generous with things of that nature. I feel extremely
sorry for the embarrassment that this allegation may have caused the
innocent Honourable Members of the House to whom these allegations
of collecting bribe was leveled for daring to say the truth as they
know them.
6. Sometimes I do wonder how these stories emanate. It can only be
that those generating the story are measuring us in their own yard
stick. Those who know NCC well will tell you that this is not
possible. In fact, we do not see anything in this motion that had
not been dealt with in the course of the previous public hearing
conducted by the House Ad-hoc Committee to warrant anybody from NCC
giving bribes. We do not know how to give bribes or receive bribes.
I was not even in the country when this matter came up. I cannot
imagine how any person from the NCC would start offering any
pecuniary incentives to anybody. So, I can tell you for sure that
nothing like that ever happened, or will ever happen. This is
ridiculous because there are more than 300 members of the House and
I do not know how somebody will go searching for all of them to tell
them what to do in the House. Personally, if I am a member of the
House, I will see this as very offending if such a thing is talked
about. There are many very reasonable and responsible people in that
hallowed chambers. Many of them are very professional people from
different works of life and they know what is true and what is wrong
and what is right. Some of them who have talked in favour of the
Commission have done so out of their experience. They are not kids.
Some of them are older than me and can take patriotic decisions as
it concerns this country. I record my sympathy and regret for some
of these members who were even mentioned in some faceless online
electronic publications. They are very innocent and distinguished
people in the society. We promise not to let them down because the
truth is that nothing like that happened.
7. On this issue of my being over 60 years of age, I am extremely
embarrassed by this direct attack on my person. This matter was made
big issue last year when I turned 60 years old. I am a political
appointee. I was not interviewed for this job. I was invited to
serve the nation. Unlike the civil servant, this appointment is
based on tenure, and it was renewed for another
tenure
of five years in 2005. If it was not a political appointment, why was
it necessary for renewal of my appointment in 2005, when I was not
60 years old and had not served for 35 years? I am not a civil
servant. If any commissioner is, for example, 40 years of age, at
the time his/her term expires, he has to go. So, even if I am 40
years today, come March 2010, I must leave. The story is also
unnecessary because there are many heads of different government
agencies on political appointments that are older than me. This
matter had been raised and was finally resolved by Mr. President
after receiving the advice of the Secretary to the Federal
Government, and the Attorney General of the Federation. I even
consider myself among the youngest when you consider my age against
some of the heads of some agencies of government in the past and
present. So, I don’t know how this one came about again. When I hear
all these things, I begin to wonder who wants Ndukwe out when it is
close to the time I will leave government and retire creditably.
8. On the issue of Pension contribution, the new Pension Act makes it
a personal thing and is not attached to where you work. Anyone can
take up a pension scheme and can carry it from one employee to
another without break. Today, people in the private sector are
paying contributions under the new scheme, just like people in the
public sector, and it is voluntary.
The Attorney-General of the federation has also given his opinion on
the matter. The SGF’s office had exhaustively handled the matter. So
the question is: Who wants Ndukwe out? Who is so impatient about
taking over the job?
There are many self styled apostles of the common man talking about
all kinds of issues. I have word however for the schemers.
Where were they in 2000 when this position was vacant? Where were they
when NCC operated from two detached houses in Garki with only about
60 employees and largely depending on federal government for funding
its budget? Where were they when the number of active subscribers in
the entire country was less than 400,000? When the mobile lines were
just about 25,000 analogue lines? Where were they when major
companies around the world like Vodafone of UK refused to
participate in the bid for the GSM licences in 2000? President
Obasanjo personally called the Prime of Minister of UK to lobby for
Vodafone to come and they still refused. Where were they when our
banks were skeptical about the future of telecommunications in Nigeria
and were hardly lending to the telecom companies? Where were they when
the prediction of the number of subscribers possible in the Nigerian
network was 6 million lines in 5 years! Where were they when it cost
between N180,000 to N250,000 to acquire a
fixed wireless line in Nigeria? Where were they
when to get an analogue mobile line you needed to know the TM of
NITEL and had to cough out between N60,000
to N100,000 to pay for the line? Where were they when most ordinary
Nigerian could not dream of owning a phone line? Where were they
when NCC was moving from one rented office to another? Where were
they when the first transparent Spectrum Auction was held and the
whole world expressed happiness that Nigeria could achieve such
a feat? Where were they when it used to cost N150 per minute for an
international call?
Now the industry has stabilised; Now that the NCC has been
professionalised; now that we have our own head office building that
is one of the best edifices in Abuja; Now that the number of active
connections has grown to 64 million by December 2008; Now that NCC
has earned international reputation as the foremost regulatory body
in Africa, and a foremost regulator in the world; Now that we have
one mobile signal or the other across the country; Now that nearly
all parts of the country are covered by one mobile network or the
other; Now that the universal service fund has been established; Now
that NCC is fully self funding and is a major contributor to the
federation account (over 300 billion Naira paid into federation
account since 2001) Now, the schemers want to come and take over and
plunder the place. For the past 18 months, all we have seen at the
NCC is regular attacks on the Commission and the person of the EVC.
People have been sponsored as possible candidates to replace the
CEO, the chairman and members of the board. The surprising thing
though is that they are so impatient and want it today and now!
The Commission is no more allowed to concentrate on its work. I
believe that it is time for this to stop. I certainly cannot
tolerate the aspect of having to malign the names of people just
because of personal interest and vendetta.
I have therefore advised my lawyers to study the statements made by
various parties in this saga with a view to protecting my name and
that of members of board and management of the Commission. Let me
also make it abundantly clear that I will never succumb to
blackmail. I have no money to give anyone and will not give any
money to anyone no matter the pressure. I did not appoint myself to
the position I occupy at the NCC and will be there for as long as it
pleases Mr. President that I should continue to serve.
My wants are very few and those who have associated with me closely
know that I cannot be and have never been bribed by anyone.
Let me also make it unequivocally clear that I do no hold any interest
in any operating company in Nigeria. Not one! I also
do not have any reason to favour the operating companies over the
subscribers. I find this notion very insulting and annoying.
Everything we do at the NCC has the consumer as our primary focus
and beneficiary. Whether in facilitating investment, ensuring
national spread, facilitating rural access, licensing new operators,
holding consumer outreach programs and consumer parliament sessions,
facilitating number portability, establishing customer call centres,
providing computers and internet facilities in schools, etc all such
efforts are towards serving the consumer better. So it is extremely
preposterous for anyone to suggest that NCC is not looking after the
interest of the consumer.
However, I must warn that some people are playing politics with the
feelings of the innocent people of this country. They are not
interested in telling people the truth about the situation in our
country. They seek for populist statements that have no depth but
only designed to win acclamations. Otherwise, how could anyone say
that tariff rates in Nigeria
are the highest in the world or in Africa?
How could anyone say that situation in the industry calls for a
motion for a matter of urgent national importance? Is it not the
same telecom industry in Nigeria
that is the toast of the world as far as Nigeria is concerned? I
want someone to tell me which sector of the Nigerian economy is more
efficient and performing better than the Telecom Sector? Please tell
me!
Also tell me which regulator has instituted practical measures to
protect the Nigerian consumers and give them a loud voice like the
NCC has done. Please tell me! When we started, we were the one that
made consumers active. We even support consumer advocacy groups to
champion the course of the consumer. Who is saying we do not support
the consumer. In this country today, the telecom consumer has the
loudest voice given to them by the regulator. I do not know any
other sector that provides that.
It is understandable when people giving advice on the basis of seeking
for improvement, but not on the basis of witch-hunting and on the
basis of assassination of character must stop in this country. We
must overcome all these and move forward. When people are in
sensitive positions, they need encouragement, good advice and
support. I am the first to admit that there is always room for
improvement in all fields of human endeavour but I will refuse that
anyone down plays the achievements that have been recorded in this
industry in the past eight years. Achievements that have made Nigeria to rise to the No. 1 position
in subscriber base in Africa from
the bottom of the pyramid about eight years ago. When this journey
started, we were being compared with places like Mongolia, Afghanistan and countries
like that in terms of teledensity. Today we are number one in Africa, so what are we talking about?
How can somebody say that because tax holiday was granted some
companies, that
Nigeria
lost N1.7 Billion. First let me make it clear that the NCC is not
responsible for the granting of tax holiday. This is a provision in
the Nigerian law and it is not only in the telecom sector that it
applies. Every industry that qualifies for it applies. Telecom
companies do not even apply to the NCC for it but to the Nigerian
Investment Promotion Commission, NIPC, and the Ministry of Commerce
and Industry, and other agencies of government dealing on those
kinds of things.
But even at that, how can someone make this kind of statement
regarding the Commission. Between 2001 and 2008, the Commission had
generated, in spectrum fees alone, over N300 Billion into the
Federation Account, not to talk of the multiplier effect of this
industry, the employment that has been generated. The taxes that
have been paid by these companies, not to talk of import duties and
billions of naira that have been paid into the accounts of
government on this score. Before this time, government never earned
anything from telecom, instead, government was pouring in money.
The revenue that has been generated in the industry has been
tremendous and a lot of investment has come into this country on
account of telecom regulation. We are talking about N1.7 Billion and
I don’t even know where he got these estimates because people just
talk. As I said, the multiplier effect of that has been tremendous
and we need not talk about N1.7 billion. And I state categorically
that NCC is not the body that gives pioneers status to any company.
We never participated. Pioneer status was not generated for the
telecom industry. It is a law that exists in Nigeria
and many other industries have benefited from this in the past. NCC, or even the Communications Ministry has
nothing to do with it, in fact. It is the job of the agencies and
Ministries earlier mentioned. I must confess that they did not even
consult to ask us whether they will do it or not. So, for anybody to
wake up and say that we advised, I think you can reach your own
conclusions on that. We never did. And from what has been generated
as revenue from this whole industry, I think it is pedestrian to
tart talking about N1.7 Billion.
I will not be discouraged from continuing to serve my country with
honesty and integrity despite the unnecessary distraction and
sometimes provocation. I know the brains behind this latest move.
What they always forget is the God factor in everything we do in
life. I am a firm believer in the power and favour of the Almighty
God. It is also to Him that we owe the praise for the achievements
made so far in this industry. It is also to Him that I owe the
praise for giving me the wisdom and courage that are required to
discharge my duties. I also thank God for the opportunities to serve
this country at a time like this and being part of catalyzing a
revolution in the industry.
It is God that appoints people to position and it is Him that sustains
people in office.
I want to also state here that there is life after NCC. Just like I
was invited for this national assignment as the CEO of NCC, God
Almighty will lead me to another assignment when He determines that
I have completed my task here.
Let me now go to the substantive issues of Telecom Regulation and what
the future hold for 2009 and beyond
Take the issue of dropped call for example, the truth is that drop
calls occur everywhere in the world. That phrase has existing in the
telecom lexicon before GSM started in Nigeria. Several factors
such as: topography, dense vegetation, buildings especially those
built with concrete are responsible for loss of radio signals which
lead to call drops. The most common cause here in Nigeria
is the fact that cell sites are not nearly enough in number and
spread. Yet operators are having problems with obtaining approvals
for sites from local and state governments. There are also cases
where existing cell sites are disabled due to breakdown,
maintenance, vandalisation, theft of generators, lack of diesel, or
out right sabotage. Once a cell site is disabled, it affects service
in the area.
We must also get focused on real issues, such as efforts to improve on
the broadband connectivity in this country in 2009. There is need to
continue to urge the operating companies to roll out 3G services so
that more and more people will have access to broadband Internet and
things like that because that is the next wave of revolution that we
will see in this country. We want to make sure that this network
improves. And sometimes I ask, is this
network not improving? Was the quality of service situation in
December 2007 the same as December 2008? I know that what happened
was as result of regulatory activities. We warned them against
promotions and that anyone whose promotion affects the network would
be banned for two years without lifting and they became responsible.
We will encourage them to expand, and I can assure you we will not
allow them to rest. We will not tolerate any company that does not
take the Nigerian people very seriously. Nobody in NCC will do
anything that will support the operators against the subscribers. It
is unthinkable; it has not happened and will not happen.
Nigerian subscribers deserve a better network. That is what we believe
in, and that is what we strive to achieve.
I thank you all for listening.
Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, OFR
CEO/EVC, NCC.
January
31, 2009
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