By Donu Kogbara

MTN’S service has never been ideal and has been even worse than normal recently, so I finally lost my temper and called Funmi Omogbenigun, MTN’s General Manager, Corporate Communications, to rant about the problems I was having, to bitterly accuse MTN of ripping Nigerians off by charging high prices without performing well in return and to ask her why MTN can’t do better.

Funmi, to her credit, did not respond to my wahala defensively. She apologised unreservedly for the inconveniences that have been inflicted on me and other MTN users then patiently and intelligently explained the status quo as follows:-

“It is not true that Nigerians are being ripped off. Our tariffs compare very competitively to other African  countries….and we have  various price discounts that people can avail themselves of according to their needs , rather than a flat rate regime. And we routinely compensate our customers through their phones when we have serious quality of service issues that are specific to MTN. It is not something that we make a song and dance of on the pages of newspapers, but we do it…

“...Regarding technical hitches like fluctuating signals, poor reception and calls that get cut off halfway through conversations, these have arisen for a number of reasons, one being that demand outstrips supply in Nigeria, another being our over-reliance on the mobile network and the fact that more and more people can afford mobile phones and are coming onto the networks…

“...The entire industry suffers from limited capacity – especially in an increasingly discounted tariff regime. If you compare Nigeria to the UK, for example, you will see what I mean when I say that MTN and other Nigerian telecoms companies are under severe pressure…

“…Nigeria is four times the size of the UK and has a population of l50 million. But there are no more than 15,000 mobile phone base stations in Nigeria and our fixed network infrastructure is practically non-existent…Whereas, in the UK, which has a population of about 62 million,  not only does every building have a landline facility, but they also have over 66,000 base stations!…

“…The entire industry here accounts for 7.8percent of GDP and has achieved in 10 years what it took Europe 50 years to achieve. And we add a lot of value. Our rapid growth is an international benchmark for what can be achieved in a Third World economy.

The success of telecommunications companies – particularly MTN – has debunked the myth that Nigeria cannot be an investment destination of choice and that one cannot run a vibrant ethical business model here. We employ and train millions of Nigerians and pay a lot of tax – N546,113,134,993 in 2010 alone. ..

“…MTN Nigeria even exports home grown talent elsewhere – the new CEO of MTN Ghana is a Nigeria, born, bred and educated in Nigeria. The CFO of MTN Iran is Nigerian, The Chief Information and Technology officer of MTN Zambia is Nigerian. And there are others…

“…I would also like to point out that we contribute significantly in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility projects and sponsorships.  But, despite my belief that most of the criticisms we receive are unfair,  we DO understand the frustrations of the general public and recognise that we and other operators need to continue to invest in network expansion to achieve the kind of capacity that translates to consistently world class quality of service and very cheap tariffs across the board…

“...MTN Nigeria has consistently addressed these issues by a very aggressive network roll out since 2001. This year alone,  MTN Nigeria alone with gulp  70 percent of CAPEX for the West &Central Africa region, which translates to  $1billion in 2011 alone. We are expanding the fibre-optic cable network and the micro-wave backbone we have built round Nigeria. We are improving transmission, building more base stations and  substantially increasing the capacity of our network…

“…Government is key to providing an enabling business environment and can play a part by assisting with improving infrastructure and security. Ours is probably the largest network in the world that runs almost entirely on generators and our facilities (we have over 7000 base stations) are regularly vandalised by criminal syndicates who steal our diesel, make away with generators and attack security personnel.  Government can also assist by addressing multiple taxation and indiscriminate closure of our facilities by unauthorised persons and bodies under different guises…

“…Please rest assured that every waking moment of every MTN employee is geared towards resolving these challenges…”

Dear Readers, I felt mollified when I had heard Funmi out. Do you?

Keep them out!

IN many constituencies, blatantly unsuitable new candidates have been imposed by whichever party happens to control that area.  If you have been saddled with an aspiring legislator or governor you don’t trust and don’t want, do not adopt a defeatist stance. Do not stay at home complaining about the situation.

Do not assume that the men and women in question are going to win anyway,  simply because they are being supported by powerful cabals who possess the ability to buy or force them in. Remember that Nigeria CAN become more democratic and the kind of place where the will of the People can’t be ignored.

So, yes, I know that it is easy to be overcome by despair and to give up on a system that has let you down so many times and in so many ways. But do not succumb to this temptation. Get off your backside, head to the nearest polling booth and use your votes to keep bad eggs out of jobs they do not deserve!

Kick them out!

TOMORROW, the long-awaited voting season will finally kick off and it is probably impossible to have completely free and fair polls in a country that is essentially underdeveloped (deep-seated dysfunctions will take decades to eradicate).

But, given that Professor Jega, the INEC Chairman, has a good reputation and has, throughout his illustrious career, often been described as a principled gentleman who doesn’t tolerate nonsense, I hope that I am not being naive to believe that these elections will be the most credible we have ever had.

My fellow Nigerians, let us pray that our votes will truly count on this occasion. And let us at least try to improve our political landscape by getting rid of rulers and representatives who have taken us for a ride and served us uselessly.

If your National Assembly or State House of Assembly member or Governor is a joker, thief or thug who has behaved abysmally, kick him out!

Responses to: donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk or to 0802 747 6458 (texts only). Please kindly note that unless you specifically request anonymity, your comments may be published in Vanguard with your names and numbers or e-mail addresses attached.