BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE Benin

IN Benin, the Edo State Capital, the NITEL territorial headquarters, which at its height was a beehive of  activities as contractors of different shades and colour, artisans and all manners of people made the office their second home, is now decaying. Situated along the ever busy Benin – Auchi – Okene- Lokoja highway beside the Court of Appeal premises, the once magnificent three-storey building is now a ghost of itself.

Even, the telecoms office adjacent the Benin branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that was salvaged from the fire incident that razed part of it to the ground in 1997 was not left out of the rot that befell NITEL installations in Edo State.

Vanguard checks revealed that the structure is now covered with weeds, it houses reptiles and is a haven for criminals. Also, the once prized building has been vandalized with louvers, doors and window protectors removed.

Mr. Goodluck Oghuza, a stakeholder, who lives at the Federal Housing Estate, Ikpoba Hills, Benin, adjacent to the decrepit edifice  told Vanguard that the building now posed security risk to the housing estate and neighborhood. According to him, “since 2007 when staff of the organization stopped skeletal service, there has been a lot of security challenges. Since the only gate man that was looking after the place left in 2009, criminals of different shades have found the place a safe haven for  their nefarious activities.

“I must tell you, most nights we sleep with one eye open because of the activities of the hoodlums and this we have reported to the police.

If the government has nothing to do with the building again since NITEL is dead, they should ask any of their ministries or parastatal that has no office in Benin to occupy it.

If they cannot do that, they should sell the building to willing Nigerians who will make judicious use of the place” Also, Mr. Tony Osauzo, a journalist did not mince words on the rot and decay of NITEL facilities in Edo State in particular and the nation in general when he said, “the structure is an eye sore and speaks volume about our maintenance culture as a people and country, Government and those in government system tend to regard public assets as nobody’s assets.

If not so,  NITEL’s territorial headquarters in Benin ought not to be in such bad shape and condition. No individual who owns such a property will allow it to be vandalized and decayed to the level it is today. We must decide as a people to do something about our maintenance culture and challenge the present unpleasant situation”

On his part, Mr. Adebanji Aluko said:  “It is very shameful because it speaks a lot about our maintenance culture in our country. If you visit any old NITEL offices, the buildings are in sorrowful state and it is high time we did something about the rot and decay.

“The litigation over the privatization of NITEL has taken such a long  time and we should not make our national heritage such as NITEL to be destroyed. We are aware that NITEL is not functioning again, they are no longer competitive and cannot fit into the present telecommunications market, but its buildings and infrastructure should be put into other uses”

At the Akpakpava office, one of the two gate men employed to keep eyes on the office simply said, “Since 2007, there has been no services. You can see the abandoned vehicles that littered the entire premises”

36,000 lines, 17 facilities abandoned in Kano

BY ABDULSALAM ABUBAKAR
In Kano, NITEL infrastructure dot strategic locations within the City Business District.  The company  has a territorial office, area office, exchange area office, training school, and exchange offices in about 13 local council areas of the state.

Vanguard checks reveal that the abandoned exchange office located at Zoo Road by Dangi Pharmacy has 10,000 lines, Post office road exchange office also boast of 20, 000 lines, while each of the 13 local government area offices has 500 exchange lines.

Investigation further revealed that some of the properties have been encroached into and this is noticeable at the territorial headquarters close to Zoo Road mosque.

The training school sitting on an expanse of land has been taken over by a registered communication firm while its staff quarters opposite the school along Katsina Road has equally been sold out.

Some offices, have guards who in most cases operate on casual basis. A large shopping mall has sprung up inside the NITEL international exchange office located close to Motor Traffic Division of the Nigerian Police Division (Metro) and it could not be ascertained whether it was legally occupied. The story is the same at the NITEL exchange offices in the 13 local councils.

Deploy us to the Ministry of Communications, workers cry out in Ekiti

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

Before the sale of NITEL in 2006 during the regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo the company had strong branches Ado Ekiti which is the state capital and major parts of the state, especially in Ikere, Ikole and Ijero Ekiti where the total number of permanent staff rose to about 450 people.

Today, in Ado Ekiti, it is interesting to note that NITEL is parading one permanent staff in the whole state who is overseeing the properties of the moribund company with about 15 security officials who are under a contract appointment with the company. The lone staff is said not have received any salary for the past 12 months, while security staff were paid their salary 18 months ago.

The company has movable and immovable properties in different parts of the state. Most of the properties are transmission lines, masts, buildings, equipment and vehicles.

A staff told Vanguard that the workers were disengaged in 2006 and that some of the workers who are ordinarily expected to be on life pension were given just five years pension, adding that the treatment meted to the staff forced them to go to court to seek legal redress.

‘’We don’t even know who is responsible for the payment of our salary, whether it is the BPE or office of the Accountant General of the Federation. For the few of us who are permanent staff, they paid our February, 2012 salary in December 2012, while the security staff who are on contract were paid 18 months ago.

‘We want government to assist us by looking into our problem, government can deploy us to the Ministry of Communications. We are here doing nothing and nobody is interested in solving our problem,” the staff said.