The more the merrier
By
Many months ago, out of frustration from lack of service from my telephone, I wanted to desperately buy myself a mobile telephone. I wanted to buy from Intercellular.
I know my limitations: I am not a particularly deft hand when it comes to technical matters. When decisions are to be made I turn to those who I know are knowledgeable in such matters.
I called in the in-house guru who told me I could not have one since government seemed to have suspended that possibility in the wake of the pending auction of the GSM. He told me that were it even possible, it would be expensive relative to what I would have to pay when the GSM project took off. I took his advice and continued the frustration that all phone users are accustomed to in this country.
My phone packed up the day I stepped back into this country, precisely Tuesday March 13, 2001. The fault was formally registered at 10.35 a.m. on March 19, 2001. I was told that a careless road contractor had done some damage to the underground cable
But NITEL does not seem to care about our feelings; about the loss to our business; about the damage to relations that ought to be kept alive by constant contacts.
Frustrated again, I turned to my guru for alternatives. I wanted to take advantage of PCL. He still cautioned that I wait just for another month or so. He told me things would be a lot cheaper then. I understand Okoh. He knows the advantage to be reaped from the economy of scale. He knows the danger that monopoly poses. He, like most of us, is an apostle of deregulation.
Because of my frustration and my interest in the well-being of this country, I have followed keenly the GSM auction and its aftermath.
That four companies were successful at the auction has ceased to be news. But there is the case of one that has left a very sour taste in the mouth.
There is Communications Investment Limited (CIL) that won a bid having deposited $20 million but whose licence was cancelled (?) on what I consider a purely technical ground. The story as I learnt is that the company’s financiers BNP Paribas Bank of Paris, France, did not want to part with $264.8 million without some assurances.
They paid to Nigerian Communications Commission’s account at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, alright, but attached some conditions. The result was that technically the fund did not materialise at the due date. So, the licence was cancelled.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has championed transparency and, because of that, it does not want to be seen as lacking in firmness. It says that was why it acted the way it did.
But there are other factors that it ought to have taken into consideration: Any investor who has deposited $20 million cannot be anything but serious; any investor that makes a further deposit of $264.8 million cannot be more serious.
I translate that as an expression of confidence in the economy and in the government of Nigeria. Besides, a huge investment in that order can only be the aggregate of investments of a lot of other people who have confidence in our economy. If for the purpose of argument the $20 million represents Nigerian aspect of the investment, it is an unmistakable stamp of their approval of the direction of our economy.
What kind of signal will go to the domestic and international investing public when a multi-billion dollar investment is cancelled just with a wave of the hand?
I read the clause 4.7.11 which NCC invoked: "failure to pay the full amount within 14 business days of the grant of the Digital Mobile Licence (DML) will result in the forfeiture of the bidder’s deposit (emphasis mine) and forfeiture of the bidder’s licence".
That is harsh and very inconsiderate. It is not equitable. Any penalty that does not make room for option is arbitrary.
I would expect that the culprit would be penalized for lateness.
What we have seen and heard are the deposit of $20 million and $264.8 million dollars respectively. Do we advert our minds to the fact that money just does not manifest; there are hundred, nay, thousands of faceless Nigerians who would have been working for the organisations and potential hundreds and thousands of others who look forward to working for them? That action has thrown them into misery. Do we want that for our people? When Okoh asked me to wait a little, he had in mind that the more players there are in the market, the better and easier it will be for me and other people like me in the country. Competition will bring out the best in our market place. The strong will survive and the weak will die.
I hope the President will read this because the buck stops at his desk. His has been the crusade to open up the country; to tell investors that we have stopped doing business like the military; that we now subscribe to the norms as obtained in the civilised world.
I do not ask for concession for people not deserving but I ask that we do not discourage those who have faith in us and in our country. I am not talking law here; I am talking about the strength of morality in the course of running our lives.