Wednesday, Feb 26 2025.
In the face of the prevailing economic doldrums the nation is currently plunged into, it is highly irresponsible, provocative, and unreasonably exploitative for the telecom services providers to have increased their operational service charges as against what is obtainable in the global telecom system. Regrettably, outrageous tax exploitations have continuously remained one major instrument of oppression the Nigerian government has been using to govern the polity. In the last few months, the Electricity Regulatory Commission through DISCOs increased electricity tariff charges in total violations of the Electricity Regulations Act, and nothing meaningful was done to improve the system as the nation continues to experience gridlock collapse, poor power supplies, and other avoidable crises in the power sector.
The retrogressive present state of the nation’s economy demands government’s urgent attention to reverse the trend than her taking to arbitrarily approve the increase in telecom service charges with adverse effects on the citizens who have indirectly been exploited by the government. Regardless of warnings from the labour unions and other stakeholders against the proposed hike, the nation’s network services providers such as MTN and AIRTEL defiantly increased their data subscription charges to the extent that one gigbite is currently charged at 600 naira as against the original 350 naira with no options for megabytes subscriptions.
It is highly abrasive the ways and manners Nigerians are being exploited by these network providers in their daily tariff and other associated charges with no commiserate consistency in network provisions and service availability. Highly worrisome that the government of the day despite the prevailing hardship in the nation approved such a disturbing, aggravating, and irresponsible telecom tariff hike. Also, tear-arousing is the fact that these network-providing companies have been generating huge chunks of profits from network users with no room for corporations, shareholders, stakeholdership, and involvement of Nigerians in their asset ownership acquisition rather than the government arbitrarily imposing high tax drives to serve her selfish ends at the expense of the governed.
To drive the nail in, this unfair telecom tax regime would have extreme and adverse effects on the citizens, therefore, I call on the APC-led federal government to quickly reverse such an irrationally conceived and economically weakening decision to help sustain the frequency with which the Nigerians have been surviving the current economic stigma orchestrated by poor leadership quotients of the present government. The recent autobiography of Nigeria’s former Military President, Rt. Major Gen. Ibrahim Babangida( IBB) exposed many hidden bad pages of the nation’s political leadership of which the government is expected to clean the stained board through reshaping her policies in the right tracks of excellence, especially ones directly affecting the lives of the masses.
Our reflections on achieving a better tomorrow rely on our unreserved commitment to building a nation where the welfare of the people is promoted rather than being shortchanged. A political and economic society where leadership is seen as an opportunity to serve rather than one laced with the intent of achieving one’s selfish quests for power, a nation holistically depleted of its unfair adherence to a strict capitalist mentality by providing an enabling environment where all means and factors of productions, as well as other related economic activities are justly made accessible to all. It is achievable as the government simply redirects and streamlines its economic policies to be compatible with the thrilling and competing fourth industrial revolution standard.
Chief Dr. Emeka Kalu,
President,
Eck Foundation.
