Still on the MTN fine

Quite a lot has been written on the $5.2 billion fine imposed on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that another piece might appear to be overkill. That was my feeling late last week until a friend returned from a business trip from Ethiopia.

While handing over the beautifully wrapped Ethiopian coffee he bought for me, he disclosed how some South Africans he met on the trip actually believe that Nigeria was broke and that was why our country was out to get MTN at all cost. Usually one who has great control of his emotion, my friend of two decades and a journalist too, spoke of how he felt bad and angry that the story of the fine has been so twisted and made to be another drama in the perennial Nigeria versus South Africa rivalry.

Just as I was putting final touch to this piece, however, the story broke that MTN CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, a Zimbabwean, had resigned due to the crisis its Nigerian subsidiary is enmeshed in. Just to refresh our memory, the fine that I decided to reflect in dollars to show its severity and not as a mark of disrespect to our currency unit, the naira, was imposed by NCC for MTN’s failure to cut off five million unregistered subscribers after a deadline of which the company was a signatory to the agreement. Whether it has to do with the kidnap saga of former minister and secretary to the government of the federation, Olu Falae, is immaterial, but the fact remains that MTN was party to the agreement and the regulatory agency decided to wield the big stick.

As a Nigerian, it’s been quite difficult and painful for me to determine which is more painful: the impunity by companies, both local and foreign, operating in our shores aided and abetted by regulatory agencies, or the crass defence of these companies by our fellow citizens. This column seems inadequate to detail the arrogance of foreign companies and the way they treat Nigerians. When MTN arrived Nigeria in 2001, the company boldly told us that per second billing was not possible until another telecommunication company, Glo, owned by a Nigerian, rescued us from their clutches. Having watched MTN from afar, I refused to become a subscriber save for my former place of employment where one of its lines was given to me as my official telephone line. I promptly ditched the number when I exited the company and continue with my silent protest against a company known for its serial disrespect to its subscribers. Let’s not talk about airtime being wiped off customers’ phones or forced subscription into different services just to cream off money from customers.

Part of the jejune arguments being canvassed by some Nigerian economic saboteurs, yes that’s what they are actually; was that the fine is too high and it will not make our country attractive to foreign investors. I wonder whether they slept through their secondary school economics class, as one does not need a Nobel in economics to know that these investors are attracted to Nigeria like parasites to a host and they actually need us more than we need them. Similarly, foreign investors should be very comfortable with the fact that law and order are maintained in the environment they are operating.

And while these MTN apologists cleverly forgot that two Nigerian banks were sanctioned recently too for flouting the treasury single account directive by the Central Bank with fines running into billions of naira, they also choose not to remember that the fine was not imposed arbitrarily. It was calculated based on the number of subscribers and the days MTN refused to do the right thing. If that’s one of the things we are going to gain under the Buhari government, then it is really a period of change, as companies will no longer strut around like peacocks corrupting regulatory agencies in the process. Some years back, a House of Representatives member nearly committed class suicide when he said on the floor of the House that telephone companies give them free airtime regularly and thereby compromise their oversight functions. He was promptly suspended and made to recant the statement before being allowed back to the house. We must ensure that MTN pays the fine before the deadline of November 16 and with that, it will take Nigeria more seriously.

To show that MTN is not what it claims to be as far as regulations are concerned, it is now the subject of a Johannesburg Stock Exchange probe into possible contraventions of the bourse’s listing rules as it failed to disclose the fine in a timely nature thereby raising questions about its governance. Nigeria is MTN’s largest operation and in fact the reason why it is the largest telephone company in Africa, with 233 million subscribers in 22 countries, it would still be here after paying the fine just as its commercial says.

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