Now - back to the issue at hand. In the words of the IT & Telecoms Digest report, “ironically, in spite of this monumental leap forward that the country has achieved in so short a time, it remains a puzzle why there are no Nigerians occupying the chief executive officer position in any of the telecoms companies in the country…In all, the percentage of CEOs of Nigerian extraction is less than 30 percent of the country’s industry total.” Is a glorious chapter of Nigerian history being written without Nigerians? If so, should we be worried?
One of the most important items on my monthly reading fare is IT & Telecoms Digest; an all-gloss monthly magazine published by Ikeja, Lagos-based, Belmang Limited. It is a world-class publication that covers the information technology and telecommunications sector globally from an unabashedly Nigerian perspective. Proactive on issues affecting the sector and reasonably relaxed in its presentation, it manages to educate and inform me about Nigeria’s most deservedly celebrated success story. Now and again, it also sets me thinking about the Nigerian condition, our vast potentials and possibilities and our tendency to self-immolation. Its current cover choice did just that.
Headlined, “Black Versus White; Indigenous Versus Foreign, Picking CEOs for Nigerian Telecom Operations”, it highlighted the current situation in that vibrant sector as it applies to headship of the major operators. Obviously triggered by the departure of the only Nigerian CEO among the top-six companies, Mr Bayo Ligali, until September 18, CEO of Zain Nigeria, the report should at least restart a debate on an issue we had raised in a piece, “Omolayole and Integrity In Corporate Governance” (March 26, 2008).
But first a few facts and figures as gleaned from the magazine. With about 70 million telephone users, Nigeria is the undisputed leader in subscriber numbers on the continent of Africa. This is a phenomenal rise from the paltry under-500,000 lines in use before the communication revolution of 2001, which began with the introduction of the global system of mobile telecommunication (GSM) that year. The growth is such that it has changed the face and turned the fortunes of the global industry. Admitting that much recently was no less a person than the incumbent Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union, Dr Hamadoun Toure. On a visit to Abuja, Nigeria last month, Toure, a Malian and first African to hold that office, proudly declared: “For the past five years and the first time in 144 years, Africa was recognised as one of the best carriers of the ICT sector. Nigeria is currently the continent’s largest market. This did not just happen by chance. It required good leadership by government, good regulation that is independent and committed”.
Toure’s reference to good leadership and good regulation is incidentally one of the most important single achievements of democratic governance yet. Beginning with the issuance of licenses through an auction that was universally acknowledged as one of the most transparent ever, the National Communications Communication, NCC has continued to attract commendation internationally. This might explain why current Nigerian Information and Communications Minister, Professor Dora Akunyili, in spite of the widely known frosty relationship between her and Engr Ernest Ndukwe, Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, had to join the praise choir.
Receiving Toure in her office in Abuja, she was reported as saying: “I don’t want to miss congratulating the EVC of the NCC for the good job NCC has done in this country since 2001 – during the GSM auction which is still being celebrated in this country and the way they have ensured that growth is steady…” Interestingly, she had a cultural and statistical explanation for the unprecedented growth of telephony numbers in the country. After explaining that her motivation for wanting to “continue to work to ensure that we improve services,” was “so that we have service that Nigerians can smile and be happy about”, she noted that “the average Nigerian is ready to skip lunch to buy airtime (because) we spend a lot of time on telephone. In fact some people culturally pick up the telephone and praise God first, which is wonderful, and then ask after your family before discussing the issue. That is why 10 subscribers in the US or Britain equals one subscriber in Nigeria.”
The success story in this sector, however, goes beyond the number of telephone users or any ministerial mathematics. Nigerian operators have begun to think beyond that. Globacom, a wholly owned Nigerian company is leading penetration into other countries in the West African sub-region with presence in Benin Republic, roll-out imminent in Ghana and, Cote d’Ivoire a near possibility. The same company recently landed Glo-1, its submarine cable system in Nigeria, a world first by a single company; existing such systems being consortia affairs. Another submarine project Main One by another full-blooded Nigerian company, Main One Technologies is on the way. These are massive heavy data capable systems that will connect Nigeria to virtually every part of the world. Within the country itself thousands of fibre optic cable lines are being laid including MTN Nigeria’s 3,400 kilometre Y’ello Bahn launched much earlier.
Nor is Nigeria’s newfound ICT leadership in Africa only region-deep. At international ICT forums, the country provides leadership. In a preview of the ITU WORLD 2009 in the magazine, Dennis Onwuegbu recalled how the Nigerian pavilion at the ITU Africa congress in Cairo, Egypt last year drew one of the highest numbers of visitors. He wrote in part: “the green and white colours of Nigeria which was conspicuously hoisted inside the expansive Cairo International Conference Centre became a major attraction throughout the four-day event. And the presence of Nigerian government officials, operators including the country’s two leading computer manufacturers – Zinox and Omatek; industry regulator, NCC; a financial institution, Access Bank; and an overwhelming number of ICT journalists were all that the country needed to make the difference at the event.”
Now - back to the issue at hand. In the words of the IT & Telecoms Digest report, “ironically, in spite of this monumental leap forward that the country has achieved in so short a time, it remains a puzzle why there are no Nigerians occupying the chief executive officer position in any of the telecoms companies in the country…In all, the percentage of CEOs of Nigerian extraction is less than 30 percent of the country’s industry total.” Is a glorious chapter of Nigerian history being written without Nigerians? If so, should we be worried? (CONTINUES)
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