In time past, NITEL held sway over the telecommunications industry like a colossus, under a monopoly regime. Government’s ability to efficiently run commercial enterprises has always been questioned. Privatisation seemed to offer a better way to manage the then only national telecommunications carrier.
It was finally privatised and acquired with a sigh of relief. But almost all the gains of the privatisation have eluded thisone-time telecommunications giant. The whole process has run into several hitches and today, NITEL though not yet forgotten, is not operational. Looking at its books, we see red inks figuring a backlog of unpaid salaries, debts owed banks, staff pension liabilities and debts owed other operators as interconnectivity fees.
NITEL’s sale to Transnational Corporation plc (Transcorp) in 2006 marked another phenomenon of woes as the buyer itself suffered and still suffers from systemic malfunctioning as seen in the wavering board and management. Today, top executives of Transcorp are telling the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) all that they know about the nose-diving financial fortunes of an incorporated mega conglomerate that has become an empty estate. We may have to believe that Transcorp was hasty over acquiring NITEL without knowing exactly what to do with it and what state it was before acquisition. We cannot separate the two firms when looking at their dismal outlook, because of the influence of one on the other.
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A new core investor is being sought to take over 29 percent of Transcorp’s 51percent and 22 percent of government’s 49 percent to make 51percent majority stake in both NITEL and MTEL. The new helmsman at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) should painstakingly carry out the sale of NITEL and MTEL to a core investor that has the technical, financial and human capital to turn it around. We request that BPE and Transcorp reveal the real state of things in these companies to the new core investor, pay off the debts accrued before now, so that the new core investor can start on a clean slate. The success of the new investor should be of interest to the government and Transcorp because they remain investors in the telecommunications firms.
These fresh efforts are worth taking as there still exists, an expanding telecommunications market in Nigeria. It is intriguing to imagine that it was after NITEL went into coma that some new telecommunications service providers like Glo, Starcomms, Visafone and lately Etisalat registered their networks on the shores of Nigeria, and are enjoying increasing patronage. Some new companies (Mobitel, Spectranet and Multilinks) have just been granted licences in the 2.3 GHZ frequency band by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). NITEL’s land lines, if properly re-launched, would still enjoy enough patronage that can guarantee profitability in no too long a time from now. MTEL had a deep hold in the GSM market place before it slumbered into a coma.
NITEL’s backbone infrastructure and goodwill are both tangible and intangible assets that can still be revived and if efficiently used can return NITEL to the league of commercial giants in Nigeria, but not without extra sacrifices. Government needs to pursue the privatisation of NITEL strictly following due process. If the new core investors can do a good due diligence on NITEL, buy it and float it afresh, there is some substance of assurance that the giant can live again.
