Thumbs up must go to the Nigerian telecom consumer. For years before now, he wallowed in abject lack of the commonest communications tool, the telephone; and his hope for that future when things would work right, was sustained by an unknown force and an enduring instinct never before seen on the surface of this earth.

For over 40 years while the nation’s telecom climate was ruled by a monopoly, NITEL, the ubiquitous Nigerian consumer learnt to suffer in silence. Making contact with distant relations, foreign business partners and kith and kin within the country was forever a nightmare. Yet, in all those troubles of more than four decades, the consumer learnt to smile and be grateful to his Creator for the little mercies of NITEL and its pseudo-telecom service.

But, all that changed since 2001 when a new hope was ignited with the licensing of GSM operators and the explosion that followed it. In the first year of the GSM operations of MTN Nigeria and then Econet Wireless, the horizon assumed a new dimension. The modest number of at least combined one million lines from the operators in the first one year was outstripped. And since then, it has been from one level of record-setting to another, putting the country on the global map of leading countries with the fastest growth in telecoms.

From a mere 450,000 active users in 1999, the Nigerian figure has jumped to an industry all time high of more than 46 million active lines. Internet usage has also grown significantly from nothingness to some modest millions thus bringing the country’s teledensity from an uninspiring 0.45 per cent to nearly 24 per cent as at the close of business in 2007. Yet, every indication confirms that this is just the beginning; that the market would still experience more growth.

This phenomenal growth has been made possible by the Nigerian consumer who has sustained hope even in times of hopelessness. An enthusiastic lot, the Nigerian consumer has consistently exhibited an unmatched capacity to absorb shocks and faster than any other known group from other parts of the world, continues to provide support to businesses where they see a ray of hope in the operations of a company.

Indeed, it is this resilience that has set the Nigerian consumers apart from any other type of people from all over the world. They continually support their own and foreigners alike especially when there is a chance that the services such companies would provide would give them a new lease on life and draw them close to the global civilisation.

Therefore, it was not a surprise that barely six years into the GSM operation that the impressive run of the technology in Nigeria ran into murky waters with a threatening fall in the quality of service provided by operators. This was predicted given the paucity in the nation’s infrastructure.

The consuming Nigerian public since late 2006 has suffered poor quality of service in the form of dropped calls, undelivered SMS, incomplete calls, and so on. This ordinarily has spelt more frustration to users and businesses with its attendant loss in revenue and man hour to consumers.

In other countries, the alarming dimension of this horrible experience at its peak in 2007 is enough to cause disturbances in the form of protests and destruction of properties of operators and investors. Not the Nigerian consumer; they quickly console themselves with a flashback to where they are coming from – those days when there was hardly any access to any form of telecommunications and there was nobody to hold responsible for it.

It takes only a considerate people to appreciate that this is a new era with all the hope that comes with it. And that protesting violently would only aggravate the situation and this could mean loss of the gains that have already being made in so short a time.

So, instead of taking the law into their hands or resorting to violent reactions, exploiting the innovative channel of the Consumer Parliament provided by the celebrated Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has become the wisest thing to do for the Nigerian consumer. Each session of the parliament has continued to witness the participation of many more Nigerians from different walks of life who cherish the opportunity the forum provides to meet face to face with representatives of the operators and present their grievances to them, as best they can.

Playing the unbiased umpire that it has always been, the NCC has continued to assure the consumers of its determination to protect their interests and that is the reason why today, two of the operators, MTN Nigeria and Celtel Nigeria have agreed to pay compensation to their subscribers in the face of below standard performance of their services at a certain time early in the year.

Although this first example of how to protect the consumer was the subject of a litigation with the court standing on the side of the regulator, the three parties will be the best for it as the implication of this is a strong trust and confidence in one another’s resolve to play the game by the rules; respecting in the process, each other’s position in the success chain.

Today, while the world celebrates the success of the Nigerian telecommunications industry, it should not lose sight of the significant role of the wonderful consumers of this nation whose patience and determination to see the technologies succeed have been most outstanding. In fact, this display of patriotism and support may well be described as unparalleled in the world.

As many visitors to the country would have observed, there is an air of enthusiasm often displayed by the Nigerian consumer that is hard to come by in any other country of the world-advanced or developing when it concerns the ongoing revolution in the sector.

Perhaps, it is this unflinching support and dedication to a cause that makes everyone believe that at 46 million active subscribers, Nigeria has barely scratched the surface of its potentiality. They agree that well over a 100 million lines may just be the average for the Nigerian nation.

It must however be stated that while there is no doubt that the Nigerian consumer is one of the most patriotic in the world, this humane and considerate disposition to the challenges of an emerging telecom market must not be taken for granted by a few unscrupulous businesses in the sector who would want to take for granted this large heartedness of the Nigerian consumer.

Thus, protecting the interest of these wonderful consumers must always be the priority of the regulator, government and social interest groups, because in the long run the consumers are actually the real purpose, subject and object the telecom industry exists and thrives on.