By MKPE ABANG
Even if you did not plan this as an end of year gift to yourself, not even as a new year lift, it is sure going to be worth all your investment. It is the fight of the century, yes; it will be much more than a Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in the rumble of the jungle; but keep one thought in mind, which should also serve as well-meant piece of advice: when two elephants fight, it is the grass the suffers.
So be careful not to become the grass at the end of the encounter.
Africa’s biggest and most influential telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in the blue corner, ready to do battle with Africa’s largest and leading telecommunications operator, MTN, in the yellow corner – or is it y’ello corner?
Well, believe it or not, this is for real! Seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) already lined up by the operator – in the first instance. Wait till the NCC announces its own list of defence lawyers – plus, it is the agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Muhammadu Buhari, a retired Army general, as president!
Look, book your ticket now; you bet your life, the arena is going to be jammed packed, with little or no room for even the air to escape. It is the battle for the soul of the Nigerian mobile phone subscriber. And, unlike those fights in small stadiums with small rings, this one will be fought in a stadium so big it can take 175 million spectators; and 170 million are already potential ticket holders; the other spectators will flock in from all countries of the world – yes, every country of the world will have representatives in this stadium that is 923,768 km² in size.
It’s the battle of the titans: the telecommunications regulator of the world’s most populous Blackman’s country is set to do battle with Africa’s most successful, indeed, leading mobile phone operator.
Again, as they say: when two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers. And, the saying is stretched even further: and when two elephants make love, it’s the same grass that suffers. So, head or tail, the grass seems to be at the receiving end.
When the going seemed good between MTN and NCC, some say the subscribers were suffering, that the regulator had been treating the operator with kid gloves. Of course there are many who saw it differently; that indeed, the regulator needed to nurture and support the operators, to grow the networks and serve the subscribers better. But even as that argument went, it would appear, the subscribers suffered; or, did they?
Well, now with the battle of the century, an epic battle by all standards, about to begin, will the subscribers suffer? If that saying that when two elephants do battle, it’s the grass that suffers is anything to go by, then the Nigerian telecom subscribers should gird their loins – for a long time of suffering!
Already, long before the battle moved from the court of public opinion to the courtroom of legal pugilism, the entire process had been tainted by political suspicions – typical with relationships between South Africa and Nigeria: it was widely held in many quarters that President Muhammadu Buhari personally stepped into the fray and ordered the unimaginable fine to be slammed on MTN; it was also further held that both President Buhari and President Jacob Zuma had held discussions on the subject.
In fact, in the in-between time, President Buhari visited South Africa for the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation, which had several African leaders and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, in attendance; that both Zuma and Buhari had discussed the MTN fine on the side-lines of the meeting. This could not be independently confirmed, though. Still, the suspicion of political interference remained.
Then of course the larger implication of MTN paying the fine, which was originally N1.04 trillion, but which was unilaterally reduced by NCC by 25 per cent, to now stand at N780 billion, which has raised many questions: if MTN were to pay such a fine, how will the company sustain its operations? Will it not lead to massive sack of workers? Will it not affect its ability to continue to deliver services? Should this lead to the parent company closing down the MTN Nigeria operations, what impact will this have on the Nigerian telecom industry in general, given that MTN holds about 52 per cent share of the mobile subscriptions in the country? Will or could such an action not take Nigeria back to the days of old when access to a telephone line was only for the super-rich?
In fact, many even ask: if mobile operation in a market like Nigeria, with myriads of problems, is such an easy business, why did Nigerian government’s own mobile company, M-Tel, which got the same licence at the time MTN and Econet got licensed, not make a success of its operations?
More questions and many more questions! However, we have to keep our fingers crossed, till the court decides the matter.