Telecommunications companies operating in the country have raised an alarm over the pressure on the nation’s critical telecom infrastructure by government agencies and vandals, warning that this would have negative impact on the provision of basic communication service.
The First Vice President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Engineer Ikechukwu Nnamani, who made this known on behalf of ATCON, advocated for continuous education of government agencies across the various tiers of government on the cost implications of their actions on shutdown of telecom infrastructure in the country.
Nnamani, who spoke in Lagos, stated that the only way we can mitigate this hydra headed monster that is impeding growth in our telecom sector is to continuously sensitization and education of people on the negative impact of their actions.
“We’ve had cases where people don’t have access to basic communication service purely because somebody has gone to vandalized it and the sad part is, we can understand if an ignorant person who is looking for cheap money ignorantly goes to vandalize such a critical infrastructure but its more frustrating when the arms of government do the same thing just because they feel it’s the only way to swizz you to part with money they’ve demanded from you.
“The only way out of this, is to educate the right people so that once they understand the impact of their actions; they will desist from carrying out such actions.“For instance, you want to make one million naira from an operator then you commit an act that will lead to a loss of ten million, which will lead to huge negative economic impact on the economy.
Nnamani who is also Chief Executive Officer, Medallion Communications, added that conscious effort should be made to educate government agencies, especially at the state and local government level that vandalizing and disruption of critical telecom infrastructure because they want to squeeze an operator to part with money would have drastic effects on the economy.
He noted that stakeholders in the industry, under the umbrella of ATCON, ALTON and other organisations are collaborating together as one unit to tackle the problem.
He however, commended NCC for the role they have played thus far in order to create awareness through various interventions with the federal executive council and Nigerian Governors forum.
He also blamed lack of continuity in government as one of the problems hobbling achievement made to curb these challenges in some states.
“Lack of continuity in government is one of the problems frustrating achievements made to curb these challenges in some states.
“New government has just come in some of the states; unfortunately you will have to start all over again. It’s a continuous process, sometimes when you think you’ve made progress with a particular state or local government, there is a change and you have to start all over again.
“That’s why in some states it’s like one step forward, two steps backwards, we’ve noticed that a lot of times” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said it is currently investigating some entities including Banks, Fintechs, Telcos and other who are in alleged breach of the data privacy rights of Nigerians.
In a statement signed by the Director General of the agency, Dr. Is a Ibrahim Pantami and issued at the weekend, the agency said Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is also under investigation for alleged violation of Article 2.1(2, 3) of the NDPR.
It would be recalled that NITDA issued the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) on 25th January, 2019 with the aim of stemming the tide of wanton abuse of data privacy, improving the global image of the Nigerian business environment and to stimulate a data economy which would lead to the creation of 300,000 jobs by 2022.
The DG therefore assured all Nigerians that the agency is prepared to guarantee their data privacy rights at all times and in the course of the ongoing investigation.
He also said NITDA is willing, able and ready to implement the NDPR with the ultimate aim of ensuring compliance and making businesses and government work better for every Nigerian.
The statement reads in parts: “We would like to bring to the notice of the general public of on-going investigation of alleged breach of the data privacy rights of Nigerians by some Data Controllers.
“In an effort to sensitise the general public and create the requisite awareness on the NDPR, series of publications were made by NITDA in electronic, print and new media.
“The agency has also written articles, made paper presentations and facilitated public and privately organised fora for the purpose of deepening compliance with the NDPR.
“We are happy to say that Nigerians and non-Nigerians have taken note of the NDPR as evidenced by over 400 phones calls and numerous email enquiries being received and treated daily.
“The agency has gone further to prepare a detailed Draft Data Protection Implementation Framework and made available on the Agency’s website, www.nitda.gov.ng, for inputs from the general public.
“The Framework details are expectations from every stakeholder. Furthermore, a sample Privacy Policy is attached to guide government agencies and the private sector on compliance with the NDPR.”
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), is a Federal Government Agency established in April 2001 to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy as well as coordinate general IT development and regulation in the country.
Section 6(a, b & m) of the Act specifically mandates NITDA to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria; provide guidelines to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of appropriate infrastructure for information technology and systems application and development in Nigeria for public and private sectors, urban-rural development, the economy and the government; and accelerate internet and intranet penetration in Nigeria and promote sound internet Governance by giving effect to the Second Schedule of the Act.