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Its conception was evil and wicked. Its suspension, suspicious and laughable, all the way. The proposed Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)/data tariff was an odd kite arrogantly flown, that is the reason we don’t want it put on hold.
It ought to have been killed on the spot. The kite ought to have tragically crashed, never to be flown under whatever guise for life.
It is unthinkable. Why should anybody want to muscle us out of existence? What sin did we commit to deserve all these ill and inhuman treatments?
The Federal Government through its Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), hatched the devilish plan. Together, they dragged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), using it as a canon folder. With that they shot at us! It was deadly.
The master plan was to jerk up tariff on data and raise tax on our common GSM calls. They targeted December 1, 2016 as the take-off. That would have been our take-home for Christmas and perhaps the New Year.
But it was met with stiff opposition. There were anger and shocks. Every reasonable Nigerian kicked. They vowed to resist it with the lost drop of blood in their veins.
We were shocked to the marrows. And we displayed it vehemently. Internet has become part and parcel of our life. It is our reliable and there is no way anybody will forcefully seperate us from it.
The reason the NCC gave for the hike was weak, flimsy, lazy and indolent. It slothfully argued that the jerk was “intended to protect the small operators whose position is being threatened by the ‘big four’ operators.”
The reactions that greeted the conspiracy reflected the huge hunger in the land. There was no single support for the intrigue. Samples from twitter handles:
“How did the FG & NCC decide on the time for the Telecos to increase data tariff? How does that even make sense, despite the present hardship? Do these people even care at all for the common man on the street struggling to survive?”
“NCC is about to do it to data what CBN has been doing to dollars, that we’ve always done to fuel and a big reason power is bad. Price fixing.
“It’s horrible honestly, they are greedy, selfish, wicked, nonchalant, etc. They just don’t care at all.
“Enough of these extortions. Salary is not increased. Salary is not regular and everything is just going up. What a country. It seems NCC is not experiencing recession. God save us from these heartless people.”
Less than 20 hours to take-off, there was a reluctant change of heart. It was a palatable policy summersault. We welcomed it heartily. The Presidency (the mastermind) and the Senate publicly disowned NCC. The commission was left in the cold to swallow its vomit.
The MTN, one of the so-called big four, had rolled out a big drum to celebrate. It was already in high spirit ready for the end-of-the year harvest. It was in the mood for the kill.
The service provider enthusiastically sent messages to its customers on the impending calamity. But that mood was wisely cut short. In their newfound wisdom the Presidency and Senate put the unfriendly policy on hold.
The Senate was cleverly used to do the cleanup. The senators fell flat for it as they went a step further: “The upper legislative chamber resolved to commence a comprehensive investigation into allegations of service failures in the operation of the service providers.”
Surprisingly, the Federal Government claimed a complete ignorance of the intended policy. It vigorously denied authorising it. Then, who dunit? The policy has become a leper. Nobody, not even the originator would want to touch it.
After the plot was knocked off, Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, belatedly put up a tardy defence. He swore: “I want to say that I was no privy to it, I was not party to it.” This is hard to believe. He continued his wobbled excuse:
“Government never gave any such instruction. As the representative of the people, it has never done that; that the voice of Nigerians must not be muscled.”
He is not done yet: “This government came into the democratic process and it has a duty to continue to protect the interest of Nigerians. I can assure you, we will do the needful in protecting the right and privileges of Nigerians.”
Shittu laboured hard to convince us that the Federal Government was ignorant. He strived to force it down our cracked throats. All in vain!
We would continue to restrict the likes of Shittu. His reasoning is the exact opposite of what we experience daily. Glaringly, he is not in tune with our reality. Though, he is communications minister, but he is not communicating with us. He is aloof from us. He has never been with us. Our feelings and aspirations are not his.
Shittu should know better. That right now, our rights are being denied us with reckless impunity. We dare not talk of privileges when we no longer have “common” rights. He has goofed big time.
Government did actually order the hike in data tariff. Ask the CBN, the initiator of the plot. These latter day denials are afterthoughts. They are lies, deceit. They cannot hold water.
The real intention is to tax everything in sight and raise the existing tariff. They did not plan to stop at data tariff. It is part of a long-time plan to continue to fly different kites in various shapes and colours.
That is why this tariff hike should not be put merely on hold. It should be dealt with decisively. It should be killed and buried deep beyond the normal six feet.
The senators should be encouraged to go the whole hug. They should not stop at suspension, it could be lifted any time soon. This tariff plot is meant for the dustbin of history. It should be thrashed and thrown into the dirty trash can. That is its rightful place, nowhere else. There is no better location.
