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Following the mass exit of young talented Nigerians out of the country in search of greener pastures, stakeholders in the telecommunications sector have called on the Federal Government, to address the issue considering its negative implication on the country.
The stakeholders who spoke yesterday in Lagos, at the ongoing Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo, NTICE 2023, said their best and brightest are government to address the issue.
Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, while congratulating the new Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, C&DE and also encouraging local content at the event said: “We are losing a lot of our best and brightest to ‘Japa syndrome.’ But you can’t blame the people, because as a country, we have not been able to provide enough social guarantees that will keep these young ones here.
“I think the time has come when the industry has to begin to make preparation for their return. Today we have what they call work from home, even though they have been in a particular country can work in another country.”
Speaking on the other issues affecting the industry, he said: “The current pricing regime of the industry is not sustainable. We are selling below cost. We must allow market forces to determine prices of services. Electricity tarrif is being subsidised by government and that is why when the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos), were meeting to review prices, it was halted.”
“We have seen now the consequences of the removal of fuel subsidy, so when the subsidy is being removed from electricity, we are going to face the same hardship that we faced during fuel subsidy removal.
“In our industry, today’s pricing regime is not sustainable in the current economy.
Also in his address, the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said there is huge talents in Nigeria that need to be harnessed.
Speaking on the effort to tackle the ‘Japa Syndrome’, Danbatta, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, NCC, Engr Ubale Maska, disclosed that a lot of policies have been created to address brain drain in the ICT sector.
He said: “We recently had a meeting with Nigerians in diaspora. The trust of the meeting is to ensure that they get value for their innovations,” Danbatta further explained.
